Torontoist Love/Hate 2006: Love & Hate

By David Topping

Torontonians are, to say the least, an opinionated bunch. So instead of a simple “Best Of” list to cap 2006 off, the Torontoist staffers have racked their brains about everything (books, songs, restaurants, people, places, stores, newspapers, politicians, musicians, and a lot more) to bring you their choices for the very best and the very worst of our city this past year. It’s Torontoist Love/Hate 2006, and you can find a new one every day at noon from December 26th until January 1st.
This is the very last edition of Torontoist’s Love/Hate, and, for the new year, we decided to pick a whole bunch of things (the TTC, our city as a whole, and so on) that we just can’t really decide how we feel about. It makes sense, since ambivalence seems to be a recurring mood in big cities like ours. We proudly present the Love & Hate edition of Love/Hate.

The TTC

He’s sexist. He’s arrogant. He’s overcome with a sense of entitlement. He may have inadvertently and/or indirectly been responsible for the TTC wildcat strike. But Councillor Howard Moscoe is also lovably avuncular and adorably naïve. His supreme confidence that he knows everything about everything, and his resulting impenetrability, are as endlessly amusing and ridiculously charming as they are obviously frustrating. You kind of want to scratch him behind the ears. He was the benevolent dictator of the TTC, the anachronistic baron of transit, whose frequent close-mindedness and old-school attitude were occasionally punctuated by whimsical, idealistic flights of fancy and innovation. April’s TTC Pizzazz campaign may have been a blatant attempt to distract riders from that month’s fare hike with mimes and Lucille Ball impersonators, but that picture of Moscoe in a funny hat is something we’ll be showing to our grandchildren with pride. – JONATHAN GOLDSBIE
It’s bloody fantastic that we have a public transport system in the city, but oh man I’d like it if it was a little cleverer. I mean, remember that whole “pizazz” campaign? What the hell happened to it, eh? I guess they just forgot about it. And then they do dumbass things like new tokens rather than, say, a top-up card system or something. Not to mention how surly the staff can be and how slowly they fix anything (there’s nothing worse than an unmanned entrance with ticket machines that are broken for weeks on end)! C’mon, stretch to man the entrances during the rush hour periods – firing all the drivers when magical new robots appear to drive the trains will enable you to do that, huh? Oh, and then we’ve got streetcars. Man, I love that we have such a quaint mode of transport, they’re cute and make me think of childhood trips to Blackpool Pleasure Beach, but let’s be honest – they suck. The tracks are hell on bikers, they slow traffic, you wait forever for them and then three come along all of a sudden (the bloody College St. one is the worst) and they’re so old and weird that new cars are only going to get more and more expensive and difficult to source as the years go by. I don’t want to lose them but I’m seriously beginning to think electric buses are the only solution to that one. TTC – I loves ya, but you sure make it hard on me. – MATHEW KUMAR
The TTC. Love, because of all the reasons that public transit is good and holy and should be enjoyed by all. Hate, because of so much failed potential. Let’s wish for the new year that passed transgressions of underfunding will be redressed, that all crabby staff will lean to mimic the majority of happy and helpful ones, and that the TTC will finally be officially added to Google Transit, which would not only make it easier to plan routes, but would also increase the TTC’s coolness factor by about 9845372454%. – CHRIS TINDAL
I love that this city gets so riled up over our transit system. No matter what side people are on, Torontonians are hugely passionate and educated about it. Every photoblogger has at least one TTC photo, many people, young and old, are seen sporting Spacing buttons, and just look at the fuss Torontoist readers made over the TTC shirt designs. – CARRIE MUSGRAVE
For crissake, will somebody in the provincial or federal governments realize that Toronto funds a good portion of this country and MAYBE they should invest in public transit? The TTC does a pretty reasonable job with the money they have, but I have to remind myself it’s not technically their fault when four trains go past me at rush hour and every one is too full to let fresh passengers on because the TTC can’t run as many trains as they’d like to any more because NOT ENOUGH MONEY. Most public transit systems across the world operate with ten to twenty percent of their funding generated from fares; the TTC, in comparison, pulls three-quarters of its operating budget from fares. Which goes to show how efficient the system is, really, but how about we give them a bit of a break, huh? – CHRISTOPHER BIRD
After spending/wasting my summer at each and every one of the stations, I have reason enough to be ambivalent about our transit system. Add the day-long strike on the hottest day of the summer, the fare hikes, the completely impotent administration that’s been a problem since I started riding the system who knows how many years ago. But then, there are all the good things – the environmentally-friendly buses, the nice employees (no, really), and the fans of the TTC who are making it into a world-class system…with no help from the actual system. Does the best city in the world have the best transit system in the world? No, but it feels like — slowly, very, very slowly — it may get there someday. – DAVID TOPPING

