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They have the same population and same cities!! Which one you like? US or Canadian in this SPLASHDOWN of the lakes. This will be epic
Crime
Schools
Weather
Scenery
Theme parks
Shopping
Politics
Transportation
Airports
Downtown
Economy
Nightlife
Culture
Music
Diversity
Things to do
Things to see
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
10,753 posts, read 23,828,256 times
Reputation: 14670
Toronto vs Chicago....debatable. Take these two cities out of the equation and Ontario has it all over Illinois. Ontario has interesting cities like its national capital Ottawa, Kingston, and Niagara Falls and add to that Great Lakes shoreline from all five major lakes and countless interior lakes and well, no contest for Illinois there.
Illinois without doubt. Illinois' economy is much more dynamic (home of Boeing, Kraft, Sears, etc.). Chicago architecture is world class (Frank Lloyd Wright). Toronto's Lake Ontario lakefront is miserable (dirty and neglected) compared to Chicago's Lake Michigan (beaches, bike paths, beautiful park system). Chicago's commuter rail system is the best and most extensive in North America. Ravinia outdoor music festival in Highland Park for the Chicago Symphony. Nothing like that in Toronto.
Last edited by Richard8656; 04-09-2015 at 08:45 PM..
Illinois without doubt. Illinois' economy is much more dynamic (home of Boeing, Kraft, Sears, etc.). Chicago architecture is world class (Frank Lloyd Wright). Toronto's Lake Ontario lakefront is miserable (dirty and neglected) compared to Chicago's Lake Michigan (beaches, bike paths, beautiful park system). Chicago's commuter rail system is the best and most extensive in North America. Ravinia outdoor music festival in Highland Park for the Chicago Symphony. Nothing like that in Toronto.
Ontario is a pretty big place. You are comparing Chicago to Toronto. In terms of the outdoors and scenery, it isn't even a contest. Ontario wins by a landslide. From a GDP standpoint, Ontario and Illinois are virtually equal at roughly $650b according to most recent figures. Also, I've never heard anyone include the words "dynamic" and "Sears" in the same sentence. At least, not since 1962.
Anyways:
Crime - Ontario
Schools - Ontario for elementary - high school, tie for post secondary (for Ont. with University of Toronto, Western, Guelph and Wilfrid Laurier, among others) (for Illinois Northwestern, U of Chicago, U of Illinois)
Weather - Tie
Scenery - Ontario
Theme parks - Illinois, Six Flags beats Canada's Wonderland and they both have about the same access to nearby Cedar Point
Shopping - Illinois
Politics - Mixed bag, I'll say neither, haha
Transportation - Illinois
Airports - Illinois
Downtown - Illinois
Economy - Illinois
Nightlife - Ontario
Culture - Completely bias here, but Ontario for me
Music - Illinois
Diversity - Ontario
Things to do - Ontario, Chicago I feel beats Toronto 1:1, but after the primary cities Illinois doesn't have much to offer to compare to Ottawa, Hamilton, heck even Barrie, Algonqiun Park, virtually all of Northern Ontario and Georgian Bay for outdoors
Things to see - Same as above.
Which one comes out on top? Ontario. 8 - 7. Argue away.
Illinois without doubt. Illinois' economy is much more dynamic (home of Boeing, Kraft, Sears, etc.). Chicago architecture is world class (Frank Lloyd Wright). Toronto's Lake Ontario lakefront is miserable (dirty and neglected) compared to Chicago's Lake Michigan (beaches, bike paths, beautiful park system). Chicago's commuter rail system is the best and most extensive in North America. Ravinia outdoor music festival in Highland Park for the Chicago Symphony. Nothing like that in Toronto.
Not to make this a Toronto vs Chicago thing but you're cherry picking things including festivals/events... For example does Chicago have Caribana, Luminato, Nuit Blance, TIFF? Chicago - better waterfront than Toronto for sure but there's more to a city than that lol.. Both are great cities each have things the other doesn't..
