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Old 01-19-2008, 03:09 PM   #1
amandakola
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Hey everyone!
I'm a 22 year old Irish psych&media grad, and moving to canada on my own for a year this april.
I'm trying to choose between Vancouver and Toronto, and I've heard great things about both. I'm loving how Vancouver can offer beaches, city and mountains in one place, however, Toronto is considerably closer to Chicago (my favourite city in the world, where i have some great friends.) Can anyone tell me which is pricier to live in, or what minimum wage is in either place? Would it at all be possible to survive working part time, and still pay rent?(in shared accom?)

Right now I'm working a stop gap job in urban outfitters here, so i will probably begin working in the UO in whichever city, but I would like to sooner or later get a 'proper job'! Does anyone know if there are more jobs available in the media industry (local radio, newspapers, independent publications?) in Vancouver or in Toronto?

Being in Ireland, I can certainly deal with the cold and am excited about the snow (we only get slush!) but am sick to death of the rain, so the less precipitation the better!

Oh and I guess the last thing is that my main passions are music (minus the bear, sufjan, dresden dolls blah blah blah) and feminism....anyone have any idea which city would offer the most of those?!

Thanks so much for any advice, I pretty much only made this decision a few weeks ago and am applying for my visa next friday, so am starting to panic a little about how unorganized I am!

Any other info you have for me is much appreciated!
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Old 01-19-2008, 03:12 PM   #2
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Just wanted to say welcome, really, we've got lots of Canadians on the boards, so I'm sure you'll hear from them soon!! By the way, I LOVE Urban Outfitters so much!
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Old 01-19-2008, 03:17 PM   #3
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I would also like to welcome you to Travel Punk. I have never been to Vancouver so I cannot offer any kind of comparison.
Toronto is a nice city one of my favorites in the world in fact however from what my family say the rents can be very high-something to consider perhaps.
On the other hand there is a lot to do and see there and so many international communities as well.
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Old 01-19-2008, 03:25 PM   #4
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my mom dated a guy who was from Vancouver and he said it rained A LOT there, and the climate overall was pretty mild in comparison to the rest of Canada, so if it's cold climate you're looking for most, maybe you might want to stick with Toronto. But he did say there's great skiing and stuff in Vancouver which means it must snow there.

we've got some girls on the boards from Toronto... benna2, teri, simply_angelic... and I think there may be more from Toronto also, it escapes my mind at the moment.

I've been to neither myself, I'd love to visit both, but am definately planning on at least Vancouver in the near future.

and I'm with Lauren - I LOVE Urban Outfitters!!!
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Old 01-19-2008, 03:32 PM   #5
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Hey! and welcome... I just moved from Toronto to Australia so I know a fair bit about the Tdot.. so let's start

Biggest city in Canada, very multicultural, VERY high rent. When you say you're ok with the cold... let's talk about cold for a second... we're talking -27 with the windchill sometimes.. and in the summer +36 with the humidity... so a HUGE gap in between seasons. the city is generally polite, safe and clean. and yes it is fairly close to the states. Living on your own in Toronto you're looking at $900+ a month for rent, plus living expenses.

As for Vancouver... I can't tell you anything about the rent. But they have a much more moderate climate... as long as you like rain........ they're right next to the rockies which means kick ass snowboarding and skiing. and yeah people surf there but you'd probably need a wetsuit... all around much more laid back atmosphere...

Not to bash Toronto toooo much but I find it a rather yuppie poser kind of place.. the club scene CAN be full of wannabee's, and drinks are way too expensive. But it's right on the lake which is really nice and you really just have to choose where and whom you hang out with.

I hope this helps some... and I hope I didn't put you off Toronto cause it really is a great city if you like diversity.
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Old 01-25-2008, 06:40 PM   #6
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Thanks for the welcomes everyone -and the advice!
After much deliberation I've decided to go to Toronto.. Vancouver sounds amazing, but I read it rains 170 days of the year. Plus the other things I've heard and read give me the impression Vancouver is great for activities and being outdoorsy while Toronto's that bit better for gigs and, well, buying stuff. Kinda more my scene. But it's the proximity to Chicago that's really sealing the deal for me!
Thanks for the heads up on rent, my *fingers crossed* budget is between $500-$570 and i took a look on Craigs list and there seems to be a decent amount of places in that range in decent parts of town.(for sharing with a bunch of strangers that is...)

I hear minimum wage is going up to $8.75 at the end of March, that true? I'm hoping to work part time, or even hold down two jobs part time like UO during the day and then get some kind of promotions job a night or two a week and still have three or four days off a week to soak in the city!

Well thanks for the info everyone!
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Old 01-27-2008, 03:27 PM   #7
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Good Luck! Keep us posted
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Old 01-27-2008, 04:23 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by amandakola View Post
Thanks for the welcomes everyone -and the advice!
After much deliberation I've decided to go to Toronto.. Vancouver sounds amazing, but I read it rains 170 days of the year. Plus the other things I've heard and read give me the impression Vancouver is great for activities and being outdoorsy while Toronto's that bit better for gigs and, well, buying stuff. Kinda more my scene. But it's the proximity to Chicago that's really sealing the deal for me!
Thanks for the heads up on rent, my *fingers crossed* budget is between $500-$570 and i took a look on Craigs list and there seems to be a decent amount of places in that range in decent parts of town.(for sharing with a bunch of strangers that is...)
Hey Amanda... welcome to the boards! and second, congrats on choosing T.O... I am born and raised in T.O - North York to be exact (NY till I die...)

