Four or five summers ago, in an attempt to entertain ourselves during a period of extreme personal destitution, my friend and I decided we’d play Tourist. We walked around downtown Toronto, ate street-meat, sat in hotel lobbies, and pretended to be all lost and foreign, in hopes of seeing the city afresh. Mostly what we saw was how artificial the whole tourist experience is. A couple years later, I discovered the word “synecdoche” in a Dilemmas course in university-yes, that’s a real thing you can take. A synecdoche is defined as a rhetorical device or figure of speech, where a part is taken to constitute the whole, and vice versa. Synecdoches are commonly found in tourism advertisements, in which sanitized images of iconic structures, heritage sites, museums, and beautiful happy faces are favoured in representing a city over authentic scenes of city life, namely poverty, derelict structures, garbage, etcetera. Toronto travel guides feature lacklustre lists of must-sees and dos at extortionate prices. The Lonely Planet recommends the following five places for visitors of Toronto: topping the list is a meal at 360, the revolving restaurant at the top of the CN Tower (an expensive meal, yes, but a free elevator ride!); second on the list is another visit to the CN Tower, followed by a trip to the AGO, more eating at Richmond Tree (yes, in the mall), and still more eating (vegan) at Fressen. According to Yahoo Travel, the TTC will make it easy to get around; they even go so far as to call our subway system “world-class.” Shenanigans! These travel guides tend to feature the same attractions over and over, through polished pictures of places that are small-and perhaps negligible-parts of a metropolis inhabited by more than two million individuals. And even then, these images seem to exist outside of reality in a place where it’s always sunny, people perpetually smile, and nothing bad can ever happen. There is no way to escape synecdoches when it comes to a city, because no two people share the same image of place. So a city, as a concept, is unique to each individual and relative to one’s experience, making Toronto a fusion of private experiences in public places.  So my Toronto is likely different from yours and perhaps neither image of the city includes the CN Tower beyond its function as a beacon pointing southward, a familiar sight in the backdrop of a city we call home. Eli Klein‘s perspective of Toronto is definitely east end-centric. Residing in a part of East York that is sometimes called Little Bangladesh, he can easily go a week without stepping foot west of Yonge. This is made all the more convenient by a bike path that runs from his back door to the front door of his office in the Esplanade. One of the most astonishing sights in this part of the east end is the R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant: “It’s really breathtaking architecturally,” Eli says. “And it gives an amazing view of the lake. There’s also big rock piers built out into the water, so you can walk out a hundred-plus meters and be standing almost completely surrounded by water.” Angela Trieu is a bona fide Uptown girl living at Yonge and Sheppard. After escaping the suburban sprawl of Mississauga, which required access to a car for any mobility, Angela is happy to live close to a subway line that can usher her around to her favourite places, such as the Korean restaurant district at Yonge and Finch and the Horseshoe Tavern near Osgoode Station. She enjoys taking her visiting friends to the Rex to listen to jazz, and to eat at Oliver and Bonacini at Bayview Village, where the “veal meatballs and spaghetti is the best!” Julie Honour has spent much of her life in sunny Atlantic Beach, Florida, but since moving to Toronto she has delved deep into the myriad food options available in the city. As a co-owner of Supper Solved in the Bloor West Village, great food is her business. Yet living in Etobicoke hasn’t limited her eating preferences to a single district. Owning a car has allowed her to enjoy sushi at Mikado on Laird, Japanese ramen at Konichiwa on Baldwin, Vietnamese at Pho Huong in the Junction and Pho Thien on Ossington, pizza at Vesuvio’s, also in the Junction, and Borscht at Cafe Polonez on Roncesvalles. Julie says “the great thing about these places is that you can get authentic and inexpensive food.” Samantha Peters lives on King Street West but loves eating in the Junction, naming brunch at Little Fish and the veal sandwiches from Nonnas as favourites. Growing up in downtown Toronto has given her a great appreciation for the many vibrant neighbourhoods in the city. But the most enriching