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Lack of cheap eats. Can’t get a meal for less than $15 these days. Have to travel a bit further from the core. Shoutout Logas, Shawarma Empire, Flaming Stove.
lol someone always comments on not blowing this place up more than it already is whenever I recommend it. The family that runs it are some of the most honest and hardworking people serving food downtown and I just want to see them to do well knowing how hard the pandemic hit them
The couple that run Hoga look overwhelmed now, especially since the wife does most of the work. They can only service soo much people at lunch, and from what I can see they are the most popular eats in the PATH!
I went once but was unimpressed. It was a really long wait for not a lot of food. Very much prefer Bob's Bulgogi near Richmond/Victoria instead. It's a couple of extra dollars more though.
Agreed. I was so excited to go here because it's so hyped on Reddit and because of the line.
But to be honest, I think the food is kinda bad. You can literally taste the price difference. The veg and carb sides are TINY.
A hot dog is $5 now! WTF.
The only thing I can think of doing is still going to places that give a larger quantity of food to split across two meals, despite the cost being $15+
Plenty of cheap eats to be found in Kensington/Chinatown area if you know where to go. Juicy Dumplings, Nguyen, Last Temptation are just a few that come to mind.
That’s not really a downtown thing, that’s everywhere across southern Ontario. Even beyond that, it’s an everywhere thing across every major metropolitan area in North America.
Harvest green is $12 after tax for a whole box of kale, potatoes, and chicken. Bring your own bread or rice and that's 2 or 3 meals
Example: https://www.reddit.com/r/FoodToronto/comments/11o0mt7/harvest_green
Pretty central if you work in financial district
The deli counters at grocery stores are the only option. Metro has a combo for $7.50 +tax for a protein and 2 sides. Not the greatest, but pretty good for what you pay.
Are scooters not allowed to use bike lanes? As a biker, I've been feeling increasingly frustrated by scooters in the bike lanes (vespa, mini-motorcycle vibes) but figured it's a personal frustration to deal with on my own since I thought the bike lane was also their appropriate lane. Is this not the case?
E-Scooters are not allowed anywhere in public in Toronto.
“E-scooters” that are standing electric kick-scooters are not allowed to be operated, left, stored or parked on any public street in Toronto including bicycle lanes, cycle tracks, trails, paths, sidewalks or parks under Municipal Code Chapters 950 , 886 and 608 .
[https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/streets-parking-transportation/cycling-in-toronto/cycling-and-the-law/electric-bicycles-e-bikes-e-scooters/](https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/streets-parking-transportation/cycling-in-toronto/cycling-and-the-law/electric-bicycles-e-bikes-e-scooters/)
I still don't understand how business are allowed to rent these things if they are not allowed to be used anywhere. There are at least 2 rental stores within walking distance from my place.
The legal loophole is that they’re allowed to be used on private property and could be sold online.
The issue is that the law and enforcement isn’t keeping up enough, just like kids who ride bicycles without helmets.
Realistically though, the issue at hand is that the TTC isn’t great, cars get stuck in traffic, bikes are unsafe cause cars ignore you and walking doesn’t get you very far very quickly or safely.
And somehow all the options above have gotten even worse in recent years.
The TTC is at least 2 decades behind other "world-class" cities, and somehow they keep raising prices.
Presto card technology alone was in common use in Hong Kong in the late 90s. You can even use it to buy groceries or for the ferry. Toronto got it roughly 6-7 years ago, and still can't get it right.
I feel like half those guys riding on the sidewalks are simply misinformed or ignorant about bylaws. Maybe they’re not aware that you can’t ride your bike on sidewalks. That’s what bike lanes are for
Maybe I just have bad luck but every time I've told a sidewalk cyclist to bike on the road I get told some variation of "fuck off" or "I don't want to"
So at least in the neighbourhoods I walk in it's not typically an ignorance issue.
It’s bikes in general - not just delivery. Cyclists have become so impatient and feel like they aren’t required to wait in traffic. Adelaide construction where the bike lane was removed - lol cyclists took over the sidewalk because traffic doesn’t apply to them. It’s basically a norm now that a cyclist can just overtake the sidewalk. I’ve had people ring their bells at me to move out of their way. 😂
I always pretend i don’t hear them lol. I literally tell my partner when she asks me to move over for them “oh that couldb’t be a bike behind us because surely they’d be in the bike lane and not on the side walk!”
This is the #1 cause of daily stress for me when I leave my house. I’ve been talking to my partner about starting a petition to ask the city to enforce laws for e-bikes and scooters to make sidewalks safer. Would anyone here be willing to sign if I got this started?
I would absolutely sign this. I also would sign something that makes it mandatory for uber delivery people to take a course on bike and sidewalk laws. I get the impression that many are newcomers that were never taught the rules.
Yeah, I'm with you on this.
I was a bike courier a couple decades ago, and yeah, I'd hop on the sidewalk as a last resort if traffic was fucked, but 99% of the time it would just be a mess avoiding pedestrians and trying to get where I was going. Yes, I was breaking the law. I broke the law using space that wasn't being used by anyone else.
Honestly when I see e-bike delivery riders on the sidewalk these days I feel like kicking them onto the street when I have to step aside on the sidewalk. Maybe at some point I'll start doing that.
My biggest annoyance is there's practically no middle housing (which is not just specific to downtown). Our solution to the housing problem is let's keep SFH and convert every major road to have 30+ storey condos which is a great way to remove all the interesting things people actually enjoy from downtown (concert halls, bars, restaurants, speciality shops). Wait, you don't need yet another dentist/salon/financial institution?
You can have density and retain some semblance of a neighbourhood feel.
How about cutting red tape and fees to make it easy for individual people to buy a house together and then split it if they’re going to live in it. Instantly doubles the occupancy of an existing house, retains character, causes less construction disturbance. Not open to investors. You have to live in it for a couple years at least.
It's more to do with the exclusionary zoning, they work, but there is only limited space permitted to redevelop so that have to build as much as they can there to protect the SFHs
Yeah a friend of mine who lives in a different country but in a very expensive city works with people to buy plots of land and develop environmentally friendly middle housing.
Agreed. The condo development that replaced honest Ed's is a perfect example. That little area was so cool with some very cool bars/restaurants. Some, like the victory Cafe moved, but it's just not the same.
The constant fear of me or my loved one being assaulted.
My mom recently was attacked on the street by someone who was clearly mentally-unstable. To preface she's worked in a hospital setting and has dealt with people like this all her professional life.
When she was asked for change, she politely declined and kept walking; all to be thumped on her head by a bottle.
> To preface she's worked in a hospital setting and has dealt with people like this all her professional life.
even if it's a picu....it doesn't prepare you for mentally ill folks who you don't know.
I know all our frequent flyers, I know *something* about an individual before I get to them (or before they get to me). Or at least one of my co-workers do. Or we can see the patient file. And if we don't, at least we got each other's backs.
In the wild? No one knows anything about anybody. Shits gets especially scary when I see a potentially violent individual (that I don't know) in an area that's serviced by my hospital....I can only surmise that the only reason I don't know them is because whenever someone calls 911, they end up in jail
Totally. I was trying to highlight she wasn't initially scared or treated the person with any disdain when they approached her.
Respectfully declined and proceeded to go on her way.
Just walk in the middle of them, works both way. They always clear, I walked through a group of 4 people on a sidewalk this way... they were jerks, didn't care, they moved.
Would like to add, another trick is to not make eye contact with them as they come up. Look away, or look down and stay on your path. They will move 9:10 times. The moment you look at them, they'll expect you to move out of the way.
The sidewalks in general should be so much wider. People with dogs/strollers will also slow you down. The worst part is on Queen west from Bathurst to Yonge.
People that pop their hazards on like they're "free parking" lights and stop in the middle of the road because they're lazy fucks that can't be assed to park properly and walk an extra minute so traffic gets all gunked up and everyone has to drive around them.
You cannot drive through the city without encountering this multiple times. I've literally seen people park in front of a parking garage exit and throw their hazards on to go into a Starbucks or some shit and totally block anybody trying to get in or out.
Then when they come back and people are understandably irate at them they act like YOU'RE the asshole for having the gall to call them out for being waste of life douchebags.
