I was born in a small town.  And I was raised in a small town.  And I love that small town.  But right now I live in the city.  And that city is Toronto.  And I love it too.

Now, I know that Toronto isn’t for everybody.  I know that it’s the butt of a lot of jokes.  I know that people that live in other parts of Canada like to rag on the city and the people that live here.  But it’s a pretty great place.  Otherwise I wouldn’t have come back.

The first time I lived in Toronto was in college in 2001.  I lived in the north east part of the city.  Pretty far from downtown, but still a whole lot more city than I was used to.  There were bars and malls and people, lots of people.  And you know what, I loved it.  I loved taking the TTC downtown on weekends to shop and drink.  I loved people watching.  I loved the shopping.  I loved the diversity.  I loved it all.  It was a lot to take in for a small town boy, but I did it.  And I loved it.

After that year in residence I bounced around between another small town, and a medium sized town and even another major Canadian city.  But none of them had the draw of Toronto.

It was that draw that had me applying for jobs that I wasn’t qualified for on my lunch break in Ottawa.  It was that draw that had me in Toronto to visit.  It was that draw that had me pack up my things and move back without a job or a place to live.

Note:  My family also played into that last part a bit.  But I chose to live in Toronto.  Not our small town.

When I got back here a year and a half ago I crashed on an air mattress in Mike’s apartment for a month and then moved into a dump of a bachelor apartment.  My God it was an awful little place.  But it was my place.  In Toronto.  Downtown.  In the middle of it all.  I loved it.

Last summer I was a street car trip away from the Rogers Centre and my beloved Blue Jays.  I was within ear shot of the Honda Indy.  We walked to the CNE.  Almost got swallowed in a mob of people during Caribana.  And I had only a quick jaunt to the Exhibition Go Train station to go to Oakville to visit friends, or to that small town to visit family.

Like I said, I’ve been back a year and a half.  And I’m glad I’m here.  There’s something about this place that amazes me.

When I was thinking about writing this piece I was coming up with a list of things that I love about Toronto and could mention.  The list just kept growing.  So I figured that the best plan of attack was to break a few of the things down so that you could see why I’m so in love with this place.

The TTC:  I written before about the TTC.  And almost every day I ride the TTC.  And when I wasn’t living in Toronto I missed the TTC.  That last part might sound silly to you, but it’s the truth.  When I was in college here I had a long trip to get downtown or anywhere really.  And that entire trip was taken on TTC buses and the subway.  I did a lot of reading, people watching, writing and even power-napping on those trips.  I got to be quiet and alone with my thoughts and generally just chilled out and got where I needed to go at the same time.  I don’t mind the bumps that the Commission has along the way.  It’s a huge operation that is subject to media scrutiny and public outrage every second of every day, shit is going to go wrong.  I’m okay with that.  But as long as the drivers and supervisors and riders all do their part to leave me alone and get me where I’m going, I’m going to continue loving the TTC.

The restaurants:  There are approximately 1 billion restaurants in Toronto by my estimation.  I have eaten at less than 1% of them.  There are restaurants that will serve you every kind of ethnic fare that you can think of or crave.  There are flavours that scare me, menu items that I can’t pronounce and lots of places that I still need to try.  And yet, even with my fear and hesitation, I love that they are all here.  The smells and stories and history and options are amazing.  At home when I was a kid we had Arby’s, Harvey’s, KFC, 2 family restaurants, a Chinese buffet, 3 pizza places and the grocery store.  Those were the options for food.  No Thai, sushi, Pho, French, Italian or Caribbean cuisine was available.  And I had no idea what I was missing.  The Shawarma dude on my street might be the perfect example.  I never, ever had shawarma when I was young.  I never had it when I lived in Ottawa and it was all over the place.  But this little family owned place on King St. West is amazing and now I don’t even have to order when I walk in, they know me and I know them.  I just smile, say hello and throw in a please and thank you to confirm that I’ll have my regular chicken wrap with my regular toppings.  Love.

Street meat:  Do I really have to explain this one?

The shopping:  If you have never been on Queen Street on a nice summer day you are missing out.  The stores and sales and people and clothes and things that you will find may amaze you.  There are novelty shops, chain stores, vintage warehouses, record stores, tattoo and piercing parlors, skate shops, shoe stores and those are just the things that I can think of off the top of my head.  Pretty awesome eh?  I remember the first one I fell in love with, The Black Market.  I bought a wicked awesome, way too small, yellow Batman shirt there while I was in school.  I think that it’s still in the closet somewhere, even though there is no way that I should ever try and put it on.

The way Toronto parties:  If you’ve never been in the city for the CNE, North by North East, Canadian Music Week, Canada Day, Caribana, the Santa Claus Parade, Pride Week or any other of the amazing things that this city puts on, you my friend, are missing out.  There are a ton of people here, and they love to party.  Just look at what happened at Dundas Square after the gold medal game for Men’s Hockey at the Olympics.  The thing shut down.  We’re not talking about Robson Square which is less than 2 km from GM Place where the game was played.  We’re talking just a little less than 4,500 km away.  There were people singing, dancing, playing street hockey, drinking, rejoicing and celebrating.  It’s what Toronto and Torontonians do.  Come to Pride Week and try not to party.  Visit the CNE and try not to eat funnel cake and mini donuts and play the games.  It’s impossible.  And if you love anything related to the Caribbean whether it be food or music or fashion or anything else, you will love Caribana.  Toronto hosts all of these things every year.  And while other cities may have their versions, Toronto’s are world renowned for a reason.

There are a lot more reasons to love Toronto that I’ve not detailed as well.  The Museums, sports teams, the zoo, the theatre, the Toronto International Film Festival, and more and more and more.

In the end there are going to be things that some people love and some people hate.  And my glowing review of the city may not be enough to change your mind if you’ve already made it.  But, if you haven’t decided to write Toronto off, if you’ve never been here, if it’s been a long, long time since you rode the street car, or if are ready to give it a second chance, these are some of the things that I love.

This is my Toronto.

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Joshua Murray

creator of content, daddy blogger, writer, coffee drinker, fan of the Batman. proud mo bro. prouder dad.