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Seven ways to make Toronto a world-class city again

It's cute as a comparison, but not very useful given the differences in urban context - also their Metro is probably playing the role of our (badly overloaded) streetcar network.

AoD
Downtown streetcars function more like buses than subways, at least the way that they're operated now. They're no substitute for a comprehensive rapid transit network. As you correctly pointed out, some of the streetcar lines are overloaded and need to be replaced with a faster, higher capacity mode. But it started happening a long time ago. That's how the Yonge and Bloor lines came to be.

They don't build subways into the suburbs, but they'd build them out into the lake? Okay.

Also, considering the divisions betwen inner city and suburb in Paris, the isolation of the suburbs and their exclusion from Paris, which culminated in many riots, I'm not sure that is the model for Toronto, especially considering Toronto suburbs own problems. And Toronto's suburbs are politically united with Toronto, not separate like those Parisian suburbs. Unless you are seriously suggest that Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough, East York, York should be kicked out of Toronto and no longer served by TTC at all. I don't agree with that.
I don't think he's suggesting any of that. Riots in Paris suburbs have nothing to do with what technology the trains in the area use. Don't be ridiculous.

RER doesn't have to provide inferior service to subways. The RER in Rome for example has trains running every few minutes, while the subway in Atlanta has headways as low as half an hour.

Well, that's another problem with the comparison: geographical range. You can basically extend the metro + RER outwards in all directions until you run out of France (maybe there'll be people commuting in from Belgium one day ...), but transit here covers the lakeshore and extends northwards.

Maybe a better candidate for the why-aren't-we-like-Paris game is Washington: its metro extends well beyond the city into towns in adjoining states that are politically separate but which contribute to its funding.
You're looking at this in a way that's too specific to that one example. Some cities restrict the subway network to the inner city with RER serving the suburbs (Paris). Some have a central subway system that extends deep into the suburbs above ground and with stations far apart, often using rail ROWs and functioning more like RER (Washington). And others have an RER system that goes underground in the central city, functioning more like a subway (Sydney).

The point is that underground subways in the outer suburbs tends to be wasteful and aren't often done. And that mass transit should be the technology that makes sense in the context of the area it serves, not just subways everywhere.
 
You're looking at this in a way that's too specific to that one example. Some cities restrict the subway network to the inner city with RER serving the suburbs (Paris). Some have a central subway system that extends deep into the suburbs above ground and with stations far apart, often using rail ROWs and functioning more like RER (Washington). And others have an RER system that goes underground in the central city, functioning more like a subway (Sydney).

The point is that underground subways in the outer suburbs tends to be wasteful and aren't often done. And that mass transit should be the technology that makes sense in the context of the area it serves, not just subways everywhere.
Spot on. Exactly what I was getting at. Paris and Toronto have very different contexts and history obviously, but there is a point to be made about when and where they switch transportation modes.

I feel like we are doing to our subways what Melbourne is doing with their streetcars. Building them out to areas that are just insufficient for the technology. Scarborough Town Centre is as far away from Downtown Toronto as Square One in Mississauga. Vaughan and Richmond Hill are also very far away. Overextension is a real thing and one of the leading criticisms of Melbourne's transit network.
 
I don't think he's suggesting any of that. Riots in Paris suburbs have nothing to do with what technology the trains in the area use. Don't be ridiculous.

RER doesn't have to provide inferior service to subways. The RER in Rome for example has trains running every few minutes, while the subway in Atlanta has headways as low as half an hour.

I never said riots were caused by RER. Stop putting words in my mouth. Obviously, there is no point in arguing with you anti-subway zealots.
 
We already are a world-class city. Articles like this are ridiculous. We wouldn't have such a massive influx of people from around the world if we weren't.

Sorry, Toronto is not a "world-class" city.

Its a pretty good city, with its safety being a major plus point. However, the city feels like it lacks soul and the city's people are pretty uptight. There's no sense of history either. The cultural scene isn't that great. It's an excellent place to make money but I wouldn't call it world class.
 
TLDR: late-twenty-somethings have existential crisis upon realizing there are no world class cities; and that moving to a tiny condo in downtown Toronto and fetishizing every mass-produced global food/music/tech/style trend they could find on the internet made them more generic and boring people than before they came.

Yep, pretty much.

I may be a hater, but I'm also being a realist. Toronto is a good city, but the lack of an authentic culture and real people sucks. While I've found great people in Toronto, I've also found the city's atmosphere to be dry and unfriendly. It doesn't compare to other cities in terms of how "alive" it feels. Also, the hipsters in Toronto are some of the most annoying people I've met, and the political correctness in this city is insane.
 
Its a pretty good city, with its safety being a major plus point. However, the city feels like it lacks soul and the city's people are pretty uptight. There's no sense of history either. The cultural scene isn't that great...

Then I guess Vancouver is not a world class city either.
 
Yep, pretty much.

I may be a hater, but I'm also being a realist. Toronto is a good city, but the lack of an authentic culture and real people sucks. While I've found great people in Toronto, I've also found the city's atmosphere to be dry and unfriendly. It doesn't compare to other cities in terms of how "alive" it feels. Also, the hipsters in Toronto are some of the most annoying people I've met, and the political correctness in this city is insane.

Yawn.
 
Yep, pretty much.

I may be a hater, but I'm also being a realist. Toronto is a good city, but the lack of an authentic culture and real people sucks. While I've found great people in Toronto, I've also found the city's atmosphere to be dry and unfriendly. It doesn't compare to other cities in terms of how "alive" it feels. Also, the hipsters in Toronto are some of the most annoying people I've met, and the political correctness in this city is insane.

From your posts it just sounds like you hate young people.
 
A relative term of course but I generally agree with the Globe article. Toronto does most of the important stuff right... safe, decent education, cleanish, good place to raise a family etc. But for anyone who has travelled a lot the city is still quite middling in it's built form and attractions.
We are world-class at being utilitarian then? :p
 
Toronto is a good city, but the lack of an authentic culture and real people sucks. While I've found great people in Toronto, I've also found the city's atmosphere to be dry and unfriendly. It doesn't compare to other cities in terms of how "alive" it feels. Also, the hipsters in Toronto are some of the most annoying people I've met, and the political correctness in this city is insane.

'Dry and unfriendly'... you mean like the Parisians?

Look, you're not a 'major' city unless the provincials are taking their pot-shots at ya. Toronto is a great city, and getting greater. Yes, we often downplay our own 'culture', style, identity and history... let's improve that. Yes, our public spaces and standards of design and architecture can be improved, vastly... let's do it. Already seeing lots of improvements on these two issue already, by the way. A long way to go, for sure, but to claim we aren't 'comparable' to other cities just isn't true... in fact it smacks of an agenda, are you sure you're not posting form Montreal or Vancouver ;) ?
 

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