the reason toronto is different is because it's so filthy rich.

so, yeah - there's art districts in toronto. but, if you want to live in them, you need to have inherited wealth. i mean, it's a big-L liberal place - it has a lot of lip service for art as an industry, and a lot of people that get a lot of grants. but, what that means is that the art district is made up of the children of investors, who have fancy fine arts degrees and no talent, or the children of artist's themselves. and, ironically, a lot of them just end up sitting on overpriced housing until they marry back into old money.

that's not anything at all like the underground art scene i need. it's not cheap rent; it's inflated rent. it's not an escape from hierarchy, it's adopting the status of an artiste. and, it's broadly expected that these people uphold a status quo of big-L liberal values, as they are creatures of the party, itself.

there's a reason that all the musicians out of toronto come from money, or have family already in the business - and why there aren't any underground artists coming out of the city, and never has been.

montreal was always the spot.

but, i'm already in detroit.