News   Mar 18, 2024
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Toronto, Capital of North America?

Toronto needs to become that capital of the great lakes, form close relationships with Milwaukee, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Toledo, Grand Rapids, Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit, Madison, Lasing etc.

And yes LA is the number one city people talk about. It is what it is.

Isn't the Great lakes area already dominated by Chicago in the South-west and Toronto in the east ? No one is even close in size, right?
 
I think we all need to be careful what we wish for here. Toronto is very connected to the US and we're a major exporter. Sure the recession hasn't affected us as much as them but we're still hurting because of it. When the US does well so do we.

Also, kkg7 Toronto proper adding 100,000 people in the last census is kind of impressive. It's not easy to add 100,000 people into an existing urban built form. To me it is more impressive that Toronto added 100,000 people into an existing urban built form than the fact that milton grew by 50+%
What's more impressive is that half of that growth is within the old city of Toronto, which shows how much of an impact the condo boom is having. Hopefully the trend continues.

The North American continent appears to be entering a twilight of cities past anything Jane Jacobs could have foreseen. I don't see any reason to think that Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Kansas City, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Memphis, New Orleans, Montreal or any of a hundred smaller American and Canadian cities will do anything other than fall further and further into complete decay;
Hold on, since when is Montreal decaying? It's actually doing pretty well for itself now. Not growing like Toronto, but it's still growing.
 
I wonder how much of Montreal's 'doing alright' is due to government largesse?

I find Montreal to be one of those places that looks pretty on the surface in some areas but don't look too closely. The infrastructure is literally about ready to collapse everywhere... then again so are most buildings in old Toronto.
 
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What's more impressive is that half of that growth is within the old city of Toronto, which shows how much of an impact the condo boom is having. Hopefully the trend continues.

What's the population in old Toronto and what's the growth?
I agree that it is good news the old city saw much of the growth. There is nothing to celebrate if most new population live at Scarborough.

Old Toronto is almost 100km sq. I do hope it keeps attracting new residents. I'd love to see 1-1.5 million people living here, making Toronto a more lively city. High density is what we should aim for.
 
I wonder how much of Montreal's 'doing alright' is due to government largesse?

I find Montreal to be one of those places that looks pretty on the surface in some areas but don't look too closely. The infrastructure is literally about ready to collapse everywhere... then again so are most buildings in old Toronto.

apparently NDP is in unprecedented popularity in Quebec, which means the entire province will only keep going down like Greece.
 
China is an export economy with a very small domestic market.

do you even read or you are still living in 1995?

China has a larger market of cars, beer, mobile phones, personal computer, LCD TV, steel, copper, just to name a few important ones, than the USA. Total retail sales volume in China also surpassed US 2 years ago. China's GDP is to overtake the US in 2016 (PPP) and 2018 (nominal)

http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2010/12/save_date

I guess you are one of those who think "As long as we have the US behind, we will be fine.". The world is different now and that kind of thinking is so out of touch with reality.
 
do you even read or you are still living in 1995?

China has a larger market of cars, beer, mobile phones, personal computer, steel, copper, just to name a few important ones, than the USA. Total retail sales volume in China also surpassed US 2 years ago. China's GDP is to overtake the US in 2016 (PPP) and 2018 (nominal)

I'll conceed that, however, the point I was making was that loss of exports to the US will harm China's economy.
 
That's true. But as they make more and more goods for the world and the Chinese themselves start to consume more goods as a result of their relative prosperity, then their economy will better sustain itself. Whereas much of North America has lost its historical manufacturing capacity - we ceded it to China and a host of other nations. We'll have to spend time and resources to build that back up.

Anyway, Toronto may have a lot going for it but it's far-fetched to expect it's going to soon be the premier destination city of the continent.
 
the point I was making was that loss of exports to the US will harm China's economy.

I agree with that. Honestly nobody wins from another big power's fall. However, the most affected will be none but Canada, which is why Canada should really start diversifying its exportation.

To China itself, the importance of the US shouldn't be exaggerated. The Chinese middle class is rapidly growing, with increasing purchase power. The country didn't really do a good job fostering domestic demand, but the sheer growth of economic activities and income has already showed the strong momentum. While car sales stalls in North America, people in Shanghai are constantly put in a 3-6 month waiting list for a Jetta or Polo. Iphones and Ipads were snatched like they are free.

Just don't underestimate the consumption power of a country with 650 million urban dwellers.
 
Anyway, Toronto may have a lot going for it but it's far-fetched to expect it's going to soon be the premier destination city of the continent.

Put the capital of north america aside, it is time for the GTA to further diversify its economy, especially in terms of exporting manufactured products. This is insanely high reliance on one fickle and declining large country is not working.

Canada has a small market, which won't change for a long time. In order for Toronto to excel, it needs to look beyond its southern neighbour. What percentage of cars/ auto parts manufactured here in Ontario are exported to USA? I don't know, but I am sure it is not sustainable.
 
Put the capital of north america aside, it is time for the GTA to further diversify its economy, especially in terms of exporting manufactured products. This is insanely high reliance on one fickle and declining large country is not working.

Canada has a small market, which won't change for a long time. In order for Toronto to excel, it needs to look beyond its southern neighbour. What percentage of cars/ auto parts manufactured here in Ontario are exported to USA? I don't know, but I am sure it is not sustainable.

Manufacturing left because our labour costs are high, how do we compensate for that? subsidies?
 
Put the capital of north america aside, it is time for the GTA to further diversify its economy, especially in terms of exporting manufactured products. This is insanely high reliance on one fickle and declining large country is not working.

Canada has a small market, which won't change for a long time. In order for Toronto to excel, it needs to look beyond its southern neighbour. What percentage of cars/ auto parts manufactured here in Ontario are exported to USA? I don't know, but I am sure it is not sustainable.

There is only so much Toronto itself can do... it requires the support of government at the provincial and federal level to smooth the way for increased business transactions with Pacific rim nations. If Toronto does well, it will be due to the entire country having changed as well. In fact, the West and the North will likely lead the charge - that's where the energy supplies and the raw materials the Chinese so crave are located. Ontario and the East will have its work cut out for themselves just to be heard above the din.

I think Harper believes he is acting for the entire country - not merely Toronto - in courting the Chinese for business purposes. For one thing, he's keen to help ink a bunch of lucrative, long-term energy deals. The rate of Chinese ownership of energy powerhouses in Canada seems to be surging upwards. Keystone appears to be quite dead; the Harper government has already moved on from looking exclusively at the States for brokering energy deals and partnerships. The expectations are that the future players on the world stage are the Chinese. So the shift has already begun.

But to frame the discussion around what Toronto alone can do is, I think, mistaken. It's a much bigger game than that.
 
Toronto is stuck in a province and a region that is only just beginning it's long, slow, possibly irrevocable decline. Western Canada is growing much faster the East and is quickly supplanting Toronto as the destination of choice for immigrants - who are the only reason Toronto is growing at all.

Replace Toronto with Alberta and you have the situation thirty years ago when oil fell in value 80%. Things change.
 
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