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Toronto/Chicago comparisons

The one thing that stands out in this thread to me is the universal praise for Chicago's waterfront. I assume most are talking about Grant Park. It's a nice park, but it has its problems. It's also very auto-oriented, especially the southern section. It's also sandwiched between a rail corridor, which acts as a barrier to the city and Lake Shore Drive, which completely cuts out the lake. In winter, the larea is void of people. Central Park in NY and The Mall in DC are more animated and attract more people.

Grant Park is pretty to look at when driving on Lake Shore Drive. As a pedestrian, the experience falls short. Just my two cents..
 
These days, too, I wonder how many visitors casually view Millennium Park as some kind of proxy for all of Grant Park...
 
I don't know why Toronto keeps being compared to old US rust belt cities like Chicago. Toronto is more like the sun belt cities like Los Angeles. The city is newer, the downtown is smaller, the sprawl is compact instead of exurban, the growth is more recent, the rapid transit system is small, and so on.
 
doady said:
I don't know why Toronto keeps being compared to old US rust belt cities like Chicago. Toronto is more like the sun belt cities like Los Angeles. The city is newer, the downtown is smaller, the sprawl is compact instead of exurban, the growth is more recent, the rapid transit system is small, and so on.
Click to expand...

you actually think Toronto is more resemblant to LA, Atlanta, Houston etc than Chicago, Philadelphia and Boston?
 
doady said:
I don't know why Toronto keeps being compared to old US rust belt cities like Chicago. Toronto is more like the sun belt cities like Los Angeles. The city is newer, the downtown is smaller, the sprawl is compact instead of exurban, the growth is more recent, the rapid transit system is small, and so on.
Click to expand...

There is only 1 city that Toronto can compare itself to and that is New York. I've been to every major city in North America (outside of Mexico) and the one city we have the most in common with is not Chicago but New York City. It's also the city I would want to most emulate. I'm not saying copy but go in that direction. I like Chicago but I think New York is our only real competition.
 
^ Yeah, for the life of me I don't get for one second why so many people seem to think that Chicago has Toronto beat in terms of vibrancy, street scene and urban bustle. IMO it's no contest, Toronto blows Chicago away in that regard.
 
Torontovibe said:
There is only 1 city that Toronto can compare itself to and that is New York. I've been to every major city in North America (outside of Mexico) and the one city we have the most in common with is not Chicago but New York City. It's also the city I would want to most emulate. I'm not saying copy but go in that direction. I like Chicago but I think New York is our only real competition.
Click to expand...

Softee said:
^ Yeah, for the life of me I don't get for one second why so many people seem to think that Chicago has Toronto beat in terms of vibrancy, street scene and urban bustle. IMO it's no contest, Toronto blows Chicago away in that regard.
Click to expand...

Half of Toronto's street life is in the path system.
 
bleu said:
you actually think Toronto is more resemblant to LA, Atlanta, Houston etc than Chicago, Philadelphia and Boston?
Click to expand...

Chicago's population declined by almost 1 million in the post-war era. What exactly is the resemblance?

I could cherrypick like you and compare Toronto to Detroit as well.

There's more to Toronto than the downtown. Just sayin'.
 
Torontovibe said:
There is only 1 city that Toronto can compare itself to and that is New York. I've been to every major city in North America (outside of Mexico) and the one city we have the most in common with is not Chicago but New York City. It's also the city I would want to most emulate. I'm not saying copy but go in that direction. I like Chicago but I think New York is our only real competition.
Click to expand...

nope. Nothing on this continent comes close to be comparable to NYC. Actually, you might put Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal together, and it will still lose to New York City. The only city that is close is London on this planet.

If one really has been to New York and familiar with it, he should know Toronto is in no way similar to New York. Toronto is not even a mini New York if one wants to stretch. Sure, we could emulate, who doesn't, but that doesn't mean the closest thing in the US is NYC.

New York is our only real competition? We are not even close. Toronto is probably 20% of NYC, how do you compete in any real sense? Compete on what? Give me something more solid, not something as abstract as multicultural or "quality of life".

In terms of economic size, GTA is most close to Seattle than Chicago, not to mention NYC. I don't know why people will be delusional enough to think New York is most similar to Toronto and is our real competitor. You don't compete with another city which is 4-5 times your size in terms economic output and population. It is like saying Toronto is the only real competitor to Hamilton or Brampton.
 
^ New York is 3 times the size of Toronto, not 4 or 5, and I think he was only referring to urban vibrancy, street scene and the like.
 
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