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kkgg7 got me quite pissed off about the info he said. Toronto is not anywhere like 1/4 size of new york, have you take a look of Toronto 2010. Damm you guys are not looking at a different angle of toronto and looking at 360 degrees new york. I Love both Canada and NY. but im living in TO 2 years now and Lived 2 years in NYC, and moved to TO. Toronto, less crime, not smaller skyline, just google Toronto Skyline and it absolutely comparable to NY, i dunno where chicago comes in.
kkgg7 got me quite pissed off about the info he said. Toronto is not anywhere like 1/4 size of new york, have you take a look of Toronto 2010. Damm you guys are not looking at a different angle of toronto and looking at 360 degrees new york. I Love both Canada and NY. but im living in TO 2 years now and Lived 2 years in NYC, and moved to TO. Toronto, less crime, not smaller skyline, just google Toronto Skyline and it absolutely comparable to NY, i dunno where chicago comes in.
Not so sure about that... I can count quite a few Toronto's in this NYC arial pic. And the NY pic's a couple decades old on top of that.
stop saying toronto and chicago, chicago sucks but yeah, toronto 2010 is absolutely comparable to nyc. so dont talk BullS**t.
Let's be honest. Toronto may be a livable city (high cost aside) with low crime etc, but it is not a glamorous city. There is no way Toronto's skyline is as beautiful as Chicago's.
Toronto needs a lot more 200M+ buildings east of Yonge St and between CN tower and Bay St to fill those gaps. I mean well-designed buildings, not like those cheap looking glass towers by the lake.
Internationally, New York and Hong Kong dominate the skyline ranking. Chicago comes third probably. Toronto may be among the top 5, but I am afraid it will be out soon as cities like Shanghai are developing with 20 times the speed.
Toronto and NYC are not on the same league in all aspects, and never have been. I said Toronto is 1/4 of New York as a slightly exaggerated compliment. It is not there yet.
stop saying toronto and chicago, chicago sucks but yeah, toronto 2010 is absolutely comparable to nyc. so dont talk BullS**t.
Woah there. I'm a Torontonian who loves his city, but lets not go overboard. Only a couple skylines in the world can compare with the sheer size and density of New York's. And why the Chicago hate? Chicago is an awesome city with a great skyline (and definately a better planned one than Toronto's).
But who the hell decides to live in a city based on it's skyline anyways? Its whats on the ground that counts.
Oh no doubt, it's a great skyline, and it holds up pretty well against its international counterparts. But it isn't nearly as big as NY, and it seems quite a bit more... "untamed" than Chicago, which IMO has the most graceful skyline in the world.
I really do love Toronto's skyline, I was just responding to someone who said that Toronto's skyline was as big as New York's, and that Chicago sucks.
IT JOBS
NY for IT work is MUCH better with MUCH HIGHER salaries. Period. I've had trouble finding IT work here and never in NY. Even with a bad economy I get responses from NY. Perhaps its because many jobs here require specific finance or banking experience which I don't have. Though if you do, you may be okay, but keep in mind you will be competing with a lot of new immigrants and the unemployment in Toronto (7%) is higher than NY Metro (5.2). Funny NY is more of a financial center but it is less of an issue. And with my conversations with various IT recruiters in Toronto they ALL say things have really slowed down here! They all say the same thing as well.. the market and salaries are better in Calgary. But I don't want to live in Calgary...
SUBWAYS AND TRANSPORTATION
Subways are CHEAPER in NY ($2 per ride in NY 2.75 in Toronto) dunno why the person above said its more expensive. It is NOT 24 hours in Toronto (unlike NYC). It is expensive to fly out of Pearson (high Canadian taxes on flights.. so drive to Buffalo). You may think you are getting a cheap 200 r/t flight to NY but with taxes that is 350. I have flown to NY for the weekend from Buffalo for 140! Which explains why at least half of the cars at BUF airport are Canadian! From NY you have 2 choices for international gateways and it is much cheaper to fly to Europe, South America, Asia, etc. I have flown to Australia from JFK for 1,400 including tax and a free layover in Tahiti!
