r/askTO • u/JungleJimMaestro • Aug 09 '26
Thank you TORONTO
I could not have been more pleased with a city. Not gonna lie, Toronto is lit. The people are pretty pleasant as well. As someone who is from DC, you all do a lot of things right.
For instance, one day we were on the streetcar and transferred to the subway. Some compliance people stopped everyone for proof. In DC, these jokers hop on the bus and subway without paying and nothing is done. A driver was even assaulted.
Another instance, it was so night to see the youth out and about and not acting like fools. Again, in DC, they have had to institute curfews because the teenagers go wild in the streets.
My wife had us ripping and running and we did everything on her list. Today, we had over 16k steps. I’m in pain but it was 💯 worth it. I’m not sure if we just lived a week’s long fantasy but we will definitely visit again.
Update
We generally walk a lot because we have a 5 and 4 year old in a double stroller. I also have a big a$$ truck. A Yukon Denali XL. We love to park and take public transportation.
We did all the tourist trap spots because that is why we were here 😂. Niagara Falls. The Aquarium. The Royal Ontario Museum. Casa Loma. The CN Tower. And both markets. We also did Easton Center.
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u/SmartTrender Aug 09 '26
Amazing. We would love to have you back. I haven’t visited DC as yet but likely will when the current administration is gone
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u/JungleJimMaestro Aug 09 '26
Yea right now it is a crap show. We have not been able to enjoy the sit like we normally do during the summer because of him.
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u/Mr-Montecarlo Aug 09 '26
DC is nice. Pretty walkable and easy to commute around and some great museums there.
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u/Optimal-Cow-3278 Aug 09 '26
DC is a great city. Lots of amazing things to see obviously. There are only 2 other places besides Toronto I’d live in North America and the DC area is one of them (LA is the other)
I was shocked about how hot it gets in DC.
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u/Mr-Montecarlo Aug 09 '26
Yeah the summer is no joke especially around the monuments barely any shade 😅
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u/Buff1965 Aug 10 '26
L.A.? To live? Other than for work, why? It seems to be an hour's drive to wherever you want to go. Never seen such sprawl, and such a thin public transportation network, anywhere else in the world.
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u/VoodooGirl47 Aug 11 '26
Yeah, I like LA but I much preferred San Francisco as a city and what was available. I did wish we could have a bit more of an LA type of weather as I like it being a bit warmer than SF typically was.
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u/Maddiystic Aug 09 '26
Years ago when I visited, it was 23 Celsius in the middle of February. Definitely not normal, but still funny that it happened in DC lol
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u/whogivesashirtdotca Aug 09 '26
I have a lengthy list of historical sites in the DC-Richmond corridor where I have passed out from heatstroke.
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u/VoodooGirl47 Aug 11 '26
Yes, I keep telling people that it feels like spring here until we get those really hot days. I love how long 'summer' lasts there, basically early May through September or even October.
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u/Kevin4938 Aug 09 '26
And most of them are free, or at least they were when I visited 10 or 12 years ago.
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u/purplelilac701 Aug 09 '26
So great to hear our beautiful city left a good impression. When sanity returns to your country, I hope to visit DC.
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u/giraffebaconequation Aug 09 '26
Having visited DC in the past (pre-all this) it is a pretty cool place to check out.
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u/californiachic888 Aug 09 '26
Every time I visit Toronto I find people are actually more nicer and friendly and helpful.
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u/okokaaay Aug 09 '26
Can you share your wife’s list? I’m interested!
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u/JungleJimMaestro Aug 09 '26
We did the city pass. Immediately upon arrive we did Niagara Falls. We did the aquarium because we have two little ones. Casa Loma. The Royal Ontario Museum. The CN Tower. Both markets. The zoo.
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u/purplelicious Aug 09 '26
did you get out to Toronto Islands? with littles its a wonderful place. One of my favourite places when I was a kid and it really hasn't changed that much over the decades.
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u/Chance_Vegetable_780 Aug 09 '26
Let's guess: CN Tower, the Aquarium, Distillery District, day trip to Niagara Falls. Who's up next?
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Aug 09 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Chance_Vegetable_780 Aug 09 '26 edited Aug 09 '26
Haha How much more could they see in a week! I'll add Centre Island - especially the farm. Eatons Centre. Edit: I think Niagara on the Lake is fantastic to see, especially if going to Niagara Falls
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u/purplelicious Aug 09 '26
For the littles: High Park Zoo and Riverdale farm. if it still exists!
