A trip to Toronto, Ontario in 1998:
This is just my experience:
Too many shops in the town, took two hours just for a ten mile trip from the airport. Not sure if the 50 miles an hour has been lifted. For food not every product but different brands to my choice, brought from the local shopping malls made me feel sleepy and ill, especially after consuming the large caramel nut bars and Canada Dry drink. The take away food from shops and cafes didn't have much of a taste. Now I watch what I eat of course.
I agree people have their own definition of money. The one I am talking about is a decent wage to afford a large house and pay the way. Also for work, relating to law firms, doctors and international buyers. Oh for the citizenship I think it applied to people in their working years, not for people at school years.
Do not know much of the reality and people there so I would like to hear differently.
Oh, alright, I have a better picture now.
Then, and even now, Toronto has one of the highest morgage / rental rates in Ontario. It costs a LOT of money to afford large housing in that area ; its even a fair amount to even rent an apartment.
. Most people normally go towards the outer cities, like Brampton, Oakville, or Mississauga, because its cheaper? And a lot more spaced out.
I don't really like how all of Toronto's stores are all close together, and you're right, they do kind of have a stuffy atmosphere to them. I can only walk in the underground PATH system, or look up at big buildings for too long.
But ANYways, you should've visited other cities close by. There's lots to see.