U
unimaginative2
Guest
What are the similarities between Toronto and London? Old Montreal is very similar to many smaller European old city cores.
|
|
|
D
Darkstar416
Guest
Off the top of my head, London and Toronto...
*both highly multicultural
*both have no obvious grand plan
*both neighbourhood-based cities
*both have a real randomness about them
*similar residential housing styles
*both have an assortment of 1950s and 1960s housing blocks
*both have an (obvious) "englishness" to them
*both highly multicultural
*both have no obvious grand plan
*both neighbourhood-based cities
*both have a real randomness about them
*similar residential housing styles
*both have an assortment of 1950s and 1960s housing blocks
*both have an (obvious) "englishness" to them
A
allabootmatt
Guest
The centres are very different, of course. The (very strong) similarity is between neighbourhood main streets especially in North London like Upper St or Hampstead High St, to drags like College, Queen, and Yonge. Resdiential housing types are also very similar, again outside of the centres; St. John's Wood feels a lot like Forest Hill, Belsize Park and Primrose Hill like the Annex, etc. etc.
The two cities also share the same brand of relaxed multiculturalism.
Edit: the less attractive parts are also similar; the main drag in Golder's Green (can't remember the name), for example, is the spitting image of Eglinton between Bathurst and the Allen.
The two cities also share the same brand of relaxed multiculturalism.
Edit: the less attractive parts are also similar; the main drag in Golder's Green (can't remember the name), for example, is the spitting image of Eglinton between Bathurst and the Allen.
G
ganjavih
Guest
I also got a Torontoish feeling when strolling Hampstead High Street... and I agree that London, outside of its grand core, does resemble Toronto in many parts. Early 1900s Toronto architecture is very English... you really appreciate that when you see England, especially the working class industrial cities like Birmingham that were largely built around the same time Toronto was. The point really is, though, that this is all subjective. People say that Vancouver feels like Heaven, but I didn't get that sense. I did have the sense though, walking the streets of Montreal, that it is like a blend of New York and Europe before I even realised it was widely described as such.
Camden Market or Queen West?
Industrial Manchester or the Distillery District?
London or Toronto?
Camden Market or Queen West?
Industrial Manchester or the Distillery District?
London or Toronto?
S
SD2
Guest
I've had at least a few people tell me that Toronto felt like a combination of London and NYC.
A
AlvinofDiaspar
Guest
From the Post, by Ouelette:
Is it hip to be Dundas Square?
Robert Ouellette, National Post
Published: Friday, August 25, 2006
Forget about the billboards for now. That might be hard, given Toronto's Dundas Square is on its way to being the most signed public space north of New York's Times Square -- but try.
Instead, think back 10 years to the tired commercial buildings that stood on the southeast corner of Dundas and Yonge. In those days, the place opposite the main entrance to the Eaton Centre could have been one of any number of nondescript intersections in the city. There was nothing special about it. That was the problem.
The Eaton Centre acted like a giant vacuum. The city's biggest mall sucked the street and the people on it inside. Faced with hundreds of metres of blank walls, the nearby blocks emptied. The only businesses able to thrive on the resulting vacancy were public-space-destroying bargain shops and shady entertainment vendors.
Things changed in the '90s.
First, the Eaton Centre let down its eastern walls, allowing its shops to open their doors to Yonge. This single design change breathed life into the barren strip below Dundas.
Out-of- town visitors lining up for the Toronto Film Festival could feel the difference. The city's main street -- like its sister the thriving Queen Street West -- suddenly had a buzz.
Planners decided to make the corner of Yonge and Dundas the city's symbolic core. To do that required an act of faith and a belief that if they built it, people would come. The city expropriated buildings on the site and knocked them down.
In their place, officials wanted an urban square to act as a catalyst for development. It sounds wrong -- knocking down buildings in the centre of the city helps development? It is true, but takes a while.
James Brown of Brown + Storey Architects, the square's designers, says, ''The square is a subtraction that allows you to add.'' Skeptical at first, doubters are now beginning to see what he means.
Ryerson University is adding new buildings near the northeastern edge of the square. The ''Olympic Torch'' tower landmarks its eastern end (although the Olympic Spirit venture itself has failed). To the south, the Hard Rock Cafe's terrace provides an edge. The Eaton Centre added giant signs to mark its new entrance while addressing the square. At the northwest corner, a sign-holding structure climbs 10 storeys above the roof of a newly renovated GAP store.
There is more. The massive Metropolis entertainment and shopping development now rises on the square's northern edge. Designed by Franklin and Baldwin Architects for Penequity Management, the 360,000-square-foot, 10-storey building will dominate the square's outdoor space (a review of the building's design can wait).
This brings us back to the advertising signs. Dundas Square is popular. According to Penequity, 56 million people visited the corner of Yonge and Dundas in 2005. That is why the Metropolis building will blast 20,000 square feet worth of digital signs at little Dundas Square. Those pedestrian eyeballs mean money to advertisers. Combined, signage around the square will top 40,000 square feet.
Some critics complain about the abundance of signs. They say that public spaces paid for by our tax dollars are no place for advertisements.
It is a good argument. I am not sure it holds true here.
The square is helping to attract millions of people to Toronto's core. The traffic keeps streets active and improves the public realm, not only at this intersection, but up and down Yonge.
They designed Dundas Square to handle the traffic generated by the spectacle of all those signs. When first built, many said that the square was too, well, hard. Where were all the green trees that parks should have? Now we know. Public squares have to be rough and ready. The wear of 100,000 feet a day in a small space like this one makes even concrete a temporary material. The square uses granite as its surface of choice.
