Downtown Living Transcript Practice

Yuliya: So, Paul, would you mind telling me more about the area where you live?

Paul: Well, I live downtown in a very busy area. I am at an not too far from Dundas Square and the Eaton Centre, so there's always a lot of people on the street and it can be quite loud. I like it a lot because I like living in a busy area with a lot of energy. 

I love the of being able to walk to the grocery store, the bank machine, the pharmacy. A lot of my friends live in the area so we can visit each other just by walking to each other's houses.

Some people probably wouldn't like living in this area just because it can be very busy. Unfortunately, there are quite a few homeless people on the street and that situation during the pandemic. 

Yuliya: Oh, why is that?
Paul: I think inflation, housing prices, healthcare, cuts to mental health care, especially. So there's a lot of people in the neighbourhood -  it’s a nice neighbourhood, -  but there’s a lot of people who the neighbourhood because it's busy and they're more likely to get money from people in this neighbourhood than in a suburban neighbourhood. 

So you do have a lot of people hanging out on the streets, sleeping on the sidewalk. You know, they don't really anybody but I think some people would feel uncomfortable. 
But it’s still a great neighbourhood, I can walk to the subway station in a minute or, like I said before, I can walk pretty much anywhere that I need to go.
So I don't have a car. So, although living downtown can be quite expensive, I actually save money by not having a car.
Yuliya: Especially now with the gas prices, right?

Paul: That’s true, everytime I see the news where they talk about the price of gas, I always think about how lucky I am.
Yuliya: You are! Is there anything else you particularly like about the neighbourhood?
Paul: It’s very , which is great. You know, you really see what Toronto is like in this neighbourhood because you can walk down the street and hear so many different languages, sometimes you don't even hear in English. 
Yuliya: Really?

Paul: And also the variety of restaurants and food options is very diverse, so that's great. But I do think most of Toronto's like that now.
Yuliya: Yeah, now you make me feel sorry that I don't live downtown. So you basically rarely take the transit?
Paul:  Yeah, especially now, because where I work is not too far, so sometimes I walk, it  takes me about forty minutes. Sometimes I ride a bicycle, which takes about 10 or 12 minutes.
Yuliya: Do you feel safe riding a bike? Like, are there bike lanes?
Paul: Yeah, there are now, so yes, now I do feel safe. A few years ago there weren't very many bike lanes on the route between my home and work, but now there's quite a few, so… And they're separated from the cars. They're not just a line drawn at the side of the road, what Toronto used to have. So now we've got more bike lanes, and I feel much much safer going to work on a bicycle. 

Yuliya: That's great! And again, it saves some money, doesn’t it?
Paul: Oh, yeah, for sure. So you also get your exercise and workout at the same time as your to work. 
Yuliya: Sounds great! Thank you!