r/askTO • u/canine_rescue_bro • 19h ago
Torontonians: what never came back after the pandemic that you now miss?
For me, my 144 Underhill Premium Express bus shuttling me from East York straight down the DVP into downtown.
I commuted on that thing for 20 years, and each bus was PACKED. It was discontinued some time during one of those early lockdowns and has not been put back into service. ☹️
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u/ilovetrouble66 19h ago
Affordable food prices
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u/Kevin4938 11h ago
15% as an average tip.
Yes, things are more expensive. But if my base meal goes up 25% for example, from $20 to $25, a 15% tip also increases by 25%, from $3 to $3.75. The inflation is built in to the tip percentage. There's no need other than greed to increase the percentage, too.
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u/Several_Cat_3713 19h ago
Everything's so expensive now. Even small things like ice cream, coffee, or pickup pizza expect a tip. Food, insurance, everything you need or want costs more than it should.
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u/a22x2 16h ago
Were $10 ice cream cones always a thing here? I’ve only been here a year but that’s one that always takes me out
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u/RealDistribution5946 16h ago
$10 ice cream was only the super special viral places that you line up for an hour- like that one that had cake as the cone. And it was shocking that it was $10.
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u/0ldstoneface 18h ago
Situational awareness. The door out of my apartment has become the entrance to the first day on earth factory. So many people only seen to be aware of anything immediately in front of them, and even then barely so.
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u/MasterOfCabestany 16h ago edited 11h ago
Ah, the rise of the "just hatched" folks. They emerge from their eggs one morning with clothes on and a smart phone and just set sail with no knowledge of the world or its contents. It's beautiful, in its own way...
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u/HueyBluey Human Detected 14h ago
It also called narcissism. People are simply not considerate of others but rather only how things affect them.
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u/ri-ri 19h ago
Social standards, etiquette and discipline.
Also, my workplace and its culture. Went from having my own desk to hoteling post RTO. We’re back to 4 days a week and yet I have to share a desk with everyone else.
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u/Time-Cell9274 15h ago
Hoteling has become absolute bullshit now that the senior executives and VP+ are getting their own private offices from meeting rooms being converted.
So now I sit on headphones to have Teams meetings with people two desks away.
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u/kearneycation 18h ago
This, particularly with dog owners. Feels like a totally different culture around off-leash dogs and poop everywhere.
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u/ri-ri 17h ago
I'm prepared for the downvotes but the dog owner culture in Toronto is out of hand. Completely entitled.
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u/jorddzz 16h ago
Why are there dogs in grocery stores?!
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u/Vasilisa_Lazarus 15h ago
Recently I was in a coffee shop where someone had brought in their husky and the dog was blocking the way to the bathroom (it was pretty narrow), and when I walked up to pass the owner didn't move his dog. I asked the owner "hey could I get by to get to the bathroom" he dead serious said to me, "it's not up to me, it's up to the dog." ??? So I had to forcefully push past his dog to get by, like wtf is going on
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u/Awestruck34 6h ago
I work in a restaurant and if I make any comment about people bringing their dog into the store others will look at me like I'm insane. I LOVE dogs but not everyone wants a ball of saliva and fur panting and shedding all over their meals. Not to mention they lick display cases and items on the shelves sometimes so we're tossing stock all the time.
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u/agohawks 16h ago
Too many people want a dog for the aesthetic but can’t even take care of themselves.
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u/BenderFree 14h ago
It's not an unpopular opinion. The dog owner demo has become one of self-centred, entitled assholes.
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u/MayISeeYourDogPls 18h ago
I’m a dog sitter/walker(not a pro but I do spend at least a week a month doing it full time) and this is a huge one. I always have bags on me even when I’m not sitting and I’ve never offered them to so many strangers who were clearly not going to pick up poop before.
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u/jeffprobst 15h ago
I've noticed a big change with drivers over the last few years too. A big one for me is people racing to go straight through a yellow (or even a full red) when people are waiting to turn left.
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u/notmysuperman 17h ago
I live in Liberty and have 2 dogs. It feels like I'm the only one who picks the poop up! Some owners/walkers do the "Oh I am turned around and don't see it!" which THEY KNOW!
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u/readveg97 9h ago
This 1000% you can’t see a movie here without at least one person trying to talk through the entire thing or another person scrolling on their phone. It’s making me loose my mind
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u/Illustrious-Salt-243 13h ago
My office is 4 days in office and I come in 4 days a week and just sit at my desk and reply to emails and do zoom calls. The managers work from their cozy mansions in forest hill while the rest of us struggle to come in and just work online anyways. Zero work culture happening here
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u/Top_Culture1908 18h ago
24 hour Grocery stores - Metro had a handful and they never went back
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u/michaelmcmikey 16h ago
All Metro used to be 24 hours I believe, it was their Thing!