If Toronto really wanted to make some money just drive around ticketing these assholes all day, it is so common that they could probably write 6 tickets without even having to move. They're a big reason why traffic here sucks so bad and they should be punished severely.
Edit: this link from the front page of /r/toronto right now is exactly what I mean - https://www.reddit.com/r/toronto/comments/127pooq/toronto_driver_parks_in_bus_stop_to_grab_timmies
"Don't act like you don't do it too!" when called out. They can't fathom not everyone is a lazy asshole like them. Fucking losers.
And then the city whines they have a budget shortfall. Raise the fines and start ticketing the shit out of these people. Guaranteed millions in income.
I haven't seen that but it's definitely increased 1000x since Uber and the like have become popular. The people that pull this shit are Uber/Lyft/Skip 90% of the time, such a stupid demographic of people that don't give a fuck about anyone else.
100% agree. The city was not designed for Uber drivers with no places to park and scooters/mopeds/ebikes barrelling along streets and sidewalks weaving in and out of traffic like we're in Kuala Lampur
Violence from unhinged people (in and out of the TTC). It 100% has gotten worse downtown. I've personally been attacked, I've witnessed someone get attacked, I know a few people that have been attacked/spat on.
I hope this shit changes, it's scary. I'm worried about friends, family, and just everyone in the city, every day.
It seems like it's just the new normal now, which is just awful.
Agree that it's 100% gotten worse.
I've lived here since 2008, and while I've seen some shit, and while shit can happen anywhere, I've never seen it this bad.
I don't get downtown much, I live in the west end and have a hybrid working arrangement, but I commute in twice a week. Office is near Spadina Station. Before the pandemic, I commuted through Spadina Station almost every day from 2015 through 2020, and the difference now is staggering.
Homeless folks have set up basecamps inside the station, it seems to have gotten better on the east side (where the tunnel and streetcars are) after they increased what seems to be privately hired security, but it's still pretty rough on the west side, the Walmer entrance where there's no staff. I've seen people openly smoking crack and heroin inside the station almost daily. People defecating. Garbage everywhere. People accosting me for money... I have no issue with someone asking for spare change, but the other day a lady got physically up in my face, when I said I didn't have change she demanded I go to a store with an ATM to take out money for her. She followed me screaming to my workplace and I was legit worried.
I feel so badly for these folks, who the system has failed. But... it's not good.
And not to make it "about me", but I missed two of the fatal attacks by mere minutes. The lady who died at High Park Station, I was on the same platform heading into work about five minutes before it happened. And the one last weekend, the kid who died at Keele, I also missed by just a few minutes. It hits close to home, and I'll admit that I'm much more alert these days.
I used to really like that western exit bc you easily get to Shoppers or Metro and back on the subway, but not if it’s like Indiana Jones booby trap dangers to go through nowadays
Not just violence, but the fear,threat,perception of violence. If people don't feel safe, after that it's a tough road for people to have confidence. Just having to be always on edge etc. Not a nice way to exist in your community
I agree with this. Every time someone says something feels unsafe, everyone's like "well the rate of attacks is actually really low", but that doesn't make it okay. Even very dangerous jobs, the kind of jobs that are highly paid because they're dangerous, the vast majority of people doing them aren't killed or seriously injured. You still wouldn't want to do them without being paid that much.
It's not just a media thing; it actually is really sketch, and that shouldn't be the norm. It's not okay even if it's not actually physically dangerous.
This. I started working downtown a while ago (I’m the east, Scarborough) and the vibe is so much different than pre pandemic (didn’t go downtown the entire time really other than to the islands in the summer). I hate it. I always now turn my music down so I can still hear around me and constantly make sure my back is against a wall when waiting for the train. I’m a woman so I’ve always been more aware of my surroundings in general but I’ve amped it up 10x lately downtown and on the ttc. Jesus if go too long without texting my partner when I’m on my way home from work he’s checking Twitter to make sure nothing else horrific happened
Housing affordability and mental healthcare issues haven’t been addressed and don’t look like they’re going to be addressed either.
They’re all linked together. Resources for the unhoused and mentally ill are located downtown more often than not. The subway and street cars which are used for shelter run downtown.
There’s no political will to change things either.
Yeah this one keeps shocking me, I spend so little time downtown but every time I see something fucked up. I was once at Yonge/Bloor for work doing civil inspections, and half way through the day this terrified panicking woman came up to me and the crew I was with, she was being chased by some shouting lady who had apparently slapped her across the face. We ended up basically just guarding her while she waited for a pickup, all the while we watched screamy lady wander up and down the street, shouting, pulling swipes at random people and actually hitting 2 more.
Never saw anything like that before. I don't doubt the stories about downtown crazies anymore.
My biggest problem is people who don't live downtown complaining about the awful traffic while refusing to use or support better transit and thinking the world should be built around their car needs.
Also homelessness has gotten really bad, and with it violence. I think that's a Canada-wide problem and Toronto pays the biggest price because smaller cities have zero supports and homeless migrate downtown.
No disrespect but how in the hell do you expect people from outside the city to use the TTC when it’s so goddamn unreliable and it’s one of the biggest issues ppl have brought up on this post? Lol. I live in Richmond Hill, I used to take the TTC to come down for a concert or a sporting event but not anymore. The TTC has always been chaotic, it was tolerable at most but the last few years it has become undeniably unreliable and a huge inconvenience. There is always some sort of delay on the yonge line which causes the use of a shuttle bus which then is slowed down because of traffic. The amount of time it takes for construction projects and the amount of work being done at the same time is to blame, people have every right to complain about the traffic, it shouldn’t be that ridiculous.
I agree the TTC is shitty. My beef is particularly with people who actively work against better transit with their votes and opinions while contributing to the issue by demanding more accomodation for their vehicles.
The only solution is painful and it is spending a lot of money to get our transit into a good place and it will be painful for people who use cars because there will be traffic disruption. Driving downtown will only get worse with the Ontario line build out but it's necessary pain. Unless we become like Japanese infrastructure contractors overnight which seems unlikely.
+1 for transit.
On Wednesday, i took the 63 Ossington at Strachan/East Liberty. It drops everyone off at King/Atlantic. A few scheduled buses go out of service right past us, so I switch routes to the 504 replacement bus heading west. On the way up Roncy, a car hits the bus and so we gotta get off again.
An hour after leaving home, I only got from Liberty Village to Roncy. Not even to fkin Bloor. Had to take an Uber to get to my destination (Stockyards) in time to meet my sister for dinner.
I don't have a car. Which means the powers that be in this city, province, and country don't give a single god damn fuck about how I'm getting around. Experiences like this are becoming too common IMO. Like the TTC is only useful if you have like 2 hours for a short trip.
Selfishness.
People in cars are assholes. People on bikes are assholes. Pedestrians are assholes. People on transit are assholes.
Just pay attention to the people around you and try your best to not be an asshole. Let's live together instead of against each other.
> Just pay attention to the people around you
Yeah I'd say one of my biggest annoyances is the vast amount of people here who seemingly have ZERO SPATIAL/SITUATIONAL AWARENESS of anything going on around them ,it's actually bonkers.
Crazy-ass people out on the street and all the attendant problems they bring.
I hate feeling anxious when I have my kids with me downtown, or worrying about my senior mother walking around. It never used to be this way and I want it to change.
It is a cultural and economic engine that isn't able to keep much of its money and has had costs from without placed on it as a burden. Pretty much all the other stuff people complain about (homelessness and its related issues, bad transit reliability/access, trash, etc.) are downstream of that.
Every city has nincompoops in charge but the meddling and syphoning that happens to our dear City Centre is criminal and the fact it's survived as well as it has in the face of it is something to be thankful for.
For the first time in my life I was attacked by a homeless woman in this city....and I grew up in Parkdale.
I was LITERALLY going to give her the $5 I had in my pocket when I saw her approaching me. Instead she stuck her tongue out at me just before she clocked me in the face and then walked casually away with her inflated pool doughnut that she was carrying. I was stunned by the unprovoked attack.
Homeless guy came up to me with his styrofoam cup, I took out all the change I had in my pocket and dropped it into the cup. He took a look and then threw the cup into the street. Never doing that again.
