May I ask you all information about a place?

[RainDog]

I wonder if any of you have ever been to Brampton, Ont. - it seems like a bedroom/satellite community for Toronto... is that right? Is there anything there other than the air force or whatever it is?

[JohnyCanuck]

1. it seems like a bedroom/satellite community for Toronto.

Yup it's right next door to Toronto and the other big Ontario city, Mississauga (which also abuts Toronto). It is more than just a bedroom community for Toronto in that its got its own fair share of business offices, warehouses, manufacturing enterprises etc.

http://www.city.brampton.on.ca

The borders between Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton and some other surrounding communities are becoming hard to distinguish now as what were formerly quite separate and different municipalities have grown with urban sprawl over the last 50 years so that they now more or less merge into one great big agglomeration of houses, highways, offices, warehouses and people. In effect these municipalities, while keeping their own city governments, have, for all intents and purposes, become a single great big city, generally referred to altogether as the GTA (Greater Toronto Area).

I am unaware of any special connection between Brampton and the Canadian air force.

[RainDog]

2. thanks

I'd already looked around online a bit --- and it's a canadian nat'l guard unit thing, not the A.F. oops

I get the impression the area is geared toward families with children... it's hard to know, tho, w/o having been somewhere since this sort of family/children thing would get promoted anyway.

okay... and no one here, it seems, has ever passed that way...

[ClusterFreak]

3. I've been there many times...

...I have a friend who's lived there for about 10 years. Brampton was built for consumerism too...malls and big box stores abound, along with neighbourhood after neighbourhood of tightly packed townhouses and newer homes. It's suburbia. It's also home to a very large East Indian community.

[RainDog]

4. that's what I thought/feared...

I still wish I could get a job there just to be able to leave the U.S. - but I doubt I will. Beggars can't be choosers?

[ClusterFreak]

5. I don't know...what do you fear?

My friend seems happy living there...but you have to drive everywhere...everything is very spread out.

[RainDog]

6. I don't like suburbs

are there any movie houses there that show int'l films? their calendar of events had nothing scheduled for feb or march (this was arts, etc.) Lots of high school sports. They have a film festival there, but it's basically local. I don't imagine Guy Madden lives there. Do they have live music... people who tour... I didn't see it. Their community paper was complaining because the GTA said they have to build new structures for higher density work/living spaces.

The closest thing I can think of that seems to be like it is a commuter suburb outside of Houston. I would go there to visit my sister. I detested the place. I'm glad she moved.

like I said, it might be a way to leave the U.S. - but they might not want me anyway if I don't have a "suburban" sensibility. (not to say all suburbs are the same, but you know what I mean, I assume.

[ClusterFreak]

7. I guess you could take a trip into the city...

...if you wanted to see international films? Not much else I can add other than Brampton is a typical suburban community in most ways.

[RainDog]

8. it's not the films per se

it's the community around such areas. even within big cities, there are different areas that have one personality vs. another. I just used that as a sort of reference.

this is an example of what I mean- In the little bedroom/commuter city where my sister lived, no biz there sold the NYTimes. If I wanted to get a newspaper, I had to drive far enough into the city of Houston to find a barnes and nobles who carried it. Where I live now is not a big city; it's a town. But because of the interests, etc. of ppl here, convenience stores sell the NYTimes along with the local paper, the Chicago papers... that's what I mean.

if I were fortunate enough to get a job anywhere in the area, I suppose I could always "reverse commute" from a neighborhood in which I'd like to be.

[Canadian_moderate]

9. Then don't consider Brampton

it is a prime example of suburbia, though it has numerous highrises as well.

That said, I'm sure you can find theatres that show Indian films. I think roughly 1/3 of the population is South Asian.

The downtown areas and inner suburbs (High Park, Leaside, Beach, North Toronto, etc) of Toronto are much more interesting. The inner suburban here aren't all that suburban anymore.

I live downtown and also hate suburbia. I could live in a small town or even a village, but I hate suburban bedroom communities due to the fact that most are bland and sterile from a physical and cultural perspective.