It's telling that Toronto isn't on that list. It's taken me a decade of living here to really understand what makes this place tick, and one thing that's become clear is that a near universal friendliness to newcomers in both word and deed is a huge part of Toronto's identity. I've said it before in many conversations on the topic, but I think that this pervasive openness is going to do nothing but help Toronto's place on the world stage
I suspect Toronto's the most multicultural, international city on earth, and it's high on my list of places I'd live if I wasn't married to someone with zero tolerance for snow.
Unfortunately, Toronto still manages to suffer from a god-awful housing market made worse by insane NIMBYism in the most affluent and attractive neighborhoods. I think "I got mine, time to dig a moat around it" is a pretty universal phenomenon.
The snow really isn't a factor at all anymore. If you live right (near the subway & in a neighbourhood where you can get everything you may need in a pinch locally) you don't even notice it. I can probably count on one hand the number of days that I've been impacted by snow in the past few years.
In terms of NIMBYism, I don't think there's much more here than in similar cities. To my eye it's more about people being indifferent to the effects of gentrification on marginal populations, and a growing danger of homogeneity in many 'hoods.
Agreed. It would be nice to see Toronto build more of it's identity around this inclusiveness and openness. Surely the fact that Toronto is now the most diverse city in the world is worth trumpeting a little bit.