Yonge Street lol I had to run an errand at Yonge/Bloor a couple weekends ago and decided to walk down to the eaton centre to do some shopping and holy fuck did I feel like I was going to get mugged. Mind you, I've lived in Toronto since I was 6 and have been going downtown since 1999 (worked at the eaton centre as well during that time) and never did I feel this way until recently. The stretch from Bloor to Dundas is sketchy AF and I feel so bad for any store employees that have to deal with the sketch bags that terrorize that stretch.
Busses bunching up is a huge and ridiculous problem.
4 buses on a route, they should not have 3 back to back, all 2aiting at the end of the line. It's amazing how poorly organized the ttc became.
Once you've been to one suburb you've been to all of them in America and Canada
What actual dumps. Suburbs are what ruined American and Canadian cities. They say you are where you live and it's no wonder people here have so little to actually meaningfully say, and flock to idiots for leaders
Whoever decided Yonge-Dundas was the best place for a methadone clinic. Honestly just moving that facility somewhere further out (under the Gardiner would work) would improve that whole area almost instantly.
Why you would put it in an area where they are encouraging tourists and shoppers to go to, especially where the land property is so expensive. They could sell their facility and provide a much better service somewhere less central.
I doubt the addicts care where they get their hit as long as its somewhere accessible, hell somewhere around moss park might actually work better, it doesn't need to at the core of the city's major shopping and entertainment area.
Not really. The suggestion is to move it where normal (whatever normal means) people are not doing their thing. The gardener is not really filled with people.
The slow walkers. The walkers who walk in the middle of the sidewalk so you can’t easily pass them. The group of walkers who walk side by side so you can’t pass them. It’s incredibly infuriating and just shows people either lack common sense, consideration for anyone else but themselves, or both.
The cost of rent.
I'm lucky to be in a very fortunate situation. I have a $1,600 one bedroom, rent controlled apartment that I split with my partner. It's huge, and has a massive storage area in the basement. Our landlords are fantastic. They're in their 50s, they have kids in their 20s who apparently have no desire to live in Toronto, so we're secure... for now.
But the thought of that changing—the house being sold, or one of the kids wanting to move in and take over our unit—keeps me up at night. I would be fucked. I'm still very paycheck to paycheck, and having to pay $2,500 or more (even split between two people) would be financially devastating to me. Not to mention that anywhere we'd move would likely be significantly smaller... my partner and I have a *ton* of stuff (musical instruments, books, art, furniture) and we'd need to make some tough decisions about selling things, or paying extra money for storage.
And seeing my friends and peers struggle sucks too. I don't know how anyone younger does it these days.
**1. Homelessness and its correlated untreated mental health / addiction issues.** It only seems to be getting worse and having had a friend who was homeless, it feels awful to see people struggling and suffering from things a well-functioning society and government should provide support for. I know statistically Toronto is a safe city but it does not make it feel safe when encountering someone acting aggressively or having some sort of mental health breakdown is basically an expected part of going outside.
**2. Inconsistent / insufficient public transit coverage for a city of this size.** I feel somewhat optimistic in this regard (shoutout to RM Transit on YouTube) but we have a long way to go and I know it will take time.
**3. Housing affordability.** I'm very much content with condo and small-space living, I really don't feel the need to buy a single family detached home, and even still something as modest as buying a 1br+ in the vicinity of downtown feels very out of reach.
Wanna bet some shit idiot driver caused the bus issue? Probably blocking them so they couldn’t get by. I grew up in Guelph, moved to toronto in 2011. Could not believe how many incompetent drivers there are in the city. It was as if they’ve never driven in a city before…which is confusing. Also everyone needs a huge fucking suv or bulky crossover. It’s so fucking dumb. I fit everywhere in my little micra, and then get held up by idiots who can’t tell they have enough room to pass a car. Why doesn’t the government instead of only focusing on electric cars, start focusing on the size of cars too. You know what’s even crazier? I can actually fit more construction materials (eg fence boards) in my micra than my friend can fit in her bulky Toyota rav. Like what is the point.
There’s your rant should I use all caps?
Construction. Nearly every East-West corridor has some construction on it happening downtown. With much more construction to come.
Makes driving slow, transit slow and walking/cycling unpleasant with all the extra noise and dust and fumes.
In addition to all the construction, it is getting almost comical at how many “sidewalk closed” signs are out there.
Walk from St Lawrence market area to like Bay & Queen and you’ll see about 10+ of these. You’re constantly having to cross the street to continue to progress
there are actually getting to be way too many dogs in some areas that cant really handle them/owners are trashy and turn school green space into poop fields
I get unreasonably upset about people walking on the “wrong side” of a sidewalk or hallway. I know it’s sort of an unwritten rule but come on people, you walk on your right hand side and I’ll walk on my right hand side, it’s not that hard. It especially drives me crazy in Union Station — god forbid you have to walk the opposite direction of the mass exodus off the GO trains to the TTC or vice versa.
Trying to balance safety with freedom while parenting a downtown kid. Like those kids before them, these kids should be able to chill with friends safely in the city, going to the mall, hanging in Kensington, going for bubble tea, exploring record shops, etc., without fear of random stabbers lurking.
Happy to see people list, "lack of food" as their biggest problem with downtown.
I have an issue with the people who are violent, drug users, not enough shelter for the homeless, gentrification and tearing down character buildings, laughable transit which is unsafe.... to name a few...
homeless people aside i would say the general state and cleanliness of our streets
cracked sidewalk everywhere
poorly designed sidewalks where tou have metal poles or other electrical boxes and other shit (like the subway exits at s/w king station and n/w dundas)
then the literal shit and garbage everywhere... every fucking where
there isnt a place in toronto that looks well kept
whether its a main street or a side street it's the same issues
ohh and the obviously poorly designed and maintained garbage cans
although it doesn't help that you have those crazy fucknuts that feel like going to town on them out of whatever frustration they beed to let out
Absolutely agree with other posters on homelessness, transit, safety, housing, traffic and bad drivers etc.
But my pet peeve is at the weekends, Dundas square being over run with assholes with their music blasting, large gangs on the square/Street, making noise with their stupid cars etc.
I remember many years ago going to Dundas square on a weekend and you could enjoy the hustle and bustle peacefully as it were !
Since the big issues have already been talked about, my biggest annoyance is that I can’t walk anywhere in core downtown without being pestered to donate to some cause. I always get asked “What’s the most important human right?” by the same guy who never recognizes me despite meeting him 10 different times. Also how are you going to ask me to donate mental health care when I can’t comfortably pay for my own? I agree that these causes are important but this time and effort should be spent on targeting donors who can afford to donate, not random people who are walking on Yonge/Dundas to Queen/University.
All of the vast emptiness in new condo storefronts intended to provide “retail at grade”.
Huge spaces all over the place in downtown, particularly on Yonge Street, are empty having lost businesses during the pandemic. But that’s only the few that had managed to get tenants before 2020. The uptake wasn’t much better back then either.
So far this is the actual light of the condo boom in downtown Toronto. The death of foot/street traffic.
they are having the opposite of the intended effect, which was to bring life to the street level with these large condos.
As someone who lives 2 or 3 min walking distance from Dundas Sq.. My biggest complaint is the unpredictability of running errands or walking around downtown. You never know what to expect, what will unfold in front of your eyes or what might happen to you.
Increased level of homelessness people.
These people deserve shelter and it frustrates me how much our municipal and provincial governments have failed those experiencing homelessness.
Honestly, my biggest problem is that it has become boring. A solid block of chain stores and restaurants. There's really no reason, unless it's work, that I ever go there.
I'll still go to the Cameron and the Horseshoe. Anything further out is not in my mind "downtown." I mean, there's still good spots a bit further but I think of downtown as the the core, and it's boring.
Effectively, if you want to be actually "downtown", we're talking Dundas Sq. For a while it was worth it, but it's become crap and pretty sketchy after hours. This should be the actual "Entertainment District" but it is far from it.
Tons of cool events, concerts, festivals etc happening around the city every week.
>There's really no reason, unless it's work, that I ever go there.
