The thing that hits me first when I visit home is the silence. I don’t remember the neighbourhood being so quiet — the quiet only broken by trucks, SUVs, delivery vehicles and the odd car. These proxy sounds of life. On New Years Eve, we went for a walk, maybe about 4 km. It was dark, after dinner. We passed just one gathering. Many houses had their lights out. We saw a single guy jump into a clandestine taxi cab. McDonalds was busy. We passed about 40 inflatable snowmen, 96 lit-up candy canes, 28 inflatable santas, some wire-formed deer, an inflatable Minion for some reason, an inflatable dinosaur wearing a Santa hat and eating a present. These were all lit up. We also passed about 52 decorative 5-ft wooden boards that all said WELCOME or CHRISTMAS or I SHOP AT HOMESENSE or whatever, leaned up beside main entrances; some with Christmas lights wrapped around them but most not.
A whole generation of hard working 9-5's who finally have what their parents had, but nicer, more sterile and the kids are screen focused. Suburban houses appear designed to accommodate the vehicles first and then people behind the prominent driveway/double garage doors. I often experience a Truman Show dread feeling when I need to be in the suburbs.
I remember when we moved from Hong Kong to Toronto in the early 2000s with two young kids, feeling the same sense of alienation. Where was everyone on beautiful summer days? There were lots of families with young kids but they were being kept busy in summer programmes from 9-4 every day. The streets were dead in midtown Toronto. I just felt so confused
I live in Markham and idk, you miss the diversity of my community, the interesting restaurants which pop up here before they show up downtown (Bingz!) and the increasingly denser subdivisions and mixed use developments. It’ll never be downtown Toronto, but not all of us can afford to live downtown and instead are having to make do in suburbs where multigenerational family housing is a possibility for anyone who isn’t a trust fund kid living in old Toronto.
I could go for a series of commentary on how neoliberalism has sterilized Georgetown of its character
Full agree!
A whole generation of hard working 9-5's who finally have what their parents had, but nicer, more sterile and the kids are screen focused. Suburban houses appear designed to accommodate the vehicles first and then people behind the prominent driveway/double garage doors. I often experience a Truman Show dread feeling when I need to be in the suburbs.
Thanks for this. HNY!
Sounds like there's a spiritual hole in your life. You should convert to Islam
I remember when we moved from Hong Kong to Toronto in the early 2000s with two young kids, feeling the same sense of alienation. Where was everyone on beautiful summer days? There were lots of families with young kids but they were being kept busy in summer programmes from 9-4 every day. The streets were dead in midtown Toronto. I just felt so confused
Yes please keep writing these vignettes/vibes
I live in Markham and idk, you miss the diversity of my community, the interesting restaurants which pop up here before they show up downtown (Bingz!) and the increasingly denser subdivisions and mixed use developments. It’ll never be downtown Toronto, but not all of us can afford to live downtown and instead are having to make do in suburbs where multigenerational family housing is a possibility for anyone who isn’t a trust fund kid living in old Toronto.