Go for a visit. Early morning is nice. Watch people enjoy this small but critical opening in the city's fabric. Even as the signs loom their messages above you, thank the designers for improving Toronto's streetscape. They make a difference.
- - -
Robert Ouellette publishes the daily blog www.readingtoronto.com. He is the president of Forum Bureau, a strategic consulting and Internet firm in Toronto.
© National Post 2006
AoD
Is it hip to be Dundas Square?
Robert Ouellette, National Post
Published: Friday, August 25, 2006
Forget about the billboards for now. That might be hard, given Toronto's Dundas Square is on its way to being the most signed public space north of New York's Times Square -- but try.
Instead, think back 10 years to the tired commercial buildings that stood on the southeast corner of Dundas and Yonge. In those days, the place opposite the main entrance to the Eaton Centre could have been one of any number of nondescript intersections in the city. There was nothing special about it. That was the problem.
The Eaton Centre acted like a giant vacuum. The city's biggest mall sucked the street and the people on it inside. Faced with hundreds of metres of blank walls, the nearby blocks emptied. The only businesses able to thrive on the resulting vacancy were public-space-destroying bargain shops and shady entertainment vendors.
Things changed in the '90s.
First, the Eaton Centre let down its eastern walls, allowing its shops to open their doors to Yonge. This single design change breathed life into the barren strip below Dundas.
Out-of- town visitors lining up for the Toronto Film Festival could feel the difference. The city's main street -- like its sister the thriving Queen Street West -- suddenly had a buzz.
Planners decided to make the corner of Yonge and Dundas the city's symbolic core. To do that required an act of faith and a belief that if they built it, people would come. The city expropriated buildings on the site and knocked them down.
In their place, officials wanted an urban square to act as a catalyst for development. It sounds wrong -- knocking down buildings in the centre of the city helps development? It is true, but takes a while.
James Brown of Brown + Storey Architects, the square's designers, says, ''The square is a subtraction that allows you to add.'' Skeptical at first, doubters are now beginning to see what he means.
Ryerson University is adding new buildings near the northeastern edge of the square. The ''Olympic Torch'' tower landmarks its eastern end (although the Olympic Spirit venture itself has failed). To the south, the Hard Rock Cafe's terrace provides an edge. The Eaton Centre added giant signs to mark its new entrance while addressing the square. At the northwest corner, a sign-holding structure climbs 10 storeys above the roof of a newly renovated GAP store.
There is more. The massive Metropolis entertainment and shopping development now rises on the square's northern edge. Designed by Franklin and Baldwin Architects for Penequity Management, the 360,000-square-foot, 10-storey building will dominate the square's outdoor space (a review of the building's design can wait).
This brings us back to the advertising signs. Dundas Square is popular. According to Penequity, 56 million people visited the corner of Yonge and Dundas in 2005. That is why the Metropolis building will blast 20,000 square feet worth of digital signs at little Dundas Square. Those pedestrian eyeballs mean money to advertisers. Combined, signage around the square will top 40,000 square feet.
Some critics complain about the abundance of signs. They say that public spaces paid for by our tax dollars are no place for advertisements.
It is a good argument. I am not sure it holds true here.
The square is helping to attract millions of people to Toronto's core. The traffic keeps streets active and improves the public realm, not only at this intersection, but up and down Yonge.
They designed Dundas Square to handle the traffic generated by the spectacle of all those signs. When first built, many said that the square was too, well, hard. Where were all the green trees that parks should have? Now we know. Public squares have to be rough and ready. The wear of 100,000 feet a day in a small space like this one makes even concrete a temporary material. The square uses granite as its surface of choice.
Go for a visit. Early morning is nice. Watch people enjoy this small but critical opening in the city's fabric. Even as the signs loom their messages above you, thank the designers for improving Toronto's streetscape. They make a difference.
- - -
Robert Ouellette publishes the daily blog www.readingtoronto.com. He is the president of Forum Bureau, a strategic consulting and Internet firm in Toronto.
© National Post 2006
AoD
T
tudararms
Guest
I've always found that Americans perceive Toronto as very 'British', while the British view us as very 'American'. I guess we're blind to our own!
Dundas Square is actually turning out quite nice, certainly in comparison to the way it was before. I was walking through the Eaton Centre last weekend to dodge the rain and I really did get a sense of being drawn through the place to the outside square, the action outside seeming far more interesting to me, crass commercialism and all. Then again, the commercialism inside the mall is fairly crass too. The Eaton Centre truly feels like a mall, albeit a spectacular one, while Dundas Square manages to feel like a place where one can just hang and be, enjoying the sites and sounds.
Dundas Square is actually turning out quite nice, certainly in comparison to the way it was before. I was walking through the Eaton Centre last weekend to dodge the rain and I really did get a sense of being drawn through the place to the outside square, the action outside seeming far more interesting to me, crass commercialism and all. Then again, the commercialism inside the mall is fairly crass too. The Eaton Centre truly feels like a mall, albeit a spectacular one, while Dundas Square manages to feel like a place where one can just hang and be, enjoying the sites and sounds.
B
building babel
Guest
From the first moment I set eyes on Toronto, when I arrived from England, it looked Canadian to me - and not at all like England.
A
andreapalladio
Guest
I agree. Toronto couldn't be less like England. We have air conditioning. And dentistry.
G
ganjavih
Guest
S
samsonyuen
Guest
As someone originally from Toronto (sorta) who lives in London, and is moving back to London, I can't say that London reminds me anything Londonish or British. There are some similarities though, that most big cities share, like multiculturalism and dynamic arts scenes, but nothing that sets Toronto apart from, say Chicago and London or Montreal and New York. The scale is quite a bit lower too.
C
cdl42
Guest
Wha?