Reasons to live in the city - #1 an interesting dog walk

I've been using the themed, numbered series idea for quite some time on one of my other blogs - in Tune in (music focus) with the series Where I find new music.  So as I was walking my dog tonight, I thought about a series I could develop here on PJMixer.

I often catch myself these days, wondering if I can really afford to live in Toronto, let alone my affluent North Toronto, uptown neighbourhood.  What's the point of owning a home in one of the city's best neighbourhoods if you really can't afford to enjoy its fine dining and shopping on a regular basis.  Sure, in better times and with less family expenses, my wife and I knew all the better restaurants and our wardrobe provided lots of options for our many evenings out.  But times are a little tight, so perhaps this outlet we help me reevaluate the value of my urban life.

I have an energetic 20 month old Australian Shepherd, named Kooper.  I typically walk Kooper a few kilometres around my neighbourhood every evening.  I usually take a path that heads North from my house toward Lytton Park and the larger homes, and then back via Yonge Street, walking along streets like Alexandra Blvd (one of my favourites).  I wonder whether walking by these beautiful homes, with their equally appealing collection of cars, the lovely restaurants, and doing some window shopping every evening is good for me.  Of course, the walk is good for my health, but what about my mental health, am I comfortable in this world, this city, surrounded by things that I desire, but can't really afford at this point in my life.

But let's take the wealth of the neighbourhood out of the equation for a moment.  I often take different routes around my neighbourhood, walking past large apartment buildings, small, poorly maintained homes and many  businesses.  What the common thread is in my neighbourhood, my city and likely many great cities in the world, is the variety and the people.  

Whether it's the multi-million dollar mansions, the apartment buildings with thousands of single people or new immigrants, the family run Thai restaurant, the greasy spoon or the #7 best restaurant in the city, the dollar store or the latest in ski apparel, there's so much to look at on my evening walks.  Combine the visual stimulus with the common occurrence of Kooper and I crossing paths with many other urbanites and urban dogs and stopping for a brief sniff and the chat, and you have my first reason to live the city - an interesting dog walk.

I really don't think I'd enjoy going out every evening in a rural or small town setting.  I guess if I had a large property in the country, I may not need to walk my dog on city streets, but that's not the point.  To be fair, taking in the beauty of the countryside, a sheep filled meadow, a Muskoka lake on a regular dog walk would be nice, but perhaps could get a little repetitive.  Plus my neighbourhood, like many in Toronto has a huge amount of trees that add some natural beauty to the cityscape.  And keep in mind, that for half the year, my evening walks are when the sun's down !  I enjoy walking my dog in my neighbourhood, it's rarely boring and there seems to be an ever changing urban landscape to soak up.  Adding the right personal soundtrack (I wear my iPod probably on half my walks) can also help complete the urban experience, but you've got to be careful there, there's only a few hours in a day where country music makes sense, and the Sex Pistols doesn't always fit a quiet Sunday morning walk.  But when it's dark, some mellow electronica usually hits the spot.

A friend of mine who's a real estate agent, recently asked if he could perhaps use some of my photos for his neighbourhood newsletter.  I often take shots when I'm out walking Kooper, or to and from the subway station or whenever something or someone catches my attention.  Hopefully you can get an impression of my neighbourhood from the Around the neighbourhood set I just created on Flickr.

So is it healthy for me to fill my head with desires for larger, more beautiful homes and luxury cars every night, probably not. But like the feeling you get from looking at glossy pictures in a magazine, or classic art at the gallery, or snapshots of everyday street life, admiring the beautiful things around you is good for the soul(1).

(1)Paula, a stranger I met in Washington in 2009, told me that looking at photography is good for the soul.


I've got quite a lot of draft blog articles that I haven't had to a chance to complete.  I'm on vacation for a few weeks over the holidays, so I'm hoping I can use some of my time off to catch up with some new posts.