Toronto/Boston comparisons

[Softee]

Boston and Toronto are not really in the same league, it's time to wake up and accept the reality that Toronto is at least a third tier global alpha city very much on par with Chicago in size and importance - yes, it's true people, little 'ol Toronto is in the big leagues now!

 

[Tewder]

Boston actually reminds me of Montreal, they both have a compactness and an inward exclusiveness or provincialism that gives them their easily definable character. Although Montreal exudes charm where Boston does not.

How is it that Boston is without charm? Have you actually been there??

 

[Red October]

Boston and Toronto are not really in the same league, it's time to wake up and accept the reality that Toronto is at least a third tier global alpha city very much on par with Chicago in size and importance - yes, it's true people, little 'ol Toronto is in the big leagues now!

Alpha

Alpha++ world cities:

London, New York

Alpha+ world cities:

Chicago, Dubai, Hong Kong, Paris, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo

Alpha world cities:

Amsterdam, Beijing, Brussels, Buenos Aires, Frankfurt, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Los Angeles, Madrid, Mexico City, Milan, Moscow, Mumbai, San Francisco, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Toronto and Washington

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_world_city#Alpha_world_cities

 

[TheKingEast]

Boston vs Montreal would be a better comparison.

 

[Ladies Mile]

Why must things be perceived as generally similar to be compared? As I pointed out, there are numerous qualities Boston has that Toronto shares, perhaps more than would Chicago in those categories, say.

Comparisons are not ipso facto assumptions of identical qualities and they are not (or shouldn't be) pissing matches about who wins the tacky little gold star: they are ways of defining objective data by means of contrast with different circumstances.

There would be much we might learn from comparing certain aspects of urban life in Lagos with that of Toronto (and Lagos might have superior elements in terms of things like neighborhood culture). Until we compare we won't know and treating such a comparison as a fundamental joke simply seems blinkered to me.

 

[grey]

^ True, comparison for the sake of self-gratifying Ours Is Better discussion is stupid and not constructive, but there's a great deal that we can learn by observing the history, form and policies of cities that are similar to ours.

I think San Francisco is a better comparison.

- Victorian street grid and building style
- similar transit vehicles
- waterfront revitalization
- an eyesore elevated expressway that was turned into a fantastic parkway
- lots of high density lowrise housing very close to the downtown core
- lots of young, gentrifying neighbourhoods that are virtually interchangeable with Toronto's
- fairly progressive garbage/recycling system
- aggressively "green"

 

[kkgg7]

Top 5 US cities (by city proper population):
NYC / 8.2M
LA / 3.8M
Chicago / 2.7M
Houston / 2.1M
Philadelphia / 1.5M
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_population

Toronto / 2.6M (would be #4 on the list above)

Cities mentioned in this thread that people somehow think are comparable:
Hololulu / 0.4M
Boston / 0.6M
Portland / 0.6M
Denver / 0.6M
Columbus / 0.8M
Halifax / 0.4M (including the entire surrounding county area)

These "comparable" cities are not even close. Why do people insist on selling Toronto short? We should be comparing ourselves with other big deal, same size cities. Toronto would indeed be a lot like Halifax or Portland if it was small and tiny. But it isn't.

There's an undercurrent of self-deprication in Toronto that ignores its size, wealth, and global importance.

and what exactly is the point of these city population?
OK, Boston has a population of 600K, I guess following your logic, Boston is comparable to Mississauga (670k), and Winnipeg (633K). And San Fran (800K) would be as important as Ottawa (812K) and below Calgary (1M).

But wait, does anyone outside Canada actually ever heard of Mississauga and Winnipeg? And could anyone ever think Ottawa and Calgary are the same league as San Francisco?

 

[OttoSchloss]

How is it that Boston is without charm? Have you actually been there??

yes, at least twice a year (and I spend every summer on the cape). It has charm in the sense of its built form (and I love Cambridge) but it leaves me cold otherwise.

 

[Torontovibe]

One thing Toronto can never compare to Boston with, is the historic buildings. I wish we had some of Boston's beautiful mid-rise historic buildings. I also love Boston's crazy streets. It's almost impossible for a newbie not to get lost in that city. Again, what I don't like about Boston, is that at 6pm, the downtown core becomes very empty and much too quiet for my liking. Oh, and their Gay Village SUCKS! Um, maybe a bad choice of words. lol

 

[kkgg7]

One thing Toronto can never compare to Boston with, is the historic buildings. I wish we had some of Boston's beautiful mid-rise historic buildings. I also love Boston's crazy streets. It's almost impossible for a newbie not to get lost in that city. Again, what I don't like about Boston, is that at 6pm, the downtown core becomes very empty and much too quiet for my liking. Oh, and their Gay Village SUCKS! Um, maybe a bad choice of words. lol

Agree. Toronto probably has the worst architecture among major NA cities. I also think it is nice that Toronto's downtown core is pretty vibrant even at night. you actually see people walking around and do things. It is rarely seen in American cities. Only thing I thinks regretful is that stores closes at 5/6 pm on weekends and opens at noon... I mean, come on, it is the weekend, why close that early??

 

[ladyscraper]

Toronto has better architecture than people give it credit for. We have tons of side streets with beautiful old homes for example. When a friend from England was visiting here, he was blown away by the houses in the Annex.

 

[Urban Shocker]

It would be interesting to compare the relative strengths of our local, contemporary architectural design culture ( Clewes, KPMB, Teeple, D+S, HP, etc., etc. ) as it is writ large on our skyline as a result of the buildings they're producing, with the Boston ( or, in that other thread, Chicago ) equivalents, and the impact their local design cultures are having on their skylines as an expression of who they are.

 

[Hipster Duck]

Unlike Toronto/Chicago, which I think is a tie, Toronto clearly wins over Boston for worldliness in my books. Toronto is bigger and feels bigger. It's a more exciting place to be in than Boston and you can do more things here.

That said, Boston has found a really good niche for itself. It is the home of the best research universities in the world, so many of the world's most influential people have lived there - either to study or to teach - at some point in their lives. It is also steeped with history at every turn; it has things that Toronto will probably never have, like its own food and dialect. I don't think Bostonians will ever have a soul searching exercise like the kind we are having right now with threads like this, because a Bostonian identity is pretty strong and established, while a Torontonian identity is anyone's guess. Finally, despite having such a strong identity and regional culture, Boston is not a stagnant or declining place. I wouldn't even say that its best days have already happened. Boston is a really interesting place, just not one that is destined to be a world capital.

 

[Tewder]

Agreed, and in the sense you describe Boston feels very much like Montreal to me. A once very important place that has been eclipsed by other cities yet hasn't lost its own sense of self and importance... this to me is very 'charming'.

 

[Ladies Mile]

It would be interesting to compare the relative strengths of our local, contemporary architectural design culture ( Clewes, KPMB, Teeple, D+S, HP, etc., etc. ) as it is writ large on our skyline as a result of the buildings they're producing, with the Boston ( or, in that other thread, Chicago ) equivalents, and the impact their local design cultures are having on their skylines as an expression of who they are.

I should think that would happen as a matter of course. How could it not?