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By Ray Freebury, M.D.
Chair
APA Task Force on Local Arrangements
I came to Toronto with my family in 1963, as an immigrant from Wales. After a brief sojourn in northern Ontario as a general practitioner, I returned to Toronto to train in psychiatry. Since 1964 I have witnessed the dynamic growth of the city and the cultural explosion that has taken place within it, as I was followed by other immigrants from every conceivable part of the world.
Physically a flat city, except for housing the largest freestanding structure in the world, Toronto is spread throughout with ravines poetically and lovingly described in the book Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels (McLelland and Stewart, Canadian publishers). She writes, "It is a city of ravines. Remnants of wilderness have been left behind. Through these great sunken gardens you can traverse the city beneath the streets, look up to the floating neighbourhoods, houses built in the treetops." Take a walk down Rosedale Valley Road, easily accessible from the Bloor Street subway stop, and you will see what she means.
Toronto is situated on the north shore of Lake Ontario, deceiving seafaring types about its being 1,500 miles from the ocean and beguiling islanders with its offshore islands offering leisurely promenades, unhindered by any traffic other than bicycles. The city boasts a boardwalk extending two miles beside sandy beaches on Lake Ontario. At the western end of the city lies High Park. This 339-acre park surrounds Grenadier Pond, where many species of waterfowl can be seen in the spring and autumn.
Toronto is no longer recognizable as the city once referred to as Hogtown or Toronto the Good. Nowadays, whether you arrive by air or by the excellent highways linking Ontario with several populous and nearby states, you will be greeted by a spectacular skyline over which presides the CN Tower. From the observation deck of the tower on a clear day, you can view not only Toronto but also Oakville, Burlington, and Hamilton, which form the so-called Golden Horseshoe around the eastern tip of Lake Ontario. Across the lake one can see New York state, almost to Rochester.
The city is safe and is characterized by numerous residential zones in the downtown area. Yonge Street is often alive into the early hours of the morning, especially after ball games, when people pour into Sam the Record Man or HMV to purchase CD's and tapes. In North America Toronto is second only to New York as an English-speaking theater center, and many of New York's great hits had their first runs in Toronto. The Toronto Symphony Orchestra makes its home in Roy Thomson Hall, a spectacular concert hall designed by Arthur Erikson, a Vancouver architect who designed the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C. This hall is a short walk from the Toronto Convention Centre and is across the street from the Royal Alexandra and Princess of Wales theatres.
The Art Gallery of Ontario boasts an excellent collection of art, and there are many excellent private galleries. The Royal Ontario Museum has marvelous Chinese and Egyptian collections. Across the street is the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art. The latter two are only a stone's throw from Yorkville and its trendy boutiques and cafes. An hour north of Toronto lies the picturesque village of Kleinberg. There you'll find the McMichael Gallery, which originated as the home of works produced by the Group of Seven. It is now also a showplace for modern Canadian art and has an excellent collection of works by native Canadian artists.
Toronto is, according to the United Nations, the most ethnically diverse city in the world. Needless to say, this is reflected in the diversity of its restaurants and entertainment. Many culinary treats await visitors. A fuller account of Toronto dining will follow in a subsequent issue, but a few notes here will whet the appetite. A large Chinatown provides a wide range of choices of provincial styles of cooking. Many other Asian restaurants can be found. Rumor has it that there are more Italians in Toronto than there are in any Italian city other than Milan, and Little Italy offers great Italian dining as a result. The Bloor/Danforth subway line to the east leads to Greek Town, where restaurants such as the Astoria provide Texas-sized portions at reasonable prices. Of course, migrating Quebecers have also provided us with some excellent French restaurants. Wherever you eat, excellent Canadian beers and Ontario wines are an inexpensive complement to a meal.
The Kensington Market, near the junction of Spadina and Dundas, used to be a Jewish market, but the majority of these vendors have moved to Bathurst Street, mostly just south and north of the 401 freeway. Replacing them have been a more cosmopolitan group liberally sprinkled with Portuguese vendors. On St. Clair Avenue west of Bathurst, Italian restaurants and greengrocers are predominant, and along Dundas Avenue from University Avenue to Spadina Avenue and reaching up and down Spadina is a Chinatown second only in North America to that of San Francisco.
Toronto is also a children's playground. The Royal Ontario Museum is popular for its realistic bat cave, dinosaur exhibit, and numerous "hands on" exhibits. The Ontario Science Centre also offers many opportunities for children to participate in scientific exhibits and demonstrations.
Children and adults alike will enjoy tours of the CN Tower and the magnificent SkyDome, home of the Blue Jays. This baseball team was the first to take the World Series trophy out of the United States, doing it on two successive occasions. Both buildings are adjacent to the Toronto Convention Centre. Older children probably know that Toronto is also home to the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League, one of the "original six," and now the fledgling Raptors are planning to bring basketball back home to its origins.
Toronto will reward those who enjoy exploring on foot - they'll discover many treasures within a radius of a few miles of the Toronto Convention Centre. We can hardly wait to show off our marvelous city.