Toronto's Identity

[Cancerous]

What exactly is it about Toronto that makes it unique?
Could someone explain the “Toronto Experience†or describe the Torontonian atmosphere or vibe?
What is the feeling or impression that leaves people – be them locals or visitors – aware that they are in Toronto and that no where else in the world feels quite the same? What is the one thing that is ours and for us to claim?

I’m not talking about physical landmarks like the CN Tower – which will sadly not even be the highest free standing structure in the world after Burj Dubai will be completed in 2009 – but rather about the intangible and abstract character or personality that you get after visiting a city like New York, London, or Paris.
Even domestically in Canada, almost every city has its own image or has enough heritage on the basis of which to build its own image. Vancouver is renowned for its active, outdoorsy lifestyle and relaxed, laid back attitude. Calgary is famous for its rugged, cowboy-like traditions. Montreal is known for its French heritage. Halifax is distinct for its maritime history and Celtic feel.

Many people say that what makes Toronto unique is its ethnic diversity, considering that almost half its population is born outside Canada – the highest proportion in the world, second only to Miami.
But is our ethnic diversity unique? Is it any different from other multicultural cities in North America? In an increasingly globalized world, numerous countries have opened their doors to immigration; it is hardly a distinguishing factor anymore.
Both in terms of history and magnitude, I think we can all agree that our Little Italy is no match for New York City’s and our Chinatown is incomparable to San Francisco’s.


So what is Toronto’s identity?

 

[adma]

Does this help?

 

[MetroMan]

That's a very eloquent post Cancerous. I'm in no shape to write something to match (just woke up after a long night of partying) but I think Adma "said" it right: neighborhoods.

Toronto has the most unique neighborhoods with their own individual identity and somehow, they coexist in harmony right next to one another. It is a unique experience indeed to walk through these neighborhoods and know that one has arrived in a new one barely without transition.

 

[urbandreamer]

Toronto is like America except....

 

[urbandreamer]

The old city of Toronto's image?




Basically, a mixed bag, a city of contrasts. Old and new, ugly and green, Portuguese and Wasp, blah blah blah.

But, most people's view of Toronto is probably a sea of traffic, highrise slabs surrounded by dreary suburbs, ethnic villages surrounding a Euro-centric core. A once clean Victorian town falling apart?

 

[Jayomatic]

This is what i think Toronto's identity is.

A city that no matter the idea, the mightly dollar always outweighs imagination.

 

[oreoshack]

But, most people's view of Toronto is probably a sea of traffic, highrise slabs surrounded by dreary suburbs, ethnic villages surrounding a Euro-centric core. A once clean Victorian town falling apart?

The suburbs are not that dreary, you just have to give them a chance. Just curious have you ever lived in the suburbs?

 

[urbandreamer]

Yes! I've lived in Mississauga (2 different locations) and suburban Waterloo, ontario. The suburbs are dreary. (Well maybe chilling in the backyard of a well-treed, 1970's or older bungalow home is okay, but the commercial strips and industrial strips are dreary.)

Toronto's new summer ad campaign: Toronto Unlimited Sprawl.

 

[Mystic Point]

It's a sprawling shabby mess. Start at Queens Park and spread outward in all directions.

 

[freshcutgrass]

They say a rolling stone gathers no moss. "Identity" being the proverbial moss in this scenario of course...with Toronto being the rolling stone.

Toronto has gone from the least multicultural city in the world...to the most multicultural city in the world over the last 60 years or so. Very little (physical, social, cultural or demographic) has remained static long enough to acquire an "identity".

And to be honest, I'll take that over having a sandwich identified with the city.

Not that this explanation really matters, as the original question was obviously rhetorical.

 

[Cancerous]

That's a very eloquent post Cancerous. I'm in no shape to write something to match (just woke up after a long night of partying) but I think Adma "said" it right: neighbourhoods. Toronto has the most unique neighbourhoods with their own individual identity and somehow, they coexist in harmony right next to one another. It is a unique experience indeed to walk through these neighbourhoods and know that one has arrived in a new one barely without transition.

First off, thanks for your comment.
I did think about neighbourhoods and Toronto definitely has them, however, I hardly think it’s a unique quality.
Let’s take New York City for example; it has Greenwich Village, SoHo, Chelsea, Tribeca, Harlem, and Lower East Side, just to name a few! Mind you, all of these neighbourhoods are in Manhattan alone, one of five boroughs in the city. Each one has its own attractions, landmarks, character, style, demographic… etc.
In Paris, it’s the same story but with 20 different arrondissements!
Even in a city that is relatively comparable to Toronto, Chicago is said to have over 50 neighbourhoods within its borders.

