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Have most Torontonians been to Vancouver? Have most Vancouverites been to Toronto?
I think it is fairly common. Just about everyone in my family has been to the other city. I now have an Uncle that lives out west but even before he moved to Victoria we had already been out there for various reasons and at various times.
We've always flown though. I can't imagine driving that far.
It's a 4 hour flight and there's enough demand that there are multiple direct flights between the two cities every day. Toronto's the eastern airport hub in Canada while Vancouver's the western airport hub.
People living in Vancouver don't typically travel to Toronto unless they have family there or unless they need to do business there. I don't have family in Toronto, I've never been to Toronto. I have no need to visit Toronto unless for purely touristy reasons.
But there are tons of Ontarians living in Vancouver. They all have connections back to Toronto. But if we don't include them, I wouldn't say the average Vancouverite visits Toronto.
An old UBC professor of mine from Toronto was astounded that the average Vancouver-born-and-raised student in her lecture hadn't ever been to Toronto. Something completely unfathomable I suppose to somebody born and raised in Toronto.
I imagine there are way more Toronto-born-and-raised people living in Vancouver than vice versa, but this is purely speculation.
Vancouverites don't really have much reason to visit Toronto, which is a very generic North American city with not much of its own characteristics, ie. it can pass as any big city on the big screen as nothing stands out to claim "this is Toronto" except the 533 meter tall concrete tower;
On the other hand, Vancouverites tend to stay in their own small comfortable world believing (without personal experiencing) everything they have is the "best" already and there is really no need to go anywhere else. "We are not the biggest but we are the best".
That's my understanding.
I have a 50+ yo Toronto born coworker who has never been to even Ottawa or Montreal, not to mention Vancouver. It is not he doesn't travel. He does a lot in Europe and other continents, but just not so much in Canada. Guess it all depends.
Rightly or wrongly, Vancouver is viewed by most people as a much more attractive tourist destination than Toronto is: nicer esthetically (especially scenery-wise), nicer climate (in a Canadian context at least) and a more laid-back atmosphere.
Of course, these are all perceptions. But they are part of the reason people will fly all the way across the country to go to see Vancouver. Few people comparatively would do the same in the other direction just to "see" Toronto.
Although there is tons of stuff to do in Toronto, probably more than in Vancouver...
I live in Toronto (most of my life) and lived in Vancouver for a year in my late teens.
It seemed to me that most people I met in Vancouver had a pretty poor opinion of Toronto even though none that I met actually ever been to Toronto. This seems to be common to me when it comes to the largest city in a country. Ask anyone in say France that doesn't live in Paris what they think of it and they will probably tell you a bunch of negative stuff about it. Ask anyone in America that doesn't live in NYC what they think about it and you'll probably hear 20 reasons why they'd NEVER live there even though that's not what you asked them. Toronto has this same problem as most Canadian see it as this BIG BAD city which of course it isn't.
On the other hand most people that i know in Toronto have a good opinion of Vancouver as we realize that they have something we don't and vice versus and there's no reason to talk bad about it.
To answer your question, have most people in these cities vistited eachother... I would say that's a big NO.
1. They are 5000km+ apart
2. The flights are expensive so unless you have family or business to attend there's a good chance you fly somewhere closer, warmer, etc.
Someone said above that Vancouverites basically only travel to Toronto for business and I think that's correct for the most part (or family for that matter).
If you've ever been to Vancouver, you can see that it's such a beautiful city. Going to Toronto would only be good for that "big city feeling" which includes, well, a lot of business
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