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B
Brighter Hell
Guest
It doesn't have to be anything other than Yonge and Bloor. Unless you want to give everything a (something)town name. NYCC can be Uptown and Richmond Hill can be UpUptown... or OnTopTown. Or maybe The City Above Uptown. Harbourfront can be LowerDownTown.
um, why not? This idea of isolating university students from the surrounding city is a relic of the middle ages.vehicular traffic has no place on a university campus
S
scarberiankhatru
Guest
Scarborough and Etobicoke are a lot farther apart for drivers than Yonge & Bloor is from "downtown" for pedestrians as long as they're connected by a 5 minute subway ride or a 20 minute walk, not to mention a continuous swath of towers. Someone from north of the 401 might call the entire old city of Toronto downtown since the closer to the centre of the city you get, the smaller your version of downtown becomes.
S
Sir Novelty Fashion
Guest
^ quite true. In fact, as best as I can tell, the whole of Canada operates as a series of concentric circles of mutual suspicion and loathing, centred on the CN Tower.
South of Bloor pretends that North of Bloor doesn't exist; North of Bloor resents the self-absorbed obliviousness of South of Bloor. The old City of Toronto pretends the rest of the New City of Toronto doesn't exist. The New City resents the self-centered resource-thirstiness of the Old City. The GTA resents and loathes the New City. The rest of Ontario resents and loathes the GTA. And how do Ontario and the rest of Canada feel about each other?
The symmetry is beautiful.
South of Bloor pretends that North of Bloor doesn't exist; North of Bloor resents the self-absorbed obliviousness of South of Bloor. The old City of Toronto pretends the rest of the New City of Toronto doesn't exist. The New City resents the self-centered resource-thirstiness of the Old City. The GTA resents and loathes the New City. The rest of Ontario resents and loathes the GTA. And how do Ontario and the rest of Canada feel about each other?
The symmetry is beautiful.
B
boiler2000
Guest
^ You just blew my mind.
S
Sir Novelty Fashion
Guest
^ first productive thing I've done today
D
DarnDirtyApe
Guest
That's a great explanation, although I don't think the CN Tower is actually the epicentre. See, the tower is actually itself isolated from the rest of the city by virtue of being on the wrong side of the railway tracks and being so far west. I'd venture that King & Bay is probably the "most downtown", although you could also argue that Union Station also qualifies. City Hall might sound good, but Queen St. is the outer edge of the financial district and pretty far North!
For what it's worth, I live just North of Wellesley between Yonge & Bay, and I think of there being a few distinct "downtown" areas - financial district (Front-Queen), "downtown" (Queen-College), and midtown/uptown/Bloor-Yorkville (College-Bloor). It's all relative though, so there's no point in arguing about it!
For what it's worth, I live just North of Wellesley between Yonge & Bay, and I think of there being a few distinct "downtown" areas - financial district (Front-Queen), "downtown" (Queen-College), and midtown/uptown/Bloor-Yorkville (College-Bloor). It's all relative though, so there's no point in arguing about it!
E
esplanade guy
Guest
Downtown Toronto
Downtown-Queen's Quay to Collage (between the Don River and Duffrin)
Midtown-Collage to Eglington
Uptown-Eglington to Steeles
Downtown-Queen's Quay to Collage (between the Don River and Duffrin)
Midtown-Collage to Eglington
Uptown-Eglington to Steeles
I
interchange42
Guest
Re: Downtown Toronto
While neighbourhoods in this city, like Rosedale, often have reasonably clear boundaries, areas like Uptown and Midtown (made up of various smaller neighbourhoods) do not.
I tend to think of Bloor-Yonge as Uptown because of the late lamented theatre, and Midtown as Yonge and Eglinton. (So it's out of order traveling north from Downtown - big deal!)
While both of those area names are disputable, developers are perpetuating them with significant new condo projects, with Minto Midtown being one of the largest projects ever built in the city. If Pemberton's Uptown gets built, its Art Deco look should stand out enough from its neighbours to grant it landmark status too.
Is there any 'physical evidence' in town that suggests the opposite: that Uptown is north of Midtown?
42
While neighbourhoods in this city, like Rosedale, often have reasonably clear boundaries, areas like Uptown and Midtown (made up of various smaller neighbourhoods) do not.
I tend to think of Bloor-Yonge as Uptown because of the late lamented theatre, and Midtown as Yonge and Eglinton. (So it's out of order traveling north from Downtown - big deal!)
While both of those area names are disputable, developers are perpetuating them with significant new condo projects, with Minto Midtown being one of the largest projects ever built in the city. If Pemberton's Uptown gets built, its Art Deco look should stand out enough from its neighbours to grant it landmark status too.
Is there any 'physical evidence' in town that suggests the opposite: that Uptown is north of Midtown?
42
S
scarberiankhatru
Guest
I think of Yonge & Eglinton as Yonge & Eglinton...problem solved. Who uses terms like Uptown and Midtown in daily parlance, anyway?