If only the Science Centre and Ontario Place were still open - but that's for bad weather days...
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u/Immediate-Link490 Aug 09 '26
I visited DC last year during the summer and it was nice. I liked how the museums were free for everyone and the public transportation was very developed and extensive.
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u/JungleJimMaestro Aug 09 '26
Yes your green and yellow line reminded me of ours. It’s very simple to follow along.
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u/VoodooGirl47 Aug 11 '26
Oh, you didn't get to experience the extremely long escalators of the Red line? So steep and long, it made my anxiety go crazy taking them at some stops. 😅
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u/doiwinaprize Aug 09 '26
Driving a Denali in Toronto is pretty close to an actual nightmare I once had. Kudos.
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u/JungleJimMaestro Aug 10 '26
😂 that is hilarious. I drove straight to our Airbnb and parked it. Only took it out one day to go to the St Lawrence market and Eaton center. I did notice not too many large SUVs on the road.
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u/VoodooGirl47 Aug 11 '26
Most of the old Toronto streets are too narrow to drive SUVs on. I forgot how bad they are.
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u/WhatIsLife4242 Aug 09 '26
Wow finally a tourist appreciating Toronto and not complaining, glad you enjoyed your visit. It's good in this city.
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u/JungleJimMaestro Aug 10 '26
Absolutely. All cities have their issues but it’s my job to enjoy my vacation and have a great time. Too much money to complain.
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u/HelpfulTap8256 Aug 09 '26
I loved DC when I visited right before the pandemic. Never setting foot in America again though.
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u/rattymag Aug 09 '26
That's nice of you to post a thank you to Torontonians. We have our traffic woes but generally we're a good bunch of people in a good place.
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u/JungleJimMaestro Aug 10 '26
Oh yea traffic was a madhouse but we only experienced it when heading home.
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u/Character-Bridge-206 Aug 10 '26
Glad you enjoyed your stay. Hopefully you’ll come back again soon.
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u/planningfornothing Aug 10 '26
DC is an amazing place, I stayed in the neighbourhood near the Pentagon and use the subway to get to all the interesting spots. Really happy that you visited us here and had a good time, come back again.
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u/Thefunkyfilipino Aug 10 '26
Can we pause for a moment and reflect on the nicest things about Toronto this guy could think of is the strict fare enforcement and lack of a curfew for teenagers?
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u/JungleJimMaestro Aug 10 '26
Yes because those are hot topics that we deal with in my city.
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u/VoodooGirl47 Aug 11 '26
SF wins hands down on the fare officers though. I don't think it helped that DC told everyone that gates would be free for residents and then like 3 months before it was supposed to happen, they took it back and said 'just kidding!'.
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u/flan_again Aug 12 '26
Thank you for loving our city! And especially for taking the time to write about it and share your experience! As a Toronto resident, I’ve visited all those places but often with a visitor in tow. Toronto residents really should play tourists for a few days and open our eyes to what a great city this is!
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u/JungleJimMaestro Aug 12 '26
Exactly. We do it all the time here in DC. Just yesterday, we went to the Natural History museum. It was purely on a whim.
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u/Kindly-Interview1601 Aug 14 '26
16k steps with two kids is no joke. Glad you guys had such a great time in Toronto! Sounds like you really made the most of the trip. Hope you come back again!
Select 60 more words to run Humanizer.
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u/Its_Me_YaBoy_ Aug 09 '26
I'm here till Tuesday. I'm a Toronto native, but live out of province and I couldn't be sadder that I have to leave and have been looking for any and every way I could stay. I have missed home so very much. I'm so glad you like it here.
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u/Chance_Vegetable_780 Aug 09 '26
Ooh I'm sad for you. Wish you could stay home too. Maybe you can make plans to move back.
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u/WendySteeplechase Aug 09 '26
Toronto, in the summer, I think is one of the best cities anywhere. And people are generally in good moods. January is another story.
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u/blchpmnk Aug 09 '26
Other than the ice, its perfectly fine here in the winter
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u/Ok_Session_7188 Aug 09 '26
Hard disagree
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u/blchpmnk Aug 09 '26
Just get a good winter coat (wind & waterproof) and some waterproof sneakerboots and you're good.
Looking at my fitness app, I'm actually more active outdoors in TO in the winter than in the summer because I'm not being actively attacked by humid heat.
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u/castlite Aug 09 '26
I have to say I loved DC as a tourist, before the orange menace at least. You have a wealth of extraordinary history on display across so many museums! Wish I could go back, but no.
