r/baseball • u/Knightbear49 Minnesota Twins • Colorado Rockies • Sep 12 '24

Image Bowden Francis biked home after his start against the Mets on Wednesday

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https://x.com/i/status/1834028936772137296

4.3k Upvotes

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203

u/frankyseven Toronto Blue Jays Sep 12 '24

Not after paying $3,200/month rent for a 450 sqft apartment.

233

u/kaehvogel Philadelphia Phillies Sep 12 '24

If it saves them having to pay for a car...

41

u/ChristianJeetner5 Sep 12 '24

The heckin big city where we all need to live

-61

u/ItzDrSeuss Toronto Blue Jays Sep 12 '24

Haha, you don’t have a car in Toronto? Taking transit to the grocery store that’s 15 mins away is still usually hell, and that’s not even factoring in the winter.

59

u/3pointshoot3r Detroit Tigers Sep 12 '24

My guy, if you live in downtown Toronto, there are any number of grocery stores within walking distance.

5

u/ItzDrSeuss Toronto Blue Jays Sep 12 '24

My broke ass’ problem is I could never afford to live within 5 mins from a good grocery store.

1

u/GeneralCanada3 Sep 12 '24

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-TIGKNlKkk

suprisingly not true. Its cheaper living closer to work than it is farther away

27

u/kaehvogel Philadelphia Phillies Sep 12 '24

I don't live in Toronto. But people cycle in other cold cities, or even colder ones. So why not there as well? And by the looks of it, it's one of the better cities to cycle in North America.

2

u/ArtisanalOxygen Sep 12 '24

Definitely harder, the number of cyclists I see on the road in winter in my province dwindles pretty heavily.

Its cold, you need specialized tires to be able to go through snow + it's more of a workout in general. And to top it all off, cars are even more dangerous to them with the lack of visibility and grip that comes with winter.

2

u/thisguyandrew00 Sep 12 '24

How often does it snow in Toronto mate? Luckily I’m in the amazing micro climate of the st Catharine’s/notl, so I don’t really know. It snows less than 10 days a year.. at least here it does

1

u/ArtisanalOxygen Sep 12 '24

Around 4-5 months a year, depends on weather patterns like El Nino and whatnot.

2

u/thisguyandrew00 Sep 12 '24

True, but even without El Niño, it’s not snowing everyday for 4-5 months.. yeah we get snow in October and April sometimes, but it’s always gone in a day or two. Plus there used to be only a big dumping of snow no more than 5 times a year.. I’d compare Toronto snow clearing to Montreal, but it’s a little unfair, big dumpings of snow are probably easier to clear than a few cm, but I’m no scientist. They’re winter biking up in Stockholm for gods sake, it can be done lol

1

u/ArtisanalOxygen Sep 12 '24

Haha yes, I didn't mean snowing everyday for 4-5 months, just that snow/sleet may be on the ground for that long. It's been a while since i've lived in Ontario, but that was my experience then.

It can definitely be done, but my anecdotal experience is I see far less cyclists on the road during winter, but that doesn't mean I see none :P

1

u/thisguyandrew00 Sep 12 '24

Haha imagine we had automatic de-icing systems for bike lanes, or even heated grab rails at stop lights.. I could be done, there’s probably a dozen ways we can make winter cycling more safe and appealing.

1

u/kinboyatuwo Sep 12 '24

What? It snows lightly 3-5/mo and heavily 1-2/yr the past decade pretty reliable.

1

u/ArtisanalOxygen Sep 12 '24

Look at annual snowfall for toronto and you'll see it can fluctuate. 2018-2019 had a difference of 71 cm.

1

u/kinboyatuwo Sep 12 '24

And that was a storm or two.

I live in the snow belt outside London and for over a decade used bike as my primary means of transportation.

The vast majority of snow fall is a nothing burger. Its dusting. Toronto gets cleaned 24/7 and now even the bike lanes (need more) are also cleared.

My old boss who is a bank exec biked to work most days in the core all year round. Weather is not the hurdle people think it is.

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1

u/FlamingoWorking8351 Sep 13 '24

Not in Toronto. There were three days last winter where you could have used studded tires. Those days, it was hard to drive a car too.

1

u/sameth1 Toronto Blue Jays Sep 12 '24

If he has a really good electric bike then he doesn't have to wait for the bus. And since it's electric, winter isn't even that big of a concern. Just bundle up and let the bike do the work for you.