Neighbourhoods are bound to happen in almost any city that contains different cultural ethnicities and/or a population in the millions, and as you know, there is no shortage of those around.

Basically, a mixed bag, a city of contrasts

Sure, but all the cities I mentioned have drastic contrasts as well.

Old and new

Don’t you think that’s just a simple, natural outcome as a result of the passing of time and the preservation of historical landmarks?
Plus, mixing the old and the new can be found everywhere. The Swiss Re tower and St. Paul’s Cathedral in London is a good example (I’m assuming that you meant architectural styles). Barcelona is another city with cutting-edge modern buildings getting as much attention as the ones built back in the 17th century.

Portuguese and Wasp

Sure, but that’s a result of multiculturalism, which as demonstrated above, is not uniquely a Torontonian phenomenon.

Very little (physical, social, cultural or demographic) has remained static long enough to acquire an "identity".

So you are suggesting that Toronto does not have an identity of its own, correct?

 

[freshcutgrass]

So you are suggesting that Toronto does not have an identity of its own, correct?

No...you are.

What I'm suggesting, is that you are wasting too much time defining Toronto by what it isn't, rather than what it is.

Until you figure out this flaw in your reasoning, you aren't going to get it.

 

[adma]

First off, thanks for your comment.
I did think about neighbourhoods and Toronto definitely has them, however, I hardly think it’s a unique quality.
Let’s take New York City for example; it has Greenwich Village, SoHo, Chelsea, Tribeca, Harlem, and Lower East Side, just to name a few! Mind you, all of these neighbourhoods are in Manhattan alone, one of five boroughs in the city. Each one has its own attractions, landmarks, character, style, demographic… etc.
In Paris, it’s the same story but with 20 different arrondissements!
Even in a city that is relatively comparable to Toronto, Chicago is said to have over 50 neighbourhoods within its borders.

However, I'd suggest that it ain't just the neighbourhoods, it's the way that you use and exist within them--which is why I posted a picture of ol' Janey there. It's a way of telling you that something subtler's involved.

Look at it this way: Toronto's neighbourhoods might not have the obvious potboiler "uniqueness" a la New York-London-Paris-Munich that Sunday Painter Urbanists desire. However, the truest Torontonian, using his/her hometown experience, are better prepared to behold (and judge) those potboiler tourist-attraction neighbourhoods as real and actual neighbourhoods, rather than as potboiler tourist attractions.

So you are suggesting that Toronto does not have an identity of its own, correct?

And that kind of questioning, my friends, is the ultimate mark of the Sunday Painter Urbanist.

 

[Hydrogen]

What exactly is it about Toronto that makes it unique?

Toronto occupies its own unique place on the planet. No other city inhabits exactly the same geographical space. in addition, the city has its own origins, history and composition. Toronto is not Paris, nor is Paris Toronto.

Canada, almost every city has its own image or has enough heritage on the basis of which to build its own image. Vancouver is renowned for its active, outdoorsy lifestyle and relaxed, laid back attitude. Calgary is famous for its rugged, cowboy-like traditions. Montreal is known for its French heritage. Halifax is distinct for its maritime history and Celtic feel.

But going beyond Canada, there are many other cities that are renown for their active, outdoorsy lifestyle, as there are other cities with a so-called rugged cowboy-like traditions (which is not exactly the overwhelming experience in Calgary these days). Montreal is hardly unique for the language spoken there, and Halifax is hardly unique for either the perceived Maritime or Celtic feel.

 

[MisterF]

Toronto's new summer ad campaign: Toronto Unlimited Sprawl.

In the context of North America, that description is inaccurate at best.

Toronto has a British influenced old city with a North American skyscraper core and Ontario style suburbs, which are basically like American suburbs but denser and with high rise clusters all over the place. It's one of the fastest changing cities in the developed world, a city that's always looking to the future and what could be, sometimes at the expense of the present. It's the cultural and financial capital of Canada, a country that's suspicious of cities. Toronto's full of immigrants from all over the world who all mix together better than basically any city in the world. It's a modern city without ever having been the centre of an empire. It celebrates streetlife and pedestrians but sometimes isn't sure how to do it.