I hope everyone is well. I just came back from visiting Greater Toronto for the 7th time since childhood. Actually, it's more of a visit to the entire Golden Horseshoe Region because I pretty hit nine communities in six sub-regions total: Niagara Falls, Hamilton, Burlington, Mississauga, Newmarket, Richmond Hill, Markham, Oshawa, and of course Toronto. I've already visited Niagara Falls as many times as Toronto; this was my second time in Hamilton and Burlington, third time in Mississauga, fifth time in both Richmond Hill and Markham, and first time in Newmarket and Oshawa. I seem to never get tired of Southern Ontario for some reason because there is always some new surprise I keep discovering about the place that keeps it interesting and exciting.
Here are some highlights:
Niagara Falls: We avoided the Falls (seen them four times from the Canadian side since childhood already) and stopped by at the Floral Clock and Niagara Botanical Gardens instead this time. My elderly father loves flowers and botanical gardens, which is why I decided to take him to there instead. I highly recommend the gardens. They are just the right size for an hour or two and well kept. There is only a parking fee as well, no admission is charged to see the gardens. In fact, after an 11-12 hour drive, that whole stretch of lush green parkland on the Canadian side is a pleasantly comfortable respite indeed.
Hamilton: As it was too late to continue driving to Greater Toronto, I purposefully planned to stay a night in Greater Hamilton instead. Hamilton looked little changed since we were last there in 2015. We only saw Lower City and it still looked very run down and industrial, in fact we smelled sulfur in the air. The Chinese community in Hamilton must be tight knit because the hostesses at the restaurant we dined at said they didn't recognize us and reckoned we weren't from there! (They must have many repeat customers.) Next time I am in Hamilton, I will be sure to visit the Mountain again and check out some of the waterfalls there.
Mississauga: Unlike the last two visits, we spent a full day touring this city and visited both Square One Shopping Centre and Golden Square Plaza. Having taken a closer and fuller look this time, I conclude that Downtown Mississauga reminds me very much of Downtown Jersey City. Both have equally spectacular skylines and an air of modernity as edge cities typically do. Though technically over the border in Toronto proper, we also visited Centennial Park and its wonderful flower conservatory and well maintained stadium the same day. Next time I am in the Peel Region, I think I will visit Brampton, which I have never been to before.
York Region (Newmarket, Richmond Hill, Markham and everything in between): Argh. What can I say about the cozy but sterile upperclass suburban region that my relatives live in that I have been to every time I visit the GTA? From an urban planner's perspective, the York Region represents much of what goes wrong when there is uninhibited growth in a metro area, huge lot sizes, two+ car garages, and a strong reliance on personal automobile travel. My relatives also happen to be the type to tell outsiders that they're "from Toronto" when in actual fact they keep to the York Region and seldom head down to the City just like someone here told you they're "from Boston" when in actual fact they're from Lexington, Newton, Wellesley, or Needham. Granted, the York Region Transit (YRT) is a better transit system than what many outer suburban regions have to offer in the US, and they are trying hard with the VIVA buses (more on that later) but it is not enough. When I was a kid, my aunt and uncle would have kept me in this region to check out as many suburban shopping plazas as possible and we did spend a good amount of time doing this but now as a grownup, they couldn't stop me from taking a day to trek south by public transportation to see...
Toronto: For better or worse, Toronto has changed since the pandemic and is continuing to change. On the one side, glamorous highrises are going up everywhere and the streets are teeming with life. I stopped by Midtown for a stroll and took a few pictures of the skyscrapers around there. I also visited High Park and Yonge-Doris for the first time and the ROM for the third time. The ROM remains a classy and interesting institution that still hasn't bored me yet. Yorkville and the Annex also continue to look elegant. I noticed a different vibe in Toronto this time around though, one that felt very New Yorkish. Toronto urban youth were noticeably rowdier and more boisterous in the public than 15-20 years ago. Some of the streets were also dirtier than I remember. I always thought of Toronto as a clean city but not anymore I guess. More on this later...
Oshawa/Durham Region: We spent our entire last day of our trip in Oshawa. This was the first time visiting the Durham Region and I actually found Oshawa and the Durham Region rather pleasant and unpretentious, kind of what Peel Region and and York Region might have looked and felt like decades ago. We stopped by the Oshawa Valley Botanical Gardens, Oshawa Civic Stadium, Oshawa Centre, and Monsignor Paul Dwyer High School, the latter for which to see a football game (more on that later). Like all road visits to Canada, we also shopped and shopped until our car trunk was packed full. Thank Marks, Canada Tire, Loblaws, T&T, No Frills, and all the other stores we don't see in the US.
