Seven ways to make Toronto a world-class city again

[TheTigerMaster]

It's always good to look at what others think - and sometimes it can be rather unflattering:

http://landlopers.com/2013/07/22/visit-toronto

AoD

Canada’s largest city, Toronto is the center of Canadian business and it looks like it. The city is in a constant state of change and construction, paving over what may have been interesting and unique. In that respect it reminds me of another city I don’t like, London.

A friend and his girlfriend moved to Toronto from London a few months ago. They were telling me that Toronto feels exactly like London, especially in respect to culture and the attitudes of the people living in the two cities.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

A friend and his girlfriend moved to Toronto from London a few months ago. They were telling me that Toronto feels exactly like London, especially in respect to culture and the attitudes of the people living in the two cities.

If I am really, really cruel, I would add that it's London minus the history and sheer concentration of importance. Since the first step to solving a problem is acknowledging we have one, we should start to think about how to change that.

AoD

 

[salsa]

If I am really, really cruel, I would add that it's London minus the history and sheer concentration of importance. Since the first step to solving a problem is acknowledging we have one, we should start to think about how to change that.

AoD

Despite Toronto's relatively young age compared to most top-tier world class cities, we still could have had a rich history and many more beautiful old buildings. But then this happened:

 

[TheTigerMaster]

Despite Toronto's relatively young age compared to most top-tier world class cities, we still could have had a rich history and many more beautiful old buildings. But then this happened:

We had two great fires and the Great Postwar Parking Lot Expansion. So much of our history was lost to those disasters.

 

[TrickyRicky]

I'm travelling right now and I was tucking into the article and it's comments that Alvin posted. I agree with the author, Toronto isn't a great place to visit but it's a great place to live. Your best option is live in Toronto and travel to exotic and interesting locals that aren't that great to live in but fantastic fun to visit!

 

[salsa]

We had two great fires and the Great Postwar Parking Lot Expansion. So much of our history was lost to those disasters.

The great fire happened so long ago that whatever buildings we lost back then were replaced by new ones that were just as pretty. It's the parking lots that were the most devastating. We can celebrate the condo boom all we want, but those glass and spandrel buildings will never replace what was lost.

 

[TheTigerMaster]

I really wish there were a way for the city to enforce some kind of architectural quality guidelines. Something that would force quality architecture, rather than bland glass boxes.

 

[Tewder]

Unfortunately we'd have to crown a monarch/emperor/dictator with great taste. Otherwise we're stuck with local culture/approach to these things.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Unfortunately we'd have to crown a monarch/emperor/dictator with great taste. Otherwise we're stuck with local culture/approach to these things.

I would be quite happy to have WT take over public realm in the city.

AoD

 

[James]

I'm travelling right now and I was tucking into the article and it's comments that Alvin posted. I agree with the author, Toronto isn't a great place to visit but it's a great place to live. Your best option is live in Toronto and travel to exotic and interesting locals that aren't that great to live in but fantastic fun to visit!

I have to agree with this. Of all the places my friends, family and I have visited all over the world, I always look forward to returning to home base at the end of my trip, no matter how amazing our travels were. I believe we really are spoiled with our standard of living. I appreciate Toronto for the quality of life balance.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

I have to agree with this. Of all the places my friends, family and I have visited all over the world, I always look forward to returning to home base at the end of my trip, no matter how amazing our travels were. I believe we really are spoiled with our standard of living. I appreciate Toronto for the quality of life balance.

Except I don't see a bit more excitement in the city as being anathema to quality of life. Certainly there is nothing particularly balanced about the poor public transportation, infrastructure decay or bad public realm.

AoD

 

[sixrings]

That article makes me want to host a summer games a expo and a winter games. I love Toronto, would like to show it off and to build some more things to do. The comment section of the article had a lot of people complaining it simply takes too long to get anywhere by transit so they give up compounding the idea that there is nothing to do hopefully with more people choosing to live downtown we become more a going out society than a staying in one.

 

[SunriseChampion]

Those parking lots. I could cry.

What a waste. It's like pissing in your cup of tea.


The comments in that article though: reminds me of what I thought of Frankfurt. I'll agree that Torontonians are prone to socially-inept bubble living, but still think a lot of those people were doing Toronto wrong. If it was as boring as they claim, I wouldn't be living here anymore. Sure, they might be idiotic rules in place that constrain certain social behaviour, but, I've been ignoring those for years. Granted, that's easy enough for me to say as a local. Yup, great to live in, probably cap to visit. Not that I've met anyone who hated it that much (or at all)....well, people in the ROC, but what do you expect from them?

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

The comments in that article though: reminds me of what I thought of Frankfurt. I'll agree that Torontonians are prone to socially-inept bubble living, but still think a lot of those people were doing Toronto wrong. If it was as boring as they claim, I wouldn't be living here anymore. Sure, they might be idiotic rules in place that constrain certain social behaviour, but, I've been ignoring those for years. Granted, that's easy enough for me to say as a local. Yup, great to live in, probably cap to visit. Not that I've met anyone who hated it that much (or at all)....well, people in the ROC, but what do you expect from them?

The comments bother me less (given the newspaper comments section feel) but I think the blog post is a fairly honest assessment of what someone looking from the outside could see.

AoD

 

[diminutive]

I'm not so sure what exactly the author finds lacking here. Granted, that's often the way things are in cities; you can't quite put your finger on what 'it' is that you either love or hate. Still, as I understand it, his criticism seems to be that Toronto lacks personality because it doesn't have 'stuff' other than 'some parks, restaurants and neighbourhoods.' Which is basically as true for any city. None of them have much stuff if you, you know, discount the actual stuff.

I will say Toronto is, in a way, very post-modern in more or less rejecting the notion of authenticity. Tourists love that stuff and the entire tourism industry in lots of cities caters to foreign demands of exoticism and uniqueness. Most of these 'world-wise' travellers are never self reflective enough to ask how their own demands for authenticity give rise to entire authenticity industries in many tourist destinations to fulfill the tourists' desire for the unique. The vast majority of the world is perfectly content entertaining itself with parks and bars and restaurants.

The comments are just the worst. Self serious travellers who think their one week in Malaga somehow makes them an expert on romance. Like, look at this shit: "Would you pick up a stranger in this city, invite her / him to a cool club / romantic place and take her home the same day? Just because it happened spontaneously." Some pretentious jerk struck out when nobody wanted to go to his version of a 'romantic place' to hear his thoughts on grappa. Sheeesh.

P.S: Not to say that Toronto's perfect either. Things can get very dowdy at times. It can feel like residents are held back a bit by institutional parochialism. To use an example closer to my heart, the craft beer scene. Toronto has no shortage of passionate people but they're held back by everything from onerous zoning provisions to downright ridiculous LCBO/BeerStore sales and bar chains that wont move beyond Molson (see the story of Leftfield Brewing in the NIMBYism thread).

The cost of living jumps are making things even worse. Toronto's at risk of being SanFran-ed where downtown is converted into a preserve serving what rich yuppies think "urban living" should be (edison lights! brunch! brick buildings!) without any dynamism (no clubs! no condos on Ossington! no splash pads!)