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I'm a diehard Angeleno (the real kind, not the kind you see on TV) coming to visit Toronto for the first time in a few weeks. I'm an arty/creative type I guess, or at least those are the kinds of things I like to do in my free time (I'm a planner by education and sort of by trade).
I love cities of all kinds (literally all kinds--I'm not a new urbanist or any specific kind of urbanist at all) and I've been looking forward to visiting TO for a while, mainly because of the diversity. I've spent a lot of time in the world's other very diverse cities (London, NYC, and of course LA) and I'm always interested in seeing the differences in how diversity plays out in the local culture and what happens when different mixes of people come together.
What I'm hoping to get from some Torontans are the following recommendations:
1. Places where I can really see TO's brand of diversity in action (not touristy places, but maybe new suburbs where unique dynamics/frictions/collaborations/hybridizations are at play).
2. Places where the true young art/culture/music scene hangs out/shows/etc. I'm talking highbrow here or at least close (I can't stand lowbrow, wannabe "street" art/cafe art that's the same in every city on the planet). In other words, I don't want to be pointed to the place where the fixie kids or the shep fairey wannabes or the fashion coke hipsters hang out. I want a real art kid neighborhood/scene. From what I've seen online, all the "cool" neighborhoods are on the west side (w queen w, ossington, college, etc.). Is this actually true or just media crap? I wouldn't mind travelling further out to find something more interesting. If anyone's familiar with LA, I'm not necessarily looking for the Los Feliz/Silver Lake/Echo Park, but rather the Highland Park/Lincoln Heights/W. Adams/Chinatown/etc. Or, for NYC: not Williamsburg or LES, but more like BedStuy, Bushwick, etc.
3. Weird, totally unique kitschy off the tourist map Toronto stuff. Is that shoe museum cool? What are the cool ruins, strange parks, one-of-a-kind restaurants, folk art monuments, ridiculous architecture, etc.? I'm talking things like St. Louis's city museum, Oakland's Fairyland, London's Hampstead Heath, or again, if familiar with LA: watt's towers, clifton's cafeteria, sunken city, nazi camp, museum of jurassic technology, etc. These are my favorite things to see when I visit a city (in other words, not so interested in the distillery district...)
I'm really looking forward to the trip: riding the streetcars, seeing Alsop's OCAD building, going to the top of the CN tower, going out to the islands etc.. but of course also doing a lot more off-the-beaten path stuff.
Thanks so much for any and all suggestions!
Also, I might go to Montreal for a day--Toronto is hipper/artsier than Montreal now, right? Or is that still controversial? I've been to Montreal a couple times before, btw.
Hi dweebo, wish I could help with this but have absolutely no clue. I would take a shot at searching then asking on the Reddit Toronto forum. I really don't know what would appeal to an artsy person. At Blogto.com, maybe check out 'Arts' under 'City and Culture. Under 'City Guide' there's also 'Art Galleries'. There's also the Toronto.com website Arts Category (Theatre Guide, Visual Arts, Museum Exhibits). All these links can be found in the Reddit Toronto sidebar as well.
Also, I might go to Montreal for a day--Toronto is hipper/artsier than Montreal now, right? Or is that still controversial? I've been to Montreal a couple times before, btw.
There is no controversy about whether Toronto or Montreal is hipper/artsier, but there is no consensus either. Some people prefer one city, others prefer the other.
What about #1 and #3? I understand that I'd probably have to find a practicing artist on here to answer #2, but what about interesting neighborhoods with unique diversity dynamics?
And someone here has to know some out of the way "weird/unique/bizarre/hidden" Toronto stuff, right?
Here's some upcoming festivals in Toronto. The Luminato arts festival has interesting stuff all over the city, though it's gotten mixed reviews in the last couple of years. The Clown Festival might be interesting.
Tons of art galleries in Toronto, aside from the AGO. Some neighbourhoods you might find interesting/artsy/diverse (although might find a few "faux-hipsters") : Kensington Market, Cabbagetown, The Annex, Queen Street West. Will post more thoughts later when I have time.
Like ThroatGuzzler suggested, try asking your questions about the city on urbantoronto.ca, I'm sure some of the forumers on there will be glad to help you out.
Maybe you would find Hamilton interesting since quite a few Toronto based artists have moved there. Gentrification in the downtown core of Toronto has made it difficult for creatives to maintain spaces here. Queen West, Liberty Village, Parkdale, the Junction and even Bloor and Landsdowne have become increasingly expensive places to live.
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: Kensington Market, Cabbagetown, The Annex, Queen Street West. Will post more thoughts later when I have time.
