My Tale of Two Cities: Saint John and Toronto

As you may have noticed lately, there haven’t been any postings or updates. Why you may be asking yourselves? Well, I had the chance to go work out of Toronto for the past three weeks. It was a great chance to try something new, meet some new people, and get to see the big city. While I went up with certain expectations, I was really blown away by what I saw, and I can now say that I have a new perspective on the city of Toronto.

Lets first list some common misconceptions people have about Toronto:

• Drive by shootings are quite common and occur everywhere in the city.
• It’s not safe to walk the streets at night.
• Everyone is rude and won’t take the time to help you.
• The city is really dirty.
• It’s not that far to walk from one area to another.
• The police department is terrible.

While some of these can be the case, typically it’s quite the opposite.

On my first day in Toronto, I figured out how to take a bus to the subway station, then got downtown on the subway. I couldn’t get over how clean the buses and subway were. I kept seeing TTC workers cleaning and picking up garbage at the stations. I wondered all over the city and ran into a few friendly people who helped me find my way around. One of the helpful people was a police officer who showed me where to buy tickets from scalpers for the football game. How cool is that?

I went downtown at night and randomly walked around. I never felt unsafe or in any danger. There were always lots of people around and plenty of things to see and do. I also found out that walking to places is actually a lot further then I originally thought. Walking from the Eaton Centre to the CN Tower and back may seem like a short walk; but, you soon realize that it is quite far.

I also had a really great taxi driver for the duration of my stay. His name was Sam, and he runs a company called Sam’s Taxi (416-722-8900). He would pick me up every morning, and bring a Tim Horton’s coffee, doughnut, and muffin, for my breakfast. He was quite friendly and helpful. One time, I couldn’t find a building where I needed to meet someone, so I called him on his cell and he gave me directions to find the place! I would highly recommend him the next time you need a drive from the airport or are in the Markham area.

As for the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission), I was so impressed when I first arrived; however, I gradually became more angry at the terrible service as time went by. The people collecting money at the subway stations were always rude and unhelpful and the bus was constantly late (this is a big deal with the subway is constantly dropping off new people every 5 minutes!). On the plus side, I did find the bus drivers to be quite nice.

So, what did I learn?

• Shootings do occur in certain areas, but it’s not common.
• It’s safe to walk the majority of streets at night.
• About 30% of people are nice and will take the time to help you.
• The city is really clean.
• The city is gigantic and you need to take streetcars, subway, and buses to get around.
• The police department is pretty nice.

Overall, it’s not the Maritimes; but, it’s still a nice place!