Last weekend marked our first real foray back to Toronto since the big winter move to The Hammer a few weeks ago. I must confess, although I am enjoying my new city, the T-dot still has that familiar feeling of home. It’s comfortable, we know people and we know instantly where to go to get whatever food or services we need. (I’m not naïve though – I do know that it takes awhile to gain that level of comfort. Heck, it took us a year or two to really enjoy Toronto after having been overseas for a few years.)
Having said that, there are some sure-fire signs that I am slowly becoming Hamiltonian. Several things in Toronto really drove me crazy after a few weeks of being in Hamilton, namely:
a) the driving
b) the parking situation (i.e., none)
c) too many people (everywhere we went)
Another sure sign that we are slowly entering a comfort level in our new home would have to be our quick defence and promotion of Hamilton when we’re around Torontonians.
At a party on Saturday night downtown, we found ourselves in deep conversation with several urban professionals (mostly city planning types) about Hamilton, its potential, how it is probably one of the last affordable and commutable places in the GTA, and its general up-and-comingness. Surprisingly, among this group, not much coercion was needed – they were all on board with our thoughts on Hamilton, and also shared our thoughts on the fact that Toronto has really become too expensive for our generation.
The question is, will more of them actually take the plunge and move here over the next few years?
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