I
interchange42
Guest
While it is true that no-one says "I'll meet you in Midtown", someone may say "I've been looking for a new home somewhere midtown" if they want to refer to the various neighbourhoods around central Yonge. So while I agree that Midtown is not daily parlance, it can be pulled out of the hat when needed.
42
42
U
urbanboyto
Guest
Re: Downtown Toronto
interesting discussion on nomeclature.
Perhaps we are basing these terms on New York's DT/MT/UT hierarchy? It would be interesting to see historical references to these areas of Toronto.
There does seem to be an implied hierarchy in "down" "mid" and "up", but the hierarchy is probably debatable. (geographic? down - south mid -middle , up - north) or status ("down" - most important, mid- second most important , up- away from the centre - less important?)
Bloor/Yonge seems to be called all three names, with Yonge and Eg reffered to as MT and UT and Sheppard sometimes called UT (although this is such a suburban area I hesitate to call it that as "town" implies part of the city to me).
It would seem if Yonge and Bloor had a taller signature tower it might stick out as more of a "node" to rival downtown and even though it has the y/b towers and the manulife, which causes it to be called something other than an extension of downtown if it has a supertall things might be different. It will be interesting to see if Yonge and Eg is afforded more of a downtown rival status once the very tall Midtown is built. Of course this is assuming the height of the tower indicates the status of a neighbourhood in terms of economic/cultural importance to a city.
interesting discussion on nomeclature.
Perhaps we are basing these terms on New York's DT/MT/UT hierarchy? It would be interesting to see historical references to these areas of Toronto.
There does seem to be an implied hierarchy in "down" "mid" and "up", but the hierarchy is probably debatable. (geographic? down - south mid -middle , up - north) or status ("down" - most important, mid- second most important , up- away from the centre - less important?)
Bloor/Yonge seems to be called all three names, with Yonge and Eg reffered to as MT and UT and Sheppard sometimes called UT (although this is such a suburban area I hesitate to call it that as "town" implies part of the city to me).
It would seem if Yonge and Bloor had a taller signature tower it might stick out as more of a "node" to rival downtown and even though it has the y/b towers and the manulife, which causes it to be called something other than an extension of downtown if it has a supertall things might be different. It will be interesting to see if Yonge and Eg is afforded more of a downtown rival status once the very tall Midtown is built. Of course this is assuming the height of the tower indicates the status of a neighbourhood in terms of economic/cultural importance to a city.
S
Sir Novelty Fashion
Guest
^ Only people who apply New Yorky language to Toronto. And seeing as that's the gold standard of our urban development, perhaps we should pay it more attention. For instance, if they ever break ground, we'll be able to conclusively state that Uptown is at Yonge and Bloor.
B
boiler2000
Guest
I think calling North York "uptown" is a stretch, as you're not really going through continuous city when going up there. There is a palpable sense of leaving the city as one proceeds north along Yonge Street, just before Hogg's Hollow, where the old City of Toronto boundary was.
S
scarberiankhatru
Guest
Calling North York 'Uptown' is pointless as long as it already a perfectly good name - Willowdale - and is outside the old city of Toronto...nothing outside of old Toronto will ever be called part of downtown (which is what Uptown and Midtown imply, recalling the endless "downtown" of Manhattan) even using vague and generous boundaries.
The Yonge & College to Yonge & Bloor area makes a good Uptown because it is above the CBD and it is a higher elevation as well. It's all downtown but there is some slight differentiation going around the YUS loop; Yorkville and the institutions make it feel very different from the office towers and historic grit farther south. Yonge & St. Clair/Eglinton/Lawrence (~North Toronto) makes a good Midtown because it's in between downtown and North York.
Aside from real estate discussions, defining the terms has little to no practical value, yet these enduring nomenclature debates are odd in a city that takes such pride in its unique neighbourhoods. Or maybe that's a sign of the strength of the neighbourhoods, that their inhabitants are fiercely independent and proud and resist having their turf arbitrarily renamed by outsiders for the sake of municipal clarity, such as Beach vs Beaches.
The Yonge & College to Yonge & Bloor area makes a good Uptown because it is above the CBD and it is a higher elevation as well. It's all downtown but there is some slight differentiation going around the YUS loop; Yorkville and the institutions make it feel very different from the office towers and historic grit farther south. Yonge & St. Clair/Eglinton/Lawrence (~North Toronto) makes a good Midtown because it's in between downtown and North York.
Aside from real estate discussions, defining the terms has little to no practical value, yet these enduring nomenclature debates are odd in a city that takes such pride in its unique neighbourhoods. Or maybe that's a sign of the strength of the neighbourhoods, that their inhabitants are fiercely independent and proud and resist having their turf arbitrarily renamed by outsiders for the sake of municipal clarity, such as Beach vs Beaches.