Trip to TO

After looking down the barrel of a two week vacation, I asked myself, "How can I make the most of my time? You know, do something new." The answer invariably came to me in a dream in which everything in the world was being sucked into a black hole in the centre of the universe. When I woke up, for some reason, Toronto seemed the most logical choice as a place to visit. I would later make sense of this dream. While I was in Toronto, I learned that many Ontarians consider Toronto the centre of the universe.

After taking a Porter flight to Toronto City Centre Airport (quick note: if you are flying to City Centre, expect a choppy landing!), and making my way to Jabes' place in the west end (yes, my friend Jabes now lives in TO while completing a Forrestry degree), my week started off with sushi, cheesecakes, Chinese baked goods (sweet and meaty), casseroles... pretty much a weeklong food extravaganza. In fact I wound up gaining about two pounds per day while there. But I was also able to visit the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Royal Ontario Museum, various bars and pubs, and (possibly my favourite attraction) the Allen Gardens Conservatory.

I was also stunned to see that traffic in urban Toronto, ever during peak hours, is incredibly tame compared to Halifax. After taking a couple days brainstorming how a city with about 10 times the population of Halifax could have about 10 times less traffic, I've come to the conclusion that --even though subways are helpful in reducing use of the single occupant vehicle use-- Toronto streetcars are the answer. They penetrate the entire urban core (and the 'burbs to a lesser extent) so much and run so often that if you live in the catchment area of a streetcar, it would make ZERO sense to use your car for the majority of trips you'd ever have to make in your weekly schedule. As a result, you get an urban core that has a markedly reduced incidence of using their cars and clogging up the streets during peak hours when suburbanites are making their ways to work. HOWEVER, because public transit poorly penetrates the suburbs, traffic usually builds up in these areas more readily during peak hours. I really think that adding light rail transit to help people get to the more transportation-diverse urban core is a great idea. Unfortunately, it looks like the newly elected Mayor Ford is putting the kibosh on this idea. Kind of a shame, but I can't say I'm surprised.

Similarly, Halifax has a network of streetcars buried under a lot of our streets. Up until car culture invaded Canada, you could grab a streetcar from downtown Halifax and ride it all the way to the Halifax Shopping Centre. I wonder if we will ever see a mayor, or council interested in digging these things up and actually putting them to good use again. Hmmm.......

All in all, Toronto was fun and I'd like to go back in the summer sometime. Maybe grab a bike and go on a tour of Toronto (ToT?) and visit Jabes again.

Enjoy the photos!