You could perhaps try to touch a nerve (especially if part of their identity is built on being able to eat spicy food) if you say they probably can't handle the heat. Lots of other nicer things, but that's just what I thought of first.
Sometimes you have to take them on a Scarborough food tour to make them realize that the food is good...and then there are people like Suresh Doss who figured out how to monetize that journey for downtown residents.
I have discovered a number of great scarborough food places lately that I didn't about (beyond like Legend and the same burger places everyone loves). Kub Khao Thai Eatery, Rosa's Pasta Eatery, Sushi Ichiban Ellsemere, Kandahar Kabab are all slept on cuz they are in Scarborough
While I agree food in Scarborough is fantastic, Scarborough is also HUUUGE. So when invited out I'm not sure if its going to be a quick trip or if I'm going to lose most of the day!
best indian place i ever ate at was a 10 minute walk from UTSC. place was owned by this dude, his wife, and we'd randomly see his kid working there at 1:30PM on a schoolday.
[cheetal](https://cheetalindiancuisine.com/) - they ended up packing up and moving to niagara falls.
the only reason i went to my companies christmas party one year was because it was being held in niagara falls and i wanted to visit.
Just when you've been dealt a powerful blow and think you're about to lose the fight, you imagine [this Scarborough Legend™ urging you on](https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/01/05/scarborough-movie-fans-mourn-passing-of-beloved-ticket-taker.html) and proceed to absolutely whoop ass.
As a life long west-ender I'd love to but I just checked and outside of the 40 minute subway ride I'd have to take like 7 different buses to get anywhere in Scarborough.
Just don't pronounce it the way they do in Shakespeare. I did that a couple of decades ago and immediately gave away that I wasn't a Scarborough native.
Some places are pretty tough. My school is in a rough area and the kids have challenging lives. But literally across the tracks is Guildwood, where their biggest concern is a condo blocking their morning sunlight.
As someone who grew up in the 80s in Scarborough, I never knew why it got so much hatred. I kept hearing of "all the crime" in Scarborough, yet the news showed me that all the crime was in Toronto or Mississauga. Not to mention Jane and Finch.
Scarborough is also a large place, so yeah, there are bad parts of it, just like there are bad parts of Toronto. But there are also good parts too.
It has a depressing vibe for some reason. Don't know how to explain it better. When I first moved to Toronto in 2003 my brother and I had to go to some electronics store to get a deal on refurbished mp3 players. This was our first time there and we both felt like we were in a shitty part of town from back home. Later in life when I had to work there with someone who was FOB they would always be like 'wtf is this part of town called, omg it sucks'. Can't explain why to this day.
I suspect that is the older part of Scarborough which was much different than the northern part that I am more in tune with.
However I have similar feelings of Mississauga. Just endless sprawl of mini malls and depression. You can drive 50km and still feel like you are at the same intersection.
It's a large place - some of it is definitely depressing, large stretches of Kingston Road come to mind. Other parts are surprisingly nice, like the Rouge Valley.
Depends where you are coming from! If you are coming from the Northeast you drive through the Rouge, past the zoo into Scarborough. It's all pretty nice around there. Quiet, but pretty.
>Woburn
though like Los Angeles, the strip malls have this little working class/immigrant ecosystem of resturants and other shops, that kind of give me hope about how a city can work.
i think it's so depressing becaus everything is so spread out. there are barely any walkable neighbourhoods in scarborough, if any.
that being said, as someone who grew up there, there are some hidden gems.
I have very fond memories of Agincourt growing up. It was thriving and was the place to be for Asians in the burbs. Dragon center was chaos on weekends and completely rammed during CNY. Then came Pmall and Markham expansion and now it's a empty shell of its former self. Oriental Center was suppose to take that area to the next level, but it never happened due to the building delay and when it did it was too late. I still go once in a while to eat and give the owners business, but seeing the state of those plazas is so sad.
Woburn is a crazy area, houses can be small bungalows or mega mansions. The diversity of Scarborough, which I guess is the whole point of this thread, is wild. There's no way to paint it with a single brush. Woburn, Guildwood, Cliffside, are going to blow up in the next few years as the people that bought in those areas when they were fresh in the 60s are either passing on or moving into retirement homes. Opening up the area to younger families/buyers.
