Toronto Tourism

[Mr. BT]

I feel that the two best ways to be heavily touristed are to either become a globally important city or to become a city that has a unique and compelling identity or culture.

Right now Toronto doesn't quite fit into either category which I think is why some of the posters on the board are having a hard time making a case for it.

Toronto is not an elite alpha city at this point in time and likely can't be for a while. If you think about these alpha cities such as New York, Hong Kong, London, Paris, Tokyo, etc. you would be hard pressed to find any that have a population of less than 10 million. I would argue that this is not a coincidence and that population density and critical mass are definitely important. This is at least partly due to the fact that if you are a city of say 10 million people, it is hard to be ignored. So again, in order for us to get into this category we will likely need to get bigger.

Similarly, it is also hard for Toronto to compete with some of the smaller cities with great cultural identity such as Montreal or New Orleans as Toronto is a younger city and has a population that is on average much newer to the city, which makes it hard to form an identity.

I believe that demographics and momentum are on our side however, so hopefully we will develop both a strong culture and decent scale in the coming decades.


Also, I think there are many people who would suggest that the peameal bacon sandwich is the city's Toronto-centric food. There are multiple places in the St. Lawrence market that offer them and they are always packed (I highly recommend going to Carousel and getting one with mayo, hot mustard and cheese if you have never tried one).

 

[Roots_Energize]

the sad thing is Toronto for 95% of the time has been masquerading as an American city in those films. Toronto seldom was Toronto in them and CN tower has to be carefully avoided all the time.

I dont see how thats a sad thing, im not concerned with that, a city does not need to be in movies in order to create a great city, when people are inventing something (like music,food,art) there not sitting there thinking about how many movies there city has been in. There looking at what they have around them and creating ideas, molding , transforming whatever you have to work with. For example - if lets say your living in a city where there is no drums, people start complaining that its sad that where not as good as x city or y city because they have drums and we dont, well a true visionary does not see it as sad but sees it as an opportunity for something else to come along, so the creative person finds barren oil drums laying around takes a hammer bangs it , tunes it to create different pitches, it sounds simple at first but people are feeling it because they have the forsight to see the potential. Over years of evovling the oil drum becomes more complex and safisticated, and now you got steel drum orchestras that can do classical pieces.

 

[Roots_Energize]

So the point im making is that there is hidden blessings, we just need the forsight to see the potential in something and make the transformation. Its not at all sad.

 

[vatche]

I agree with mr Bt. Toronto is a very young city and hasn't yet come of age and maturity like other old established cities. Look at the population, a good majority of it r immigrants who have just arrived and r trying to make ends meet. Whereas ny or Paris already have a rich established communities which contribute to their respective city's culture.. We have to give it a few generations until it finds itself and forms an identity. People in Montreal say that Toronto is a cold corporate city with no soul.

 

[coolcanadian]

In the old days this was true. More and more, however, TV series show Toronto as Toronto... not some generic North American city. It's about time. King, Flashpoint, Degrassi (and the Bridge, from a couple of years ago) all are unabashedly Torontonian in their locations. That's a good deal better than the situation from even half a decade ago.

Don't forget about Rookie Blue

Also, in one episode Big Bang Priya says "I have a one day layover on my way to Toronto."

And one episode the Simpson's goto Toronto!!!

And the new Pinewood Studio development will surly help our tv/movie industry!

 

[Nick.]

Cronenberg featured the city pretty heavily in a lot of his films, but he was born here.

 

[James]

Mr. BT makes a valid point about the age (or should I say, youth) of the city. Look no further than the Then & Now photos in the photos section of this forum and most of us are quite impressed (and for good reason) over buildings that are still standing 100 years ago. Now think about cities in Europe or China or Egypt where structures have been around for thousands and thousands of years. Now THAT is beyond impressive and understandably something people from all over the world want to see and experience.

 

[old boy]

I agree with mr Bt. Toronto is a very young city and hasn't yet come of age and maturity like other old established cities. Look at the population, a good majority of it r immigrants who have just arrived and r trying to make ends meet. Whereas ny or Paris already have a rich established communities which contribute to their respective city's culture.. We have to give it a few generations until it finds itself and forms an identity. People in Montreal say that Toronto is a cold corporate city with no soul.

" People in Montreal say that Toronto is a corporate city with no soul ". Now that's labelling. Generally speaking, do people in Montreal really know or care that much about Toronto, that lazy sentiments like this can feed a myth so effortlessly ?

 

[EMP1729]

Is a peameal bacon sandwich the quintessential Toronto dish? If so, I never knew that. I want to try one now!

Toronto is a cosmopolitan city, we should work with our strengths: "Don't have the time or money to see all of the world? Come to Toronto and experience every culture in the world!"

 

[vatche]

I agree frank. It's incredible!!! Not one montrealer so far has said "I like Toronto", and I've been living in Montreal for 14 years now. I wonder if it's jealousy.

 

[EMP1729]

I agree frank. It's incredible!!! Not one montrealer so far has said "I like Toronto", and I've been living in Montreal for 14 years now. I wonder if it's jealousy.

I am from Montreal, and I like Toronto.

Mind you it has been 24 years since I left, but my relatives there still aren't fans of TO.

 

[vatche]

Typical!!! Lol

 

[Thanos]

I agree frank. It's incredible!!! Not one montrealer so far has said "I like Toronto", and I've been living in Montreal for 14 years now. I wonder if it's jealousy.

I am from Montreal and moved to Toronto about a year ago and well....................yeah i don't like Toronto...........i love it .
I also prefer Toronto over Montreal.

 

[kkgg7]

I am from Montreal and moved to Toronto about a year ago and well....................yeah i don't like Toronto...........i love it .
I also prefer Toronto over Montreal.

are you an anglophone or bilingual?
I know many people don't like Paris just because "people don't speak English there", which is absurd.

 

[vatche]

Then thanos u sure know what I'm talking about right???