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Montreal beats out Toronto for catching world's eye as tourist destination

How much time have you spent in the two cities?

I haven't spent much time in Montreal, but the notion that people in Toronto "live to work" is ridiculous...unless perhaps one's view of the city consists of just the Financial District and Real Estate Agents.
 
How much time have you spent in the two cities?

Good question. The Canadian HQ of the company I work for is located in Old Montreal (St. Jacques Street) and I am there typically once every two or three weeks. I always stay in Old Montreal and dine out in Old Montreal, as well as several other parts of the city.
I'm very familiar with Montreal, and have forged great friendships with many people there. Because of this familiarity with both cities and the people that inhabit them, I have come to realize how utterly ridiculous these outdated stereotypes are, yet how some people can't seem to move past them. Syn put it right, you can say that people "live to work" in Toronto if you're focusing on the type-A crowd on Bay Street, just as you can say that people in Montreal "work to live" if you focus on some faux-bohemian that lives in the Plateau and works at the independent corner coffee shop. What you're missing out on is the millions of people that don't fit into either of these demographics, yet people somehow seem to think it's okay to lump these people into one camp or another and paint the entire city with the same brush.
The artist that lives in Parkdale doesn't "live to work", nor does the CEO that works on Blvd. Rene-Levesque "work to live".
How much time have you spent in these two cities, unimaginative?
 
Good points.

I know a couple of guys from Bombardier in Montreal. Total business maniacs. Nice guys, but their jobs are everything.
 
RJR123 nails it - perfectly said.

These Montreal/TO threads are about as painful as anything on this board gets, with many people chronically able to see/hear/taste only what they prefer to see/hear/taste, obviously through emotionally tinted filters.
 
Good question. The Canadian HQ of the company I work for is located in Old Montreal (St. Jacques Street) and I am there typically once every two or three weeks. I always stay in Old Montreal and dine out in Old Montreal, as well as several other parts of the city.
I'm very familiar with Montreal, and have forged great friendships with many people there. Because of this familiarity with both cities and the people that inhabit them, I have come to realize how utterly ridiculous these outdated stereotypes are, yet how some people can't seem to move past them. Syn put it right, you can say that people "live to work" in Toronto if you're focusing on the type-A crowd on Bay Street, just as you can say that people in Montreal "work to live" if you focus on some faux-bohemian that lives in the Plateau and works at the independent corner coffee shop. What you're missing out on is the millions of people that don't fit into either of these demographics, yet people somehow seem to think it's okay to lump these people into one camp or another and paint the entire city with the same brush.
The artist that lives in Parkdale doesn't "live to work", nor does the CEO that works on Blvd. Rene-Levesque "work to live".
How much time have you spent in these two cities, unimaginative?

I've lived and worked in both, and I actually completely agree with everything you've said. The people I worked with in Montreal were all very hard-working, though they certainly all talked about how much more work-focused people are in Toronto. I actually didn't mean that question as an accusation, I was merely curious. Tone doesn't come through very well on the internet.
 
RJR123 nails it - perfectly said.

These Montreal/TO threads are about as painful as anything on this board gets, with many people chronically able to see/hear/taste only what they prefer to see/hear/taste, obviously through emotionally tinted filters.

It's like the story of the blind men and the elephant (or the blindfolded sheiks and the camel). So many variations of the story but, close your eyes and touch the elephant's tail and you think you have a rope. Touch its leg, you think you have a tree. Touch its trunk, well, you think he's really happy to see you. :)
And so on. While each man's impression of the animal is accurate according to his experience, they're only pieces. The smart man took off his blindfold and asked the elephant to show him around town.
 

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