island of misfit toys

[the_siobhan]

I've been thinking a lot lately about the viability of moving to the country.

The fact that I'm even thinking about it is is a pretty massive thing for me. I'm an urbanite born and raised and I've always just assumed that would be the case for my entire life. A lot of this recent change of heart has to do with the fact that my breathing just gets worse and worse every year and I don't really see a big political push happening to do anything about the lousy air quality in this city. Much as I resent the idea that people who clog up the streets with their cars every day are going to drive me out my home, my lungs aren't likely to be sympathetic to the idea of breathing smog as a matter of principle. And I'm tired of being sick all the time.

Which brings me to the second reason. The breathing issue has a major impact on my ability to self-medicate via exercise. One of the most difficult of symptoms to manage when my brain-meats aren't doing well is just how stressed out I get by other human beings - not anthropophobia necessarily but pretty bloody close. And given that just walking out my door means I have to interact with dozens of the damn things, living in a place with such a high population density means I have already tapped into limited resources before even arriving at work or a friend's house or a concert. If I don't have to deal with massive numbers of people every single day, then maybe I'd actually be able to come into town for a weekend once in a while and hang out with the ones I know and like without being exhausted for days afterwards. Instead of the situation now where I'm spending all my free time hiding inside my house.

The big downside to this idea is, of course; what the hell would I do for a living? It's not like I have the skill set to be likely farmer material.

When I mentioned this to Axel he suggested moving to Vancouver instead. Which would clear up most of the breathing problems. Not the people-stress, but then if I could breathe all the time I might be in better mental health. And it would put the kibosh on hitting Toronto for the weekend more often than once or twice a year. But I'd have a job.

So I don't know. At this point fall will be coming Any Day Now and the discussion can continue to be theoretical for another year. But if nothing changes in this city eventually I'll be forced to do something about it. I just don't know what.

Comments

[silentq.livejournal.com]

Er, don't move to Vancouver if you can't deal with more cloudy/rainy days than sunny ones. :/
Is there any place that maps air quality throughout Toronto? When I was living up near Steeles, the temperature was always cooler than downtown so I'm wondering if air quality might be better in the area formerly known as North York. :)
Having lived in Brampton for a year or so, there are pros and cons to living outside the city. I think my experience wasn't the best because I didn't have a car.

My lungs really appreciated the break I gave them this past weekend, breathing air that hasn't been cycled through people or machines was wonderful (and so was the isolation on the hiking trails). I'm thinking about getting a filter mask to wear while biking in the city, did you use one at one point?

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

I have no problem at all with clouds and rain. I think Axel underestimates how much he would hate them though, he always says he left England because of the weather.

Living in places like Brampton and North York are currently waaay down the list of options. Like further down than "in an oxygen tent". Besides, if I lived some place like Brampton I would have to commute, therefore becoming the people I am cursing with boils and locusts on the days I can't breathe.

I have a straight forward filter mask but in all honesty it's not a great solution. Toronto is always smoggiest on the days with high humidity, so breathing through a filter mask is difficult. Thor uses one of those industrial masks with the replacable carbon filters when he bikes and he swears by them - I've considered that as an option for biking, I'm not sure how I would feel about just walking around wearing one.

[eveofdstruction.livejournal.com]

First, the disclaimer, as much as I love TO, I am obviously a big fan of the Vancouver idea. That said, The weather actually isn't as bad as a lot of people think. The grey, drizzly stuff is mostly concentrated in fall/winter, which always just seemed pretty natural to me. In addition, when it is sunny in the Northwest, it is GLORIOUS. We usually get a few crystal clear sunny days through the winter, the spring alternates grey and gorgeously sunny and crisp, and our summers are pretty intensely summery. Definitely a tad cooler and much less humid than TO on average, but hot and sunny enough that summer is enjoyable and the cooling off is a welcome change in fall.

[silentq.livejournal.com]

I was thinking more of living and working in a city just outside Toronto, not commuting (that sucked a lot when I had to do it). Subway from North York isn't that bad, it was being on the end of the bus line that left from the end of the subway line that bugged me.
Yeah, walking around wearing a filter mask is inviting stares, but someday it might get all too common. :/ I kinda sorta want nose plugs that will semi-discreetly filter the air for me.

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

The advantage to Vancouver is that I would already have a job there. Any place else and I'd have to add job-hunting to the equation. Not a deal-breaker by any stretch but definitely an additional hurdle.

[http://users.livejournal.com/cincinnatus_c_/]

Is there any place that maps air quality throughout Toronto?

This site here (http://airqualityontario.com/reports/index.cfm) provides reports from four different points in Toronto. (Seems like you have to click on "Today's Current Pollutant Concentrations" for each one to find out exactly where they are.) Looks like Toronto North (Yonge north of Finch) is somewhat better on average than Toronto Downtown (Bay & Wellesley), and it looks like it's generally better when it's bad, but not all that consistently better. (I always wonder how much of the differences in these kinds of things have to do either with factors too local to be useful and/or measuring artefacts, though.)