Who’s YOUR City? Blog

I’ll be honest… TORONTO IS THE REASON I LOVE CANADA. Everything that Canada is all about - diversity, multiculturalism, tolerance, acceptance, and inclusiveness. When I was a kid in the old Calgary I felt like I was an outsider and would never be welcomed. This was a long time ago but emotional memories can be very strong. Toronto and Torontonians healed my heartbreak of my childhood and early youth being spent dealing with rejection for something I co uld never change. Now everyone has a different experience. I’ve met people who were minorities in my age group and grew up down the street from me during that same time and they have noting but positive memories. Needless to say … Toronto is not perfect but it is an ideal destination for new immigrants given the variety of settlement services in the city.

Richard Florida himself on Toronto

Sent by Aralar from Toronto

Except for money, there are very few reasons why I can understand a Canadian moving to the U.S.

I was brought to Chicago from Toronto by my “American” husband. After many years I got so sickened by the racial friction in Chicago that I picked up and moved across the continent. I didn’t return to Canada because I did not believe I could afford to live in Ontario again, but I am more and more sickened by the “Americans” in general and willing to economise to improve the quality of my life.

“Ameroicans” are so convinced of their superiority in every way while being quite ignorant of what is being accomplished in the rest of the world. I am frequently made proud of what Canada and Canadians have accomplished.

I came to the Northwest to what I thought was a beautiful land, but the rule seems to be “if it moves - shoot it, if it is growing, cut it down”. The U.S. is a violent country. Canada is not. The cowboy mentality, the imperialist government have worn me down. I think I will take this old body back to the land of my birth where the quality of life is something you cannot buy with a gun.

Sent by Marilyn from Vancouver, WA

Vancouver is a strange place because it’s BIG in British Columbia and even Canada, but SMALL on the world stage. An acquaintance from LA likened moving from his former city to Vancouver as “moving to a small village”.

As a young university graduate, I have found that Vancouver employers CLAIM to be looking for innovative, creative people, and the pundits always claim that smart boomers are retiring en masse. However, when I get to interviews, what the HR generalists who interview me end up telling me is that they are more interested in conscientious individuals who can get the job done.That’s the BS that can easily be associated with Vancouver’s job market: EVERYBODY claims to want to hire innovative, open-to-experience people, when in reality the people they actually hire the conscientious ones. Go figure.

I would LOVE Vancouver if it ACTUALLY offered opportunities for me. Only time will tell.

Other places I have lived include: Taipei, Hsinchu, and Taichung, Taiwan ROC, and Toronto briefly. I love Taiwan, but honestly it does not offer the music and political scenes that I both can and want to participate in. Toronto is awesome in many ways, but I don’t have as much appreciation for its physical beauty compared to Vancouver’s. So, what’s left? Despite my current state of unemployment in Vancouver, the only other place I could imagine living in the long term is Victoria, Canada . It’s slightly smaller and has a slower pace of life, which I can appreciate, but still big enough to have real job opportunities. It’s a slightly better place to raise kids than Vancouver (in my estimate), and probably has a slightly more cohesive sense of community (compared to Vancouver, where all the talk is about how to become more “world-class” what with the impending 2010 Olympics looming large on the horizon).

Ah well, if there are great career opportunities in Vancouver for a lowly Arts graduate like myself, I’d like to hear about it. In the meantime (and that’s ALWAYS my question: “what do I do in the meantime?”), I’ll either be hunting around for more work or plotting my next escape!

Sent by  Kai Boutilier from Vancouver, Canada

I grew up in Calgary and moved to Toronto at 16 and spent well over a decade and a half in the metropolis. I fell in love with it at first site because I felt welcome.

Being the most multicultural city in the world is a real treat. I love the diversity of people, sectors, and the hustle bustle vibrancy of it all. Most of the last several years I lived in Yorkville in the heart of the city and enjoyed the film festivals, easy public transit, Harbourfront and Toronto Island, and just the variety of life one can live in Toronto.

Toronto is very intellectual in that Eastern way and my career has really benefited from the polished style of business there. What I enjoy most about Toronto is that its like New York but livable and still safe compared to other US cities. Its a hub so travel in and out of Canada is easy and hey, Toronto is on the map internationally.

On a personal note, Toronto taught me that being colour blind was a good thing. I grew up in Calgary and being a minority was a different and far less kind experience back then. Ironically, family and roots have lured me back to Southern Alberta for now but I have left my heart in Toronto . I’ve decided that I do want to check out Vancouver for its West Coast lifestyle before deciding if the GTA will be home again. For now, Calgary has a bit of Toronto ’s cosmo flavor but for everything I was told was weird about me as an ethnic kid in Calgary … it was embraced by Toronto the minut e I got there. I believe I had to leave Toronto to love it even more as my adulthood continues

Sent by Aralar from Calgary

Once in awhile, I remember the life I lived before moving to Ottawa, and I get a little shiver of amazement and thankfulness. In Ottawa I have found gainful employment as a journalist, satisfying volunteer work (helping Canadian Maher Arar’s fight against torture), and a community that constantly provides me with inspiration and useful connections. It’s also a great place to run, bike, and swim — things left dormant while living in the suburbs of Vancouver. (As if suburbs are a model for the world!) Or should I say migrating in and out of Vancouver. Working in the ski industry I would move every two years, and every summer I would be struggling to find a new job. I don’t know if it’s just Vancouver, but the job prospects were slim — even with a diploma in tourism management.

In the spring of 2003 I returned to my home province of Ontario for a visit. The random gatherings of artists and students, the streets bustling with people who were actually stopping to talk to each other…even the brick buildings felt comforting.

So I packed up my things, said good-bye to the partner, and took up journalism at Carleton University. Haven’t looked back! (except perhaps to get those ‘look-at-me-now’ shivers…)

The Rise of the Creative Class helped me make that decision. Now, with a boyfriend in Connecticut and a Canadian magazine market (that looks weak in comparison to it’s U.S. counterpart), I’m faced with a new decision…thank goodness for this new book. Gotta write a couple more stories to pay for it…

Sent by Dayanti Karunaratne from Ottawa, Canada.