Quote:
Originally Posted by mike474
Can anyone objecitvely argue that there are more hipsters per capita in Toronto than Montreal or Vancouver?
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Not objectively, but subjectively my sense is that there are more hipster-types in Toronto than Montreal.
(I've waited over three years for the opportunity to make this riposte. Three long years. But the festering indignation combined with the anticipation of eventual release was worth it. Oh gawd, was it worth it! I'd better go change my shorts...
...okay, I'm back and feeling fresh.)
I just got back from an afternoon of riding my bike in Toronto. And had a really terrific time (my wife went shopping while I was on the bike--she had a terrific time, too). But having now cycled for fun in both Montreal and Toronto, I feel I may say without reservation that while it's pretty great in Toronto, the experience in Montreal is ultimately superior.
I'm talking strictly as a cycling tourist on a road bike, though. I can't speak for commuting by bike or daily use otherwise, and mountain-biking is for 14-year-olds who enjoy breaking their bones and posting the crashes on Youtube, so that's not relevant to the two-wheeled non-motorized urban milieu.
Montreal's curb-separated bike lanes through downtown, the wonderful path along the Lachine Canal and the easy link-up to the Route Verte are a joy. Whoever oversaw/oversees the whole thing are geniuses who started out by thinking "what would a cyclist want?" and then went and got the authority to actually get it done. It doesn't feel like a second thought the way that a grudging bit of paint alongside the doors of parked cars does.
In the summer there's an impromptu bike repair shop nearby the Atwater Market footbridge where you can get a Gatorade and a flat tire fixed. When I stopped for a drink there this past summer I got compliments on how awesome my bike was. So I told the employee to take it out for a spin, and when he came back he gushed appreciatively about it for quite a while afterwards. It's that kind of bike. And it's that kind of vibe in Montreal. If you don't have your own, I would strongly urge anyone planning a summertime trip to Montreal to make good use of the Bixi bikes. Riding them in Montreal is a total pleasure.
Which is not to say that it's not fun riding in Toronto. Because it is, except that it's a bit more treacherous. I did a couple laps in High Park, then went on the lakeside pathway through Harbourfront to the Don Valley, which I then went up all the way over to Dawes Road. I came back to downtown on the Danforth, then availed myself of the new bike lane on Sherbourne. Eventually I came right back into downtown and went here and there, hither and yon.
You really, really have to be aware of the streetcar tracks in Toronto. You just really do. The same goes for potential door prizes from the cars parked at the side of the street. Not to mention the cars passing you a little too close for comfort. Riding in Toronto can feel like a game, and that makes it fun in an adrenaline-spiking way. Today I raced the traffic westbound on the Danforth and got through lights that lots of cars weren't able to. I could sense them stewing behind their steering wheels at the fattish man on the awesome road bike blowing by them at 40 km/h. Victory was mine today. And tomorrow? I could get hit and become a paraplegic. There are no guarantees.
See how Blade-Runneresque Toronto can be? Who says it's generic and uninspiring? People are dying every day in that city. Though, truth be told, not on bikes. Biking is one of the safest forms of transportation there is. It's not really that dangerous in Toronto. It's what you make of it. Riding at a comfortable speed and paying attention like you would anywhere else is the key. Me, I was going for the endorphins today. But you shouldn't do as I do; you should do as I say. I say, ride safely, kids.
You know what Toronto needs? Toronto needs a Montreal-style curb-separated bike lane all the way across the city on Danforth and Bloor. All the way across. Just take one lane against the sidewalk, put a two-foot-wide raised curb between it and vehicular traffic, and dedicate it as a two-way bike highway with a broken line down the middle. You'll lose automobile parking on one side of the street, but it'll be worth it. And that's just for starters. Put the same dedicated curb-separated lane all the way down Yonge. And Queen. And University.
You think Ford would agree with me? I don't live in Toronto, but should I call him anyway?