What you loved and loathed last month

Many Covid-weary readers were heartened by our post-pandemic Downtown Rebound package, which looked at the new restaurants, hotels, condos and gourmet grocers planned for the core. First, the optimists:

“Toronto is an amazing city, and cities are resilient. It will be back roaring like it was before.”

—Ahmad Halak, Facebook

“To those who think skyscrapers ruin the city: Brampton is a short drive away and will welcome you with open suburban arms...bye.”

—tg_toronto, Instagram

“I’m here for this!!! Bring on all the new development. Excited to watch our city grow.”

—James Lewis, Facebook

“I think we all miss downtown— the activity, the food, the colour. We’ll get back there eventually.”

—@rickett_chris, Twitter

“This makes me hopeful!” —@htigert, Twitter

“An economic boom is certainly coming.”

—@Friedricejim, Twitter

“What will downtown look like? Pretty much the same as it did before. Busy, vibrant, at times chaotic. Can’t wait.”

—BFowl247, Reddit

“Through hardship we develop resiliency—I imagine us going through a bit of a gritty NY in the ’80s type thing, but we’ll overcome and in time we’ll thrive.”

—xxavierx, Reddit

“People severely underestimate how many people enjoy living downtown. It’s a short commute, but it’s also one of the only vibrant urban centres in the country.”

—PolitelyHostile, Reddit

Now, the skeptics:

“Gotta love the optimism Toronto Life is serving! If I squint and strain myself, I can almost imagine bikes all over downtown and artists hanging out by galleries at Dundas and Ossington. But then a pane of glass from a condo tower falls and smashes on the road beside me. #UnaffordableTO.”

—@Kweenga, Twitter

“What will downtown look like post-pandemic? I personally don’t see packed GO trains and office towers any time soon. Hopefully some day the Jays and Raptors return to the city.”

—@darrylwolk, Twitter

“I’m not too sure about the restaurateurs. They’ve taken a huge hit. Where will they get the money to start again, and will they even want to start again?”

—@Cdianshield, Twitter

Sick and Tired

Pratibha Gupta’s memoir about working at Canada Post revealed what it’s really like to be inside a giant processing facility during the pandemic. Readers, for the most part, were grateful that Gupta shared her story.

“Good article from inside, written by a caring and compassionate employee. Thank you Pratibha Gupta for taking on additional health and safety tasks throughout this pandemic.”

—Helen Ayers, Facebook

“If only Canada Post had seen it coming and were proactive in implementing safety measures before the shit hit the fan. They waited and waited, ignoring employees’ concerns, and only

acted when it was already too late.” —Jay Boddington, Facebook

“A must-read first-hand account of work, mismanagement, sickness, life and death at the Canada Post Gateway plant in Mississauga.”

—@rankandfileca, Twitter

“Good journalism on the topic of workplace outbreaks. Read this Toronto Life piece and understand the kind of pressures these workers are under and the decision-makers who failed them before you shame postal workers for having a party.”

—@meganysta, Twitter

“And yet how many people reading this are online ordering crap they don’t need, forcing these people to work so much. If people actually felt bad, they’d stop buying unnecessary things.”

—rockfitnessto, Instagram

Life of Pie

People have strong feelings about pizza. Our ranking of Toronto’s top 20 pies generated a robust debate, with readers applauding some of the choices, pooh-poohing perceived omissions and lobbying to nudge their nominations for the GOAT up the ranks: “We need to get XXX on the list!”; “XXX not there, wtf”; “XXX is a top three, imo,” etc.

“I should not have opened this thread after my evening fast started. Holy crap, I’m craving pizza now.”

—whogivesashirtdotca, Reddit

“While I do love my fancy pizzas, the real winners are those who can make something amazing out of only a few everyday ingredients. There’s nowhere to hide bad technique or substandard quality.”

—Reycart, Reddit

“Amen. Cheese, dough and fuckin’ sawse. If those don’t hold up then no amount of balsamic reduction or foie gras is gonna make it better.”

—Rezrov_, Reddit

“My nonna’s pizza should be there.”

—marcheeso, Reddit

“Before I started ethically eating, this was my fave pizza in the world.”

—whole_nutmegs, Instagram