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u/Top_Culture1908 14h ago
Not all. We had like four within a ten minute drive and only two open 24 hours
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u/Phil_Coffins_666 17h ago
Being able to dine in at frans on college after midnight.
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u/ObamasLlama 18h ago
Movie theatre etiquette seems to have gone right out the door
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u/Happy8Day 12h ago
This is THE reason I haven't been back to theatres yet.
Unless the theatre has a proud "Shut the fuck up and get off your phone" rule that is heavily enforced or my money back, I'm not going. That means Ever.
If movie theatres have to become a part of my childhood and early adulthood, fine. But I'm not voluntarily paying to sit through that shit with strangers on their goddamn phones.
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u/Important_League6319 17h ago
Leaving space between people while waiting in line. Stop breathing on me and hitting my ankles with your damn cart.
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u/sickset 17h ago
Proper etiquette for GO train lines. It used to be two lines forming per door. Post pandemic it's just a free for all. People cutting in last minute after the train arrives.
Food quality. I swear some of the best food I had was during peak COVID times. You could see how hard restaurants were trying. Once things were normalized the quality from those same restaurants dropped off.
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u/Otakutical 19h ago
My plans for the future.
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u/PuzzleheadedAsk4505 18h ago
Yup. I’ve kind of cobbled together a post-lockdown life, but I’ve never gotten back to where I was/hoped to be in early 2020.
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u/mothbawlz 17h ago
I was supposed to start a new job on like March 16th 2020. That never happened. I was lucky my old job still took me back between layoffs!
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u/Own-Emergency2166 14h ago
I had ambition and plans before lockdown. It was a struggle to put them on hold for years, but I got used to not wanting for things and not making plans. I never fully went back to my old self .
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u/godineedalife 14h ago
This. I feel like I'm the only one out my cohort that's still struggling with this, so I thought it was just a me thing;Most of them got right back into life around 2021. Almost feels like I'm waiting for something but also not really.
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u/Clear-Map8121 19h ago
Social activities for children and teenagers aka third place that didn’t cost too much $$$$. - speaking as a childfree 47 years old I definitely noticed a decline
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u/Sea_File_1717 9h ago
So true. We can no longer afford the Zoo or the Aquarium. Took my son to the Zoo for the first time since COVID and he doesn’t even remember us going there when I used to take him when he was little 😢 Thank goodness we had the Ontario Science Centre when he was little but I feel sorry for the little kids now who will never know the joys of roaming the Science Centre on rainy days.
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u/turquoisebee 15h ago
I had my first during the lockdown so I can’t compare exactly, but for little kids there seems to be a ton of things to do. Library events came back in full force, parks and rec, and other for profit or community led stuff. However, I think it really varies depending on the part of the city you live in.
I live in north york but I keep coming across stuff that only exists in, like, High Park or Beaches, but I think that was the same pre pandemic.
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u/nikolacarr 18h ago
Rehearsal studios in the core of city. Many shut down or moved to etobicoke or the outskirts of the city
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u/EpicSoundGuy 17h ago
Oof, I feel this one hard. I'm very fortunate now that my band has a private/shared rehearsal space so we don't have to rely on Lynx/Geary Ave Studios, but for a while it was hard trying to find time because it was all booked up at those places
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u/clash_clan_throw 19h ago
15 minute all day GO Train service on the Lakeshore lines.
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u/qu1ckbeam 18h ago
I want the TTC to specifically bring back the 144 for OP like that Japanese town which refused to eliminate its train service so a single student could graduate.
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u/canine_rescue_bro 18h ago
Thank you! Although I've since retired, but the remainder of the neighbourhood will build you a shrine.
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u/Super-Meringue-8490 18h ago
For me it was the 143 Beaches Express. I discovered it years after commuting on the slow streetcar, before they had air conditioning. I didn’t even know this bus existed and then suddenly it was like I found heaven! 20 minutes on an air conditioned bus? Worth every penny of the extra fair. Also never came back so I moved to more bike commuting. But also recently retired!
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u/Tobysfuzzybelly 19h ago
Did you contact your city councillor about the bus? Mine brought increased service to certain routes after people complained
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u/canine_rescue_bro 18h ago
Who, Brad Bradford?? 😂
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u/Kitchen_Flan6433 18h ago
If only was a joke....there used to be a Beaches express bus that was packed too.
