Seven ways to make Toronto a world-class city again

[sixrings]

The reality is that there are only a handful of super elite cities, London, New York, Rome, Paris, a few more I am sure. The fact is we are a great city and next in line. That shouldn't be insulting to us and we should feel good knowing our city is relatively young which puts us at a disadvantage. I wish people who dream of these better cities would simply just move to them. I am not a drake guy but I am happy he helps at least the younger demograph feel better about their city. Civic pride is often lacking here which is quite sad since when i talk to people from vancouver they proudly make it sound like it is the next best thing to heaven.

 

[M.R.Victor]

A lot of complaints regarding Toronto's status seem strangely superficial. Aesthetics do not define whether a city is or is not world class. They aren't even a weighty factor at all, and I am not alone in that opinion.

As for the article, it reads like a shotgun fired with eyes closed. A new university? Sheridan and UTM have expanded their facilities in Mississauga. Ryerson just built an iconic building on Yonge. UofT will have a new building to house the Architecture department at 1 Spadina. Even the article itself mentions the George Brown expansion that took place on the waterfront.

Suburban Enterprise Zones? What exactly could the city do to push employment growth at NYCC and STC? What are comparable case-study scenarios from which we could learn? What exactly does world-klassness have to do with office employment in suburban growth nodes?

That last point was bizarre to say the least. Regulations exist to protect certain interests. Removing those takes political will and the interest in having a nuanced discussion on the topic, in each and every specific instance. This article certainly does not do that.



Edit. Having just read the comments, I am starting to think that the true purpose of such an article is to wave a big juicy steak in front of the Walking Dead in the comments section. I stand self-corrected.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

That last point was bizzare to say the least. Hey, you know what would be fun, for shits and giggles? Let's deregulate! What exactly? Who cares.

Indeed - oddly enough, world-class *cringe* cities like Singapore, Hong Kong or Tokyo are far, far more straight-laced in both legal and cultural aspects - didn't distract from their importance, did it?

How about just one way to make Toronto world class - stop using the stupid phrase, especially when describing our achievements and aspirations.

AoD

 

[Adjei]

The reality is that there are only a handful of super elite cities, London, New York, Rome, Paris, a few more I am sure. The fact is we are a great city and next in line. That shouldn't be insulting to us and we should feel good knowing our city is relatively young which puts us at a disadvantage. I wish people who dream of these better cities would simply just move to them. I am not a drake guy but I am happy he helps at least the younger demograph feel better about their city. Civic pride is often lacking here which is quite sad since when i talk to people from vancouver they proudly make it sound like it is the next best thing to heaven.

Yeah I like what Drake is doing. He is helping the world to know this place better and helping to inject civic pride into the people in the city especially young people. One complaint about Toronto I have compared to other cities I have been to is how rundown and unkept prominent areas of this city are, especially the areas where tourists would go. It looks as if as a city we are not concerned about how we look. That's the feeling it gives off.

 

[TOareaFan]

My older daughter has just been accepted at UT/Victoria College to study Biology. Her mom & I are trying desperately not to over-lobby and have her decide on some 'safety school' just to spite us, but here's what that would get her:

congrats....my daughter is just completing her 3rd year at UofT/Vic....and has enjoyed every single minute of her time. She is very happy that she turned down the other schools which made offers to her (without disrespectng them at all....she is just so very happy/challenged/invigorated by UofT)

 

[TheKingEast]

TKE, your posts so far in this thread have been vague bashing of Toronto. You backpedaled from 'the place sucks' to 'in transition', then accused me of 'not looking at the deficiencies.' You need to make a fact-based argument.

My older daughter has just been accepted at UT/Victoria College to study Biology. Her mom & I are trying desperately not to over-lobby and have her decide on some 'safety school' just to spite us, but here's what that would get her:

1. A world-class education at a world-class university that ranks in the mid-teens worldwide in most every survey of universities. In Toronto.

2. The ability to take classes from the world-class medical researchers associated with the world-class research hospitals along University Avenue and elsewhere in Toronto.

3. The ability to continue to enjoy the world-class cultural attraction steps from her door, the Royal Ontario Museum, one of the top natural history museums in the world.

4. And, most importantly, if her Orientation Week organizers have any imagination, the ability to rent a streetcar and have a world-class, epic streetcar pub crawl. (The only other place I've done a streetcar pub crawl other than Toronto is Richmond, VA, which paled in comparison. There may be better, and I'd love to hear of them.)

C'mon. Toronto is not Paris or London. But we keep having this argument, and I'll keep putting forward the positive case for Toronto because I find this forum can really complain about the 'deficiencies', but sometimes doesn't want to believe that Toronto really is a great city.

Bashing? Ok. World class to me is elite and toronto does not stand among the elite cities of the world. If you think that's bashing then so be it.

 

[animatronic]

Bashing? Ok. World class to me is elite and toronto does not stand among the elite cities of the world. If you think that's bashing then so be it.

Oh goody - a fight over semantics.