LIVING EXPENSE
Toronto is cheaper for buying a flat. But there are suburbs of NY that are NOT expensive especically when you take into account higher salaries. Food is the same BUT you get double taxed.. Federal and Provincial tax so it costs more in the end. So do cars (much higher than the US). Groceries are higher (I stock up when I am in Buffalo). Car insurance is MUCH higher! I was shocked! And you have to bring paperwork from your state DMV proving you have been licensed for as long as you have and letters from your insurance companies saying how long you have been insured to get the best rate. I was paying 1,200 a year for a car garaged in a NYC suburb for a late model Saab, it jumped close to 1,900 here - and I shopped around.
SAFETY
I don't know about safety but it seems I'm always hearing about drugs busts here, a kid killed there, murder here and there so I am not sure if it is safer. It is smaller though (around 6 mill in metro versus 22 mill in NY metro) so it should be safer. I can tell you that in my 18 years of living in New York City I have never been mugged, harrassed, attacked, etc. And I do not know any of my friends who have. I guess as far as both or any cities are concerned just know where to go and not to go. And NY crime statistics have been on a steady decline.
CULTURAL LIFE
Always something happening in NY. Broadway/off Broadway. 12 months out of the year. The Metropolitan Museum is top notch and the price to get in is suggested. The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is nice but its about $22 to get in (ouch) except on Friday night. You can spend a day at the ROM, the Met will require at least 3 days.
BEACHES IN THE SUMMER
Lake versus ocean. I miss the sand dunes of long island. You decide if you want to swim in the ocean or on a lake.
PROXIMITY TO OTHER CITIES FOR GETAWAYS
From NY you can weekend in Boston, Philly, DC. Toronto you can go to Ottawa, Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit and Montreal. Buffalo surprised me by how nice the architecture can be.
WINTERS
Colder and snowier. no question. But its mild for Canada.
HEALTH CARE
I do not understand why Canadians complain, at least you get it. In the US you get it from your employer and I had wonderful private coverage. I had an accident and needed minor cosmetic surgery that cost 10,000 USD from a top notch NY doctor in a top notch NY hospital. It cost me 0 dollars since I called an ambulance to take me there. It would have cost me 2000 if I took a cab! The one thing they don;t really tell you if you have no insurance and go to emergency rooms in the US (hospital that takes public funds) they have to treat you! And if you can't pay you can negotiatie. I know 2 illegal migrants in the US that had heart attacks and had thousands of dollars in debt, they made arrangements to pay 50 bucks a month to the hospital til paid. My friends who work in ER in NY hospitals say the same thing. So no universal health but if there is an emergency, its kind of a secret thing. Shhhhh...
SUMMARY
So good luck with your decision. I like Toronto, I have always wanted to live here. But now that I am here, I have come to realise that for my career I am better off where I started (NY). Especially what I experienced first hand searching for an IT job. Everyone's circumstance will be different. Toronto is more like Chicago than NY and you get to live in a good country (Canada). The US then again is also a good country (except for those pesky states that voted wrong for the past 8 years).
lived in both places. now, nyc is definitely safe for US cities, but Toronto is a different category in terms of safety. never felt safer in any other city. never felt safer in any other country, as a matter of fact.
also, almost never spent a dime on medical bills when employed in Canada, while my insurance in US which costs about the same when OHIP tax is taken into account always tries to make me pay out of pocket. and there's a deductible amount as well.
i agree ocean beaches are nicer, but long island beaches are just so so. one has to go to florida for some nicer US beaches.
in terms of job opportunities in most lines of work, and cultural life, i don't think Toronto can come close to NYC. that's the best aspect of NYC, enough to cancel out a lot of its vices.
Toronto is a city with a lot of character though, even if it's not as nicely kept as Montreal or as happening as NYC.
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