Ode To The 6ix

The Ode

Or is it the six? The 6? 6?

This strange and altogether unintuitive terminology blew up while I was far on the other side of the world, so it made even less sense to me after I returned to Toronto after half a year away from my home city. But the great Drizzy said it must be so, and now it is. Nobody in this city doubts his influence, and for all the outsiders, all they need to do to understand it is ask Meek Mill...once he emerges out of hiding.

There's a lot I still don't understand about my hometown. And there's a lot that could be better. For example, I understand that the visionaries over at the TTC might have taken inspiration from the late Steve Jobs, but I'd argue minimalism is not the approach to take when planning a world-class city's subway system:

We've had our run-ins with interesting characters at the helm of our city hall, although I wouldn't say all of them run well:

But spending my last semester abroad has helped me gain perspective on Toronto for the first time in my life. The Economist has it right: Toronto truly is the best city in the world. This is might be old news to the worldly cosmopolitans who have travelled far more than myself, but it's been a significant realization for me, especially when I was deciding between staying in Toronto or moving to California for work.

For one thing, we're the world's most multicultural city – a global experiment of happy co-existence between cultures from all corners of the world:

When it comes to sports our teams have had their droughts of mediocrity and listnessness...

But the good news is that one team is stepping up and capturing the imaginations of long-suffering fans:

We're well-repped on the world stage when it comes to starpower (most of the time):

Yes, Toronto may not have the pizzazz of a New York or a Paris, but when all of that fades away into the noise that is daily life in a city, Toronto's anthem rings clear. Toronto's anthem can be heard in the upbeat rhythms of Caribana on a hazy summer day, the roar of the Rogers Center at first pitch, the callouts to the 6ix blaring from the radio, even in the silence of the sprawling city at the pinnacle of the CN tower, when the sun is peeking out over the water's edge on the harbourfront. It's certainly not a strident one, but sometimes, when I take a moment to appreciate all that Toronto has to offer, it's pure music to my heart.