Anyway Toronto's an awesome city, and I will elaborate why Toronto fucking rocks (although Canadians not from Toronto probably might not understand):

1. Toronto is the most multicultural city in the world. Anywhere you can travel to the world and taste new food... you can probably find that same culture and same authenticity in T.O... I can elaborate further when you move in. But these cultural areas are the defining features of Toronto... in about 1 hours brisk walking pace, you can go from little italy to little portugal to koreatown to chinatown.

2. Toronto's the heart of Canada's indie art/music scene (although I'm sure Montrealers will disagree). But there's tons of music, concerts, shows and all around random shit to keep you busy on the weekends. Check out one of T.O's free magazines to grasp what happens every week http://www.nowtoronto.com/

3. Toronto's large enough to be awesome, but clean and safe enough to be enjoyably lived (and people are, for the most part, friendly). Most shootings in Toronto are not random, and 99% is gang/drugs related. Downtown Toronto is (usually) VERY safe. There are rough areas in Etobicoe and Scarborough... but generally its a safe city.

4. Toronto's going to a major revival process now (and last few years) and are building tons of cool-ass new buildings like the new parts of OCAD aka. floating block of cheese: http://www.hughpearman.com/illustrat...o%20OCAD1b.jpg
Anyway its an exciting time to be in the city... it has already changed so much in the last 10 years... these are historic times for the city.

The thing are T.O is that its a city with many layers. I find that the more you explore the more you find too... that's why when ppl visit T.O for a day they're like, TOronto sucks. But T.O. takes time to get to know, and when you do you'll realise the city is amazing.
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Old 01-27-2008, 07:41 PM   #9
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It sounds like you've already decided, and I really think you couldn't have gone wrong...Toronto and Vancouver are both awesome places.

Personally if I could live anywhere in north america it would be Seattle or Vancouver, but that's just my preference...I don't mind the rain and I like outdoorsy stuff so the pacific northwest is my kind of place.

It sounds like you've got some good reasoning to pick Toronto though. Chicago is about an 8 hour drive, plus the time it takes US immigration to waterboard you at the border. There are a couple cool things to do between Toronto and Chicago....if you have any interest in baseball you could catch a Tigers game in Detroit, they should be really fun to watch next season. And Ann Arbor is a fun college town to party in if you get sick of the big cities.

And welcome to tpunk!
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Old 01-28-2008, 05:00 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Canadian Bacon View Post
Hey Amanda... welcome to the boards! and second, congrats on choosing T.O... I am born and raised in T.O - North York to be exact (NY till I die...)

Anyway Toronto's an awesome city, and I will elaborate why Toronto fucking rocks (although Canadians not from Toronto probably might not understand):

1. Toronto is the most multicultural city in the world. Anywhere you can travel to the world and taste new food... you can probably find that same culture and same authenticity in T.O... I can elaborate further when you move in. But these cultural areas are the defining features of Toronto... in about 1 hours brisk walking pace, you can go from little italy to little portugal to koreatown to chinatown.

2. Toronto's the heart of Canada's indie art/music scene (although I'm sure Montrealers will disagree). But there's tons of music, concerts, shows and all around random shit to keep you busy on the weekends. Check out one of T.O's free magazines to grasp what happens every week http://www.nowtoronto.com/

3. Toronto's large enough to be awesome, but clean and safe enough to be enjoyably lived (and people are, for the most part, friendly). Most shootings in Toronto are not random, and 99% is gang/drugs related. Downtown Toronto is (usually) VERY safe. There are rough areas in Etobicoe and Scarborough... but generally its a safe city.

4. Toronto's going to a major revival process now (and last few years) and are building tons of cool-ass new buildings like the new parts of OCAD aka. floating block of cheese: http://www.hughpearman.com/illustrat...o%20OCAD1b.jpg
Anyway its an exciting time to be in the city... it has already changed so much in the last 10 years... these are historic times for the city.

The thing are T.O is that its a city with many layers. I find that the more you explore the more you find too... that's why when ppl visit T.O for a day they're like, TOronto sucks. But T.O. takes time to get to know, and when you do you'll realise the city is amazing.
Ack, your talk of Toronto makes me want to visit it now. I'm only 8 hours away here in Indiana, so the drive isn't to bad. That may have to be a 5-7 day little vacation this summer!
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Old 01-28-2008, 06:25 AM   #11
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Originally Posted by MolsonGirl View Post
When you say you're ok with the cold... let's talk about cold for a second... we're talking -27 with the windchill sometimes.. and in the summer +36 with the humidity... so a HUGE gap in between seasons.
Anythings better than day after day of monotonous rain upon rain. I missed this years snow, I slept in and by the time I woke up the rain had washed it away. We got about one week of summer last year it just rained the rest of the time.
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