“I never go North of Bloor!”
It's a thing you hear now and then in Toronto. It's usually kind of snarky, but illistrates a real divide in the city - and province.
Basically the only feedback I’ve gotten yet on this little project is about the title. A handful of people, most of whom literally live north of Bloor have been dunking on me. Fair enough. Allow me explain the title.
Bloor Street is a psychological boundary. More or less where you can no longer defensibly say you live downtown. My first place in Toronto was just north of Bloor. I used to joke that Dupont is, in fact, the cut-off point. I lived downtown, dammit!
The joke goes back further than that. I first moved to Toronto in 2008. I was only here a few years before heading out west for over a decade. I’m North of Bloor by birth. I prefer living south of Bloor, but I’m not the kind of person who sneers at the idea of living north of downtown. Or anywhere, for that matter I’m writing this from West Virginia, which is about as “north” of Bloor you can get, figuratively speaking.
I think - or hope - the title reinforces a point I try to drive home at every opportunity: there's more to Canada than Downtown Toronto. People need to live somewhere, and not everyone can (or wants to) live south of Bloor. My parents live a half hour north of Kingston. If anything, they'd like to live futher from the city. To each their own.
Even though I'm now a south of Bloor guy, as someone who isn't from this bubble I feel a duty to remind people that there are worthwhile places to visit or live that aren't a quick walk from Union Station. Moreover, I want to make the case that for Ontario to succeed, prosperity needs to extend beyond the GTA and a handful of successful midsized cities.
Now back to vacation mode. I'll wrap up my little Detroit to DC trip this week. Back at it Monday. Try not to burn the place down while I'm gone.