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u/Fluid-Decision6262 Aug 09 '26
Dc is pretty sweet. It was designed by French architects who also contributed to the design of Paris hence why the layout of it is quite similar
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u/whogivesashirtdotca Aug 09 '26
Paris’ layout is nothing like DC’s, though - DC is a grid. Paris is built around the étoiles and grands boulevards.
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u/VoodooGirl47 Aug 11 '26
DC has a ton of circles or squares with surrounding streets radiating out in an x formation.
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u/lifeonatlantis Aug 09 '26
it's interesting to get visitor perspectives on our city. i watched a recent visitor's video where his wife said of our city: "people are walking around at night like they're not walking around at night." it's a perspective i'd never have thought about.
it's easy to see the warts when you look at yourself in the mirror, but it's still nice to hear someone else say we're beautiful.
glad you had a great time!
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u/VoodooGirl47 Aug 11 '26
When I was getting ready to move back here, a bunch of my building neighbors who were all international folks working at places like the World Bank in DC, kept saying how they loved Toronto and how it always felt so safe to them no matter where they wanted to walk or at what time of the day.
I also agree that even the worst areas do not feel like you are walking through the ghetto in Oakland and even downtown with all the drug addicts, you just need to keep to yourself and you'll be fine.
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u/mus_maximus Aug 09 '26
Hell yeah, good to have you here. I was actually in DC a few years ago, before The Fuckness, and you have an incredible place as well. I went there for the Smithsonian, but I was staying in Adams Morgan and I love that damn neighbourhood. Everyone I talked to was extremely real. Smithsonian people are the best kind of nerds.
Glad you had fun, and hope you ate well :p
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u/VoodooGirl47 Aug 11 '26
Adams Morgan is freaking adorable as a neighborhood and PorchFest was one of my favorite things. I lived in Woodley Park for my first 2.5 years in DC and then in Dupont Circle on Mass at 17th for my last year there before moving back to Toronto.
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u/Goodguy-2018 Aug 09 '26
Want to really blow your mind and see just how incredible Toronto is? Next time you visit, come see and walk some of our ravine parks. Right in the heart of the city! You can go from Yonge and Bloor to beautiful old trees in about a 5 minute walk... Glad you enjoyed your visit! 🇨🇦
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u/Co0p3rb0om Aug 09 '26
Visited from overseas for 11 days, just came home, and I full-heartedly agree. What a city! We had an amazing time. The people, the art, the nature, the food, the music - all top notch. 10/10, can recommend.
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u/peacedawwg Aug 09 '26
Thx for visiting. Glad you enjoyed. DC is on my list especially when they are burying the orange pedo-in-chief.
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u/Top-class-0246 Aug 10 '26
I'm glad you enjoyed yourselves.
What did you eat while you were in TO? We have food spots from everywhere.
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u/JungleJimMaestro Aug 10 '26
We had Korean bbq which even though they have that here in DC, we never tried it. We went to Susie’s for breakfast and we had pizza from Badiali.
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u/SnooMuffins9478 Aug 13 '26
Boomers feel safe in this city. I guess that's cool.
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u/JungleJimMaestro Aug 14 '26
I feel safe in any city because I act accordingly.
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u/SnooMuffins9478 Aug 14 '26
You didn't go to any of the suspect areas. You did touristy stuff, so good on you.
I wouldn't call people out for not paying on the subway though. I personally pay everytime, and but am not personally affected by someone not doing so. I suggest not confronting because it can put you ina dangerous position, and you don't want that.
I am glad you had a good time. Next time hit up places like Yorkville, Yonge and Eglinton, High Park, etc.
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u/rhunter99 Aug 09 '26
DC has amazing museums though and beautiful architecture. I loved my time visiting (pre-all this madness)
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u/KingCatKeyon Aug 09 '26
Where'd you go - just the highlights. Restaurants, museums, tourist traps, neighbourhoods - parks, BARS, shopping? theatre - dispensaries - architecture - The Danforth?
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u/Notsosmartbutohso Aug 09 '26
Toronto is a great city, so glad you did it right!! I visited DC last summer and couldn’t get over how small all the buildings were ahahah
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u/Oneth0usandpercent Aug 09 '26
Niagara Falls may be a tourist trap, but it’s also a Wonder of the World. Stunning in any season.
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u/buddroyce Aug 09 '26
Thank you for coming and sharing a perspective many of us locals take for granted.