More reflections:
Public transit:
YRT VIVA: Well at least YRT is trying. This was the first time I rode VIVA and I rode the Blue Line all the way from Newmarket to Finch Terminal, a full hour and 20 minutes. Locals including my uncle praise the VIVA saying it arrives on time at the dot all the time but perhaps I was riding on a bad day. My trip into town was delayed by 10 minutes and my return trip to Newmarket was dropped and I ended up waiting over half an hour for the next bus to arrive. After hours, there is no supervisor or official at Finch Terminal to talk to and riders are pretty much left on their own at the mercy of the system. Needless to say, there were a lot of disgruntled customers. Luckily this was not in the dead of winter waiting in subzero temperatures. The problem with VIVA is just with Boston's Silver Line "bus rapid transit", it is rapid only insofar as traffic allows it to be. To be true rapid transit, the buses ought to be running on their own dedicated transitways through the entire route and avoiding all traffic lights. The way VIVA is configured right now, it looks and feels like a half-hearted attempt to bridge the gap between ordinary bus service and true rapid transit.
TTC: The TTC subway continues to run frequently but is dirtier and much more crowded than before. The system seems to be bursting on the seams. Beggars and panhandlers, seldom if ever seen on the TTC before, now roam through the trains asking for money. Such scenes are common in New York and sometimes here in Boston but not in Toronto or so I thought. It was a far cry from 1998 when I first rode the TTC and it was very clean. Though overall an enjoyable experience, for the first time, I did not feel as safe and comfortable in the system than past times and for good reason. In fact, I admit I experienced a bad incident for the first time on the TTC and in fact for the first time in all 19 visits to Canada. That was when an individual standing right close by me on a crowded Bloor-Danforth train who was possibly not in the right mental state of mind opened a can of beer inside the subway train and began acting erratically, taking turns sipping and pouring the beer on the ground. I made the mistake of making eye contact with the man and he probably didn't take it well thinking "What!? So you don't like seeing me drinking this beer on the train you @%$#?" The individual proceeded to try dump out the can of beer on me and only missed by a few cm thereby splashing a bit of the beer on my shoes and pants before getting off the train. You might ask why I did not report this to the TTC authorities as this incident could well have been treated as an assault incident - I mean the man was infringing on my personal space - but for various reasons, I decided not to, namely: 1) there's hardly anyone around anymore that you could actually speak to. Some of the subway entrances aren't even manned. Sure you could call a police call box or head to a TTC precinct to file a report but I sincerely doubt anyone could be done and besides 2) I was pressed for time and seeing I wasn't punched, kicked, or otherwise physically harmed by the individual, decided to just move on from the incident. This incident does reinforce my observation that the TTC, just like many other transit agencies in North America, is short staffed post pandemic, there are a lot more mentally challenged individuals that need help than before, and everyone pretty much left on their own while riding the subway. Now this incident has not deterred me from riding one of my favorite subway systems in the world in the future I do have to keep a watchful eye the next time and plan better evasive action.
3 Down Football: On a more joyful topic, I did get to watch a 3-down gridiron football game during this stay. I missed the Argonauts by 2 days and both the York Lions and U of T Varsity Blues weren't playing in town either but I was at the right place at the right time to catch a match between Monsignor Paul Dwyer and Holy Trinity High Schools that was played at Dwyer in Oshawa. The atmosphere was very much like that at American high school games down here but Acajack was quite right in the other thread that some schools don't even have bleacher seats or any other amenities for viewers who either have to sit or stand on the grass or bring their own lawn chairs. This was true for Dwyer. Still, it was a very fun and exciting experience. The high point of the game was when the Holy Trinity punter recovered his own punt and ran for a touchdown
. Another gentleman sitting close by was confused by the play and was upset that the touchdown got awarded to the punter's team. I, the American, had to explain to him that in Canadian rules, a punter is allowed to run and recover his own punt because he is always onside. Likewise any other player standing
behind the punter is also "onside" and can do the same. It was a gutsy trick play for a high school team all right. I swear the 3 downs makes the game go faster, it only lasted 2 hours whereas American high school games can last a bit longer.
The Argonauts are so
not big in Toronto
. I visited three SportsCheks and one Hudson's Bay and could not find a men's T-shirt with the Argos' logo on it. SportsChek only had one rack of Argonauts merchandise whereas the Maple Leafs, Blue Jays, and Raptors had entire sections of the store devoted to them. I even saw American teams merchandise like the LA Dodgers, the Buffalo Bills, and (gasp!) our own Boston Red Sox. The sales clerk at Hudson's Bay told me he never even heard of the Argonauts and asked if they played
American football so that led me to think he probably never heard of
Canadian football either
. Oh well, it's back to online shopping I guess.
Canadian Funny Money: 15 rolls of pennies and two black 2022 toonies obtained this time, no Canadian half dollars or Voyageurs this time. My penny jars are filling up
.
Overall, in spite of the ugly incident on the TTC, it was a very fun and memorable experience and I hope to visit again, maybe as soon as next year. Cheers!
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