Taylor Swift and these two things were the most talked about Toronto issues in 2024

Nextdoor — the popular app for neighbourhoods where users can get local tips, meet new people in their hood, gossip about everything from community events to municipal policies, and buy and sell items — just revealed the topics that drove the most conversations in neighbourhoods across Canada this past year.

The solar eclipse, coyote sightings, and Alberta politics were just a few hot topics that had Canadian neighbours talking this year — but in Toronto, users were especially keen on Taylor Swift. The singer was the third most popular topic that drove conversations in Toronto neighbourhoods in 2024! Swift performed for two weekends in Toronto last month as part of her Eras Tour, leading to a mass economic impact on the city and even a few Toronto streets temporarily renamed in her honour.

While most of the neighbourhood posts focused on people searching for Eras Tour tickets, some users jumped in to offer rides to the concert or share information about local condos for rent during the tour dates. Others discussed Eras-inspired events and even Taylor Swift cookie-decorating parties!

Not all neighbours were die-hard Swifties, though, with the majority of “anti-heroes” residing in downtown. More than a few Torontonians vented about feeling inconvenienced by the traffic or were just angered by the costs spent by the city/businesses for the tour.

Speaking of costs — the second most popular topic discussed in Toronto hoods involved property taxes, likely stemming from the fact that, earlier in the year, the city implemented a 9.5 per cent tax hike for property owners (and recently, Mayor Olivia Chow said she isn’t certain what Torontonians will face next year). But not even taxes could stop people from discussing bike lanes — this was the most prominent topic discussed in Toronto neighbourhoods on the app and was also popular across the province (especially due to the Ontario government’s attempts to limit the city’s ability to create new, safe cycling infrastructure).

Other topics that drove conversation across the country included housing and real estate.

“In particular, municipal rezoning was one of the top words used by Canadians on Nextdoor this year and saw a 407 per cent spike in usage compared to 2023,” according to a statement released by the Nextdoor app.

Housing conversations included everything from a proposal to build a 20-story rental building in Kits Beach, introducing new row houses in Calgary, and replacing local businesses with condos in Etobicoke.

Cost of living and the economy were also concerns, with the app finding increased use of terms such as “economic,” “affordability,” “funding,” “taxpayers,” “debt”, and “inflation.” 

According to Nextdoor, when users were asked in a poll what they were doing to cut costs, more than 40% of Canadian neighbours stated they were “growing their own vegetables,” while others said they were “couponing.”

Lost neighbourhood pets and wild animals on the loose frequented many posts, with coyotes on the run dominating more than 1,850 conversations. Safety was also important — there were a lot of reports about porch pirates, stolen packages, car theft videos, and general neighbourhood concerns.

Thankfully, there were also many ‘feel-good’ posts; one of the most memorable in Toronto was about a hard-working dog who moonlights as an employee at a local Home Depot!