Toronto/Chicago comparisons

[denfromoakvillemilton]

And yet you make completely untrue and absurd statements like "You cannot go into any corner of Toronto and feel safe". How do you expect anyone to take anything you say seriously with comments like that?

If that's what you believe, you clearly have little understanding of the city.

Of course Toronto is mostly safe. My point is that it has bad areas. What is so hard to understand about that. The sentence is probably badly worded. I should have been clearer. Maybe you cannot go into every corner, and feel safe, just as it iswith every major city.

 

[Riverdale Rink Rat]

When was Pape & Danforth dangerous? I'm really curious because i'm not originally from here but spend allot of time there.

A good buddy of mine, who grew up on Fairview, said there was a time in the '70s when there was a real worry the drug dealing on Danforth was about to tip the place into a Parkdale-ish like decline. Dangerous might be a stretch, but downtrodden and definitely close to a tipping point. Luckily (and I think you can thank the restaurant owners and to a large extent the Greek community) they pushed back and reclaimed the 'nabe. Now, of course, the Danforth is a fabulous high street.

 

[denfromoakvillemilton]

When was this? When i was kid in Montreal, Ste-Catherine & Peel was not a corner where anyone wanted to hang out, in fact non of Ste-Catherine was. Talking about issues a street had 20 years ago and completely neglect to see how it has transformed during that time is ridiculous. When was Pape & Danforth dangerous? I'm really curious because i'm not originally from here but spend allot of time there.

Early 90's. Blake Jones section of east york was also bad.

Why on earth would you compare the Cubs, who are Chicago's team in the same way the Leafs are Toronto's team, to the Jays? I could easily switch this around and say Chicago doesn't have a sports culture because when the Hawks sucked attendance was a disgrace.

And what about the other teams. Bulls attendance has not go down, they have not won in over 10 years. Bears sellout every weekend. White Sox also get good attendane. Other than the Raptors, who have been packaged with Leafs STH, where can you say that for Toronto?

So you complain that Torontonians don't stand up for their city and then you say we're clueless for standing up for our city. Which one is it?

How about we admit this city has major problems, and not focus on window dressing. Toronto is great city, that needs a lot of improvement. When I say stand up I mean for mindless bashing (not the legitatmie criticisms in this thread) from other areas of the country. And when I say this city has problems, don't jump to violence rates or vibrancy, we all know Toronto is vibrant and is very safe, how about we adresse the most important isssues. It can be done.

 

[denfromoakvillemilton]

On the other hand...

His post is absurd and over the top but that's what happens sometimes. The TTC crack is true though.

 

[avenirv]

you cannot compare chicago vs toronto. different leagues.

 

[Riverdale Rink Rat]

Early 90's. Blake Jones section of east york was also bad.

Dude, your 15 minutes just ran out. That's flat-out ridiculous, and, quite frankly, Pape/Danforth and Blake/Jones are basically the same neighbourhood. Blake elementary school (although it's better now than it was) and the VERY crappy tower on Boultbee across from it were/are tough places -- but even Earl Grey middle school and Riverdale Collegiate, which are the schools for Blake/Jones, are very reputable and have been for years.

 

[Thanos]

And what about the other teams. Bulls attendance has not go down, they have not won in over 10 years. Bears sellout every weekend. White Sox also get good attendane. Other than the Raptors, who have been packaged with Leafs STH, where can you say that for Toronto?

Up until 2004 the Raptors were always in the top 10 in attendance. In 2008 and 2009, they were in the top 10 again. The only times the Raptors have not been in the top half in attendance is 2006 and 2011.
Comparing the White Sox to the Jays is better. This past season in the MLB the Jays had just over 22,000 fans/game. The White Sox were at 24,000. In 2008 the difference was 1,000 fans/game. In 2005 when the White Sox won the world series they were averaging 4,000 fans/game more. Not a big difference. The Jays fans are out there. They're just frustrated. Same as Raptors fans. I also the find the MLS, which the TFC fans arguably among the best fans in the league, to be far more interesting then the CFL.

How about we admit this city has major problems, and not focus on window dressing. Toronto is great city, that needs a lot of improvement. When I say stand up I mean for mindless bashing (not the legitatmie criticisms in this thread) from other areas of the country. And when I say this city has problems, don't jump to violence rates or vibrancy, we all know Toronto is vibrant and is very safe, how about we adresse the most important isssues. It can be done.

I completely agree with you. Our waterfront needs work. We need more subways (1 running down Queen Street asap). I'd love to see a full evaluation of every single position of the TTC. Our politicians need to get more cocky and confident about the city. We also need a square to go and relax after a long day of work and Dundas Square is not it. We also need a pedestrian/cyclist bridge to the islands. And those god awful wires and poles all over our sidewalks must go.

 

[Jonny5]

how about we adresse the most important isssues. It can be done.

I think we do a pretty good job here of that every day. But the amount of thread-baiting, hystrionics and hyperbole is increasing and becoming distracting.

 

[Jonny5]

RE: Sports Culture

I find it amausing that discussions about cities sports cultures are always about how many people sit on their ass and watch sports and never about how many people in the city participate in them and how good and accessible the city's facilities are.

 

[Urban Shocker]

I'd be very surprised if Chicago has more cultural industry workers than Toronto.

 

[Ladies Mile]

I'd be very surprised if Chicago has more cultural industry workers than Toronto.

That would depend, I would think, on how you define that term.

If you mean city-employed bureaucrats, I'm pretty sure Chicago has the lead. If you mean sidewalk buskers, I think Toronto might.

 

[Urban Shocker]

Artists, film makers, musicians, designers, writers, galleries, performing arts venues, people who produce something creatively. Admittedly it was aeons since I was in Chicago, but it seemed like a pretty unimaginative ( "midwestern"? ) place compared to our town. I think you can get a pretty good sense of where a place fits on the creativity spectrum if you walk around a lot and get a feel of the place - and I did.

 

[Torontovibe]

I'd like to see more facts & figures comparing Toronto (not the GTA) and Chicago. (not Chicagoland or Chicago's surrounding areas) I just want to see the actual cities compared on culture, wealth, transit and things like that. I find comparison threads interesting. I wish there was more of them in this site. I like to know how we're doing compared to Chicago, Montreal, Boston, New York and Philadelphia. (Cities of our size and in the general area) If anybody finds any interesting comparison stats, post them.


Toronto is 10% more expensive to live in, than Chicago. (so claims this web site)
http://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living/comparison/chicago/toronto

Now these stats seem a little off, especially the price of buying an apartment. (condo?)
http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-livin...onto&country2=United+States&city2=Chicago,+IL
Torontonian's earn more than Chicoagoans? (I thought it was the other way around)

 

[Urban Shocker]

Normally I'm suspicious of statistics, which can be used to prove just about anything, but there were some stats that I saw a few years ago ( compiled in T.O. naturally! ) that ranked us in the top three ( or, at worst, four ) of creative/cultural industry cities in North America. I just scoured the net but couldn't find them online, however. We're behind New York but significantly ahead of other Canadian cities.

 

[Ladies Mile]

Artists, film makers, musicians, designers, writers, galleries, performing arts venues, people who produce something creatively. Admittedly it was aeons since I was in Chicago, but it seemed like a pretty unimaginative ( "midwestern"? ) place compared to our town. I think you can get a pretty good sense of where a place fits on the creativity spectrum if you walk around a lot and get a feel of the place - and I did.

A basic Google search for Toronto and Chicago "art gallery list" turned up two different websites, which put Toronto at 81 art galleries, mostly on Queen Street West and on Bloor and 85 for Chicago, in about six different locations, with the majority in the River North area.