Authentic Toronto

[nana]

Hello, I'm doing my thesis this year on finding raw,Authentic Toronto. You could help me a lot by answering one simple question: If you want to show someone an authentic or real Toronto, what one place you recommend? please answer it on my blog : http://rawtoronto.blogspot.com/

Thanks a bunch

 

[BobBob]

How do you define raw/authentic exactly?

 

[nana]

I am aiming to ask various people from Toronto what they would do if they wanted to show someone's around their Toronto. This could be a local restaurant, a neighborhood, a gallery, new music or art, etc. I really appreciate it if you could help me discover more sides of Toronto instead of just focusing on tourist sides. Thanks

 

[Long Island Mike]

Some thoughts about showing off Toronto...

Nana: Just a thought: When I was traveling to Toronto I wanted to know more about it then just the well-known tourist locations...
I wanted to learn for myself what makes Toronto the great City that I feel that it is...
I do feel that a tourist take a trip to the top of the CN Tower on a clear day with good visibility just to get an idea how interesting Toronto is...it's one thing I did early on...

I can think of more historical places like the Ontario Parliament Building in Queen's Park,the Gooderham Flatiron Building and the classic Old City Hall...
As for nightlife I always enjoyed the Yonge Street scene (especially how it was in the 80s) and the Midtown Bloor/Yorkville area has always interested me...
The Eaton Centre has been a favorite remembering how it was in those 80s days...it opened in 1977 and was one of the most successful Downtown shopping malls...
I like the architecture of certain buildings...Royal Bank (1977) has always been a favorite and the mid 60s era New City Hall is another interesting well-known building...

Buy a TTC Pass and explore the City using the TTC Subway and Streetcars as I did...you can visit places as different as North York Centre (a new Downtown area that has been created only since the 80s) a suburban shopping mall (Yorkdale-since the opening of the Spadina Line in 1978 it is a rare rail transit-friendly mall) and many neighborhoods along both the Yonge/University/Spadina and Bloor/Danforth lines...

Memories from LI MIKE

 

[nana]

@ Long Island Mike : Thank you so much for your comment, I was wondering If I could post your comment on my blog? my instructor wants to read all the comments. Thanks again

 

[Long Island Mike]

Exploring "Authentic Toronto" ...

Nana: No problem there-go right ahead! I am glad to be of some assistance here...

What I posted were memories that I could think of off hand with the examples I mentioned...

LI MIKE

 

[leslieviller]

I like Mike's ideas...if you wanna show off AUTENTIC Toronto, as weird as it sounds, I would avoid a lot of the more touristy things - CN Tower, Casa Loma, etc. (Though a Jays game in the summer might be nice).

 

[Peepers]

For first time visitors to Toronto I would highly recommend that they explore the underground PATH system. With 28 kilometers and 1200 stores it is the largest subterranean city in the world and is something that is almost unique to Toronto. Of course the time to go is during the week when all the stores are open and you can experience the energy of Canada's business capital.

 

[Long Island Mike]

More thoughts about "Authentic Toronto"

LV'er: I agree on the topic of "tourist traps" and the reason I mentioned the CN Tower is because it would allow someone new to Toronto to get a neat aerial view of the City and get some bearings and note how vast it actually is...

Peepers: I agree-exploring the Downtown underground "PATH" system would be quite interesting-especially in the colder times of the year or on a rainy day anytime...It is quite elaborate and well worth a look...

This is not to be confused with the PATH rail system in the NYC area... www.panynj.gov/path/
Being from the NYC area it is the first thing I think of when someone mentions the "PATH" system...Port Authority Trans-Hudson.
A service of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey...
Another reason I mentioned this is because it is the first thing a Google search will list...
LI MIKE

 

[nana]

Thank you very much for all the comments. Really helpful. I was wondering if you guys know any local unique places that tourists probably won't know about them in Toronto? such as restaurants, a gallery or even local musicians or artists. I went to chapters the other other and got 4 different travel guides for Toronto and when you go through the restaurants or entertainment section they all are talking about the same thing for ex go to the restaurant at the CN tower... I'm aiming to discover more sides of Toronto not only the tourist sides of it. any local or unique places you would always go?

 

[Peepers]

When it comes to discovering the best local restaurants the best source of information IMHO is the "Chowhound" forums.

http://chowhound.chow.com/boards/23?tag=browse_boards_wrapper;board_options

In these forums local "foodies" (Chowhounds) provide objective reviews on local restaurants. It is much more reliable than any travel guide or websites such as BlogTO or Torontoist.

Chowhounds is International so you will find separate forums for most major cities. It is a great resource if you are planning - for example - to visit New York and you want restaurant recommendations from local foodies.