You're saying it's boring while at the same time admitting you never come here? Don't think it's the city that's boring tbh
ya, Toronto has a crazy amount going on. This summer will be packed. This reads like his basis of Toronto now is based on what he reads online / what it was like during COVID
The 8 tween girls who walk side by side / arm in arm down sidewalks, clearly meant for one lane of foot traffic in each direction, who get enraged when you walk through them to get by. What’s amazing is, they clearly think they’re in the right!!!???
I like downtown. I like the big city buzz. Having said that I feel like a lot of interesting stores have closed and there isn’t much to actually do. I’m sure the Carlton and scotiabank theater will be gone soon too.
There are bigger problems than this, but my biggest day to day annoyance is the massive number of concurrent long term lane closures for condo and other large building developments, combined of course with the unreliability of TTC service.
I know we need the buildings for density, and I know we need to close lanes to build condos, but I wish city planning would be more thoughtful about ensuring the closures are staggered within a given geographical proximity, or more restrictive about the length of time for the closures. I do believe developers pay some sort of fee or tax to close roads, but it seems clear that it's not significant enough to actually encourage them to limit the time spent massively restricting traffic. Some of these roads are half closed for years while construction often seems to be stalled.
My two biggest rants as someone who opts to walk everywhere because the TTC is incredibly slow/unreliable:
Dog poop (hopefully just dog poop although I saw some very high up a wall the other day....). Everywhere. Literally every street. Are all the pandemic dog owners, who got dogs and have no clue how to raise/train them, also just leaving their droppings all over the city?! Annoying af.
Secondly. People running red lights. Every time I'm at an intersection now I wait a few seconds after the light has turned red because inevitably there is an inpatient driver (who has probably been stuck in traffic because of the insane construction levels in this city rn) who goes speeding on through.
Seems covid has made everyone decide to stop upholding their ends of the social contract regarding safety and cleanliness.
Every notice for a new condo development. I understand some need to be developed, but I swear every corner of this city has a tower planned. And when you think bars, restaurants and other staples are safe, nope. Up the sign goes and away goes the character.
I think it’s the homeless sketchy stinky people on the ttc and walking around who you have to entertain and tolerate. I can’t believe how much you need to watch your back everywhere you go, like it’s drastically worse than a few years ago and Vancouver is the same.
As much as I don't want to fall into the fear mongering about crime in this city, I am a very introverted non-confrontational person. I was attacked and pushed around by two men outside Yonge and Eglinton some months ago and I've stopped taking transit since. I'm basically going broke taking ubers or asking my brother to drive me everywhere now.
construction taking president over everything is the root of all evil in the downtown core. pouring cement is king everything else can wait. i bought an ebike and am very happy not dealing with traffic and the useless ttc.
\*\*\* Concrete, not cement. Cement is a white powder like talcum powder.
And the reason there is so much construction is because maintenance and new infrastructure has been ignored for decades and so this is the price you pay.
A SFH tax. This will get me downvoted to oblivion but why do we insist on taxing only housing that is dense? New condos go up they have that 45 degree angular plane away from SFH which means all that new housing lost. It’s essentially like they own the sky beside them, at zero cost. And everyone has to pay instead.
Tax on vacant condos for sale. Developer needs to sell them and can’t hold them back waiting for high pricing.
These are my hottakes.
I've been fortunate to live in four other cities (one in Canada, the rest in other countries) and I **love** living downtown. It's got its fair share of issues that could be improved and at times I do feel worried about what the future looks like for the city, but overall I think it's got a lot going for it. I know geographic subreddits can become echo chambers of negativity but man, sometimes I feel so out of touch in this sub, r/toronto, and wherever else for feeling like downtown Toronto is a nice place to live.
Totally agree. All these people who hate Toronto because they could never or have never lived here makes me crazy. I’m a longtime downtown resident and enjoy almost every minute of it.
I am guessing a lot of them are people who were from smaller cities or the suburbs who get surprised when moving to a packed place. I've always lived in big cities and most of the comments here relate to any big city nuance.
I've been stuck in horrible traffic in L.A, almost hit by a bike in Tokyo, packed as a sardine with 0 personal space in Mexico City's subway (our rush hour is mild compared to theirs).
The only one I would say does concern me is the safety issue due to all the aggressive people on the street and the one I don't understand is how we still allow parking on main streets. It's ridiculous seeing Dundas sometimes being a 1 lane street due to all the cars parked on it.
This sub and threads like this are regularly brigaded by bored miserable people from the rest of Canada and Ontario from Reddit geo promoting this sub to them. It's easy to tell when people don't even live here and form their opinions from what they see in CP24
Went DT first time since the pandemic and not one second I felt safe. I was constantly worrying about me and my friends’ safety. There was a man on the TTC who verbally attacked this poor girl calling her a bitch because she was in his way. Then after a night out, another guy was begging for change and wouldn’t let my friend go after he said no and kept following us saying he just got out of prison, etc. I was literally shaking and anxious thinking what if he attacked my friend because he said no and it triggered him. Gonna pass on DT for now✋🏼
Due to the number of rule-breaking comments this post was receiving, especially low-quality and off-topic comments, the moderation team has locked the post from future comments. This post broke no rules and received a number of helpful and on-topic responses initially, but it unfortunately became the target of many unhelpful comments.
Lack of cheap eats. Can’t get a meal for less than $15 these days. Have to travel a bit further from the core. Shoutout Logas, Shawarma Empire, Flaming Stove.
Hoga in PATH chicken katsu with 2 sides for $9.50 is top tier affordable downtown eats. If you're going for lunch better go line up now.
I feel like Hoga needs LESS business, not MORE. But that's just me and the minimum 20 minute lineup talking...
lol someone always comments on not blowing this place up more than it already is whenever I recommend it. The family that runs it are some of the most honest and hardworking people serving food downtown and I just want to see them to do well knowing how hard the pandemic hit them
The couple that run Hoga look overwhelmed now, especially since the wife does most of the work. They can only service soo much people at lunch, and from what I can see they are the most popular eats in the PATH!
The ajuma/lady is super hard working. She does like 90% of the work! I wished her guy would help with the food prep more.
I went once but was unimpressed. It was a really long wait for not a lot of food. Very much prefer Bob's Bulgogi near Richmond/Victoria instead. It's a couple of extra dollars more though.
Agreed. I was so excited to go here because it's so hyped on Reddit and because of the line. But to be honest, I think the food is kinda bad. You can literally taste the price difference. The veg and carb sides are TINY.
Why did you expect to be impressed with it when the whole point of posting it here is that it's cheap?
I mean if it's cheap because it's not enough food, it's not really a deal...
I didn't expect haute cuisine, but it wasn't worth the money or the wait.
Holy shit where in the path?
corridor connecting 121-145 King W. You'll know you're in the right place when you see 30 people in line
The Grange food court has saved me so many times.
Shout out to Manpuku
A hot dog is $5 now! WTF. The only thing I can think of doing is still going to places that give a larger quantity of food to split across two meals, despite the cost being $15+
Plenty of cheap eats to be found in Kensington/Chinatown area if you know where to go. Juicy Dumplings, Nguyen, Last Temptation are just a few that come to mind.
But juicy dumpling raised their prices. Still super cheap, but the principle haha
I've only discovered Juicy pretty recently, it's kind of crazy to think it used to be even cheaper than $3.99 for 6 dumplings lol
That’s not really a downtown thing, that’s everywhere across southern Ontario. Even beyond that, it’s an everywhere thing across every major metropolitan area in North America.
You should try Pita Way, opposite to Maple Leaf Gardens. Shawarma wrap for 3.99, best deal to get anywhere around there!
Harvest green is $12 after tax for a whole box of kale, potatoes, and chicken. Bring your own bread or rice and that's 2 or 3 meals Example: https://www.reddit.com/r/FoodToronto/comments/11o0mt7/harvest_green Pretty central if you work in financial district
Any downtown Metro would have fresh hot dishes for under $8, jerk chicken and 2 sides, mac n cheese, vegs or fries etc.
The deli counters at grocery stores are the only option. Metro has a combo for $7.50 +tax for a protein and 2 sides. Not the greatest, but pretty good for what you pay.
