taal
Senior Member
Hey has anyone else noticed Dundas along this stretch is seeing a lot of new interesting stores / restaurants ?
Toronto Alexandra Park Revitalization | 53.48m | 15s | TCHC | SvN
AlbertC
Superstar
^The street food containers along Scadding Court are an obscure but neat feature. I really hope a more prominent food cart culture develops downtown here just like what they have in Portland.
taal
Senior Member
whyyyy ! I never got this, I've seen what there is in Portland, sure I can see why some like it, but to me I'd much rather have a physical restaurant (and Toronto has plenty), where did this obsession with food trucks come from !
Tewder
Senior Member
Food trucks are a great option for eating on the fly, when you're on your own and not looking to sit down at a table and be served by a waiter (including tip) etc...
AlbertC
Superstar
Exactly! There's a place and time for dining in restaurants but food trucks offer many casual/quick bites or meal choices. Also adds some diverse and quirky touches to engage activity on empty urban streetscapes. Though for Toronto, they'd need to be placed at locations with more pedestrian traffic for such a concept to catch all. Maybe somewhere closer to the university/college campuses and employment areas.
Wrenkin
Active Member
Food trucks are the one and only thing Ottawa has on Toronto.
junctionist
Senior Member
Does Ottawa have better museums? I've always wondered. They have the major national museums and galleries, but the ROM and AGO are also leading institutions in the country.
progressminded
New Member
Ottawa definitely has better museums. That's not a slight on the ROM or AGO, but the Museum of Nature, War Museum, Museum of Civilization, Aviation Museum and the National Gallery of Canada are all world class museums (especially the architecture). I hosted a few friends from Europe last year and they were very impressed with the quality of our museums. I would also argue that Ottawa has a much better public realm and better parks, but lacks in transit infrastructure. Also, the height restriction in the CBD and market area makes for a very boring skyline and downtown core.
taal
Senior Member
Not sure about that, I'd argue they have a lot more museums of a high caliber ... but I'd put the AGO on top of the National Gallery after their expansion ...
The ROM, it depends on your taste, if you like traditional museums the ROM is better ...
Clearly no parallel to the others they have.
The ROM, it depends on your taste, if you like traditional museums the ROM is better ...
Clearly no parallel to the others they have.
progressminded
New Member
The AGO has a fantastic collection, but does it include works from Van Gogh, Pissaro, Rodin, Matisse, Mueck, Picasso, Cézanne, Warhol, Rubens, Monet, West, Dali, Magritte, and Pollock? I remember visiting the Picasso temp exhibit at the AGO last summer and their permanent collection (especially the group of seven stuff!), which was very impressive, but their collection simply cannot compete with the National Gallery.
RC8
Senior Member
Ottawa's public realm is better in a tiny touristy section of the city, but quickly falls to Toronto standards or even below if you explore it more thoroughly.
progressminded
New Member
Well that tiny touristy section of the city you speak of basically IS the downtown of Ottawa (Market, CBD, Parliament Buildings, U of O, Glebe, Little Italy, Lebreton Flats). Anything outside of that area and you are getting into suburbs and sprawl. Again, I don't want to get into a penis measuring contest here, and Ottawa does have A LOT of ugly areas, but they are well outside the downtown core with the exception of Rideau street which I would liken to Yonge street.
taal
Senior Member
lol saying Ottawa has a better public realm then Toronto (where it counts, throughout the core) amounts to nothing, what city in North America doesn't : - )
In other words I completely agree.
But that's fine, know one moves to Toronto because its a beautiful city, its charms lie in more tangible things (of course that's very subjective).
Again its subjective, but I still prefer the AGO's collection, of course it depends what art you like.
Last edited:
progressminded
New Member
As you stated Taal, the fact that no one moves or visits Toronto because its a beautiful city (I would argue it is beautiful in a lot of places but not as a whole) says a lot about the city. It says that people are willing to overlook this default in order to enjoy the countless other offerings Toronto has to share. In my opinion, the incredible vibrancy and uniqueness of the individual neighbourhoods that make up this city do more than compensate for a poor public realm. I am very optimistic about this city and it's future. More than any other city in the world in fact.
RC8
Senior Member
I find U of O lacks in comparison to U of T, and that the St. Lawrence Market area and Byward Market areas are roughly equivalent.
The re-done portion of Bloor St. and Yorkville as a whole surpass any Ottawa equivalents, just as some features of Ottawa are better than Toronto's.
All in all, though, I would say that the two cities are largely equivalent in terms of public realm. Ottawa doesn't have many overhead wires but they don't have streetcars either.
Look at this place steps away from Byward market and tell me it isn't in worse shape than the vast majority of TO:
https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=Ottaw...=AWOXMy749Wej0d901yrDXQ&cbp=12,340.53,,0,3.97