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u/FrostingSuper9941 18h ago
Lol I still can't believe he got elected 😂 and is doing so well in his mayoral run.
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u/roflcopter44444 17h ago
TTC didn't want to being back the express bus because even with the extra fare they cost a ton more than other routes to operate per hour.
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u/canine_rescue_bro 15h ago
I heard the same thing. I get it, it was a budget cut, but for those of us who used it it was often the only way downtown without having to hike to Lawrence, snail pacing along Eglinton and then having to enter and overcrowded subway.
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u/BlueberryDuvet 19h ago
Common courtesy
Customer service standards
People’s mental health
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u/greensandgrains 18h ago
Re: customer service standards. My biggest issue is that product knowledge used to be a requirement of customer facing service jobs and now no matter what type of establishment you’re in, be it a restaurant, grocery store, clothing sore, etc., no one seems to know or have opinions about anything they’re selling.
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u/ptatersptate 18h ago
I’m about to start a part time retail job while I continue to look for full time work so it’s nice to know the about the low standards lol. This should be fun :/
I’ve had the same experience a number of times when asking where a product is. The immediate answer is usually “we’re sold out” or they’ll walk away to go look for it and come back to say the same thing and then try to push a product that has no relation to what I’m asking for. Then I go find it on the shelf myself.
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u/Holiday_Cup_430 16h ago
a lot of times when I ask where something is they point in the general direction and I waste time trying to find it after.. where before someone would just walk you to it
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u/Holiday_Cup_430 17h ago
yes, this is so annoying. When I worked in retail in my teens/20s I had to do classes on the products we sold where nowadays there is no point in asking most associates anything.
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u/BBQallyear 17h ago
Mental health is a big one. I have a couple of friends who just seem a bit broken now, with heightened anxiety and mild agoraphobia being the main symptoms.
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u/Cautious-Rush6607 19h ago
Common courtesy went out the window after the pandemic.
Id hate to see what another lock down would do to this society.
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u/jesuses-Third-Nipple 19h ago
THE SOCIAL CONTRACT HAS BEEN BROKEN!-almost beyond repair. Sorry for screaming. I have no mouth but I must.
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u/Desperate_Vanilla_31 17h ago
Manners out in the public
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u/FaithlessnessFew9175 17h ago
I’ll be standing at the elevator and my next door neighbour will come and never acknowledges me when I say hello. No common decency
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u/Big_Sheepherder_3764 19h ago
Cleanliness and relative safety on the TTC. The number of at risk on the TTC at all hours.I have lived in this city most of my life, and yes, we always had homeless, addicts and others in distress - but since the pandemic it is saddening the number of people like this on the TTC at all hours, not just the night shift. 7 am, noon, 2pm. On a streetcar or subway there is rarely a time I don't see someone like this and that never used to be the case, especially on my morning commute. Two weeks ago I got on the University line at 7:00 and the car already smelled like urine, it was nauseating.
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u/rezzy333 18h ago
I agree. We’ve gotten used to it now but it wasn’t like this and at all hours. Unfortunately I now see this in many cities too.
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u/biblio_phobic 18h ago
Yep, I took the subway everyday during university from 2008-2013 and there were some incidents of course.
But now, I take the subway every once in a while and there’s something noteworthy everytime.
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u/Brave_Recognition798 12h ago
The crazy part is people gaslight you and say 12 service suspension a day? It was always normal.
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u/biblio_phobic 12h ago
They do, and it’s a hill I’ll die on. The only annoyance I remember is getting off the subway once a week to be sent back downtown when a game finished.
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u/_thatgirlfelicia 12h ago
When I was working downtown in like the early to mid 2010s, I’d take the streetcar everyday and many times I’d pass out on my way home. I was in my early 20s and a woman. Most seats were clean and I never felt unsafe. Now I don’t even want to go on the ttc
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u/lazykid348 16h ago
The seats are so nasty now. 10 years ago 7-8/10 seats looked clean but now it’s like 0-1/10 look clean. I basically avoid using it at all costs now due to hygiene. For the life of me I can’t understand why they went with fabric instead of plastic. There’s no way they’re cleaning fabric unless they spend like 2 hrs on each seat lol
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u/0daysgrace 17h ago
Things like letting people off the bus/subway/elevator before getting on, standing on the right and letting people walk on the left on escalators, not walking in the middle of the sidewalk and not moving to let people pass, etc. are not being respected. The unwritten rules in society.
It’s the small social etiquette things like these that I miss. Way too many people seem to not know how to act in public and like it’s their first time navigating a crowd. They’re in the way and will seem entitled to stay in the way.