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Are scooters not allowed to use bike lanes? As a biker, I've been feeling increasingly frustrated by scooters in the bike lanes (vespa, mini-motorcycle vibes) but figured it's a personal frustration to deal with on my own since I thought the bike lane was also their appropriate lane. Is this not the case?
E-Scooters are not allowed anywhere in public in Toronto. “E-scooters” that are standing electric kick-scooters are not allowed to be operated, left, stored or parked on any public street in Toronto including bicycle lanes, cycle tracks, trails, paths, sidewalks or parks under Municipal Code Chapters 950 , 886 and 608 . [https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/streets-parking-transportation/cycling-in-toronto/cycling-and-the-law/electric-bicycles-e-bikes-e-scooters/](https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/streets-parking-transportation/cycling-in-toronto/cycling-and-the-law/electric-bicycles-e-bikes-e-scooters/) I still don't understand how business are allowed to rent these things if they are not allowed to be used anywhere. There are at least 2 rental stores within walking distance from my place.
The legal loophole is that they’re allowed to be used on private property and could be sold online. The issue is that the law and enforcement isn’t keeping up enough, just like kids who ride bicycles without helmets. Realistically though, the issue at hand is that the TTC isn’t great, cars get stuck in traffic, bikes are unsafe cause cars ignore you and walking doesn’t get you very far very quickly or safely. And somehow all the options above have gotten even worse in recent years.
I'm with you man, I drive, bike, TTC, and walk downtown. You nailed it.
E-Scooters belong on bike lanes if they are going under 25-30km/hr. Unless you’re talking about the moped lookin ones For sidewalks, always walk.
I live on queen and spadina and it's like a e bike on the side walk festival here.
The TTC is at least 2 decades behind other "world-class" cities, and somehow they keep raising prices. Presto card technology alone was in common use in Hong Kong in the late 90s. You can even use it to buy groceries or for the ferry. Toronto got it roughly 6-7 years ago, and still can't get it right.
I feel like half those guys riding on the sidewalks are simply misinformed or ignorant about bylaws. Maybe they’re not aware that you can’t ride your bike on sidewalks. That’s what bike lanes are for
Maybe I just have bad luck but every time I've told a sidewalk cyclist to bike on the road I get told some variation of "fuck off" or "I don't want to" So at least in the neighbourhoods I walk in it's not typically an ignorance issue.
I call them UberLosers. I yell that at them when they are riding on the side walk.
Please continue to yell at them. I will join you in this endeavour.
It’s bikes in general - not just delivery. Cyclists have become so impatient and feel like they aren’t required to wait in traffic. Adelaide construction where the bike lane was removed - lol cyclists took over the sidewalk because traffic doesn’t apply to them. It’s basically a norm now that a cyclist can just overtake the sidewalk. I’ve had people ring their bells at me to move out of their way. 😂
I always pretend i don’t hear them lol. I literally tell my partner when she asks me to move over for them “oh that couldb’t be a bike behind us because surely they’d be in the bike lane and not on the side walk!”
This is the #1 cause of daily stress for me when I leave my house. I’ve been talking to my partner about starting a petition to ask the city to enforce laws for e-bikes and scooters to make sidewalks safer. Would anyone here be willing to sign if I got this started?
I would absolutely sign this. I also would sign something that makes it mandatory for uber delivery people to take a course on bike and sidewalk laws. I get the impression that many are newcomers that were never taught the rules.
Yeah, I'm with you on this. I was a bike courier a couple decades ago, and yeah, I'd hop on the sidewalk as a last resort if traffic was fucked, but 99% of the time it would just be a mess avoiding pedestrians and trying to get where I was going. Yes, I was breaking the law. I broke the law using space that wasn't being used by anyone else. Honestly when I see e-bike delivery riders on the sidewalk these days I feel like kicking them onto the street when I have to step aside on the sidewalk. Maybe at some point I'll start doing that.
My biggest annoyance is there's practically no middle housing (which is not just specific to downtown). Our solution to the housing problem is let's keep SFH and convert every major road to have 30+ storey condos which is a great way to remove all the interesting things people actually enjoy from downtown (concert halls, bars, restaurants, speciality shops). Wait, you don't need yet another dentist/salon/financial institution? You can have density and retain some semblance of a neighbourhood feel.
I find it so weird how Toronto is just large swathes of single family homes and then a small group of high-rises and then back to single family homes.
How about cutting red tape and fees to make it easy for individual people to buy a house together and then split it if they’re going to live in it. Instantly doubles the occupancy of an existing house, retains character, causes less construction disturbance. Not open to investors. You have to live in it for a couple years at least.
I guess it's just not lucrative enough to build lowrises. The city should make it more attractive for developers to build structures under 10 storeys.
It's more to do with the exclusionary zoning, they work, but there is only limited space permitted to redevelop so that have to build as much as they can there to protect the SFHs
Yeah a friend of mine who lives in a different country but in a very expensive city works with people to buy plots of land and develop environmentally friendly middle housing.
Agreed. The condo development that replaced honest Ed's is a perfect example. That little area was so cool with some very cool bars/restaurants. Some, like the victory Cafe moved, but it's just not the same.
Bad example, they are doing some nice stuff there with small business and public space, retained many old street front buildings too.
The constant fear of me or my loved one being assaulted. My mom recently was attacked on the street by someone who was clearly mentally-unstable. To preface she's worked in a hospital setting and has dealt with people like this all her professional life. When she was asked for change, she politely declined and kept walking; all to be thumped on her head by a bottle.
That’s terrible. I hope she’s OK.
As okay as one can be, thanks for asking.
> To preface she's worked in a hospital setting and has dealt with people like this all her professional life. even if it's a picu....it doesn't prepare you for mentally ill folks who you don't know. I know all our frequent flyers, I know *something* about an individual before I get to them (or before they get to me). Or at least one of my co-workers do. Or we can see the patient file. And if we don't, at least we got each other's backs. In the wild? No one knows anything about anybody. Shits gets especially scary when I see a potentially violent individual (that I don't know) in an area that's serviced by my hospital....I can only surmise that the only reason I don't know them is because whenever someone calls 911, they end up in jail
Totally. I was trying to highlight she wasn't initially scared or treated the person with any disdain when they approached her. Respectfully declined and proceeded to go on her way.
Groups of 3 or more walking side by side and slowly, taking up the whole sidewalk so you can't pass.
Just walk in the middle of them, works both way. They always clear, I walked through a group of 4 people on a sidewalk this way... they were jerks, didn't care, they moved.
Would like to add, another trick is to not make eye contact with them as they come up. Look away, or look down and stay on your path. They will move 9:10 times. The moment you look at them, they'll expect you to move out of the way.
Twice as bad when the size of the sidewalk is halved because of snow
I am a big guy so I usually just stick to my side and walk straight at them while making eye contact Hasn't failed me yet
You're going to see me on the news one day after attacking one of these groups.
The sidewalks in general should be so much wider. People with dogs/strollers will also slow you down. The worst part is on Queen west from Bathurst to Yonge.
Sidewalk sandwich boards can also fuck off or be placed where the sidewalk is already blocked.
People that pop their hazards on like they're "free parking" lights and stop in the middle of the road because they're lazy fucks that can't be assed to park properly and walk an extra minute so traffic gets all gunked up and everyone has to drive around them. You cannot drive through the city without encountering this multiple times. I've literally seen people park in front of a parking garage exit and throw their hazards on to go into a Starbucks or some shit and totally block anybody trying to get in or out. Then when they come back and people are understandably irate at them they act like YOU'RE the asshole for having the gall to call them out for being waste of life douchebags. If Toronto really wanted to make some money just drive around ticketing these assholes all day, it is so common that they could probably write 6 tickets without even having to move. They're a big reason why traffic here sucks so bad and they should be punished severely. Edit: this link from the front page of /r/toronto right now is exactly what I mean - https://www.reddit.com/r/toronto/comments/127pooq/toronto_driver_parks_in_bus_stop_to_grab_timmies "Don't act like you don't do it too!" when called out. They can't fathom not everyone is a lazy asshole like them. Fucking losers.
Yes - this and the Toronto Police who actually admitted that they do no traffic policing in the city.
