I lived in Toronto,  the largest city in C anada and eighth largest in North America (by population) for about twenty-five years.  I moved to another large Canadian city about five years ago.

I recently made a return visit to Toronto and was reminded of the difference between a large city (population around a milllion) and a very large city (population around six million).

The excitement and energy of a bustling downtown center permeates major population hubs.  The night life is vibriant and continues into the night to morning.  Pretentious bars, clubs and food places of every description abound.  Pretentious is a very subjective desriptive term, just in my view a number of the places are more about being “in”, than a focus on the food or service offered.

The other night, I saw my first example of the use of the Uber online ride request service.   i was waiting outside the tony establishment where I had just had a pleasant meal (for a bit of fresh air) a couple of young damsels were also standing by waiting for a ride.  Their frequent checking of iphones coupled with a discussion about the make and model of vehicle coming to pick them up twigged me to the Uber transaction in progress.  As commented by a reader on a previous blog post, Uber is like the new hitch hiking, albeit with a fee.

This experience is definately trivial, but for me with the surrounding atmosphere and general aura of an eciting night life, it was pretty cool.

In Summary

In all honesty the vibrancy of the big city is hugely enticing although for me small doses are better. Visting a large metropolis infreqently, raises the enjoyment a lot.  Being a resident of the city though caused much of the appeal and excitement to be lost on me.  And while my current home is a fabulous place to live these trips to the big city do highlight the differences In lifestyle between the two  locations.