gristle
Senior Member
Careful, he clearly can't afford the anti-depressants.
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what do the toronto people do?
- Thread starter devjohnson
- Start date
grey
Senior Member
I wish I was, after reading your posts.
movieguy
New Member
1. I live downtown and don't have a car. There's two, great car sharing services that serves the needs when I do need one
2. no. it's better to use the car sharing service. I've tried it, and it's better to pay the $6-$9 for the hour to 2 you need to move instead. When you live downtown, groceries can be taken home though.
3. yes, although not deserving of the abject hatred from the rest of canada.
4. twice a week. Once again, you can walk to most places if you tailor yourself around the downtown core
5. get to know autoshare and zipcar. life savers for myself. craigslist.ca also pretty good. water is drinkable from the tap. no sulphur or bacteria.
Hope you enjoy TO!
SunriseChampion
Senior Member
Really? I lived in the city on 25K a year and was as happy as a pig in shit. Well fed too. You must be high-maintenance. Shower in champagne, by chance?
(disclaimer: I rented and don't own a car)
iSlutsky
Chit-Chatter
These are quite general questions, that must be totally based on your own lifestyle, but here are my answers:
1. No. You do not need a car. While the TTC is not the best system in the world (actually, in my opinion far from it), you are able to get around quite well with it. I would recommend living close to a subway station. Without a car - again, depending on your lifestyle - my main recommendations would be to live in the St. Lawrence neighbourhood or Kensington Market (if you like being north of Eglinton, then I would recommend North York). These areas are rich with local amenities, and close to multiple public transportation links. My further reasons for this can be explained in response to your Question #2.
2. All the areas I mentioned above are in close proximity to great grocery shopping. Kensington has the best open market in Toronto (in my opinion), St. Lawrence has the St. Lawrence market, which is amazing, and North York has a pretty good super-market. For me, I have a Longos in the base of my building, and as I work from home, I literally go grocery shopping three-five times a day (breakfast, an apple, lunch, some cheese, dinner...etc..). As such, I never need to bring home BIG items from food shopping. As others have pointed out on this forum thread, auto-share programs are great and the city is full of Taxis... So, the money saved from not having a car can easily be used towards taxi-fare and auto-share programs.
3. Up to you. I love it.
4. Doesn't matter.
5. Toronto is great. It has a great way of life, and provides something for everyone. As you can tell from the thread, you can be happy in Toronto making $250k per year or $20k per year. It all depends on how you like to live. I have lived on both ends, and have always been happy. Oh yeah, it is also worth renting a car for a weekend and heading up to Muskoka and Algonquin Provincial Park. Also, if you decide NOT to live near Kensington Market, or St. Lawrence, then you should visit each area once a month. They rock.
M.
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Torontovibe
Senior Member
You do not need a car in Toronto, especially if you live in the central area. Very few of my friends who live downtown, own a car and I gave up driving since I moved downtown. Everything you need is usually close by. As far as living expenses go, it's no more expensive than any other major city in Canada, except for the cost of housing. If you can find an inexpensive apartment, you'll be fine. Food is actually cheaper than most other parts of Canada. There are so many free events in this city, you don't need to spend a lot on entertainment. I think you can have a very good quality life in Toronto, even on a modest income.
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lordmandeep
Banned
It all depends on how you spend your money.
The only "real" money you have is the money you have in your chequing account. Everything else is "fake" money", like your credit card limit...
I bet you that if you go to most young people today and see how much cash they have in their pocket, most have none at all.
I know some people who make 50K plus and never have cash in their pocket. They are just idiots who always use their credit card and then don't have anything in the bank account to pay it with. They then pay massive interest charges on those cards and end up in a bad situation rather fast.
I then know people who use their card for certain things and pays everything else with a debit card and cash and then pays his credit card right away. He finds he has extra money to spend and then buys a dvd set of Lost from Best Buy on his HDTV he got on Boxing Day for a bargain.
Now I imagine a single person in a condo with no Car who makes 60K a year should be living a rather good life...
The only "real" money you have is the money you have in your chequing account. Everything else is "fake" money", like your credit card limit...
I bet you that if you go to most young people today and see how much cash they have in their pocket, most have none at all.
I know some people who make 50K plus and never have cash in their pocket. They are just idiots who always use their credit card and then don't have anything in the bank account to pay it with. They then pay massive interest charges on those cards and end up in a bad situation rather fast.
I then know people who use their card for certain things and pays everything else with a debit card and cash and then pays his credit card right away. He finds he has extra money to spend and then buys a dvd set of Lost from Best Buy on his HDTV he got on Boxing Day for a bargain.
