Toronto Musings

I used to love walking around the city. It was the way to get around. But I’ve noticed that things are getting faster (which sounds very boomer of me), and more urgent, and people just get a ride to where they’re going now.

My walkable city has become a hellscape of rideshares.

I wouldn’t say Toronto is the most walkable city, but I would say it was easier to get around your neighbourhood before. now there’s like ten ubers backed up in front of your building or the traffic is so bad that you cross the road and some guy almost mows you down with his hyundai elantra with that uber sticker on the back window.

i decided to mash all my uber rants into one post, because I also noticed that there was a complete destruction of the toronto night walk. people, especially women, used to band together late at night and walk home especially around trinity bellwoods because that’s what was done. you could go drinking, or whatever you were doing, then walk home late at night. now with the city becoming gradually less safe, and the introduction of rideshares, that activity is gone now.

there was something special about the night walk – people would decompress from their night and talk about things that went well and things that went poorly (usually involving men being awful). We still do it in the uber but we have a witness now to our shenanigans in the form of an underpaid driver. so we’re not as candid, it’s not as easy to be like “hahaha fuck men am i right?” because there’s usually a man in the car.

There’s obviously good things about uber, like being able to hail a car when you’re running late and get there only a little late. But there’s so many problems with the traffic infrastructure.

the amount of cars that are on the road now is untenable. people could have not predicted that instead of keeping the city walkable and reducing traffic, instead, rideshares just skyrocketed inner city traffic because so many people started driving uber and just wander around the downtown looking for fares. So now buses are running slower, and often times so are the streetcars.

Anyway, i hate ubers. I don’t want to use them. But I do. maybe it can be a resolution to give them up.