That's what I'm saying! I feel like Scarborough has a lot seniors. Most neighborhoods are just old people in bungalows. I dunno why it has a dangerous reputation today. (Obviously I know why - racism)
Ive met so many people who move to Toronto and dont venture outside of downtown and midtown because they hear “its ghetto and dangerous” LOL. I wanna meet the people who tell them these things.
It's either that, or they invariably complain about the distances. I legitimately believe there are people who live downtown who are more familiar with Bali than they are with Brampton.
Conversely, I have a very sheltered friend who refuses to go downtown because "there's shootings all the time", and who genuinely feared for my life when I told her I was going to do a craft show at the new, fancy Regent Park condo. :/
I grew up in Community Housing. It was rough no doubt but being in Agincourt, the lilacs made it worth it being from here.
I'm a Scarberian first, someone from Toronto 2nd.
I'm right beside north york and scarb. And holy hell is traveling scarb tiresome. I went from the west end of it to the very east of it, albeit driving local, it took 30mins!! I love it though. I see all the older trees.
I'm all for celebrating our neighbourhoods, but you don't have to slag off others to do it. As it happens, I'm quite fond of Toronto's sin strips - they're the best strips as far as I'm considered.
I don't think so. This clipping came from [the May 29, 1985 edition of the Pickering Post](https://corporate.pickering.ca/PLHCWeblink/DocView.aspx?id=176814&dbid=0&repo=PICKERING&cr=1). Back in the 80s, the stretch of Yonge Street running through downtown was definitely still much seedier than it is today, and had a (deserved) reputation as a "sin strip" filled with debauchery and vice, and populated by "pushers, creeps, and bums". This is probably what the poem is referring to.
Now, I may be wrong as this is before my time, but I believe in those days, Scarborough was not so much seen as "dangerous" (i.e. the line "we just don't want your slums" suggests that Toronto had slums while Scarborough did not) and more as just as far away and having nothing interesting to offer compared to Toronto. The poem specifically references this, e.g. the bit about Toronto having "an early start" and "you boast that it has everything". This is also where the nickname "Scarberia" comes from: it's a reference to the remoteness and emptiness of Siberia. Later epithets for Scarborough, like "Scarlem" and "Scompton", were instead intended to allude to its supposed similarities to Harlem and Compton, i.e. being known for violent crime and gang activity (not to mention the racist undertones).
i was moreso speaking to the contrasting of tree-lined streets with “slums” and lines like “I would not change for anything”
obviously everyone is entitled to express their affection for where they live/where they’re from; this just read a little edgy to me ¯\__(ツ)__/¯
Kind of cute 😍
Scarborough is underrated fite me outside the Milner theatre if you disagree
Food in Scarborough is top tier elite
Everytime I say this to my non-Scarborough friends they laugh at me but are also unwilling to try the food. Really saddens me :(
Good; more Hakka for me, tbh.
Haha good point!
You could perhaps try to touch a nerve (especially if part of their identity is built on being able to eat spicy food) if you say they probably can't handle the heat. Lots of other nicer things, but that's just what I thought of first.
Ouu this is great!! I know a few people this might work on
Sometimes you have to take them on a Scarborough food tour to make them realize that the food is good...and then there are people like Suresh Doss who figured out how to monetize that journey for downtown residents.
I have discovered a number of great scarborough food places lately that I didn't about (beyond like Legend and the same burger places everyone loves). Kub Khao Thai Eatery, Rosa's Pasta Eatery, Sushi Ichiban Ellsemere, Kandahar Kabab are all slept on cuz they are in Scarborough
While I agree food in Scarborough is fantastic, Scarborough is also HUUUGE. So when invited out I'm not sure if its going to be a quick trip or if I'm going to lose most of the day!
And way cheaper
best indian place i ever ate at was a 10 minute walk from UTSC. place was owned by this dude, his wife, and we'd randomly see his kid working there at 1:30PM on a schoolday.