Maybe we should switch to language with clear definitions. I think Toronto is firmly an orange-class city. It isn't as yellow as New York but it's certainly less green than Istanbul. If course it would be laughable to call us pink-class, at least not until they widen the sidewalks downtown by at least 15cm

 

[TrickyRicky]

I was at a talk Joe Berridge (who is a huge Toronto fan) gave where he posed this question. How many of you think Toronto is a World Class City?

As a skeptic and someone who has been to a fair share of global cities I obviously said no. However, I would have to say that Mr. Berridge convinced me to consider it. It's not that Toronto is amazing, it's just that it is overall well-rounded.

Watch the video here and make up your own mind

https://vimeo.com/119205055

 

[Riverdale Rink Rat]

Bashing? Ok. World class to me is elite and toronto does not stand among the elite cities of the world. If you think that's bashing then so be it.

Bwahahaha... So, 'elite' is less vague? I name you Troll, and banish you back beneath your bridge.

 

[Riverdale Rink Rat]

Oh goody - a fight over semantics.

Maybe we should switch to language with clear definitions. I think Toronto is firmly an orange-class city. It isn't as yellow as New York but it's certainly less green than Istanbul. If course it would be laughable to call us pink-class, at least not until they widen the sidewalks downtown by at least 15cm

+1. Pink 1!

 

[themarc]

We are firmly in the second tier of major world cities. We aren't Paris or Beijing and never will be. But you can go anywhere in the world and mention us in the same sentence as Chicago and Sydney and Barcelona and nobody would bat an eye.
If a top researcher from Europe or Asia announced they were moving to UofT nobody would think they were doing anything abnormal. If a major art exhibit visited Berlin, Singapore and Toronto it wouldn't look out of place. If Toronto were stupid enough to bid on the Olympics nobody would claim that it was out of our league.
Pointing out deficiencies like train doors as reasons for not being worthy of global significance is stupid because every city is different.

Beijing is old but it is no Paris and it doesn't have much in the way of "vibrancy". The illusion is a postcard - the reality is choking smog and huge gaps in wealth and class.

 

[themarc]

Toronto is great because it is "TORONTO". Its vibrant, diverse, not stupid huge like Beijing, the architecture definitely isn't Chicago. It is clean, very livable, still somewhat affordable and is evolving with new surprises every year. It has a great "Lake Side" waterfront (meaning the Island and the spit not too mention one of the worlds greatest and most 'usable" lakes - not an ocean like Superior). It is still incredibly safe. If Toronto was an adolescent in the 80's it is now a late teen or "cool" young adult in its 20's experimenting at finding its way. It's going to make mistakes but those mistakes will grow into rich scars that will become a piece of a much larger mosaic as it (hopefully) ages gracefully.

 

[King of Kensington]

2 subway lines. Ugly condos. Not enough super-talls etc. etc.

Has anybody thought of these things yet?

 

[JGHali]

I don't really know what "world class" means, but having been to the likes of NYC, London, Paris, Munich, Vienna, etc., it presupposes a certain level of cultural amenities and institutional depth and breadth. TO isn't on the level of NYC (nothing is!) or London, but it's comparable to most other major European cities and most competitors in the US. It's certainly not the same, but it has a critical mass that has become self-perpetuating as an "Alpha" world city.

TKE, your posts so far in this thread have been vague bashing of Toronto. You backpedaled from 'the place sucks' to 'in transition', then accused me of 'not looking at the deficiencies.' You need to make a fact-based argument.

My older daughter has just been accepted at UT/Victoria College to study Biology. Her mom & I are trying desperately not to over-lobby and have her decide on some 'safety school' just to spite us, but here's what that would get her:

1. A world-class education at a world-class university that ranks in the mid-teens worldwide in most every survey of universities. In Toronto.

2. The ability to take classes from the world-class medical researchers associated with the world-class research hospitals along University Avenue and elsewhere in Toronto.

3. The ability to continue to enjoy the world-class cultural attraction steps from her door, the Royal Ontario Museum, one of the top natural history museums in the world.

4. And, most importantly, if her Orientation Week organizers have any imagination, the ability to rent a streetcar and have a world-class, epic streetcar pub crawl. (The only other place I've done a streetcar pub crawl other than Toronto is Richmond, VA, which paled in comparison. There may be better, and I'd love to hear of them.)

C'mon. Toronto is not Paris or London. But we keep having this argument, and I'll keep putting forward the positive case for Toronto because I find this forum can really complain about the 'deficiencies', but sometimes doesn't want to believe that Toronto really is a great city.

Of course it's a great city... whether UofT is a great school for an undergraduate education is, however, debatable, but then I'm a proponent (and grad) of smaller "liberal arts" type schools. I don't know how many classes undergrads can take from medical researchers at UHN or Sinai either. But all that's just an aside.

And the ROM's crystal is still something of a monstrosity (and apparently a semi-insolvent one), with the "new" dinosaur and natural history galleries lacking particularly in imaginative presentation. I miss the old ones.

 

[TheKingEast]

Bwahahaha... So, 'elite' is less vague? I name you Troll, and banish you back beneath your bridge.

I'm a troll now? Talk about desperate.