7 things I secretly miss about Toronto life after moving back to Vancouver
I’ll be the first annoying person at a dinner party to argue for Vancouver over Toronto.
The ocean! The air quality! The "life is just so much more grounding when you have a view of snow-capped mountains every day"! Cue a laundry list of other insufferable things like better tap water, fitness culture, and forest bathing (a thing I seem to talk about a lot but never actually do).
Nobody can deny that Vancouver is objectively beautiful in a way Toronto can't really compare. (I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but Woodbine Beach does not compare.) However, no city is perfect. And what Toronto may lack in beauty, it makes up for in its relentless offering of culture, energy, and fun.
After moving back to the West Coast five years ago, here are seven things I secretly miss about Toronto.
Nightlife that actually exists
If a person has ever told you that Vancouver has "good nightlife," they've either grown up in a tiny suburb and have never lived anywhere else or are a pathological liar. Vancouver is many wonderful things, but a place with nightlife? Not one of them. It's more of a "grab a cocktail with dinner and be home in bed by 11 p.m." kind of city.
Toronto has actually cool places with actually cool people that actually stay open later than midnight. There's something for everyone in the 6ix: Kensington dive bars, King West bottle service, aesthetic cocktail lounges, places to dance in jeans and a t-shirt, places to dance in heels and a dress, sweaty basement raves in warehouses you'd swear aren't up to code, etc.
It's known as a city for young people for a reason.
Art, art, and more art
Toronto, being the significantly larger city, has significantly more going on. Whether you're into seeing theatre, a basement comedy show, an art exhibit, an indie concert, or your friends' experimental musical improv troupe perform for JFL — there's always something happening that you can stumble into. The density of it all is what makes the difference. You don't need to seek it out; it's just there.
In Vancouver, you really have to plan if you want to do something "cultural." And even then, there's a 50% chance it involves ending up watching someone sing with an acoustic guitar and Guilt & Co. — which is valid in its own right, but doesn't quite compare to the constant churn of Toronto's art scene.
Four actual seasons
This one may hurt the most. Toronto gets all four seasons.
Fall with colourful leaves straight out of a 90s rom-com. Winter, where you can actually count on a white Christmas. Spring with flowers and greenery after the snow has thawed. And summer, with the sort of sticky humidity that feels like soup.
Vancouver's weather fluctuates between four months of sun (if we're lucky) and eight months of varying degrees of rainy gloom. Yes, it's mild, and yes, for those few individuals who care, you can golf in February. But as someone who romanticizes the seasons changing, there's nothing quite like an East Coast October. Seasons mark time in a way that endless drizzle just doesn't.
(And since I'm already on a roll, I miss Toronto winter. I'd take the 20 degrees colder with blue sky and sunshine over the depresso dark clouds at home any day).
Pace of life (and driving)
There's a certain adrenaline to Toronto life. Everyone walks like they're already two minutes late, and drivers weave chaotically down the 401 like they're trying to reclaim time they lost yesterday.
Vancouver, meanwhile, operates at half speed. If you're a fast walker here, you spend most of your time muttering under your breath while dodging pedestrians that meander — zig-zagging aimlessly. The only time Vancouverites collectively move quickly is during the Sun Run, spin class, or if there’s an Aritzia warehouse sale at the Convention Centre. (Speaking from experience it's not worth it).
Restaurants on every corner
Vancouver's food scene is great — if you plan ahead. Want to go out for dinner on a whim? I wouldn't recommend it. Without a reservation, you're either eating at 5 p.m. or being told "it's a two-hour wait."
Toronto, on the other hand, has endless options. Can't get into the latest hot spot on Ossington? Just walk 20 steps and you'll stumble into another painfully chic restaurant or bar with gorgeous food that you now get to go tell all your friends about. The food scene in Toronto always lets you feel like you've stumbled upon a hidden gem — it's a city where you have license to wander and see what happens.
Transit that (mostly) works
I know, I know. It's a rite of passage if you're a Torontonian to complain about the TTC. But here's the thing — it works.
In Toronto, you can live without a car and still get around the city. Subways, streetcars, buses — they're by no means perfect, but they exist. In Vancouver, if you're not living directly on a SkyTrain line, transit is a nightmare. To which I mean it just doesn't really exist. (Try getting anywhere outside the downtown core without a car and you'll understand).
Here, owning a vehicle isn't a luxury — it's a survival mechanism. Unless you're one of those people who bikes in the rain I guess, but for you — I have more questions than answers. Toronto might make you wait 15 minutes for a streetcar, but at least it's coming.
Late night eats
In Toronto, you can stumble out of a bar at 2 a.m. (because as we've established, things are actually open until 2 a.m.) and have your pick of food: shawarma, dim sum, breakfast diners, greasy pizza slices the size of your head. There's something deeply comforting about knowing you'll never go hungry after a night out.
In Vancouver, after 11 p.m., you're either at McDonald’s or trying to convince yourself that the instant noodles in the back of your cupboard will hit the spot. This city shuts down early and hard — a cruel twist of fate when you're craving anything beyond fries.
Vancouver is home, and I'll happily take her quirks (nonexistent nightlife, brutal transit, and eternal drizzle) as they are. But every now and then, on a quiet, gloomy day, I find myself secretly craving the chaos of Toronto.
The opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Narcity Media.