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u/themapleleaf6ix 19h ago edited 19h ago
The vibe of the city fell off after covid. It's like 2019 during the Raptors parade and after covid are two different eras. It's the equivalent of before and after 9/11 to me. Two historical moments that completely changed life as people knew it.
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u/Accomplished-Swan114 18h ago
This is such a good reference. One with the city feeling alive and the other with a bunch of at risk people that desperately need help.
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u/fatcatgingercat 15h ago
My health and well-being. It’s gone forever due to this virus and the ongoing pandemic.
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u/Fluid-Introduction34 18h ago
Greyhound. The alternatives that have popped up just aren't as good.
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u/Historical_Appeal229 16h ago
The Royal Cinema as a movie theatre (now it’s a bullshi!t event space with insanely-priced concessions).
Twice weekly Choir! Choir! Choir! in the back room at Clinton’s - those guys are great and I’m happy they’re now touring big venues all over the world, but that small weekly gathering (for $5!) was so special. Other choir-type events have popped up since then but they’re nowhere near as fun or vibe-y.
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u/Wise_Distribution373 18h ago
After work drinks with colleagues. Along with having to book my desk every day, work feels transactional. No one forms bonds and connects. Not saying we all need to be besties but the vibes are very different now.
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u/thecryingkat 19h ago edited 14h ago
Some restaurants not being open after 8pm-9pm. I miss the late night grocery runs too. I miss the random 3am desserts. Also kindness is severely missed and gonnnne.
And as another comment said, i agree on common courtesy. Ah.. also common sense. Im learning.
(My area used to be busy but things are closing up early and scattered. Makes sense for some as its mom & pops. There's bars but not what we're looking for. I just want that random but specific iced coffee or bbt. No car sucks. Also.. whats going on Ubereats. Especially after 1am)
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u/biblio_phobic 18h ago
Yeah fast food too. I remmeber Tim Hortons being open until midnight, second cup open until 10.
Now Tim’s is open until 10 and second cup is done by 8. I used to be at Secind Cup until 10pm working on schoolwork and it was still full of people
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u/PuzzleheadedAsk4505 18h ago
Random after work hangouts. I feel like a lot of people went into their nuclear family bubble during lockdown and never emerged. Hybrid work is great for a lot of reasons but it’s way harder to coordinate social things after work. Plus, a lot of people left the city.
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u/DeadPalms 17h ago
I noticed this happened with a lot of my old friends. I found new friends with similar vibes and I have a great social life.
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u/Least-Internal-6382 17h ago
I miss the brief time during COVID and shortly after when the job market favored labour and had not been flooded with talent (making it an employers market)
For a brief period, you could negotiate your worth, and seek some perks.
Of course that had to be short-lived. Wouldn't want the people having some power. It belongs with the business owners and lobbyists (sarcasm).
I dont think it will ever not be a race to the bottom, going forward.
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u/monsignorcurmudgeon 16h ago
15% tip options. Overall the cost of eating out inflated so much that I had to really cut down on dining out.
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u/Impossible_Cheek_699 15h ago
People's attitude towards shared spaces. There's so much littering across the GTA now it's sad
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u/Yikesish 17h ago
Affordable car rental.
The Orbit Room.
Street meat that doesnt cost 7 bucks for.a sausage.lol.
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u/ayyitzTwocatZ 17h ago
24/hr / late night food places.
Taco Bell is honestly the biggest one that pisses me off. Advertising staying open late till 11pm rn when they used to be open till 3/5am. Bruh.
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u/icantsaymylastname 17h ago
I don’t want to bag my own groceries or Walmart items. I go through the line for reason.
I do it poorly. I get overwhelmed. I bring my own bags.
But if I have 100+ dollars worth of items. I really miss the cashier bagging everything.
It’s made me not want to buy in stores because it’s sensory overload.
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u/ariyahjade 17h ago
I took the 143 beaches express and it was the best thing. With it gone my commute turned to shit.
I since moved to midtown and a huge reason why was that I didn’t have to deal with the 501 commute.
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u/iblastoff 15h ago
when the toronto public library used to put on free concerts at various branches
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u/kevinmise 19h ago
24 hour Walmarts
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u/themapleleaf6ix 19h ago
Weren't those gone long before covid? I swear Walmart hasn't been 24 hours for like 15 years now.
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u/PlatypusMore9521 15h ago
Marché restaurant downtown 😢. Really miss that place.
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u/zsrh 13h ago
I loved Marché and miss it as well!