thing about growing up in Toronto has been the multitude of ethnicities and cultures that are present, visible and celebrated in the city’s communities. Samantha was lucky enough to go to an elementary school where black history wasn’t confined to the frigid month of February but taught all year round; where languages such as Manadarin, Cantonese and Spanish were offered in conjunction with English and French. This appreciation of diversity “really opened my eyes to what Toronto could be,” a city that is tolerant and empathetic of its individuals. Mary Symons, who doesn’t look a day over 41, lives in sunny Summerhill, two seconds from the LCBO, which is one of her favourite places (“a girl has to know where to get the best champagne selection in town”). She loves Patachou Patisserie for their private-blend, almost-Parisian coffee, and Harvest Wagon for the new shopping carts with coffee-cup holders. Her nails get done at Spa Nails (“fast and friendly”) and her shoes get fixed at Ultima (“they fix everything and with a smile”). But her favourite place is Pastis Restaurant, “run by the divine Georges Gurnon… I always sit at the bar for dinner and watch the show unfold. He has a full house every night. Darrin Phipps lives a stone’s throw from the Eaton Centre on Dalhousie Street, but as a design-conscious individual, he chooses to shop vintage at mid-century shops in Riverdale and Parkdale. After travelling to over one hundred countries in the world, Darrin says the greatest thing about Toronto is that “it’s a city where I can have Chinese dumplings, a Vietnamese sub, and a Natas tart on a single block.” His New York friends flock to Kensington Market when they visit, as they believe it’s what the Lower Eastside was like in the 1960s. Still, the bright colours of Graffiti Alley near Spadina and Queen make one of his favourite spectacles to share. Jake Carroll lives in Leaside, near Bayview & Eglinton, which he admits is a bubble, but occasionally follows his friends downtown on the nights and weekends to shop at Stussy or check out Croc Rock. Still, he likes his neighbourhood haunts most “because they’re close and good,” like Fox & Fiddle, Duff’s Famous Wings, Scallywags, and the Quail and Firkin. The love of his life is hockey, and having played Junior A in his younger years, likes to spend his winter days playing shinny at one of city’s plethora of public rinks, particularly at Hodgson Senior School and Rosedale Park–that’s where he feels his most “chilled out.” While he supports the Leafs, he likes going to Blue Jays games more, because “they don’t engage the class divide” and don’t have as many “suits” in attendance. In fact, he supports the Jays at the Rogers Centre at least once a week in the summer. Jonathan Nuss lives across the street from High Park on Bloor Street West. His close proximity to three thriving neighbourhoods-The Junction, Bloor West Village, and Roncesvalles-allows him to keep his daily routines local. Still, he manages to spend a lot of time in Kensington Market, where his favourite haunts are Longboard Living, Bungalow, and Wanda’s Pie in the Sky. Living close to High Park allows Jon the brief escape from city noise; and when he craves an urban adventure, he only needs to travel a short distance to his “happy place.” “You can get off at Old Mill Station,” Jon says. “And walk down to the most peaceful river in the middle of the city. I even ran into a deer once.” He believes the best thing about Toronto is the sum of all the little things: the neighbourhoods, the community, the individuals. As for me, my Toronto includes an inordinate amount of transit routes and ferry rides to the Island. My favourite coffee shop (supplied by Green Beanery) is in my kitchen, but I occasionally like to treat myself to a cappuccino at Sam James on Harbord. All my favourite places have become too far to frequent since my big move from Brockton Village to Bloorcourt in September. Former haunts include: Bloordale Pantry, Holy Oak, BellJar Cafe, and the Brazil Bakery (best natas in the city!). New stomping grounds are to be discovered, but in the meantime I must find routes that avoid Bakerbots on Delaware, because their cupcakes are ridiculously good. The full pull and potential of a city can never be contained within guides compiled with purely commercial objectives. Gathering many perspectives is the only way to guarantee a rich experience with a city. So be leery of the gloss when travelling or you may find yourself afflicted with some version of Paris Syndrome, or at the very least, with a dusty wallet. Safa Jinje lives and writes in Toronto. Follow her on Twitter at @safajinje.