GO CITYBREAK:It's been the backdrop in lots of movies but now Toronto is stepping into the limelight as a vibrant and creative city, says DAVIN O'DWYER
ONE OF the things that struck me when I first moved to Toronto a few years ago was that, for a city that has appeared in as many movies as it has, it’s about as recognisable as an extra in a war movie.
Thanks to Hollywood’s penchant for making movies north of the border, Toronto has stood in for New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, indeed pretty much any large city. That’s testimony to Toronto’s generic appearance: at first glance it’s a kind of bland North American cosmopolis – high-rise in the middle, low-density and car-dependent as you move farther out.
Recently, however, Toronto has finally started playing itself on the big screen: local director Atom Egoyan set his recent thriller Chloe, starring Liam Neeson and Amanda Seyfried, in the city, while the much-anticipated comic-book adaptation Scott Pilgrim Vs the World exists in a quasi-magical alternate Toronto.
In this representational shift, I suspect, lies a hint of how the city is gradually reappropriating its own identity. It may not be as venerable or worldly as Montreal, nor as beautiful and compelling as Vancouver, but Toronto is finally growing comfortable in its own skin.
The reason for this is that behind the generic exterior lies a vibrant, creative, multicultural population which makes Toronto far more attractive than its appearance might suggest. In this regard it is not dissimilar to Berlin, another city that makes up for its rather humdrum looks by virtue of the creative energy of its inhabitants. And, as in Berlin, Toronto’s creative community is successfully raising and changing the profile of the city. The city’s legion of musicians have made it a North American alternative rock capital, and its artists are rejuvenating entire neighbourhoods.
Toronto shouldn’t be visited the way you might visit New York or Paris, with a checklist of sights to be ticked off and photographed. For one thing, there really aren’t that many sights other than the slender, omnipresent CN Tower. More importantly, Toronto’s real character is to be found in its wildly diverse neighbourhoods.
More than almost any other city in the world, Toronto is a wonderfully eclectic melting pot – nearly half of the city’s residents were born outside Canada. Whereas in cities like New York, immigrant communities tend to get subsumed into the whole, in Toronto distinctive identities are far more likely to be maintained through the neighbourhoods they settle in.
As a result, the best way to experience Toronto is to savour the flavours of its various different areas, experiencing the place rather than merely visiting it.
THE CITY IS LAIDout on a grid system, but instead of the logical numbered system of, say, Manhattan, the city uses street names such as King, Queen, Yonge and Bloor, to name four of the most famous. Most of these streets are ridiculously long (particularly Yonge, which was long recognised by The Guinness Book of Records as the longest street in the world, ending near the border of Ontario and Minnesota).
As a result, while locals will know that one intersection, say Dundas and Bathurst, is in a very different area from another, say Dundas and Sherbourne, visitors won’t be so lucky. Needless to say, for a newcomer or short-term visitor, it can be confusing. Bring a map – a big map.
The downtown core is home to the financial centre and entertainment districts. Here, there are an impressive collection of skyscrapers to crane your neck at, but staying in the downtown area is the Toronto equivalent of visiting Dublin and not leaving Temple Bar. So, once you’ve snapped some photos, it’s a good idea to venture out of the centre.
I was fortunate enough to live in Kensington Market, a few blocks west of the downtown core. It is a gem of a neighbourhood which has long resisted commercialisation and gentrification, maintaining a strong sense of community and individuality.
While it grows slightly more self-consciously stylish with every passing year, it deserves credit for having avoided the fate of Yorkville, the former hippy hangout that transformed into an excessively expensive playground for the rich and famous.
Kensington’s eclectic range of cafes, retro clothes stores, grocers, bars, bakeries and ethnic eateries are the antithesis of Yorkville, thankfully.
A few blocks to the north and west of Kensington lies Little Italy, the original settlement of Toronto’s Italian community. The strip along College Street is home to fewer Italians now, many having moved north to St Clair, but it is still a lively hub of restaurants, cafes and music venues. Torontonians will often tell you that it was the Italians who changed the city’s strait-laced Protestant character over the past few decades. Italy’s 1982 World Cup victory is often cited as an unlikely watershed moment for the city – people partied like there was no tomorrow, and the city’s nightlife never looked back.
Another great ethnically defined neighbourhood is the Greek stretch of the Danforth, a long road east of the deep Don Valley which marks the eastern edge of the city centre. This street is so full of Greek restaurants and bars that the street signs are in the Greek as well as the Roman alphabet. Food lovers will have a great time at the Taste of the Danforth festival every August (this year it’s August 6th to 8th).
OTHER THAN THEpredominantly ethnic neighbourhoods, areas of character in Toronto tend to develop in the wake of creative trailblazers. Artists and musicians congregate in an area with cheap rents, opening their galleries and playing their music. Eventually the rest of the city catches up and the rents rise, pushing the next generation of creatives somewhere else. Thus, Queen Street became swamped with large chain stores, before West Queen West became hipster central.
Now the rising area is Dundas West, by Ossington Street, with its plethora of bars and restaurants attracting all the attention.
Great thinkers such as Marshall McLuhan, Northrop Frye and Jane Jacobs gave Toronto an intellectual edge, and the city has an undeniably highbrow tone to it – as if acknowledging that it can’t get by on looks alone.