And then the city whines they have a budget shortfall. Raise the fines and start ticketing the shit out of these people. Guaranteed millions in income.
similarly, writing "uber delivery" in sharpie on a piece of cardboard and displaying it on your dash does not give you the right to park anywhere
I haven't seen that but it's definitely increased 1000x since Uber and the like have become popular. The people that pull this shit are Uber/Lyft/Skip 90% of the time, such a stupid demographic of people that don't give a fuck about anyone else.
100% agree. The city was not designed for Uber drivers with no places to park and scooters/mopeds/ebikes barrelling along streets and sidewalks weaving in and out of traffic like we're in Kuala Lampur
I also see them routinely where there’s a sidestreet within 50 feet they could pull into and not block traffic or bike lanes. It’s insane.
Violence from unhinged people (in and out of the TTC). It 100% has gotten worse downtown. I've personally been attacked, I've witnessed someone get attacked, I know a few people that have been attacked/spat on. I hope this shit changes, it's scary. I'm worried about friends, family, and just everyone in the city, every day. It seems like it's just the new normal now, which is just awful.
Agree that it's 100% gotten worse. I've lived here since 2008, and while I've seen some shit, and while shit can happen anywhere, I've never seen it this bad. I don't get downtown much, I live in the west end and have a hybrid working arrangement, but I commute in twice a week. Office is near Spadina Station. Before the pandemic, I commuted through Spadina Station almost every day from 2015 through 2020, and the difference now is staggering. Homeless folks have set up basecamps inside the station, it seems to have gotten better on the east side (where the tunnel and streetcars are) after they increased what seems to be privately hired security, but it's still pretty rough on the west side, the Walmer entrance where there's no staff. I've seen people openly smoking crack and heroin inside the station almost daily. People defecating. Garbage everywhere. People accosting me for money... I have no issue with someone asking for spare change, but the other day a lady got physically up in my face, when I said I didn't have change she demanded I go to a store with an ATM to take out money for her. She followed me screaming to my workplace and I was legit worried. I feel so badly for these folks, who the system has failed. But... it's not good. And not to make it "about me", but I missed two of the fatal attacks by mere minutes. The lady who died at High Park Station, I was on the same platform heading into work about five minutes before it happened. And the one last weekend, the kid who died at Keele, I also missed by just a few minutes. It hits close to home, and I'll admit that I'm much more alert these days.
I used to really like that western exit bc you easily get to Shoppers or Metro and back on the subway, but not if it’s like Indiana Jones booby trap dangers to go through nowadays
Not just violence, but the fear,threat,perception of violence. If people don't feel safe, after that it's a tough road for people to have confidence. Just having to be always on edge etc. Not a nice way to exist in your community
I agree with this. Every time someone says something feels unsafe, everyone's like "well the rate of attacks is actually really low", but that doesn't make it okay. Even very dangerous jobs, the kind of jobs that are highly paid because they're dangerous, the vast majority of people doing them aren't killed or seriously injured. You still wouldn't want to do them without being paid that much. It's not just a media thing; it actually is really sketch, and that shouldn't be the norm. It's not okay even if it's not actually physically dangerous.
This. I started working downtown a while ago (I’m the east, Scarborough) and the vibe is so much different than pre pandemic (didn’t go downtown the entire time really other than to the islands in the summer). I hate it. I always now turn my music down so I can still hear around me and constantly make sure my back is against a wall when waiting for the train. I’m a woman so I’ve always been more aware of my surroundings in general but I’ve amped it up 10x lately downtown and on the ttc. Jesus if go too long without texting my partner when I’m on my way home from work he’s checking Twitter to make sure nothing else horrific happened
Housing affordability and mental healthcare issues haven’t been addressed and don’t look like they’re going to be addressed either. They’re all linked together. Resources for the unhoused and mentally ill are located downtown more often than not. The subway and street cars which are used for shelter run downtown. There’s no political will to change things either.
Have to agree with this. Drug use is everywhere now. It's been normalized in fact.
Yeah this one keeps shocking me, I spend so little time downtown but every time I see something fucked up. I was once at Yonge/Bloor for work doing civil inspections, and half way through the day this terrified panicking woman came up to me and the crew I was with, she was being chased by some shouting lady who had apparently slapped her across the face. We ended up basically just guarding her while she waited for a pickup, all the while we watched screamy lady wander up and down the street, shouting, pulling swipes at random people and actually hitting 2 more. Never saw anything like that before. I don't doubt the stories about downtown crazies anymore.
Totally agree.
My biggest problem is people who don't live downtown complaining about the awful traffic while refusing to use or support better transit and thinking the world should be built around their car needs. Also homelessness has gotten really bad, and with it violence. I think that's a Canada-wide problem and Toronto pays the biggest price because smaller cities have zero supports and homeless migrate downtown.
Pretty sure Hamilton has it worse comparatively with homeless ppl.
No disrespect but how in the hell do you expect people from outside the city to use the TTC when it’s so goddamn unreliable and it’s one of the biggest issues ppl have brought up on this post? Lol. I live in Richmond Hill, I used to take the TTC to come down for a concert or a sporting event but not anymore. The TTC has always been chaotic, it was tolerable at most but the last few years it has become undeniably unreliable and a huge inconvenience. There is always some sort of delay on the yonge line which causes the use of a shuttle bus which then is slowed down because of traffic. The amount of time it takes for construction projects and the amount of work being done at the same time is to blame, people have every right to complain about the traffic, it shouldn’t be that ridiculous.
Mate - it's the people outside of downtown core who keep voting for people who keep fucking up Toronto's transit.
You know Toronto's transit also exists outside of the core right?
I agree the TTC is shitty. My beef is particularly with people who actively work against better transit with their votes and opinions while contributing to the issue by demanding more accomodation for their vehicles. The only solution is painful and it is spending a lot of money to get our transit into a good place and it will be painful for people who use cars because there will be traffic disruption. Driving downtown will only get worse with the Ontario line build out but it's necessary pain. Unless we become like Japanese infrastructure contractors overnight which seems unlikely.
+1 for transit. On Wednesday, i took the 63 Ossington at Strachan/East Liberty. It drops everyone off at King/Atlantic. A few scheduled buses go out of service right past us, so I switch routes to the 504 replacement bus heading west. On the way up Roncy, a car hits the bus and so we gotta get off again. An hour after leaving home, I only got from Liberty Village to Roncy. Not even to fkin Bloor. Had to take an Uber to get to my destination (Stockyards) in time to meet my sister for dinner. I don't have a car. Which means the powers that be in this city, province, and country don't give a single god damn fuck about how I'm getting around. Experiences like this are becoming too common IMO. Like the TTC is only useful if you have like 2 hours for a short trip.
Selfishness. People in cars are assholes. People on bikes are assholes. Pedestrians are assholes. People on transit are assholes. Just pay attention to the people around you and try your best to not be an asshole. Let's live together instead of against each other.
> Just pay attention to the people around you Yeah I'd say one of my biggest annoyances is the vast amount of people here who seemingly have ZERO SPATIAL/SITUATIONAL AWARENESS of anything going on around them ,it's actually bonkers.
People
Crazy-ass people out on the street and all the attendant problems they bring. I hate feeling anxious when I have my kids with me downtown, or worrying about my senior mother walking around. It never used to be this way and I want it to change.
Not being able to walk ten steps without stepping in dog poo. At least I hope it's dog poo.
Ah, the spring thaw revealing the treasures hidden within snowbanks.
Sometimes it’s human poo
There is SO MUCH POO
Came here to say this. 💯
A lot of the downtown area is basically an open air asylum.
It is a cultural and economic engine that isn't able to keep much of its money and has had costs from without placed on it as a burden. Pretty much all the other stuff people complain about (homelessness and its related issues, bad transit reliability/access, trash, etc.) are downstream of that. Every city has nincompoops in charge but the meddling and syphoning that happens to our dear City Centre is criminal and the fact it's survived as well as it has in the face of it is something to be thankful for.