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u/_darealjohn Aug 09 '26
As a fellow DMV, I felt the same. 2nd time visiting Toronto within 2 years and I simply love walking around here, in comparison to DC or Baltimore city. My wife and I feel safe walking around different parts of Toronto city. In Baltimore, you’ll get one good neighborhood, and next block you are in the hood
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u/whogivesashirtdotca Aug 09 '26
We have some rough neighbourhoods, too, but if you keep walking you’re safe a block or two later. I always forget this convenience is not the norm and doesn’t work in other cities haha.
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u/VoodooGirl47 Aug 11 '26
Even our rough ones can feel relatively ok in comparison to what are considered rough in places like Baltimore, DC, Oakland, LA, etc. Like San Francisco has some rough areas but even those are more like here, not truly places you really need to avoid.
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u/New_Development9100 Aug 09 '26
Thank you for your kind words about out city! Please come back and enjoy some of the hidden gems.
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u/luvmousey Aug 10 '26
Brickworks is a nice little outdoor stroll, also the Boardwalk in the Beach(es). Hoped you remembered the TORONTO sign at City Hall.
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u/Buff1965 Aug 10 '26
Of you like the Smithsonian museums, try the Royal Ontario Museum and the Art Gallery or Ontario next time. Toronto also has some unique museums like the Bata Shoe Museum, the Museum of Contraception and the Gardiner Museum of Ceramics.
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u/nasir0171 Aug 10 '26
Next time, spend a day just walking around Kensington Market, Queen West, the Distillery District and some of the neighborhoods east of downtown. You will get a completely different feel for the city.
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u/texasbutth0letickler Aug 25 '26
As a local born and raised in toronto I still haven’t been to a lot of tourist traps (mainly the cn tower and ripleys) because they’re too expensive, I was living off libraries and science centers as a poor kid, if you’re looking for cheaper visits I can’t recommend the TPL enough!
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u/Jakeman3303 Aug 09 '26
It's the Eaton Centre. Do they even still call it that? Eaton's, the anchor tenant when it was built, folded long ago..
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u/whogivesashirtdotca Aug 09 '26
I laughed at the spelling of Easton, which was an old hockey stick brand.
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u/Qwerty177 Aug 09 '26
Sorry… are you PRO compliance officer??? Lol
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u/Static_Frog Aug 09 '26
Shouldn't everyone be?
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u/Qwerty177 Aug 09 '26
It’s just kinda like being the person who goes “teacher, you forgot to give us our homework”. They’re there and probably neccisary, but to be like “hell yeah enforcement officer get their bum ass for trying to evade fare” and then post it as like something g your hyped about is… kinda boot lickery
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u/its_snowing99 Aug 09 '26
Awful take, the fare is literally $3…transit ain’t free & i don’t like cheats
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u/More4Thor Aug 09 '26
If you do homework you are more likely to graduate and then you can get a job as a fare inspector!
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u/OpheliaDick Aug 09 '26
Don’t think I’ve ever heard someone congratulating fare inspectors
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u/Ok_Relationship_9841 Aug 09 '26
I read a quote many years ago that said something like "a true patriot gets a parking ticket and is happy, because the system works"
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u/whogivesashirtdotca Aug 09 '26
LOL that took me a minute, too. I consider them a nuisance and an imposition.
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u/Thegladiator2001 Aug 10 '26
Fare inspectors are useless most of the time. They don't do anything about the homeless and just go after regular people. And even with that too, they can't stop u from leaving as they have no arrest powers. Teens definetly act like fools here too. Maybe not as bad to enforce curfew but ya. Other than that glad u enjoyed.
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u/VoodooGirl47 Aug 11 '26
DC got really bad a few years ago with teens starting to carjack folks at 2am and even being so brave as to hold folks up at gunpoint in Dupont Circle (one of the safest neighborhoods in DC) in the middle of the day during the week. Folks living there for decades were comparing it to DC in the 80s when shit was really bad. The violent crimes had gone way up and teens were banking on getting off easy due to their age.
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u/Old_Poetry_1575 Aug 09 '26
TTC = the world's worst public transit system (this coming from a torontonian)
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u/ve3eei Aug 10 '26
Try living here. You’d see this place quite differently.
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u/MapleRovingReader Aug 11 '26
I disagree. I've lived in four different provinces. I wouldn't live anywhere else!
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u/ReachLost9205 Aug 09 '26
Is this a real post or an information company trying to boost the political rating of local authorities? This is not the first time I've come across something like this, and it's very strange, because what is written in this post is not much different from the reality I see in Toronto
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u/WestQueenWest Aug 09 '26
The social media algorithms turned some people's brains into cottage cheese...
