Seven ways to make Toronto a world-class city again

[Adjei]

The non-existence of a Toronto museum speaks to the problem here; the average person has little concern for how Toronto is viewed by other people in the world. Most people just want a nice life for themselves, and aren't willing to pay for showpieces that confer no tangible benefit to people who live here. There's little civic pride or desire to promote the city as a tourist destination, so we end up with a shabby public realm and few major draws for outsiders. Most people don't think that the city is particularly unique or has a history worth celebrating.

In contrast, tourism is a large part of the economy in other cities like London, Paris or NYC so they have a more direct interest in spending money on the public realm and cultural institutions. Tourism is Toronto is increasing, but it's not at the point where the average resident recognizes the value in spending money to attract more visitors.

Well said. With other cities they make sure that the places where tourists go are well kept and maintained but in Toronto we leave it looking shabby like the rest of the city. Take a look at New York because they know must tourists are coming to Manhattan, they make sure the place is well maintained and the public realm is excellent for the most part. This is not the same as in the Bronx, Queens and other boroughs but how many tourists are actually there. In Toronto we leave our prime locations looking run down and shabby. You are correct that the average person has little concern of how Toronto is viewed by others in the world. This also goes to the politicians here too. Since they know people don't care, it's of no concern to them. If people gave a damn about how the city looked, you would be sure they would be willing to change it. There's enough money here to fix it. We just need the will. As for civic pride, I find that its improving and you have the likes of Drake promoting the city every chance you get and now we see more youth who are identifying with the city and being proud of being here. It's getting better than before. I think it would also help promote this city more if we had some sort of city branding. I was in Amsterdam recently and all over the city you have all these "iamsterdam" signs all over the place from the airport to the different sites around the city. I thought it was quite unique and something like that would work here.

 

[Tewder]

Dispersion of political power in Canada is also a factor that inhibits Toronto's position in the world; many global cities are also national capitals. Thanks to a historical quirk, our national capital and it's parliament buildings, supreme court and national cultural sites are located in a relative backwater instead of the country's largest city. People go to London to see the British Museum, but they also visit the official residence of the Head of State (Buckingham Palace) and parliament buildings all in one place.

In a sense Toronto punches above it's weight as a provincial capital in a small country...

I'm not sure it really matters. The capital of New York State is Albany after all... and how many people go to Paris to see the Senate or National Assembly? I do agree that these buildings are popular sites in London though.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

I'm not sure it really matters. The capital of New York State is Albany after all... and how many people go to Paris to see the Senate or National Assembly? I do agree that these buildings are popular sites in London though.

In unitary states it does - the seat of government tend to be where monetary and human resources are concentrated.

AoD

 

[the lemur]

World class cities do not need to be affordable for the mob. Who lives in Manhattan, downtown London, Rome,Tokyo or Paris?

Well, depending on your definition of 'the mob', those cities to some extent contain many residents who, if they were coming to live there now, would have difficulty affording it. I'm thinking of rent control in NYC, apts passed down through families in Paris and Rome, subsidized housing in London, etc.

 

[the lemur]

Agreed. We're a small, provincial municipality. Certainly large(est) by Canadian standards, but hardly anything special by world standards. What do I see in my travels that I think would make a world class city?.............

- Modern transit, no overhead wires for streetcars, platform doors for subways, easy electronic payment methods
- Downtown not surrendered to drug addled, mentally ill, vagrants and beggars.
- Zero tolerance for litter and graffiti
- Vibrant inner cities where middle and professional class people live and play, including a vibrant nightlife, vs. 5pm flight to burbs

I think I just described Singapore, but with a nightlife.

If 'no overhead wires' is the mark of a 'world-class' city, I think we can scratch places like Tokyo and Amsterdam off the list ...

And if you think Toronto's downtown is actually given over to drug users, vagrants, etc., then a lot of ostensibly alpha/elite etc. cities are very much disqualified as well.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Rome is a "world-class" city by those measures? Really?

AoD

 

[DarnDirtyApe]

I'm not sure it really matters. The capital of New York State is Albany after all... and how many people go to Paris to see the Senate or National Assembly? I do agree that these buildings are popular sites in London though.

Government offices bestow political and economic power on that city over and above the tourist draw. NYC has the United Nations, which brings diplomats from around the world to the city. Anyway it's not a single thing that makes for "world class" or "Alpha" city, it's the entirety of factors. Those factors can include a whole range of things - political, economic, cultural. A well-kept public realm helps, but if a city has other tourist draws that can be irrelevant.