Fittingly, Jane Jacobs’ life-long campaigning for the protection of neighbourhoods has helped to preserve the character of areas such as the Annex and Kensington Market.
But the preservation of the old hasn’t precluded the arrival of the new and, while the joke used to go that Toronto was full of first-rate second-rate architecture, the city boasts some buildings that will wow even architectural atheists.
Two striking examples in the financial district are the Toronto Dominion Centre by Mies van der Rohe on King Street and Brookfield Place’s spectacular atrium by Santiago Calatrava on Bay Street.
More recently, the cultural centre has caught up, with buildings by Will Alsop, Daniel Libeskind and Toronto-born Frank Gehry that have helped to make Toronto into a true destination for fans of “starchitecture”.
Toronto hot spots
5 places to stay
The Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen Street West, 001-416-5314635 gladstonehotel.com. The Gladstone is a striking Victorian building that has been reinvented as a kind of living art project. Its 37 rooms are designed by the artists who have been reviving this part of the city for the past 10 years or so. Even if you can’t snag a room, the place is a hive of activity and a highlight of Toronto’s cultural scene. Rooms from €127 a night.
The Fairmont Royal York, 100 Front Street West, 001-416-3682511 fairmont.com/RoyalYork. This is the Rolls Royce of Toronto hotels, an icon with a 28-storey tower which opened in 1929. Its royal suite is used by royalty, with Queen Elizabeth II staying there during her recent tour. Rooms from €184 a night.
Global Village Backpackers hostel, 460 King Street West, 001-416-7038540 globalbackpackers.com. There are a few downtown hostels and one, Global Village, has a lively bar and terrace that even tempts non-backpackers. From €20 a night in a dorm, €58 for a double.
Thompson Toronto Hotel, 550 Wellington Street West, 001-416-6407778 thompsonhotels.com. The snazziest new hotel in Toronto, the Thompson just opened this summer. All 102 rooms have floor-to-ceiling windows with great city views. From €288 a night.
The Hazelton Hotel, 118 Yorkville Avenue, 001-416-9636300 thehazeltonhotel.com. The exclusive shopping district is the area most likely to attract Hollywood celebrities filming in the city. Film stars need their luxury, and the Hazelton, Toronto’s “most exclusive five-star hotel” provides it. From €288 a night.
5 places to eat
Cafe Diplomatico, 594 College St, 001-416-534-4637 diplomatico.ca. Affectionately known as the Dip, this relaxed Italian restaurant is a Toronto landmark, offering quality food and terrific people-watching opportunities.
Zorba’s, 681 Danforth, 001-416-406-1212. What the Dip is to Toronto’s Italian community, Zorba’s is to the city’s Greek populace. The Danforth isn’t short of Greek restaurants but Zorba’s gets extra marks for unselfconscious authenticity.
The Drake Hotel, 1150 Queen St West, 001-416-5315042 thedrakehotel.ca. The hipster heaven that is West Queen West has been transformed over the past decade and the arrival of the Drake sealed its reputation. A trendy hotel and music venue, it has one of the best restaurants in the city.
Jumbo Empanadas, 245 Augusta Avenue, 001-416-977-0056. On the other end of the dining spectrum is this modest Kensington Market haunt, where Irene Morales serves up her tasty South American empanadas.
Gilead Cafe Bistro, 4 Gilead Place, 001-647-2880680 jamiekennedy.ca. Star chef Jamie Kennedy’s stylish, high-end bistro has quickly become a gastro-destination.
5 places to go
The CN Tower, 301 Front Street West, 001-416-8686937 cntower.ca. You can’t miss the CN Tower, the giant needle that was until recently the world’s tallest structure. Whizz up to the viewing platform for extraordinary views, and stand on the thick plate glass floor to experience terrifying vertigo. Unmissable.
The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), 100 Queens Park, 01-416-5868000 rom.on.ca. If you thought Daniel Libeskind’s Grand Canal Theatre was impressive, you should see the new gigantic crystal façade he designed for the Royal Ontario Museum – a sprawling natural history and cultural museum. The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), 317 Dundas Street West, 001-416-9796648 ago.net. The Art Gallery of Ontario hired Toronto-born architectural legend Frank Gehry to design a new façade for its building, which houses a huge collection of Canadian art.
Toronto Islands, the collection of islands just off the city’s waterfront in Lake Ontario, is a gem of an attraction, accessible by a short ferry crossing. There are tourist walks, an amusement park and a few hundred houses, giving the place the feel of a serene, rural village – with striking views of the Toronto skyline. Hire bikes to get around.
High Park, 1873 Bloor Street West highparktoronto.com. Toronto has lots of parks but High Park is by far the largest. Its attractions include a zoo and an outdoor amphitheatre that hosts summer Shakespeare productions. It’s Toronto’s Phoenix Park.
Shop Spot
For a real Toronto experience, check out the charming St Lawrence Market on Front St, full of food stalls and artists with their wares.
Hot Spot
Little Italy offers a lively mix
of bars, eateries and clubs. From humble drinking dens such as Ted’s Collision and Body Repair to the new and very exclusive Toronto Temperance Society, on College Street, it has room for everybody.
Go there
Air Canada flies direct form Dublin Toronto every day except Thursdays until September 15th.
Aer Lingus Aer Lingus operate flights from Dublin via Chicago to Toronto in partnership with United Airlines.
Air Transat flies four times a week direct from Dublin to Toronto up to October 25th.