I live in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I have never visited toronto before! went to montreal tho. but i always had this werid feeling like it is such a big city but with such a small town spirit! What i really wanna know if it is actually like that. Maybe this feeling comes to me because I kinda compare Toronto to Buenos A. or NYC which are really big and full of life, this is what most canadians i met had told me! what do you think? how can i get that vib?
BTW i don't mean to offense nor sound agressive to anybody! if i did.. i'm sorry..


waiting for ur replies,

Juan Manuel from Argentina.

You'd have to visit and judge for yourself.

Well Toronto does have a smaller town feeling in some areas. There are lots of smaller communities within Toronto. Some areas are friendlier than others obviously. NYC is known as harsh and cold. Where you can see the craziest things but no one pays any attention, they just keep on walking. It's like that downtown here for the most part as well.

Toronto downtown isn't really like that at all (which is very much so 'big city'), but it is true that the core outside the downtown has a very town-like community feel in certain areas. I don't really think that's ALL that unique to Toronto (London has plenty of that, for example), but yes, it's there.

Toronto has a huge share of crazies. You really need to try really hard to get people to pay attention to you there. Like NYC it can be cold and lonely and really anonymous. And like New York you really need to make an effort if you want to make friends etc.

It doesn't come easy there, unlike Montreal or smaller cities where people are more trusting and relaxed and less paranoid.

Toronto has a huge share of crazies. You really need to try really hard to get people to pay attention to you there. Like NYC it can be cold and lonely and really anonymous. And like New York you really need to make an effort if you want to make friends etc.

It doesn't come easy there, unlike Montreal or smaller cities where people are more trusting and relaxed and less paranoid.

As you say, we have our share of crazies and folk with just too much baggage but I don't think we are so much paranoid as guarded and for good reason and with a little bit of old fashioned reserve thrown in. Toronto is not unique in that respect.

It's a VERY hard place to make friends. That is for sure.

It's a VERY hard place to make friends. That is for sure.

Toronto? Hard to make friends? I have always found it exceptionally easy here to make friends..... maybe I have had good luck, but it never seemed hard for me.

so lonely :(

I guess it totally depends on where you visit Toronto...
If you travel through the entire city you'll beg to differ. Sure toronto has many little town of its own which have their own little town feeling to them. However... if you experience all of those neighbourhoods one after the other... you'll notice they have their own vibe.

It's a VERY hard place to make friends. That is for sure.
Agree.

It's a VERY hard place to make friends. That is for sure.

Sorry, but that hasn't been my experience.

Umm, ya. It's pretty easy to make friends here. You just need to stick your neck out and hope nobody chops your head off (well, I am speaking metaphorically).

If you are a shy person, I can see it being difficult to make friends here (because it does take a little more in the extrovert department).

What I would say though is that Toronto is an in-the-know city. If you want to know what is going on, you need to be in-the-know. The best events are word of mouth, so you need to have a good network (=friends).

I have to agree that it's hard to make friends here. Or maybe just me in general lol.

Ola, Juan Manuel!

Toronto's older neighbourhoods feel like small towns just like La Boca, San Telmo, or Palermo in Buenos Aires. However, the core of both cities feel like major world centers.

P.S. Buenos Aires is awesome, especially the Subte's A line!

of course its getting wierd to some, its becoming a very naughty place:nuts:

Well, Downtown Toronto is as 'big city' as it gets. But Toronto is also about it's neighborhoods, and it's in some of these neighborhoods that you get that smaller community feel.

If you think it is hard to make friends in Toronto, you should move out to the suburbs...

What you've heard about Toronto is correct. Toronto really is the big city with a 'small town' feeling. There's multiple reasons for this:

1) The actual downtown (where all the skyscrapers are) is only so big. It's pretty easy to see where the skyscrapers end even when you are in the middle of downtown. After a 10 minute walk in most directions, you can usually get back to single houses.

2) Toronto is a city of neighborhoods. Basically with the exception of the downtown which is for everyone, Toronto is a place where there are many small communities, many of which are ethnic or at least group based (i.e. students, artists, gay village, etc). Within these neighborhoods, there is plenty of a smaller city feeling, although it is important to realize that no neighborhood in Toronto is really closed to anyone, and that you will find people from all over the city mixed in at any time of day. I guess the biggest thing is that Toronto has huge amounts of single detached housing within the city, and many tree-lined streets that does give it a smaller city feeling instead of endless apartment blocks that you may see in other places.

3) Toronto is still a very new city. Up until 10 years ago, we didn't even have Sunday shopping, and the city was basically dead after 10pm. I know in places like NYC, it is not uncommon for many to be extremely active in the cultural and arts scenes (lawyers going to plays, students going to galleries, accountants going to art shows), but this is simply not how it is in Toronto. While it is slowly getting more and more important, the interest in things like high culture, eating out at really fancy restaurants (until 15 years ago Toronto didn't really have many amazing restaurants) is all still pretty new to us.

4) Toronto is probably the safest large city in all of North America (or anywhere outside of Asia).

5) Canadians are generally just nice people :)

That said, Toronto is by far the largest city in Canada, and compared to many places in North America is is definitely a huge city. But NYC it is not.

As far as making friends, it really helps to have grown up in the GTA. There are always people from your old 'hood floating around. I often run into people from ages ago. Especially at sporting events for some reason.

I think it would be hard to start from scratch in Toronto if I didn't know anyone. But then again, that would be hard in any big city. Overseas you meet the expats / English speakers, and in many party destinations you meet anyone having a good time, but they don't always result in lasting friendships. I'm rambling now. Time to go to my 2:00 meeting. There it's okay to ramble.

If you want to meet people, you can always join a political party. I can recommend a political party if you wish.

Betcha anything you were going to suggest the Liberal Party! I have heard it is a good one....

I sware to god Belinda Stranach "poked me" on Facebook.

I sware to god Belinda Stranach "poked me" on Facebook.

god how i've grown to detest "pokes"

Betcha anything you were going to suggest the Liberal Party! I have heard it is a good one....

Lousy Fiberals! :lol:

god how i've grown to detest "pokes"

I enjoy "poking" people.
What is Facebook?




;)