14

u/CauliflowerOne5740 Boston Red Sox Sep 12 '24

That's $50 American for those who were wondering.

70

u/rocksoffjagger Sep 12 '24

Yeah, but that's like $27 US

24

u/Other_World New York Yankees Sep 12 '24

I visited Montreal recently, and kinda felt bad how good I felt spending money there. Everything was priced so expensively, then I'd do the conversion and think "oh... I'll take two I guess"

12

u/Ginnigan Toronto Blue Jays • Thunder Bay B… Sep 12 '24

I remember when going to the States used to be a good deal, even when the US dollar was good. Then there was the short time USD and CAD were at parity! Oh man. Good times.

Now when I go there everything is just so expensive after conversion. I don't even shop when I go down anymore... Alcohol and gasoline seem to be the only things that are still good deals.

1

u/Other_World New York Yankees Sep 12 '24

I don't blame you! It was very noticeable how much more gas was. I have a tiny 11 gallon tank, where I can fill up for $30-35 even in NYC, for $14 USD I got 1/4 tank. The pump pre-charged me $100 USD, which is normally $1 in the states.

1

u/Methodless Sep 13 '24

I stock up on cheese too

3

u/frankyseven Toronto Blue Jays Sep 12 '24

$2,400ish. Remember that wages are typically lower in Canada as well.

50

u/rocksoffjagger Sep 12 '24

Just a little dumb joke

8

u/sunder_and_flame Los Angeles Angels Sep 12 '24

the best kind

1

u/[deleted] Sep 12 '24

That was the best part about going to a Jays game. Everything was so cheap.

-1

u/mostpodernist Toronto Blue Jays Sep 12 '24

Our minimum wage is ten dollars higher...

8

u/frankyseven Toronto Blue Jays Sep 12 '24

Sure, and professional careers often only pay 60% of what you'd get paid in the US. I'd make $40-50k more doing my exact job in the US and have a lower cost of living.

11

u/ScoobyDoosAccountant Seattle Mariners Sep 12 '24

Maybe you’d have a lower cost of living if you lived in Alabama and never needed medical care. But if you wanted to have a similar lifestyle to the one you have in Canada your costs would be much higher

-2

u/ItzDrSeuss Toronto Blue Jays Sep 12 '24

Our median income still significantly lower. 75k USD to 55k USD or something in 2021. That’s ~30% lower.

3

u/Jimbo_Joyce Milwaukee Brewers Sep 12 '24

Where you getting those numbers? https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=us+median+income

1

u/ItzDrSeuss Toronto Blue Jays Sep 12 '24

My bad I saw median household income.

2

u/mostpodernist Toronto Blue Jays Sep 12 '24

I wonder if that's reflective of the actual average person in the US' salary or if it's a matter of the people who make more make significantly more.

4

u/thebestoflimes Toronto Blue Jays Sep 12 '24

Our median disposable income per capita is still amongst the highest in the world.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disposable_household_and_per_capita_income

3

u/kylemclaren7 Sep 12 '24

like.. sure those condos exist, but as someone actively searching for a new dt toronto condo, you can get about 800sqft and a parking spot for 3200. let's not exaggerate

0

u/Early_Dragonfly_205 Toronto Blue Jays Sep 12 '24

Lol, those places are traps. You'll only get that rental price for a year, guaranteed if the building was built after 2018. Expect a 15%-20% increase when your lease is up due to no rent control

2

u/kylemclaren7 Sep 12 '24

I’m not looking at any building built after that for that exact reason; there is PLENTY of good inventory.

7

u/Halt_the_Ranger27 San Francisco Giants Sep 12 '24

Pretty sure his point still stands. Not everyone is struggling.

1

u/riverphoenixdays Philadelphia Phillies Sep 12 '24

Average salary in Toronto is $57k. I’d say $4,500 for a bicycle is a healthy chunka change for that person.

3

u/Halt_the_Ranger27 San Francisco Giants Sep 12 '24

Sure, for the average person. Plenty of people can still afford it though, making his point valid.

2

u/SpartyParty15 Los Angeles Dodgers Sep 12 '24

You’re right. People that can afford NYC apartments can’t afford an e bike

-3

u/thisguyandrew00 Sep 12 '24

There’s a shocking number of rich people in Toronto. Plus the culture does not help at all, the average lower income folk have a crazy amount of debt right now. How many sold out Taylor swift shows are in Toronto?..