Toronto, the obvious city.
Growing up in a small, what I would define as “rural”, southwestern Ontario town, I was reminded daily that I was not living in a city. Amherstburg is characterized by plots of land divided by hectares, endless empty space embellished with the odd cow or hay bale, a population of ~20,000, abnormal methods of transportation such as tractors and snowmobiles, the proximity (or lack thereof) to a hospital, and the singular public high school that educates ~600 students each year. My mother calls the town Pleasantville, I call(ed) it boring. Fast forward to 2021, I moved into a condo downtown Toronto. I was immediately overwhelmed by the never-ending swarms of faces in the streets, walkable access to unlimited resources, close proximity to a variety of hospitals, the array of educational facilities, and the list is non-exhaustive. “It is quite obvious Toronto is a city,” I stated in the first Urban Policy class of the semester. “Why is it obvious?” Professor Eidelman questioned. Put on the spot, it was hard for me to verbalize my thought process. Coming from a slow-paced town whose population is mainly retirees, Toronto’s lively energy at any hour of the day was my first thought. However, that is not an appropriate answer to a question about an indicator meant to feed a definition. “I guess my answer is the variety of public transportation options,” I finally replied. Which, come to think of it, was my second “obvious” indication that Toronto fits the bill. Rural towns, like Amherstburg, typically do not provide the luxury of public transport or walkability. Before I had my license, I could not visit a friend unless one of my parents had time to drive me. The closest grocer, drug store, and gas station is located a 10-minute drive from my home. If I wanted to watch a movie or buy new clothes at the mall, I had to commit to a 1-hour roundtrip drive. Now, in Toronto, I live a 2-minute walk from the Manulife Centre, home to Eataly, Cineplex, City Market, LCBO, Indigo, and endless clothing stores. On top of walkability, the Bay subway station is located 26 steps from my condo (yes, I counted). My first subway attempt landed me at a wrong, unrecognizable side of Toronto, which further instilled how little I knew about such a large, diverse, and dynamic area. My life growing up in a quiet small town, juxtaposed against the unpredictable and vivacious City of Toronto has taught me many things about what a “city” truly is. Having access to critical services such as healthcare, transportation, education, and food, in combination with non-necessities such as entertainment and shopping, and finally population density and diversity are the parameters of defining a city — in my context, at least.