BTW, Rome is considered a "Beta+" city, mostly in light of the fact that Milan is the business centre within Italy and the Italian government is not particularly influential. Rome has world class tourism, but it's not a "world class" city.

 

[M.R.Victor]

Still, I wouldn't mind having Parliament Hill here in Toronto, perhaps somewhere along Parliament Street. How fine would that be?

 

[bobbob911]

Just curious, who here would consider any (or all) of these cities "World Class"?

Seoul
Mexico City
Beijing
Mumbai
Moscow
Buenos Aires
Istanbul
Rio

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Still, I wouldn't mind having Parliament Hill here in Toronto, perhaps somewhere along Parliament Street. How fine would that be?

We sort of do - the Ontario Legislative Building and University Avenue - in some ways it is a more imposing arrangement than Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

AoD

 

[TrickyRicky]

I think there is not a clear distinction in this discussion between meaning World Class in terms of Power and influence, and World Class in terms of standard of living metrics. As mentioned Toronto is an interesting hybrid between power and influence, and standard of living.

Most of the mentioned cities that have much greater power and influence than Toronto struggle in terms of standard of living metrics.

To the extent that power and influence means the seat of political, military, and economic power, Toronto is not that important or "World Class"

To the extent that power and influence means, global connectivity, cultural output, asset wealth and management, Toronto is actually more powerful than I think many people appreciate.

 

[Riverdale Rink Rat]

Just curious, who here would consider any (or all) of these cities "World Class"?

Seoul
Mexico City
Beijing
Mumbai
Moscow
Buenos Aires
Istanbul
Rio

I can only speak to Istanbul, having never been to any of the others, but it was an awesome place. Huge, ancient (the Constantinople/Byzantium part of Istanbul is amazing), vibrant (the open markets, restaurants, huge freighters/tankers in the Strait, crazy number of people). Definitely has its moments. Definitely NOT, however, anything but a fairly minor political power in the grand scheme of things (even Turkey is run from Ankara) and not really a financial/business hub of note, either. So, my vote would be for 'not World Class'.

 

[Canadian Chocho]

I think Toronto actually benefits more than the usual Canadian city from political power. It is the capital of the largest of the Canadian provinces and it is the business centre of the country. Vancouver, Calgary, and Montreal may be regional economic centres but they still lose all those government offices and workers to smaller cities in their respective provinces.

Now when it comes to museums and galleries (coming from an Art History minor background), very little has to do with the city and its citizens and A LOT has to do with colonial, imperial, and industrial history. Very few people go to the British Museum to see British objects; they are there to see artifacts that were essentially stolen from around the globe (like original sculptures from the Parthenon). Numerous examples like the Pergammon Museum in Berlin or Royal Museum for Central Africa in Brussels indicate that these fantastic institutions unfortunately were developed under not-so-friendly circumstances. Whether one is fine with this or disgusted by it, the truth is Canada/Canadians simply did not generally partake in this process.

As for modern art or ancient art in the USA, I suppose we could look at the American example of civic boosters but it only leads to a similar truth. American industrialists were largely responsible for some of their world class institutions, even in some cities that are now in a decline like Buffalo or Detroit. Buffalo's Albright-Knox Art Gallery has an impressive collection with works of art from Jacques-Louis Davide, Rousseau, Van Gogh, etc.. This was all possible because back then Toronto was simply a backwater town and Buffalo was a booming industrial city. Similar story as to why Toronto does not have the impressive Art Deco structures of cities like Buffalo - we just weren't a big enough deal at that particular time. We (and by this I suppose I mean a few of the richest and most influential of Toronto's indstrialists) had nowhere near the amount of money to be able to bring in a communist mural painter like Diego Rivera to paint frescoes for our local art museum like the Fords did when they commissioned the Detroit Industry Murals for the Detroit Institute of Arts.

There's is no point in envying cities with institutions like those. They are products of their time that cannot be reproduced. We cannot resuscitate Frank Lloyd Wight or Louis Sullivan and commission buildings here to be on par with Buffalo just as we cannot commission Diego Rivera to paint us some original murals depicting the distilling process at Gooderham and Worts. We must stop longing for a past we cannot have and focus on how to cultivate and innovate new, I suppose 'world class' trends.

 

[DarnDirtyApe]

It's a good point; many "world class" cities were built on the backs of ordinary people living in misery and squalor so that rulers could build vain monuments to their own glory.

 

[animatronic]

Still, I wouldn't mind having Parliament Hill here in Toronto, perhaps somewhere along Parliament Street. How fine would that be?

Tried that already - Americans burned it to the ground. Bad karma.