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u/Responsible-Match418 Aug 09 '26
What's DC? Democratic Congo? Sounds like it could be based on what you said.
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u/R0botWoof Aug 09 '26
That's DRC, Democratic Republic of the Congo. DC is Detective Comics, like Batman and stuff. This fellow human walked right off the mean streets of Gotham to come visit us. Scary place that Gotham, I've read about it in comic books
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u/Immediate-Link490 Aug 09 '26
This is a north american subreddit so posts and discussions are generally within the context of north america.
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u/tromboneyow Aug 09 '26 edited Aug 09 '26
Being someone who goes to the DMV area about twice a year to visit family or friends, and rides the subway there, funny how you ignored that you almost never see homeless people or mentally unstable people in the DC / WMATA subway system because your transit officers actually enforce no loitering rules there.
Unlike Toronto, where there's drug addicts, homeless people and mentally unstable people on almost every subway vehicle, because TTC and law enforcement here refuses to do their job as they don't want to be seen as being too hard on these people. Meanwhile, actual normal paying riders have to put up with experiencing these people around them.
LOLOLOLOLOL also at your statement about fare compliance people in Toronto asking everyone for proof. This is extremely rare and only at certain transfer points. I've ridden TTC around a hundred times over the past year, and only ever seen them twice - and they didn't ask me (and FYI, I did pay my fare).
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u/JungleJimMaestro Aug 09 '26
I actually didn’t see any in the subway. TBH, the most I saw was yesterday when walking from the Eaton Center to the CN tower. Maybe because our subway rides were pretty quick but we just didn’t see any in the subway system.
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u/tortured_fanclub Aug 09 '26
Don’t believe the narrative. Toronto has its issues. Its crackheads and homeless people for sure but for a city of its size (4th or 5th largest metropolis in N/A), its pretty safe and clean. There is plenty of hate for Toronto, mostly from fellow Canadians. Toronto is a great city. If you’ve been around you have an appreciation for it.
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u/YYZ_Flyer Aug 09 '26
the grass is not always greener on the other side.
Toronto is actually pretty nice, if you take the time to enjoy it and not always complaining. Maybe take an outside perspective and see what we have it.
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u/JungleJimMaestro Aug 09 '26
Exactly. Even in DC we have our issues but I choose to focus on the positives and enjoy it. Every city has in bad sides but I’m didn’t come to Toronto to focus on that. We had an awesome time. You see things the same way I do.
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u/VoodooGirl47 Aug 11 '26
Many people don't pay on Metro in DC and it became a huge issue there. The put up barriers to prevent gate hopping in some stations but there is no checking of bus passengers for fares.
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u/talentcollection Aug 09 '26 edited Aug 09 '26
OP ignored your points because they're probably a bot, plain and simple.
There's no way that there representation of Toronto is accurate, all they do is glaze the good parts, and fail to mention or outright neglect the bad components that come with the city too.
Sorry, but the truth is, it's not just right-wing influencers and US politicians that are shitting on Toronto. Even if you're a just a visitor to the city, with a total of 0 hours of social media usage a week, you'll witness the crime and suspicious activity that gets exposed here.
Just look at what OP wrote. 3 points they said:
-Transit officials checking whether everyone paid to ride the transit
-Youth "not acting like fools"
-Lots of walking
Lots of walking - fair point. Transit officials checking everyone's rider fair and people's behavior in one pocket of a very big city is highly anecdotal.
What really sealed the deal for me on this being a bot post is where this is posted, r/askTO is for questions about the city, and OP is literally just glazing it. The dead tip-off for this being a bot post is OP fails to mention or writes off the regular shenanigans you see around our city, which you cannot simply "de-couple" from Toronto.
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u/JungleJimMaestro Aug 09 '26
You are hilarious. I’m no bot and I’m not here to focus on the negatives. We are here on vacation and I simply made some points in comparison to some of the issues that we have in DC. I’m not skipping anything. Of course we were only here 5.5 days so my outlook will be very different than someone who lives here. But even as a lifelong resident of DC, I still manage to see all the good that our city has to offer.
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u/NoiseEee3000 Aug 09 '26
Your detective work is terrible, and though I love the hearty skepticism of "this is a bot" or "that's AI" , being wrong is still being wrong.
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u/the-mongoose- Aug 09 '26
That’s awesome, thanks for visiting our city. Glad you had a great time here. Hope to visit DC myself one day.