Street Life in Toronto
One of the unexpected things I loved once moving to Toronto is the street life here.
I think when I say "street life" you probably have the picture of happy, prosperous middle class young people, clad in respectable coats, doing things like kissing romantically under street lamps, drinking cappucinos or pints on sidewalk padios, and shopping. This is part of street life, but not all of it.
Street life in Toronto is made extra-spicy through the ample population of mental outpatients, recovering and relapsing drug addicts, and other various generally thought of as unsavoury characters who give new meaning to the tourist slogan Toronto Unlimited. These folks are part of the fabric of daily life here. Let me be clear that their lack of a place to live is a problem, and our society's seeming total lack of attention to finding places for these people to live, that's a problem too. That some of these people have no family, no stable group of friends: probably the biggest problem of all.
The fact that they're wandering the streets, sharing streetcars with the scarf-wearing romantic under-street-lamp kissers, latte-drinkers and shoppers, that is not a problem. Nothing could be more right. Toronto's utter randomness is what makes this city so vibrant. The fact that pedestrian life is so dominant here, helps many people who may have nowhere else to go feel a sense of belonging. It certainly gives them lots of people to talk to.
You have to keep your eyes open. There is always the potential for being spat upon, verbally abused, and though I haven't experienced it, physical violence. But if you stay emotionally open while you keep your eyes open, interactions with Toronto's street dwellers can be one of the most rewarding things about living here.
In honour of that, I'm going to write a series about some of my interactions with my favourite street people. Right after I finish my work.
I think when I say "street life" you probably have the picture of happy, prosperous middle class young people, clad in respectable coats, doing things like kissing romantically under street lamps, drinking cappucinos or pints on sidewalk padios, and shopping. This is part of street life, but not all of it.
Street life in Toronto is made extra-spicy through the ample population of mental outpatients, recovering and relapsing drug addicts, and other various generally thought of as unsavoury characters who give new meaning to the tourist slogan Toronto Unlimited. These folks are part of the fabric of daily life here. Let me be clear that their lack of a place to live is a problem, and our society's seeming total lack of attention to finding places for these people to live, that's a problem too. That some of these people have no family, no stable group of friends: probably the biggest problem of all.
The fact that they're wandering the streets, sharing streetcars with the scarf-wearing romantic under-street-lamp kissers, latte-drinkers and shoppers, that is not a problem. Nothing could be more right. Toronto's utter randomness is what makes this city so vibrant. The fact that pedestrian life is so dominant here, helps many people who may have nowhere else to go feel a sense of belonging. It certainly gives them lots of people to talk to.
You have to keep your eyes open. There is always the potential for being spat upon, verbally abused, and though I haven't experienced it, physical violence. But if you stay emotionally open while you keep your eyes open, interactions with Toronto's street dwellers can be one of the most rewarding things about living here.
In honour of that, I'm going to write a series about some of my interactions with my favourite street people. Right after I finish my work.
posted by Jared at 12:05 PM
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