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Toronto falling from grace? Yeah, right. Canada's No. 1 city is soaring
Feb 22, 2013
By Trevor Melanson
Read More: http://www.canadianbusiness.com/eco...race-yeah-right-canadas-no-1-city-is-soaring/
In a keynote address at the Toronto Region Board of Trade last week, Ontario PC leader Tim Hudak pitched Toronto as a city "falling farther behind." Receding, he said, "from its rightful place as a leader in North America." The notion that Toronto is falling from grace, perhaps much like Montreal did in the seventies, even found its way into the prestigious pages of The Economist.
- Sure, the complaints about Canada's biggest city are mostly valid. City Hall is a mess. Our transit is overburdened. And our unemployment should be lower. But the notion that Toronto is somehow any less great than it used to be isn't just wrong, it's outrageous. The truth is, in spite of its problems, Toronto is booming like never before. And it's not getting the credit it deserves. First of all, no city in the Western Hemisphere is putting up more high-rises than Toronto.
- Ontario's capital also continues to be the most popular city with immigrants by a large margin. And even despite its already great size, Toronto remains one of Canada's fastest growing cities. Between 2006 and 2011, Toronto grew 9.2% to 5.6 million people. Compare that with Calgary, No. 1 at 12.6%, but for only 1.2 million. In other words, in sheer numbers, nobody is growing more than Toronto. Certainly, nobody is catching up.
- But it's not just growth, development and an increasingly spiffy skyline marking Toronto's success. Last year, PricewaterhouseCoopers ranked Toronto 3rd after New York and London on its Cities of Opportunity list. Meanwhile, KPMG said Toronto is the second most business competitive city in the world, up from 6th in 2010. And in April, Startup Genome claimed Toronto is the 4th best tech startup hub, again, in the world.
- Then there are our banks, spreading more and more internationally. While Scotiabank grows in Latin America and China, TD has seen success in the highly competitive U.S. market. That's good news for Canada, but even better for Toronto, where they're headquartered. So it's no wonder The Big Smoke has seen a boom in luxury hotels in recent years.
- Not just economically, but culturally too. Indeed, according to Time magazine, the Toronto International Film Festival is now "the most influential film festival, period." Which is why last year Soho House premiered its latest locale in Toronto. The celebrity-frequented private club, with branches in London, New York, Berlin, Miami and Hollywood, opened alongside TIFF in September. All of which is to say, Toronto is not a sinking ship. In fact, it's sailing marvelously, often through rough water, sure, but that's true of every city.
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Feb 22, 2013
By Trevor Melanson
Read More: http://www.canadianbusiness.com/eco...race-yeah-right-canadas-no-1-city-is-soaring/
In a keynote address at the Toronto Region Board of Trade last week, Ontario PC leader Tim Hudak pitched Toronto as a city "falling farther behind." Receding, he said, "from its rightful place as a leader in North America." The notion that Toronto is falling from grace, perhaps much like Montreal did in the seventies, even found its way into the prestigious pages of The Economist.
- Sure, the complaints about Canada's biggest city are mostly valid. City Hall is a mess. Our transit is overburdened. And our unemployment should be lower. But the notion that Toronto is somehow any less great than it used to be isn't just wrong, it's outrageous. The truth is, in spite of its problems, Toronto is booming like never before. And it's not getting the credit it deserves. First of all, no city in the Western Hemisphere is putting up more high-rises than Toronto.
- Ontario's capital also continues to be the most popular city with immigrants by a large margin. And even despite its already great size, Toronto remains one of Canada's fastest growing cities. Between 2006 and 2011, Toronto grew 9.2% to 5.6 million people. Compare that with Calgary, No. 1 at 12.6%, but for only 1.2 million. In other words, in sheer numbers, nobody is growing more than Toronto. Certainly, nobody is catching up.
- But it's not just growth, development and an increasingly spiffy skyline marking Toronto's success. Last year, PricewaterhouseCoopers ranked Toronto 3rd after New York and London on its Cities of Opportunity list. Meanwhile, KPMG said Toronto is the second most business competitive city in the world, up from 6th in 2010. And in April, Startup Genome claimed Toronto is the 4th best tech startup hub, again, in the world.
- Then there are our banks, spreading more and more internationally. While Scotiabank grows in Latin America and China, TD has seen success in the highly competitive U.S. market. That's good news for Canada, but even better for Toronto, where they're headquartered. So it's no wonder The Big Smoke has seen a boom in luxury hotels in recent years.
- Not just economically, but culturally too. Indeed, according to Time magazine, the Toronto International Film Festival is now "the most influential film festival, period." Which is why last year Soho House premiered its latest locale in Toronto. The celebrity-frequented private club, with branches in London, New York, Berlin, Miami and Hollywood, opened alongside TIFF in September. All of which is to say, Toronto is not a sinking ship. In fact, it's sailing marvelously, often through rough water, sure, but that's true of every city.
.....
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