I'm from Toronto. This is the most kickass city in terms of people and things to do. Vancouver is a beautiful city but it just doesn't match the night life that Toronto has (or so my party crazy friends/family members say). You're also only a few hours drive away from Ottawa, Quebec and Upstate NY, whereas if you're in Vancouver you're kind of stuck there or heading down into Washington.
I'm also a student at the U of T. Great university with an even greater set of campuses (St. George which is downtown, Scarborough which is in the east suburbs, and Mississauga which is out in the west suburbs).
One word of warning. The province has been forcing the city to pickup the tab for a lot of services, and as such taxes are supposed to go up 77% here in 5 years (or so the morning paper today reported).
Toronto is also the most multicultural city in the world (in terms of the ratio of "minorities" to white people). I put "minorities" in quotations because the official numbers put all "minorities" combined at a great number than white people. Let's put it this way. My family isn't exactly uncommon but we have a mix of Asian, European and Black members in the immediate family.
As far as night life goes it's pretty good. If you want coffee shops we've got coffee shops, restaurants...we have thousands, clubs galore, megaplex movie theatres up the ying yang and a lot of athletic centres too if you're into that sort of thing.
We also have the best public transit system in North America (buses, subway, monorail, streetcars) so it's actually possible (and preferable) not to own a car. If you're into the environment, we've got a huge recycling program. Smog is getting to be a problem in the summer though (but moreso in the surrounding immediate suburbs I find).
A lot of Americans come up to Toronto...tons of celebrities. We leave them alone which is why they like us. Most Torontonians are extremely quiet so we might seem rude to strangers but it's just us being timid.
We've got a mayor with an approval rating pushing 90%...not because he's smart but because he fights for the city like there's no tomorrow. Our provincial government is abysmal, but that's OK because they're not going to win the next election. Our federal government seems to be in place by default.
As far as jobs go, they're plentiful. U of T is going to be hiring a ton of profs because here in Ontario we have a 5 year high school system (up to gr. 13 or what is known as OAC - a university preparation year). But that 5 year system is being scrapped in favour of a more common 4 year high school system so that means there will be double enrollment I think in 2002. Whatever you do though, don't take a job in the suburban campuses - they suck (not academically but in terms of coolness
- I know because I attend classes at one of those campuses).
Cost of living is damn high, but if you're a prof you should be fine (i.e. middle class). I suggest moving as close to the inner city as possible although it'll be expensive. If worst comes to worst, move to a suburb with good access to the TTC as that'll make your commutes much better (if you're going to work at U of T, it has its own subway station).
Whatever you do, come up here and stay for a while (right now in the winter would be a good time so you know what it will be like to go a few days without seeing the sun...that can be a problem!). If you come in the summer the weather is usually great but that's only half the story (or less than half if we get an early winter
).
Sources of info:
U of T website
The Toronto Star Newspaper
Toronto.com Things To Do
TTC (Toronto Transit Commission)
-GL
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