anyone here from canada?- Page 2

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 5/30/05 at 12:53pm

*raises hand with curiosity*

What's the GTA?

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 5/30/05 at 12:57pm

I think it means Greater Toronto Area. Could be wrong...

[gavrochegirl]

Posted: 5/30/05 at 12:58pm

BLAME CANADA!

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 5/30/05 at 1:02pm

WELCOME BACK TIFF! You were dearly missed. How was your trip to Europe?? (Selfish question: how much did you end up spending? I'm trying to gauge how much a trip to London-Paris-Italy would be.) Did you catc any great theat-ah?

(Yes, GTA stands for Greater Toronto Area. The city never ends, it just extends past the city borders and turns into suburbia.)

[Elphaba]

Posted: 5/30/05 at 1:27pm

Tiff, LOVE your avatar!

[tshell88]

Posted: 5/30/05 at 1:35pm

I'm from Toronto and have always lived here, apart from a two year mistake in Waterloo

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 5/30/05 at 1:54pm

Good to know...
I'm technically from what is called the Greater Lansing Area, so I probably should have guessed.

[judy_in_disguise]

Posted: 5/30/05 at 3:28pm

Waterloo is ALWAYS a mistake. So is London. And Hamilton.

[Hoof]

Posted: 5/30/05 at 3:41pm

Aw, I live in Loo. . . me like it. Kitchener is the screwy part.

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 5/30/05 at 4:12pm

Wiz, thanks for the welcome! Europe was absolutely divine, as I expected. I ate really well, dressed fairly well and had myself a ball! As for how much I wound up spending...gosh...well, I spent a helluva lot. It really depends on what things are important to you. For me, eating well is really important, so dropping EU70 for a good dinner was almost a bi-nightly event. (Luckily, I didn't pick up the tab most of the time!) Hotels are also really important to me, and that varied depending on the city.

PM me if you like and I can go into more detail. I love budgeting and planning trips. You're lucky that you're on the east; flights will be much cheaper than it was for me! How much time are you looking to spend in each place? (My ideal next European vacation will be London-Paris-Italy as well!)

[sabrelady]

Posted: 5/30/05 at 6:44pm

HEY anything is better than being from the Soo.! altho Oshawa runs a close second- (The entertainment capital of the world!- Oshawa? Old Wayne & Schster joke my bro STILL laughs at!)

[renthead2005z]

Posted: 5/30/05 at 9:07pm

ehh

[renthead2005z]

Posted: 5/30/05 at 9:08pm

DO YOU SAY ABOOT INSTED OF ABOUT LIKE ON DEGRASSI!!??

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 5/30/05 at 9:43pm

Surely we Canadians have a better grasp of the English language than that display.

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 5/30/05 at 11:04pm

I will totally let you know how the play goes.

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 6/7/05 at 7:02pm

A quick bump to the folks from Ontario. If I wanted to work in Toronto or Ottawa, are there any suburbs that have relatively cheaper rent? What type of prices am I looking at for a 1 or 2BR in a residential area? Is the public transit system any good? I'm weighing my options for this fall. Halp!

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 6/7/05 at 8:54pm

Tiff:

Rent in Toronto is probably the highest in the country. Depending on whether you live with others or in a bachelor's, typical rent is $500-900/month. Most of my friends live in the Annex in downtown Toronto, and they're all paying around $500-600/month, including utilities -- but they room together in a Victorian house. I know a few people with a bachelor's apartment, and they're paying around $700-1000/month.

It IS cheaper if you're living in the boroughs (North York, Scarborough, etc.), but not significantly. Still, I would recommend North York, because it has two subway lines running through it and is much nicer than Scarborough.

Toronto's TTC public transit system is pretty good; fares have gone up to $2.50/ride, but you can get a Metropass. If you're looking for an apartment away from downtown, try to find one near a subway station -- you don't want to have to wait for buses, because some of them don't come very often.

My advice is to live downtown, even if it is more expensive. There's just so much to do, it's a much more enjoyable lifestyle (though you're gonna miss the view of Nature that Vancouver provides). Try for the Annex -- it's really beautiful and fun, especially during the summer. It's full of students and young folk, it has some of the best cheap restaurants in the city, and is well worth the rent, which ain't that bad.

Updated On: 6/7/05 at 08:54 PM

[Liam]

Posted: 6/7/05 at 8:59pm

there was a candean in my class in 6th grade.

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 6/7/05 at 9:04pm

I bet he knew how to spell.

[Jera]

Posted: 6/7/05 at 9:04pm

I am from Canada!

jera

[Link Larkin Wanabe]

Posted: 6/19/05 at 10:05pm

Tiff,

I have lived on my own in Toronto for the past 2 years. I have a basement apartment in North York and I pay $600 a month, all inclusive (and it came fully furnished). It is pretty expensive, but I get by.

Hope that helped,

Akiva