10 Awesome Things About Toronto!

People love to rag on Toronto. From coast to coast, the jokes are on us. The media coverage that we get isn’t often flattering, whether it’s Mayor Rob Ford or the Ikea Monkey, it’s not usually a “good news, go Toronto” kind of story that gets us on the news in other cities.

So, instead of just sitting here – I decided to come up with a list of things that are awesome about Toronto!

You can be from anywhere. Really. We don’t care. You can be from Toronto, or somewhere else in Canada. You can be from the US, or any other country in the world. We don’t care what your skin color is or what your religion is or what your first language is. You’re welcome here. Just don’t be a dick and we’ll get along
just fine.

The Toronto International Film Festival. TIFF is one of the biggest film fests in the world and we love it and embrace it. Theatres all over the city are home to premières and screenings and Q&As. In 2012 I got to see Spike Lee answer questions about Michael Jackson. Awesome.

We throw great parties to celebrate Canada Day and Pride. Seriously, if you have the chance, check it out.

You can choose between cafes to play board games at. Snakes and Lattes or GO Lounge. Your choice. Bring your friends, take your time, roll the dice, play your cards and enjoy the hell out of day!

Toronto is Hipster friendly. One any given day you’ll find 3 out of 5 men between the ages of 17 and 35 wearing plaid. Moustaches are not only found in November. And 97% of bars sell tall boys of PBR.

The CN Tower. For a long, long time it was the tallest free-standing structure in the world and we were damn proud of it. And even though that building went up in Dubai, we should still love it. Actually, I know many of you do, since I see it in your Instagram feeds daily.

There’s a friggin’ Drive In movie theater in the city. It’s got 2 screens, plays double features and is great with the top down in the convertible.

The glory and beauty and peacefulness that comes with skating on an outdoor rink like the one at Nathan Phillips Square.

We’re generous. We don’t hog glory. In fact, our hockey team, the Maple Leafs, have been gracious enough to let 8 other Eastern Conference teams into the play-offs in each of the last 7 seasons and they haven’t taken the Stanley Cup from other deserving teams since 1967. Good guys.

The people. Most of my favorite people in the world call Toronto home. There are others spread out in other cities, but I love the people in Toronto. We might not all agree on everything and we might not all be headed in the same direction all the time – but I wouldn’t trade the people of Toronto for anything in the world!

Stay awesome world. And when you’re in Toronto, let me know!