It Is Still Canada

So many of my friends say that they don't like Toronto, and could never live here. Even when they visit the refrain rarely changes. Ugly. Urban. Mean. The people are cold and it is just better to live in a place where there is more nature and the people are nice. I won't deny that Toronto is a city, it is a big city, and I'm glad because I love all the things that a big city has to offer. However, it is still Canada, it is still beautiful and the people are kind.

I decided to take a slightly different root home from the Subway this afternoon, I went out the 'wrong' exit from the station and once I ended up on a main street I went in the 'wrong' direction for a while. Getting myself to Rrunuv Bayit after these little detours turned what is normally a 3-4 block walk into a 12 block one. During the first part of the walk I started considering everyone's complaints about Toronto. Once I reached the top of my street I decided to pay close attention to my surroundings for the remain 4 blocks, it see if I could find a harsh difference living 'here' opposed to 'there'.

I have never lived in the country. The house in Paris had a big back yard and being in an old neighbourhood, had huge mature trees. It wasn't like I looked out my window and saw fields of horses and vast meadows of clover. My friends who live or have lived in the most rural of settings all have neighbours with houses close by. Even at The Cottage, where my parents wake up everyday and drink coffee while gazing at the sand beach panoramic of Lake Erie, still have other cottages mere feet away and out back there is a store on the other side of the street and a parking lot. (That is what they put up in paradise apparently.)

I don't really know the history of my area of Toronto, but along the main streets the low-rise apartment buildings seem to be built in a 1920's art-deco style and on the side streets the houses seem more like they were built in the 1950's. I say this because it means that the neighbourhood was developed a long time ago, so there are a ton of mature trees here too. There is also space; nice front yards, gardens, and small parks every 5 blocks or so.

The main thing I noticed about the 'nature' in my neighbourhood was that I saw 1 brown and 14 black squirrels, all of which were fat. It is no field of wild flowers but the area is still very pretty, I feel there is enough nature here to satisfy.

But what about a sense of community? Cities are so isolating. I used to have a saying about Paris that if I drove through downtown, regardless of the time of day, I would always see someone I knew. This was hilariously accurate and I believe held true for about 85% of the time. When someone finds out I lived there and I get asked if I know someone, often I do. It was a small town, people knew each other. Lets not get carried away though, I didn't know everyone, it wasn't that small.

In Toronto, I live in a three story walk-up and I know the other four people who live in the building. I know three of the guys who work at the local hardware store. Most mornings the same homeless man is sitting outside the Subway station singing 1960's anti-war songs, beautifully I might add. Also, interestingly enough the last three times I went to the grocery store I have gotten the same check-out girl, who recognizes me. I am starting to know people and build up a sense of neighbourhood. It happens everywhere, it isn't just a small town thing.

A school bus dropped a boy off in front of one the apartments I was walking by, a woman (presumably The Super) was raking leaves in the lawn, she called out his name and asked how his day was. He smiled, waved, and said it was good as he pulled out his keys to go inside.

It is hard to even say that the people in Paris are particularly friendly. Paris is a friendly town. I have many friends who live there. It is all very pleasant and happy and nice. But the reality is that not everyone gets along with everyone else. Like everywhere, there are little social fights and a whole lot of gossip. Some people are annoying and some people are mean and that is not a big city thing, that is a human thing. But the stereotype is that in a small town when passing a stranger you get a smile and/or greeting and that is friendly. My theory is that you get what you give. The reason it seems like everyone smiles and greets you in a small town is that you walk around smiling and greeting people. The idea of Toronto as a place where this doesn't happen prevents people from doing it, it just becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I decided to give some good old Canada cheer as I walked the last 4 blocks home. I passed three people and smiled, all of whom smiled back, one nodded, and one said 'hello'. I passed a fourth person, who had a dog, and the tiny dog barked at me. The owner returned my smile and apologized for the dog, afterwards I could hear the owner say to the dog, 'You're such a jerk.' It was hard not to laugh. A fifth person was on her porch trying to chase her cat back inside. Before I even had a chance to smile at her, she saw me looking at her as I walked by and waved with a huge smile saying, 'He isn't allowed outside.' The sixth and final person I saw was gardening. She was facing her house and we shared no interaction at all, she was very intense with the gardening and had her back to me. So five of six! Don't give me this story about Toronto being unfriendly..

It is still Canada after all!!