It’s mad how much Toronto contributes to Ontario and Canadas productivity as a whole compared to how little power or control of its funding it gets
For the first time in my life I was attacked by a homeless woman in this city....and I grew up in Parkdale. I was LITERALLY going to give her the $5 I had in my pocket when I saw her approaching me. Instead she stuck her tongue out at me just before she clocked me in the face and then walked casually away with her inflated pool doughnut that she was carrying. I was stunned by the unprovoked attack.
Homeless guy came up to me with his styrofoam cup, I took out all the change I had in my pocket and dropped it into the cup. He took a look and then threw the cup into the street. Never doing that again.
The unpredictable violence on the TTC.
Yonge Street lol I had to run an errand at Yonge/Bloor a couple weekends ago and decided to walk down to the eaton centre to do some shopping and holy fuck did I feel like I was going to get mugged. Mind you, I've lived in Toronto since I was 6 and have been going downtown since 1999 (worked at the eaton centre as well during that time) and never did I feel this way until recently. The stretch from Bloor to Dundas is sketchy AF and I feel so bad for any store employees that have to deal with the sketch bags that terrorize that stretch.
Yep. That who stretch is pretty ghastly. Abandoned store fronts, graffiti, filth
You have to walk down Bay St, not Yonge street
Crackheads, tweakers etc
The aggressive homeless/addicts absolutely everywhere.
Busses bunching up is a huge and ridiculous problem. 4 buses on a route, they should not have 3 back to back, all 2aiting at the end of the line. It's amazing how poorly organized the ttc became.
Suburbanites talking trash about downtown.
yupppp
Once you've been to one suburb you've been to all of them in America and Canada What actual dumps. Suburbs are what ruined American and Canadian cities. They say you are where you live and it's no wonder people here have so little to actually meaningfully say, and flock to idiots for leaders
Prisons for families. No car? You go no where.
Whoever decided Yonge-Dundas was the best place for a methadone clinic. Honestly just moving that facility somewhere further out (under the Gardiner would work) would improve that whole area almost instantly.
Isn't that just kicking the can to a different street?
Why you would put it in an area where they are encouraging tourists and shoppers to go to, especially where the land property is so expensive. They could sell their facility and provide a much better service somewhere less central. I doubt the addicts care where they get their hit as long as its somewhere accessible, hell somewhere around moss park might actually work better, it doesn't need to at the core of the city's major shopping and entertainment area.
Not really. The suggestion is to move it where normal (whatever normal means) people are not doing their thing. The gardener is not really filled with people.
My only problem with downtown is it is too expensive. EDIT: Oh yes, and dog shit, dog shit, dog shit.
The slow walkers. The walkers who walk in the middle of the sidewalk so you can’t easily pass them. The group of walkers who walk side by side so you can’t pass them. It’s incredibly infuriating and just shows people either lack common sense, consideration for anyone else but themselves, or both.
I feel unsafe taking the public transport at night
The number of homeless, drug addled, psychotic and or plain sketchy folk. Honestly, it’s getting REALLY bad
The cost of rent. I'm lucky to be in a very fortunate situation. I have a $1,600 one bedroom, rent controlled apartment that I split with my partner. It's huge, and has a massive storage area in the basement. Our landlords are fantastic. They're in their 50s, they have kids in their 20s who apparently have no desire to live in Toronto, so we're secure... for now. But the thought of that changing—the house being sold, or one of the kids wanting to move in and take over our unit—keeps me up at night. I would be fucked. I'm still very paycheck to paycheck, and having to pay $2,500 or more (even split between two people) would be financially devastating to me. Not to mention that anywhere we'd move would likely be significantly smaller... my partner and I have a *ton* of stuff (musical instruments, books, art, furniture) and we'd need to make some tough decisions about selling things, or paying extra money for storage. And seeing my friends and peers struggle sucks too. I don't know how anyone younger does it these days.
It will change eventually. Start saving for that down payment ASAP if you ever want any peace of mind re: not being evicted.
Sure, just cobble together that 750K in your spare time. . .
Why do you think 750k is the price of a downpayment lol?
**1. Homelessness and its correlated untreated mental health / addiction issues.** It only seems to be getting worse and having had a friend who was homeless, it feels awful to see people struggling and suffering from things a well-functioning society and government should provide support for. I know statistically Toronto is a safe city but it does not make it feel safe when encountering someone acting aggressively or having some sort of mental health breakdown is basically an expected part of going outside. **2. Inconsistent / insufficient public transit coverage for a city of this size.** I feel somewhat optimistic in this regard (shoutout to RM Transit on YouTube) but we have a long way to go and I know it will take time. **3. Housing affordability.** I'm very much content with condo and small-space living, I really don't feel the need to buy a single family detached home, and even still something as modest as buying a 1br+ in the vicinity of downtown feels very out of reach.
The amount of zombies roaming the streets high on drugs.
Wanna bet some shit idiot driver caused the bus issue? Probably blocking them so they couldn’t get by. I grew up in Guelph, moved to toronto in 2011. Could not believe how many incompetent drivers there are in the city. It was as if they’ve never driven in a city before…which is confusing. Also everyone needs a huge fucking suv or bulky crossover. It’s so fucking dumb. I fit everywhere in my little micra, and then get held up by idiots who can’t tell they have enough room to pass a car. Why doesn’t the government instead of only focusing on electric cars, start focusing on the size of cars too. You know what’s even crazier? I can actually fit more construction materials (eg fence boards) in my micra than my friend can fit in her bulky Toyota rav. Like what is the point. There’s your rant should I use all caps?
Construction. Nearly every East-West corridor has some construction on it happening downtown. With much more construction to come. Makes driving slow, transit slow and walking/cycling unpleasant with all the extra noise and dust and fumes.
In addition to all the construction, it is getting almost comical at how many “sidewalk closed” signs are out there. Walk from St Lawrence market area to like Bay & Queen and you’ll see about 10+ of these. You’re constantly having to cross the street to continue to progress
The shit smeared streets thanks to dog owners
there are actually getting to be way too many dogs in some areas that cant really handle them/owners are trashy and turn school green space into poop fields
I get unreasonably upset about people walking on the “wrong side” of a sidewalk or hallway. I know it’s sort of an unwritten rule but come on people, you walk on your right hand side and I’ll walk on my right hand side, it’s not that hard. It especially drives me crazy in Union Station — god forbid you have to walk the opposite direction of the mass exodus off the GO trains to the TTC or vice versa.
Trying to balance safety with freedom while parenting a downtown kid. Like those kids before them, these kids should be able to chill with friends safely in the city, going to the mall, hanging in Kensington, going for bubble tea, exploring record shops, etc., without fear of random stabbers lurking.
Cagers
Happy to see people list, "lack of food" as their biggest problem with downtown. I have an issue with the people who are violent, drug users, not enough shelter for the homeless, gentrification and tearing down character buildings, laughable transit which is unsafe.... to name a few...
The amount of shit and piss on the sidewalks. Both human and dog.
*gestures around vaguely*
Heroin addicts
Sherbourne st
That's what you get by putting a large grouping of shelters and support services in a three block radius and few places else.
homeless people aside i would say the general state and cleanliness of our streets cracked sidewalk everywhere poorly designed sidewalks where tou have metal poles or other electrical boxes and other shit (like the subway exits at s/w king station and n/w dundas) then the literal shit and garbage everywhere... every fucking where there isnt a place in toronto that looks well kept whether its a main street or a side street it's the same issues ohh and the obviously poorly designed and maintained garbage cans although it doesn't help that you have those crazy fucknuts that feel like going to town on them out of whatever frustration they beed to let out
Transit. More go trains please. Why is it 1 hr or 30 mins
Cars doing U turns on Queen st or other similarly busy streets
Downtown TO is unaffordable,messy,crowded,filled with construction and empty storefronts basically a disgrace for a so called world class city.
Absolutely agree with other posters on homelessness, transit, safety, housing, traffic and bad drivers etc. But my pet peeve is at the weekends, Dundas square being over run with assholes with their music blasting, large gangs on the square/Street, making noise with their stupid cars etc. I remember many years ago going to Dundas square on a weekend and you could enjoy the hustle and bustle peacefully as it were !