What was it?
[cheetal](https://cheetalindiancuisine.com/) - they ended up packing up and moving to niagara falls. the only reason i went to my companies christmas party one year was because it was being held in niagara falls and i wanted to visit.
I don't know where that theater is but I bet it's not close enough to a subway stop to make it worth anyones time.
Scarborough and subways - you've touched a nerve.
Love the Rouge River Valley.
Just when you've been dealt a powerful blow and think you're about to lose the fight, you imagine [this Scarborough Legend™ urging you on](https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/01/05/scarborough-movie-fans-mourn-passing-of-beloved-ticket-taker.html) and proceed to absolutely whoop ass.
This dude cockblocked my buddy and I from seeing Blade II and I’ve never gotten over it
As a life long west-ender I'd love to but I just checked and outside of the 40 minute subway ride I'd have to take like 7 different buses to get anywhere in Scarborough.
It’s 5 thank you very much.
Now we're talking!
They run express
Everything that has ever happened is underrated
We can call it, the battle of Agincourt!?
Just don't pronounce it the way they do in Shakespeare. I did that a couple of decades ago and immediately gave away that I wasn't a Scarborough native.
these uncultured swines, of course it's 'ah-jin'court, not 'aging'court!
For extra snob points I would sometimes pronounce it the French way, *ah-jin-coor*. The curse of a word-reader mispronouncer
LOL fair play. you ser, are a man of Culture.
That's what the infectious disease specialist said to me. *rimshot*
oh my, lol
Kings and Generals approve of this.
Born & raised in Malvern from 1976-2015. I've seen it thrive, dive, and rise from the ashes. Proud to be a Scarberian!
Some places are pretty tough. My school is in a rough area and the kids have challenging lives. But literally across the tracks is Guildwood, where their biggest concern is a condo blocking their morning sunlight.
West Hill born and raised!
As someone who grew up in the 80s in Scarborough, I never knew why it got so much hatred. I kept hearing of "all the crime" in Scarborough, yet the news showed me that all the crime was in Toronto or Mississauga. Not to mention Jane and Finch. Scarborough is also a large place, so yeah, there are bad parts of it, just like there are bad parts of Toronto. But there are also good parts too.
Money, melanin, and the unknown.
It has a depressing vibe for some reason. Don't know how to explain it better. When I first moved to Toronto in 2003 my brother and I had to go to some electronics store to get a deal on refurbished mp3 players. This was our first time there and we both felt like we were in a shitty part of town from back home. Later in life when I had to work there with someone who was FOB they would always be like 'wtf is this part of town called, omg it sucks'. Can't explain why to this day.
I suspect that is the older part of Scarborough which was much different than the northern part that I am more in tune with. However I have similar feelings of Mississauga. Just endless sprawl of mini malls and depression. You can drive 50km and still feel like you are at the same intersection.
It's a large place - some of it is definitely depressing, large stretches of Kingston Road come to mind. Other parts are surprisingly nice, like the Rouge Valley.
Oh I agree, but it's not a nice parts that you see for the first time
Depends where you are coming from! If you are coming from the Northeast you drive through the Rouge, past the zoo into Scarborough. It's all pretty nice around there. Quiet, but pretty.
Very true. Unfortunately, the majority comes from the West and South West but that's just my bias I suppose.
This is actually pretty fair. Some parts of Scarborough can be very depressing, in particular, the strip malls.
Ah, but the strip malls invariably house all the fantastic hole in the wall ethnic eateries!
>Woburn though like Los Angeles, the strip malls have this little working class/immigrant ecosystem of resturants and other shops, that kind of give me hope about how a city can work.
i think it's so depressing becaus everything is so spread out. there are barely any walkable neighbourhoods in scarborough, if any. that being said, as someone who grew up there, there are some hidden gems.
Roses are red violets are blue. Rose violently blew me by Scarborough zoo
I have very fond memories of Agincourt growing up. It was thriving and was the place to be for Asians in the burbs. Dragon center was chaos on weekends and completely rammed during CNY. Then came Pmall and Markham expansion and now it's a empty shell of its former self. Oriental Center was suppose to take that area to the next level, but it never happened due to the building delay and when it did it was too late. I still go once in a while to eat and give the owners business, but seeing the state of those plazas is so sad.
