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Greater Toronto Area - GTA

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Ervin

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I want to ask of those who know, what exactly is the Greater Toronto Area(GTA)? I don't mean what municipalities make up the GTA, what I mean is; is it anything more than just a name given to this collection of municipalities, or does it mean that the city of Toronto has some sort of a governing effect on it's surrounding municipalities?
 
Ervin: The GTA I believe now takes in the entire Toronto metropolitan area-the Greater Toronto Area. The City of Toronto is obviously the center of this area as it stands today.

I recall when what is now the City of Toronto was called METRO-the six boroughs that made up the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto:
Toronto,York,North York,East York,Etobicoke and Scarborough. I believe the unification occurred in 1998. I like METRO much better then GTA...

If I am wrong someone correct me...also how many people from outside the Toronto area know and remember the defunct six boroughs of Toronto? I do...
It also shows how much I was and still am interested in Toronto...that's why I am a member of UT!
LI MIKE
 
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Metropolitan Toronto merged with the former City of Toronto, York, Etobicoke, North York and the Borough of East York to form the (current) City of Toronto.

The Greater Toronto Area is just a name for Toronto and its suburbs really. It isn't any official structure. The surrounding regions (Durham, Halton, Peel and York) are the upper tier municipal governments with lower tiers beneath them (Duham has places like Ajax, Pickering, Oshawa; Halton has Burlington and Oakville; Peel has Caledon, Mississauga and Brampton; York has Vaughan, Richmond Hill and Markham). A lot of the times we hear references to the the GTAH which is the GTA + Hamilton (because Hamilton is part of a separate census area, which includes Burlington).

A term that I think is older is the Golden Horseshoe, which include Toronto and Hamilton but I'm not sure where it ends (Niagara?). A term I dislike is "Greater Golden Horseshoe", which in my opinion sounds pretty stupid.
 
Long Island Mike said:
Ervin: The GTA I believe now takes....
Click to expand...
Did you even take one second to read my post?
and FYI:
643px-Greater_toronto_area_map.svg.png


And thanks for the reply Coruscanti Cognoscente
 
I think the GTA is used by the province of Ontario for administrative purposes and yes it consists of Toronto, York, Halton, Peel, and Durham, in their entirety as shown above.
 
Coruscanti Cognoscente said:
A term that I think is older is the Golden Horseshoe, which include Toronto and Hamilton but I'm not sure where it ends (Niagara?). A term I dislike is "Greater Golden Horseshoe", which in my opinion sounds pretty stupid.
Click to expand...
Golden Horseshoe is, strictly speaking, Oshawa-Niagara Falls.

What do you dislike about Greater Golden Horseshoe? I think it's a fine name to describe how the region functions; basically a bundle of quickly developing and prosperous city-regions that share a geographic proximity and therefore a certain density of scale. What would you prefer? The Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area including Kitchener-Waterloo Separate Satellite City, Barrie Satellite Suburban Area and Surrounding Simcoe Growth Area, Niagara Geographic Proximity region and Peterborough, Brantford, and Northumberland Outlying Urban Areas? If so, I'm sure the GTHAK-WSSCBSSASSGANGPRPBNOUA will catch on very quickly in casual usage. :p

Toronto might be the centre of the region, but it's not quite the centre like Chicago is the centre of Metro Chicago, or NYC is the Centre of the NYC Metro area. It's more like the San Francisco Bay Area which is given the general name of "Bay Area" much like the Greater Golden Horseshoe.
 
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Ervin said:
... is it anything more than just a name given to this collection of municipalities, or does it mean that the city of Toronto has some sort of a governing effect on it's surrounding municipalities?
Click to expand...

Simply put it is just a name, the same as anywhere else that is just a name (Southwestern Ontario or the Capital Region come to mind). Each jurisdiction only governs itself. There are provincial/federal service districts that do break up the province into smaller pieces but that is all.
 
Ervin: Lighten up,buddy...I was just trying to help here...

Peepers: I can only say "Thanks!"...

I do like that map posted of the Greater Toronto Area - it is the first one I have seen that tells me exactly what is now considered the GTA...I do miss the term "METRO" when Toronto is referred to!

2 in P: The term Golden Horseshoe referring to the W end of the Lake Ontario area is a decent term that actually describes the region in a touristy-type of way...I never minded it...LI MIKE
 
Of course we now also have the GTAH!
I've heard arguments that Hamilton should just be assumed to be included in the GTA, but then what about Dufferin county and then Wellington and then Lincoln, where does it end!?!
 
Jonny5 said:
Of course we now also have the GTAH!
I've heard arguments that Hamilton should just be assumed to be included in the GTA, but then what about Dufferin county and then Wellington and then Lincoln, where does it end!?!
Click to expand...
Golden Horseshoe as defined by wikipedia.

They consider the GTA, Hamilton and Niagara in the "Golden Horseshoe," but the "Greater Golden Horseshoe" is a region that interacts heavily with it's constituent parts. Seeing the GGH as it is, a number of different interacting cities, will be of great use as the region grows and to plan around that. That's what needs to be focused on, because everywhere within the region is growing immensely and it could easily turn into a giant sprawl like LA unless it gets under control. Doing that could also help in growth throughout the rest of southern ontario, by spreading the focus of the province off Ontario. If you fuel regional-based growth into, say, Kitchener-Waterloo, it'll help you spread that out further. Just let it all hump Toronto, and everything becomes a suburb and Toronto dominates the province.
 
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