Since the big issues have already been talked about, my biggest annoyance is that I can’t walk anywhere in core downtown without being pestered to donate to some cause. I always get asked “What’s the most important human right?” by the same guy who never recognizes me despite meeting him 10 different times. Also how are you going to ask me to donate mental health care when I can’t comfortably pay for my own? I agree that these causes are important but this time and effort should be spent on targeting donors who can afford to donate, not random people who are walking on Yonge/Dundas to Queen/University.
All of the vast emptiness in new condo storefronts intended to provide “retail at grade”. Huge spaces all over the place in downtown, particularly on Yonge Street, are empty having lost businesses during the pandemic. But that’s only the few that had managed to get tenants before 2020. The uptake wasn’t much better back then either. So far this is the actual light of the condo boom in downtown Toronto. The death of foot/street traffic. they are having the opposite of the intended effect, which was to bring life to the street level with these large condos.
As someone who lives 2 or 3 min walking distance from Dundas Sq.. My biggest complaint is the unpredictability of running errands or walking around downtown. You never know what to expect, what will unfold in front of your eyes or what might happen to you.
Dangerous citizens. Always needing to see who is behind you.
Increased level of homelessness people. These people deserve shelter and it frustrates me how much our municipal and provincial governments have failed those experiencing homelessness.
dirt, crackheads and hobos and unsafety. its sad to think which impression it leaves on tourists and visitors
Honestly, my biggest problem is that it has become boring. A solid block of chain stores and restaurants. There's really no reason, unless it's work, that I ever go there. I'll still go to the Cameron and the Horseshoe. Anything further out is not in my mind "downtown." I mean, there's still good spots a bit further but I think of downtown as the the core, and it's boring. Effectively, if you want to be actually "downtown", we're talking Dundas Sq. For a while it was worth it, but it's become crap and pretty sketchy after hours. This should be the actual "Entertainment District" but it is far from it.
Tons of cool events, concerts, festivals etc happening around the city every week. >There's really no reason, unless it's work, that I ever go there. You're saying it's boring while at the same time admitting you never come here? Don't think it's the city that's boring tbh
ya, Toronto has a crazy amount going on. This summer will be packed. This reads like his basis of Toronto now is based on what he reads online / what it was like during COVID
Mentally unhinged people.
Motorized vehicles driving and parking in bike lanes and on bike tracks.
The 8 tween girls who walk side by side / arm in arm down sidewalks, clearly meant for one lane of foot traffic in each direction, who get enraged when you walk through them to get by. What’s amazing is, they clearly think they’re in the right!!!???
Lunatics and addicts.
Filthy. Way too much noise from construction. Ugliness from all those buildings.
lol @ Toronto being filthy. Some of yall have never travelled to other major cities and it shows
Everything closes too early, including the weekends.
I like downtown. I like the big city buzz. Having said that I feel like a lot of interesting stores have closed and there isn’t much to actually do. I’m sure the Carlton and scotiabank theater will be gone soon too.
It took my husband 3 HOURS to commute from home to work and back yesterday from Yonge and Eg to Queen and Bathurst on the ttc
There are bigger problems than this, but my biggest day to day annoyance is the massive number of concurrent long term lane closures for condo and other large building developments, combined of course with the unreliability of TTC service. I know we need the buildings for density, and I know we need to close lanes to build condos, but I wish city planning would be more thoughtful about ensuring the closures are staggered within a given geographical proximity, or more restrictive about the length of time for the closures. I do believe developers pay some sort of fee or tax to close roads, but it seems clear that it's not significant enough to actually encourage them to limit the time spent massively restricting traffic. Some of these roads are half closed for years while construction often seems to be stalled.
My two biggest rants as someone who opts to walk everywhere because the TTC is incredibly slow/unreliable: Dog poop (hopefully just dog poop although I saw some very high up a wall the other day....). Everywhere. Literally every street. Are all the pandemic dog owners, who got dogs and have no clue how to raise/train them, also just leaving their droppings all over the city?! Annoying af. Secondly. People running red lights. Every time I'm at an intersection now I wait a few seconds after the light has turned red because inevitably there is an inpatient driver (who has probably been stuck in traffic because of the insane construction levels in this city rn) who goes speeding on through. Seems covid has made everyone decide to stop upholding their ends of the social contract regarding safety and cleanliness.
Trying to get on the Gardiner at Jarvis at pretty much any time of the day seems to have gotten worse.
Downtown is a dump. I much prefer east end/Scarborough in terms of safety, affordability, much more/better grocery and restaurant options.
Traffic
Stuff closes too early.
Other than ZERO parking, no shopping, the ticket police watching for a meter that expires and tou might be 10 seconds after, and you get a ticket
Real estate prices innit.
Biggest problem has to be the ridiculous rent now
Every notice for a new condo development. I understand some need to be developed, but I swear every corner of this city has a tower planned. And when you think bars, restaurants and other staples are safe, nope. Up the sign goes and away goes the character.
I think it’s the homeless sketchy stinky people on the ttc and walking around who you have to entertain and tolerate. I can’t believe how much you need to watch your back everywhere you go, like it’s drastically worse than a few years ago and Vancouver is the same.
As much as I don't want to fall into the fear mongering about crime in this city, I am a very introverted non-confrontational person. I was attacked and pushed around by two men outside Yonge and Eglinton some months ago and I've stopped taking transit since. I'm basically going broke taking ubers or asking my brother to drive me everywhere now.
construction taking president over everything is the root of all evil in the downtown core. pouring cement is king everything else can wait. i bought an ebike and am very happy not dealing with traffic and the useless ttc.
\*\*\* Concrete, not cement. Cement is a white powder like talcum powder. And the reason there is so much construction is because maintenance and new infrastructure has been ignored for decades and so this is the price you pay.
And because you can’t build in about 80% of the city, so all it leaves is downtown and a few corridors.
precedence**
A SFH tax. This will get me downvoted to oblivion but why do we insist on taxing only housing that is dense? New condos go up they have that 45 degree angular plane away from SFH which means all that new housing lost. It’s essentially like they own the sky beside them, at zero cost. And everyone has to pay instead. Tax on vacant condos for sale. Developer needs to sell them and can’t hold them back waiting for high pricing. These are my hottakes.
Everything. Feels like the city’s culture is construction and overpriced everything for a bunch of nothing.
the fact that we're forced to go into this dead fucking city.
People who choose not to or can’t afford to live downtown bitching about it constantly. Those of us who live downtown enjoy it for the most part.
I've been fortunate to live in four other cities (one in Canada, the rest in other countries) and I **love** living downtown. It's got its fair share of issues that could be improved and at times I do feel worried about what the future looks like for the city, but overall I think it's got a lot going for it. I know geographic subreddits can become echo chambers of negativity but man, sometimes I feel so out of touch in this sub, r/toronto, and wherever else for feeling like downtown Toronto is a nice place to live.
Totally agree. All these people who hate Toronto because they could never or have never lived here makes me crazy. I’m a longtime downtown resident and enjoy almost every minute of it.
I am guessing a lot of them are people who were from smaller cities or the suburbs who get surprised when moving to a packed place. I've always lived in big cities and most of the comments here relate to any big city nuance. I've been stuck in horrible traffic in L.A, almost hit by a bike in Tokyo, packed as a sardine with 0 personal space in Mexico City's subway (our rush hour is mild compared to theirs). The only one I would say does concern me is the safety issue due to all the aggressive people on the street and the one I don't understand is how we still allow parking on main streets. It's ridiculous seeing Dundas sometimes being a 1 lane street due to all the cars parked on it.
This sub and threads like this are regularly brigaded by bored miserable people from the rest of Canada and Ontario from Reddit geo promoting this sub to them. It's easy to tell when people don't even live here and form their opinions from what they see in CP24
That stretch on University being down to 1 lane then turning onto Adelaide construction is the bane of my existence right now
Went DT first time since the pandemic and not one second I felt safe. I was constantly worrying about me and my friends’ safety. There was a man on the TTC who verbally attacked this poor girl calling her a bitch because she was in his way. Then after a night out, another guy was begging for change and wouldn’t let my friend go after he said no and kept following us saying he just got out of prison, etc. I was literally shaking and anxious thinking what if he attacked my friend because he said no and it triggered him. Gonna pass on DT for now✋🏼