Toronto

I love our city. While I already believe it to be great, I envision it being even greater. I also believe the vast majority of its citizens feel the same way I do. This is a special time to be involved in the city, exemplified by the continuing civic pride and vigilance brought by such groups as newmindspace and the TPSC, magazines such as Spacing, and yes, even city-focused websites such as Torontoist and blogTO. If we really want to achieve greatness, we need to be united, which means an end to all the NIMBY-ism that is plaguing our city; the St. Clair right of way streetcar, the incinerator option, increased taxes on automobiles. While I’m sure they don’t feel that way, these people are standing in the way of progress. – MARK MEDLEY
In the opening narration of the movie Ryan, Chris Landreth explains that “I live in Toronto, a city in Canada where I see way too many shades of grey for my own good health.” Indie and hipster culture in Toronto, currently embracing an apparent explosion of local creativity, is all about raging against the grey (in a cheerful way, of course), but it appears that’s all that can really be done here. Substantive and long-term change in this city seems largely impossible, because Toronto is still viewed as a monolith of inauthenticity; those looking for grand life experiences (i.e. most people under the age of thirty or so) are always going to be searching elsewhere – who wouldn’t rather be in New York or London or Montreal? Which is rather a paradox, really, as I believe the urge to skedaddle is directly tied to Toronto’s lack of a greater mythology, a grand sweep of history of which to be a part, that will never be created as long as our most starry-eyed dreamers keep eloping. Toronto is still very much a work-in-progress, a child star, a tabula rasa that needs you, yes you, to define and shape it. – JONATHAN GOLDSBIE
All the people who live here. People are very noisy and they’re always getting in my way when I want to go places. On the other hand, without any population, bars, restaurants, stores and streets would be pretty boring. Also, I’d have to support all the infrastructure and the economy personally, so my taxes would be high. – PATRICK METZGER

Everything and Everyone Else

The Church Street Village. I have lived in the Gaybourhood as a straight woman for years and love the restaurants and shops, the security and how good it feels to be living in a progressive community. But I hate the blasting techno beats which keep me awake late at night during Pride Week, the small “woman-hating” demographic of gay men, and when the Baskin Robbins stops carrying green tea ice cream to make room for seasonal variants on chocolate. – KAREN WHALEY
Cycling in the city. I ride my old beater bike everywhere, in every weather, because I love it. I even obey traffic laws. But what’s with the raised pavement and/or uneven trenches that have appeared post street repair this year, and seem to only exist where bike lanes should be painted? And what’s with the driver who yelled, “Are you sick? You @#$% slut!” after he cut me off last week (let’s hope he was just visiting our fair city)?. Even though cycling is irrefutably the best form of transport for the planet, my physical health, and my sanity, it’s enough to make a grown woman feel victimy sometimes. – SHARON HARRIS
The Daniel Libeskind work-in-progress is a glorious, grotesque, beautiful, and hideous extension of the ROM. It’s a wonderfully unique addition to the city but the jarring monstrosity is entirely out of place amidst its surroundings. I’m expecting to be greeted by prehistoric aliens upon entering the structure, which will open in June. – SHARI KASMAN

Gotta be the Future Bakery. Any Annex-dweller can tell you that it is impossible not to go there and go there frequently, whether you’re catching up with old friends over some cake, or trying to figure out what kind of pseudo-date you’re on over some perogies. But the facts remain: the main food menu at this place is limited, over-priced and most dishes taste like crap. Sure it’s got one of the best patios in the city during the summer, but in the winter all it has are disappointing homefries and sausage medallions. – JOHNNIE WALKER
Although his architectural opinions have always been divisive, Christopher Hume has long been Toronto’s foremost advocate of a strong pedestrian realm. His frequent condemnations of the provincial and federal governments for their lack of respect for cities in general, and Toronto in particular, are also invaluable, as are his criticisms of our local civic bureaucracy. This year, however, he has disappointed by going on at length about how cities should look to the private sector to fund infrastructure, and he has been an enthusiastic proponent of the City’s ad-funded Coordinated Street Furniture Program. For the first time, it seems, he is not only one of the public space movement’s best allies but also one of its most unfortunate foes. – JONATHAN GOLDSBIE
Parkdale, even though I live here. It’s constantly calling me on my issues. I like all the new little boutiques popping up, but shouldn’t I oppose the gentrification of my neighbourhood? I like the diversity in the neighbourhood, but I could live without watching mentally ill people scrap outside of the LCBO on Brock. – ROXANNE BIELSKIS
Rabba sucks. And they seem to be everywhere downtown. That’s one thing I miss about the suburbs; the grocery stores are way better. Downtown there’s Rabba; the produce isn’t particularly fresh, they don’t really have much to choose from, and the prices aren’t particularly good. And yet, I love Rabba. It’s open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, which means running out of milk at 5 o’clock in the morning on New Year’s Day is no longer a problem. They also have all these funky foreign brands I’ve never heard of, which open up my lunch options quite a bit. And then there was the time when Christopher Walken stood behind me in line. Yeah, that was cool. – ADAM MILLER

The Toronto International Film Festival. For most of the year, I’m eagerly awaiting the ten days in September when the world comes to Toronto. I love reading article after article about what films to watch, trying to plan a way to see films both big and small, and then spending one or two nights drinking free booze at some party. I’ve seen some amazing films I probably would never have seen otherwise and I’ve enjoyed making funs of those that were just plain bad. I even don’t mind standing in line for hours the first day or two, fretting over what will have sold out by the time I get to the front. Then, at about midway through the fest, I start to hate everything about it. I hate the mob of people in Yorkville hoping for the slightest glimpse of a celebrity. I hate every person standing outside a hotel, store or party with a camera or autograph book. At that point, it’s not about the films anymore. Toronto truly becomes Hollywood North and, well, it looks disgusting. The end is usually better, as soon as the celebs leave, and all the lovely thoughts come back to my head. But for a brief period, I really hate the film fest! – MIKE WARNER
I have a Love/Hate relationship with Zanta. Ok, ok, I get it, you’re crazy and topless and can do a hell of a lot of pushups, and I appreciate that. Who am I to criticize you for living freely and expressing yourself? But at the same time, you get really annoying at 9 a.m. when I’m hungover and headed to work, and your YES YES YES-es make some tourists freak out, leading to a 15 minute delay while security escorts you out. Chances are, I’m late as it is, and you’re just not helping. – AMANDA BUCKIEWICZ