Cambridge, MA vs Mississauga, ON (better, largest, compared, America)

[edwardsyzzurphands]

Cambridge and Mississauga are both the largest Second cities outside of the world renowned cities of Boston and Toronto.

Which would you put ahead in these categories:

- Economy:
- Natural Setting:
- Parks:
- Education:
see room sticky
- Streetscapes:
- Diversity:
- Food:
- Nightlife:
- Culture:
- Public Transportation:
- Safety:

Also any additional categories feel free to add.

[Champ le monstre du lac]

Wow! Looked up Mississauga. I knew it was a suburb of Toronto, I didn't realize it was the largest mega suburb in North America. Right up there with San Jose. It has a population of 738,000. That's about the same as both Boston and Cambridge combined! Judging by photos it looks like it was built in a hurry.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississauga



Mississauga Skyline (http://www.flickr.com/photos/iduke/5795556190/ - broken link) by Duke 360° (http://www.flickr.com/people/iduke/ - broken link), on Flickr


Mississauga Skyline (http://www.flickr.com/photos/gels22/6312119940/ - broken link) by Angeles Antolin (http://www.flickr.com/people/gels22/ - broken link), on Flickr


#Mississauga skyline is changing (http://www.flickr.com/photos/gosia/5543982565/ - broken link) by Margaret Antkowski (http://www.flickr.com/people/gosia/ - broken link), on Flickr


Mississauga (http://www.flickr.com/photos/21539050@N07/4006031465/ - broken link) by downfall971 (http://www.flickr.com/people/21539050@N07/ - broken link), on Flickr

[Average Fruit]

I hate you for this thread, lol.

In all seriousness, Cambridge in All categories except for diversity and maybe skyline.

[edwardsyzzurphands]

Originally Posted by Average Fruit

I hate you for this thread, lol.

In all seriousness, Cambridge in All categories except for diversity and maybe skyline.

I think some people will be very surprised as to how large 'Sauga is when they look into it though (I know you already know because your from TO)

It is stealing jobs from Toronto at a pretty decent pace too, kind of how Cambridge has its own self sufficient economy as well.

[Champ le monstre du lac]

Originally Posted by edwardsyzzurphands

I think some people will be very surprised as to how large 'Sauga is when they look into it though (I know you already know because your from TO)

It is stealing jobs from Toronto at a pretty decent pace too, kind of how Cambridge has its own self sufficient economy as well.

Mississauga or 'Sauga' (is that what they call it? how cute) looks like Bellevue, WA and Houston had a love child. Look...it has freeways like Houston, Hwy 401 at its widest point in Mississauga is 18 lanes! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:401_widest_point.jpg). That's quite a contrast to Toronto which I know has an urban planning model and history more like the Northeastern cities of the US with density well like Boston or Cambridge, though even Toronto itself is quite a bit more post modern than Boston.

In seriousness I can't compare 'Sauga" with a city like Cambridge. Though Cambridge has its own distinction it's very much woven into the urban fabric of Boston, where 'Sauga" is an edge city and suburban and sprawly contrast to the city of Toronto. It seems like it would be better compared to well... Bellevue, or Mesa, AZ or even San Jose maybe. I can see from wiki that it has a high tech base with Microsoft and HP having operations there. It also looks like a fairly big distribution center for many large industries (hence the huge freeways?). I can only imagine that people in Toronto probably have strong opinions about it.

[Mr. Joshua]

Missi-what?

[Alberta_Born]

I lived in Mississauga for 15 years, and my mom still lives there. It is mostly suburban, but well-planned suburban with good public transit (nearly 24 hours on a couple routes), parks everywhere, ample sidewalks, and extensive bike/rollerblading paths winding through the neighbourhoods, alongside parks and ravines, and running under major arterials. With over 700,000 people in 111 square miles (including the airport), it has a population density just slightly less than Seattle and Minneapolis, over a much larger geographic area than those cities.