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It's fun here. With a tech salary, CoL is manageable. However, it impacts everyone else not in tech. Dating, things to do are constrained by people having to work long hours to earn a living. Public transit is a disaster at peak times and getting worse. Provincial politics are a disaster and getting worse.
Is the city bike-able for the daily commute; permitting the weather?
Yes, for me, but I know people who are too scared to do it. It also depends on route, bike paths help a lot, busy streets that don't have bike paths and have streetcar tracks are hell.
Wide variety of food from many cultures, diverse city and great vibe. Lots of things to do and people are friendly. Tech industry is a bit sleepy compared to tier 1/2 cities in the USA, pay much lower too. But there’s a lot of startup activity and Toronto is a good place to hire because labour is skilled and relatively cheap. Universal health care makes it possible to work at a startup without the same worries over health care costs. Cost of living has shot the moon relative to incomes even if you work in tech, unless you can come up with a few hundred grand for a down payment and have lots of cash flow your income won’t take you very far. Rents are soaring but with tech pay you can afford it. Live frugally and save for 5 years and you’ll probably be able to put 20% down on a modest 2 bedroom condo in a nice city neighbourhood or something bigger with an hour plus commute. The city is slowly falling apart because it doesn’t invest in itself. It’s perpetually broke and local politics is mostly driven by stale boomers obsessed with austerity, but at least they’re not evil. The province is run by a vindictive tyrant who has been given carte blanche to do whatever he wants and this won’t change any time soon. Lots of city vs suburb/rural resentment and politicians are capitalizing on this.
What does the price of a modest 2 bedroom condo in a nice city neighborhood look like for buying, according to you?
Median Toronto (not one of the inner suburbs) condo price is ~$622k CAD, which includes 0/1 bedroom places. If you want to be close to the subway, guesstimating a 2 bed 2 bath place you’ll pay $650k-$950k CAD. More or less (maybe above and below that range) depending on neighbourhood quality, access to transit, size, amenities etc. but YMMV. I’m not in the market for a place right now just going by hearsay and a quick skim of Redfin and HouseSigma.
Compared to the Bay Area, Toronto wins on dating, crime/homeless issue, food quality and culture, diversity. I recommend first stay in the US a bit and work hard, save a ton, and then go retire or rest and vest there. In addition to tech firms, you can probably land a director/VP level position in a bank if you have the right resume and connections. There are firms that are headquartered in the US and pay handsomely (relatively, still not US level).
Toronto's a great city, vibrant culture, decent balanced dating scene. You'll get a pretty diverse food selection as well. The downsides are of course climate and relatively low TC and high CoL. At the end of the day you simply won't be able to save as much as the Bay. Immigration is much smoother than in the States though, so if that's a factor...
Can you elaborate upon high CoL? A studio or a 1BR apt to rent in the city . I checked out realtor.ca. It’s not that bad. High for sure.
It's high in comparison to the TC you'll get. For example a new grad will likely cap out at $100k CAD ($74k USD) in Toronto. This same person can likely pull in upwards of $150-200k in the Bay area. (Based on offers I've got in both areas). You may be able to get a studio near core for about $2500 CAD ($1850 USD). Meanwhile you can probably get something similar in the Bay for about $2500 USD. Housing is the primary expense, most other stuff shouldn't add up to too much. If you're living downtown you probably don't need a car, public transport is pretty good in Toronto. Small difference in housing, double the salary.