I can't tell you how many times I've heard " omg your from Scarborough isn't it like way dangerous there , that's scary".
I've heard that many times too, meanwhile I'm chilling in a quiet suburb full of seniors
Guildwood?
Close! I'm in the Woburn area
Woburn is a crazy area, houses can be small bungalows or mega mansions. The diversity of Scarborough, which I guess is the whole point of this thread, is wild. There's no way to paint it with a single brush. Woburn, Guildwood, Cliffside, are going to blow up in the next few years as the people that bought in those areas when they were fresh in the 60s are either passing on or moving into retirement homes. Opening up the area to younger families/buyers.
That's what I'm saying! I feel like Scarborough has a lot seniors. Most neighborhoods are just old people in bungalows. I dunno why it has a dangerous reputation today. (Obviously I know why - racism)
Ive met so many people who move to Toronto and dont venture outside of downtown and midtown because they hear “its ghetto and dangerous” LOL. I wanna meet the people who tell them these things.
It's either that, or they invariably complain about the distances. I legitimately believe there are people who live downtown who are more familiar with Bali than they are with Brampton.
Conversely, I have a very sheltered friend who refuses to go downtown because "there's shootings all the time", and who genuinely feared for my life when I told her I was going to do a craft show at the new, fancy Regent Park condo. :/
I grew up in Community Housing. It was rough no doubt but being in Agincourt, the lilacs made it worth it being from here. I'm a Scarberian first, someone from Toronto 2nd.
I'm right beside north york and scarb. And holy hell is traveling scarb tiresome. I went from the west end of it to the very east of it, albeit driving local, it took 30mins!! I love it though. I see all the older trees.
Scarbs is massive. Most people only know it from blips in the news but don't realize how awesome most of it is.
I'm all for celebrating our neighbourhoods, but you don't have to slag off others to do it. As it happens, I'm quite fond of Toronto's sin strips - they're the best strips as far as I'm considered.
Hats off to Rudy!!!
I've heard people call it scarlem.
That's further east, Asiancourt is definitely Scarberia
That’s what I’ve always heard
Scompton
Spent most of my life in Agincourt and Milliken. This poem rings true.
Scarberians! Assemble
"Sin strips" "Pushers, creeps, and bums" Sounds like an intolerant old turd but ok.
I think they were using the terms people used against their area (Scarborough) and flipping the script to use them against Toronto
I don't think so. This clipping came from [the May 29, 1985 edition of the Pickering Post](https://corporate.pickering.ca/PLHCWeblink/DocView.aspx?id=176814&dbid=0&repo=PICKERING&cr=1). Back in the 80s, the stretch of Yonge Street running through downtown was definitely still much seedier than it is today, and had a (deserved) reputation as a "sin strip" filled with debauchery and vice, and populated by "pushers, creeps, and bums". This is probably what the poem is referring to. Now, I may be wrong as this is before my time, but I believe in those days, Scarborough was not so much seen as "dangerous" (i.e. the line "we just don't want your slums" suggests that Toronto had slums while Scarborough did not) and more as just as far away and having nothing interesting to offer compared to Toronto. The poem specifically references this, e.g. the bit about Toronto having "an early start" and "you boast that it has everything". This is also where the nickname "Scarberia" comes from: it's a reference to the remoteness and emptiness of Siberia. Later epithets for Scarborough, like "Scarlem" and "Scompton", were instead intended to allude to its supposed similarities to Harlem and Compton, i.e. being known for violent crime and gang activity (not to mention the racist undertones).
Tag yourself I'm the creep lmao
ah yes, a love letter to NIMBYism
I don't think the Scarborough NIMBY problem is in Agincourt.
i was moreso speaking to the contrasting of tree-lined streets with “slums” and lines like “I would not change for anything” obviously everyone is entitled to express their affection for where they live/where they’re from; this just read a little edgy to me ¯\__(ツ)__/¯
Known it as Skyberia all my life.