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No, you're lying. I never said that. I don't like downtown Chicago because it is too sterile, bland, antiseptic, and predictable. It lacks the eclectic, funky grit you find in other downtowns. It has very, very little in the way of nudey bars, adult book/video stores, head shops, massage parlours, indy record stores that still sell vinyl and DJ equipment, poster stores, 24-hour cybercafes, indy bookstores, army surplus stores, hole-in-the-wall 24-hour greasy spoon diners, independent vintage clothing stores, Chinese restaurants open until 3am or later 7 nights a week, and even food carts (that last one was particularly puzzling). You know, the kind of eclectic, colourful character that makes a place interesting to visit. Downtown Chicago is all about national/international chains that can be found in any major city or suburban mall.
Downtown Chicago does have plenty of great skyscraper architecture. But you can only stare at a building for 2-3 minutes before that gets boring. The fact that a McDonald's location is considered one of downtown Chicago's "attractions" says it all.
I want even mention the murder rate. Oftentimes clean and sterile downtowns are associated with very safe cities with very low violent crime/murder rates. Such is not the case with Chicago. The city has over 200 murders already this year!
You seem bitter. Beyond that, it sounds like you've never stepped foot outside the Michigan Ave., Adams, Franklin, Wacker boundary. You really don't seem to know Chicago very well. Did you pass through for one day. That seems like the knowledge you have. Or, did you have a very hard time in Chicago which may explain your negativity and tunnel vision?
Trimac...you've never been to Chicago..you said it a few posts ago. Why are you making these ridiculous claims to a city you have never been to?
Because he's Trimac20, he goes around making these ridiculous claims about every single city whether he's been to them, driven through them ( without stopping), or never been. I live in NYC and Chicago is my second favorite city (maybe tie with SF) and my standards are much higher than Trimac's so that's saying something of Chicago.
He's been throwing around his irrational generalizations for over 3 years now.
I started this thread to ask whether one thinks Toronto is similar to Chicago or Philadelphia. There is no point in bringing in New York City and Los Angeles in it at all.
If one has no idea what Toronto is like, there is no point in participating in the discussion. There are plenty of other posts where you can argue about Chicago vs New York or LA.
You seem bitter. Beyond that, it sounds like you've never stepped foot outside the Michigan Ave., Adams, Franklin, Wacker boundary. You really don't seem to know Chicago very well. Did you pass through for one day. That seems like the knowledge you have. Or, did you have a very hard time in Chicago which may explain your negativity and tunnel vision?
Wrong. I'm including the "Magnificent Mile" in my description. Don't get me wrong, the Magnificent Mile is excellent for what it is - a high-end shopping district. Every major city's downtown should have an area like the Magnificent Mile. But it's not adding a colourful, funky, slightly-worn eclecticism to the downtown. That's not the job of the high-end shopping district. My problem is downtown Chicago doesn't have the areas that do add what I describe.
The Loop is mostly a place for people to work, with a few exceptions (theater district, Millenium Park, the library, etc.). This upsets you greatly for some reason, but you could have found all that other stuff (wow, head shops! how interesting!) in Chicago if you had actually looked. May I recommend getting a map next time?
Nice try pal, but I wasn't including just the Loop. I was including all the way to the north end of N. Michigan Avenue. That's as far as downtown Chicago stretches to the North. Nowhere did I say I was talking about the Loop alone.
Having been to and/or lived in all three, here is my assessment.
Toronto = Cleaner version of Philadelphia; Smaller version of Chicago. If it were in the states, I believe it would be the only city that would conceivably compete with NYC on urbanity, skyline, streetscape, culture, etc.
No, you're lying. I never said that. I don't like downtown Chicago because it is too sterile, bland, antiseptic, and predictable. It lacks the eclectic, funky grit you find in other downtowns. It has very, very little in the way of nudey bars, adult book/video stores, head shops, massage parlours, indy record stores that still sell vinyl and DJ equipment, poster stores, 24-hour cybercafes, indy bookstores, army surplus stores, hole-in-the-wall 24-hour greasy spoon diners, independent vintage clothing stores, Chinese restaurants open until 3am or later 7 nights a week, and even food carts (that last one was particularly puzzling). You know, the kind of eclectic, colourful character that makes a place interesting to visit. Downtown Chicago is all about national/international chains that can be found in any major city or suburban mall.
Downtown Chicago does have plenty of great skyscraper architecture. But you can only stare at a building for 2-3 minutes before that gets boring. The fact that a McDonald's location is considered one of downtown Chicago's "attractions" says it all.
I want even mention the murder rate. Oftentimes clean and sterile downtowns
are associated with very safe cities with very low violent crime/murder rates. Such is not the case with Chicago. The city has over 200 murders already this year!
Well I'm not lying since I am simply repeating what you said(maybe you she proof read your post). And you sound like a desperate homer posting irrelevant things about your city that no one single person on this forum cares about. Its actually pretty funnu.
Well I'm not lying since I am simply repeating what you said(maybe you she proof read your post). And you sound like a desperate homer posting irrelevant things about your city that no one single person on this forum cares about. Its actually pretty funnu.
This is Queen street west - the busiest commercial street in Toronto. Toronto's retail streets are dominated by small stores like this
I think he likes all these, but I don't think this is what the downtown core of a large city with 2.8M people should look like. I would want them gone and be replaced with beautiful architectures.
This is Bloor/Yorkville area, Toronto's "Magnificent Mile". It is actually 400 meters long. Supposedly the most posh area in town, not too bad, but I don't think it is comparable to Michigan Ave. Not even close.
This is essentially why I think Toronto as a similar size city, is actually far behind Chicago in terms of wealth, beauty, architecture and planning and probably is at par with Philadelphia.
Last edited by botticelli; 05-31-2012 at 07:42 PM..
I think he likes all these, but I don't think this is what the downtown core of a large city with 2.8M people should look like. I would want them gone and be replaced with beautiful architectures.
This is Bloor/Yorkville area, Toronto's "Magnificent Mile". It is actually 400 meters long. Supposedly the most posh area in town, not too bad, but I don't think it is comparable to Michigan Ave. Not even close.
This is essentially why I don't think Toronto as a similar size city, is actually far behind Chicago in terms of wealth, beauty, architecture and planning and probably is at par with Philadelphia.
Few people except for Toronto homers put Toronto on Chicago's level in terms of anything. In Toronto's defense though it is not actually similar size to Chicago, as you suggest. Yes, they have similar populations within city limits, but that's a pretty meaningless statistic. (Within city limits they are both bigger than Paris.) The more meaningful figure is urban area population where Chicago has roughly 4 million more people. For its size Toronto is doing very well. But simply as a function of size it is more on Philly's level IMO than Chicago's.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,544 posts, read 56,037,872 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ERS-One
Different people, different neighborhoods, and unique identities unto themselves.
Could argue that about any city. Sure 'every city is unique' in the technical sense, but like in Animal Farm, some cities are just far more unique than others!
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