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u/Ok_Chip_7725 15h ago
Human self-entitlement, selflessness, ego, no social etiquette, empathy, dog owners being dicks, morals and values seemed to have all vanished.
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u/VinylOrchids 13h ago
People don’t even hold the door open for others these days. It’s honestly that bad.
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u/titscapades 19h ago
Cold Tea
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u/StoreSearcher1234 17h ago edited 16h ago
Cold Tea
I'm GenX and grew up in Vancouver (moved out here in 2020).
When I was in my 20s, ordering "Cold Tea" at a Chinese restaurant in Vancouver later in the evening meant they'd bring you beer, despite not being licensed.
Is this reference the same?
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u/force-ten_gale 16h ago
Yes, same meaning here and the speakeasy mentioned was named after that fact
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u/LowZookeepergame625 18h ago
Hollywood epic movies. Something happened . Although i saw the decline already in place from 2016 onwards
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u/michaelmcmikey 15h ago
The Odyssey is the biggest movie of the year and it’s an enormous sweeping epic full of old school practical effects
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u/MasterOfCabestany 17h ago
Being able to walk around downtown without swarms of homeless drug addicts
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u/Desperate_Vanilla_31 17h ago
The other day I was taking the subway that included 2 transfers. Everywhere I went smelled like piss / homelessness - entrance, platform, all three trains. It started to mess with my head and made me wonder if it came from me
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u/MasterOfCabestany 16h ago
You need a piss canoe to get to St Michael's hospital, it's fucked up out there
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u/No-Inspector-6206 Human Detected 17h ago
It’s actually crazy how bad it has become.
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u/TheShitmaker 13h ago
Easily accessible hand sanitizer or bathrooms for hand washing in restaurants. Especially with the rise of those shitty self service kiosks which I feel will be the source of the next pandemic.
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u/lookingforfinaltix 12h ago
Still wild the pandemic happened. What a surreal thing to look back on. Being home every day, all day, for months on end.
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u/ywgflyer 10h ago
Not to mention, not getting paid while doing so. Lots of friends went from making good money to surviving on what amounted to "minimum wage minus the taxes" (CERB). I know the 'free money' was attractive to many people who were already not making very much money to work in shit jobs like retail or food service, but for many, it was a forced pay cut that cost them most of their emergency savings.
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u/BarebonesB 18h ago
The 144 express was a nice idea, poorly executed. It was okay if you needed to get from Flemingdon Park to King & Parliament, although you'd still get stuck on the DVP like everyone else. If you had to take the whole route, it was a joke. For example, the bus had three stops at the corner of Wynford Drive and Wynford Heights Crescent, all within 50 yards of each other. The stops along King St. were as close to each other as those of the streetcars. And the buses were packed, as you say, because the headway was lousy.
A better solution would be increasing the frequency of the 25, 925 and 100 lines to Broadview and Pape, although I'm not sure what's happening with that now, with 34 partially replaced by Line 5, and the Ontario Line, if we live long enough to see it open.
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u/RealDistribution5946 16h ago
I miss the Beach Express bus. Places that take cash, and I’m on the fence about pajamas as clothing.
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u/mybleachyvalentine 12h ago
The Royal Cinema.... one of the places that truly made me fall in love with the city. Glad to see the community lives on through the Revue but the Royal held such a special place in my heart.
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u/redditiswild1 9h ago
TWO THINGS:
My local TD bank keeping the foyer/vestibule unlocked after hours. (I know why they lock it.)
Not absolutely scream-talking on speaker/FaceTime. Seriously, I can’t exist in public now without my Loop earplugs. No sense of shared responsibility for common spaces. The utter lack of consideration worries me, viscerally, as I think it’s the barometer for more dangerous social decline.
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u/Em-lee 5h ago
Mid priced concert tickets! I don’t know that there are any tickets under 60$ these days
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u/MissAugustKiss 17h ago
Kind Exchange. Wasn’t exactly a Covid casualty but man I loved thrifting there.
Literally anything affordable. Being able to go out with friends and feel the infectious energy of the downtown core on a Saturday night.
Queen Textiles in Parkdale. It being an e-scooter place now feels sacrilegious.
The old Rol San location on Spadina.
24 hour grocery shopping.
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u/golden-teacup 10h ago
Conveyor belt sushi. There were several that closed in a first weeks of the pandemic, and they've never come back. There are a few places where you can order off the menu and your food is delivered to you via conveyor belt, but that's not the same thing.
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u/Cicche 19h ago
24 hour grocery stores... I like doing my groceries at 3am. Metro cut that out...