Toronto has its own pulse and heart.  People rushing everywhere make it sing.  It radiates pride and success.  Every bank  has a tower and each tower was built taller than the ones before it.  There's the bronze building, the white and silver building, the smoked finish towers, the salmon building with the large atrium, and too many others to mention.  When the sun radiates off these different shapes, sizes, and glass, downtown Toronto actually sparkles. 

The city fathers made some clever decisions early in Toronto's development. The network of one-way streets running all about the towers ensures a  fairly steady flow of traffic.  They protected the old buildings on University Avenue, and made a beautiful garden adventure in the median of the street from the base up to our Provincial Government buildings. They went along with the vision of some avant garde architects in building the underground which connects our towers and helps with the pedestrian traffic.  The combination of new and old, done in a civilized way, is so effective, and there is a passionate commitment to keep it clean.  That's the first comment I hear from the many visitors we host.  "It's such a clean city." 

The only problem we have is Bay Street … Canada's Wall Street. The towers  running up both sides have created a funnel.  One winter the winds blew so  hard they had to run ropes across the street from building to building so  people could cross. A friend of mine was about to lose her footing when one of the bank guards came to her rescue. 

I remember many times sailing up the gap between our waterfront and the Island. Boats with full sails up, leisurely tack back and forth trying to avoid the numerous ferries that plow their way across.  It's such a beautiful picture. Not many cities have had the foresight to protect a parkland like ours.  The developers really wanted to snatch the whole island but saner minds prevailed, mine included, and they didn't get it.  Our two million residents as well as hundreds of thousands of  tourists get to enjoy acres of green parkland where nature abounds and kids can play freely. 

The same kind of battle took place on the waterfront.  Developers against the art community aligned with the tourist trade.  It was down and dirty but thankfully the developers lost that one too.   Now you can walk for miles and just look, or you can board the cruise boats to get a look at the city from offshore.  The last time I was downtown we ate at a wonderful Chinese restaurant overlooking the water.  The artisans are all about so there is lots to absorb the tourist dollar and as with all things, you get what you pay for. 

There was a day when my city was referred to as "Hog Town."  The powers that be in those days were primarily of British-Irish blood, conservative and very much lacking in imagination.  Their focus was maintaining the status quo and not the necessary maturing process to ensure our place as one of the 
biggest and best in the world.  Our bars closed at 10 o'clock, beer parlors had to have separate entrances for men and women, the liquor stores closed at 6pm and there were many other rules inconsistant with the city's size. It came as a great shock to some of those stalwart types when members of the  International Shriners' Organization publicly said they'd never be back.  Within a year things loosened up and livened up and Toronto has never looked  back. 

The multi-cultural mix in this city has led the way to a unique diversity which is not just reflected in restaurants but in whole areas of the city, as well as in cultural programs year 'round.  It was tough for some of the old Torontonians to see their city invaded by people of different colors, manners, values and history.  It's taken a lot of years but the individual communities are well represented, there's basic harmony and our leaders are a blend of all interests.  The biggest and ongoing challenge is the difference between the have's and the have-not's.  Luckily we don't have the slums that infest many big cities but we do have our share of homeless and, unfortunately, violence.  We've tried to address that one but it's hard to understand the other side and what they need when you've never been there. 

I can remember so clearly the day I arrived in Toronto.  That's when I got my  first adrenaline rush.  Hearing the sounds of this city … horns honking, sirens in the distance,  people hailing cabs and cabbies hailing people, brakes screeching as someone stepped off the sidewalk and bells ringing  from  the trolley cars.  It was so confusing and yet so exciting.  I could feel the swoosh of cars rushing by which made me step back a bit.  The smell of 
vendor food - hot dogs, popcorn, french fries and giant pretzels permeated the air. Standing in front of Union Station that day I knew … I just knew this was my city.  This is where I would find work and this is where I would find success.  This was a city on the move.  You could smell it, feel it and see it. 

My city, the one I came to so many years ago, has never let me down.