Now I imagine a single person in a condo with no Car who makes 60K a year should be living a rather good life...
doady
Senior Member
Median income in Toronto in 2005 was around $32,000, meaning for than half of Torontonians makes less than $32,000.
Even in Halton the median income is not even close to $60,000.
Even in Halton the median income is not even close to $60,000.
adma
Superstar
*A* "pretty good supermarket"? I don't know what you're referring to as worth singling out in North York unless it's Pusateri's--or, to go to the other extreme, the Downsview Park Merchant's Market (which'd be a devil to get to by any means other than car).
Though actually, Toronto's a good supermarket town in general--and moreover, a good town for discount chains like No Frills or Price Chopper that don't necessarily give you the willies when you go inside...
iSlutsky
Chit-Chatter
adma
Superstar
I was addressing more your deceptive reference to "a" supermarket, rather than supermarkets in general--as if there were a particular example in North York worth singling out...
iSlutsky
Chit-Chatter
Funny. I don't think in anyway it was "deceptive", in fact I think my message was quite clear and accurate.
My original thought was the Loblaws at Yonge & Empress, which is in close proximity to a whole lot of North York Condos (that is the specific reference I was alluding to), but as you can tell from my opening line the fact is that there are a plethora of other great grocery shops up there.
TonyV
Senior Member
Ibid.
I moved away from the spoils of deepest Willowdale 30 years ago, in my youth, destination downtown (Church/Isabella). I had a car at the time. Subsequently my parents went on vacation to Europe, and on the eve of their return, my dad called expecting that I would pick them up at the airport next day ...
"I've sold my car, dad, I can't meet you with my car".
My dad said "What????".
I responded that I just wasn't using the thing, it had been parked in the basement of the apartment all the time, collecting dust, so I seized the moment and got rid of the darned monster.
...
Then I spent the bulk of my career (downtown, of course) without a car, using mostly my feet to get to work and back, and sometimes the TTC. We would patronise little grocery stores and delis for our food and preparations, no big supermarkets for us, no need to buy in bulk ... and we always have fresh stuff in our kitchen; in other words, shopping's better that way.
Thirty years later we have a car, and for only one reason --- care of our aged parents. My Mom still lives in outermost Willowdale and my partner's parents are way out of town, and we are their appointed powers ... that's the only reason why we have an auto. Life is better on foot, and we are fit, baby, fit as fiddles, no spongey tissue around our middles. The human body is better maintained when used, not transported by a ton of mechanics (handicaps aside of course).
Having said all of that, Toronto is two places, two cultures: the large, dense, well transit-served urban core and the car-driving 'burbs around it, and I have suburban friends who still find two things incredible: (1) that I did so well without an auto for years, and (2) that I don't carry extra weight around "at my age". Maybe I own a car but I still walk a lot.
Basically I am well travelled, I've seen lots of this world, and coming back to Toronto, I can say this place is a joy because we can live life in the way I have described. Toronto is not overrated.
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nfitz
Superstar
Living in Toronto, I find that the car doesn't get used much. But this is what I really need it for)
1) out-of-town business trips (try getting to suburban Peterborough or Kitchener on transit!)
2) visting family in rural Quebec
3) my partner's parent is in a nursing home home in Mississauga
4) the big shop once every 2 weeks (though when the car was under a snow bank for 6 weeks 18-months ago, I managed just fine simply getting stuff at the local No Thrills everytime I walked past).
Of course, if you have it, you end up using it for trips you wouldn't use it for, if you didn't have it (weekend trips to the office ...).
Though we have gotten down to 1 car, with Autoshare ... (though truth be told, Autoshare doesn't get used much ... but just knowing it's there, made it easier to get rid of the second car). I can't see getting rid of the first car without signifcant improvements to regional travel ... but I know a lot of people whose circumstances are such that they seldom leave the city.
1) out-of-town business trips (try getting to suburban Peterborough or Kitchener on transit!)
2) visting family in rural Quebec
3) my partner's parent is in a nursing home home in Mississauga
4) the big shop once every 2 weeks (though when the car was under a snow bank for 6 weeks 18-months ago, I managed just fine simply getting stuff at the local No Thrills everytime I walked past).
Of course, if you have it, you end up using it for trips you wouldn't use it for, if you didn't have it (weekend trips to the office ...).
Though we have gotten down to 1 car, with Autoshare ... (though truth be told, Autoshare doesn't get used much ... but just knowing it's there, made it easier to get rid of the second car). I can't see getting rid of the first car without signifcant improvements to regional travel ... but I know a lot of people whose circumstances are such that they seldom leave the city.
Dan416
Senior Member
Sorry to go super off-topic, but am I the only one who has a vile distaste for this word in this context?