Location: East Central Pennsylvania/ Chicago for 6yrs.
2,535 posts, read 3,282,012 times
Reputation: 1483
The only reason Illinois and Ontario would be compared? Is a continue of a Chicago vs. Toronto thread. I mean really? Ontario borders ALL the Great Lakes and the Hudson Bay. Illinois only has Chicago and its northern suburbs on part on one ....Great Lake.
What takes the cake? Is that Ontario covers a land mass of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan? Or close.
So really? Is this that fair? I think it is time to start arguing I mean comparing. Toronto to other cities??? How about Dallas, Houston or San Diego?
The only reason Illinois and Ontario would be compared? Is a continue of a Chicago vs. Toronto thread. I mean really? Ontario borders ALL the Great Lakes and the Hudson Bay. Illinois only has Chicago and its northern suburbs on part on one ....Great Lake.
What takes the cake? Is that Ontario covers a land mass of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan? Or close.
So really? Is this that fair? I think it is time to start arguing I mean comparing. Toronto to other cities??? How about Dallas, Houston or San Diego?
That would actually be a pretty interesting comparison. Ontario vs. a combo of say, Minnesota/Iowa/Wisconsin. That would at least make a roughly equal population comparison and a slightly closer geographic comparison (Ontario would still be nearly double the land area).
The only reason Illinois and Ontario would be compared? Is a continue of a Chicago vs. Toronto thread. I mean really? Ontario borders ALL the Great Lakes and the Hudson Bay. Illinois only has Chicago and its northern suburbs on part on one ....Great Lake.
What takes the cake? Is that Ontario covers a land mass of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan? Or close.
So really? Is this that fair? I think it is time to start arguing I mean comparing. Toronto to other cities??? How about Dallas, Houston or San Diego?
I would agree.. If you don't include Toronto and Chicago (those vs threads have been done to death in C/D) than the comparison is off.. You could probably fit a dozen Illinois' in Ontario with room to spare. Comparing Ontario to a string of States is probably off too - Ontario outside of the southern of it is extremely sparsely populated.. Vast areas of Northern Ontario are uninhabited and extremely remote... There is a Polar Bear Provincial Park in Northern Ontario but you can't drive to it it is so remote- you need fly and get landing permits beforehand. Essentially what I'm saying is Northern Ontario is about as remote a place as you're going to get in the world with hundrends of thousands of lakes you can't drive to, forests and tundra/sub arctic conditions.
As for Toronto comparisons to Dallas, Houston and even I think San Diego those threads have also been done in here as well.
Ontario is a pretty big place. You are comparing Chicago to Toronto. In terms of the outdoors and scenery, it isn't even a contest. Ontario wins by a landslide. From a GDP standpoint, Ontario and Illinois are virtually equal at roughly $650b according to most recent figures. Also, I've never heard anyone include the words "dynamic" and "Sears" in the same sentence. At least, not since 1962.
Anyways:
Crime - Ontario
Schools - Ontario for elementary - high school, tie for post secondary (for Ont. with University of Toronto, Western, Guelph and Wilfrid Laurier, among others) (for Illinois Northwestern, U of Chicago, U of Illinois)
Weather - Tie
Scenery - Ontario
Theme parks - Illinois, Six Flags beats Canada's Wonderland and they both have about the same access to nearby Cedar Point
Shopping - Illinois
Politics - Mixed bag, I'll say neither, haha
Transportation - Illinois
Airports - Illinois
Downtown - Illinois
Economy - Illinois
Nightlife - Ontario
Culture - Completely bias here, but Ontario for me
Music - Illinois
Diversity - Ontario
Things to do - Ontario, Chicago I feel beats Toronto 1:1, but after the primary cities Illinois doesn't have much to offer to compare to Ottawa, Hamilton, heck even Barrie, Algonqiun Park, virtually all of Northern Ontario and Georgian Bay for outdoors
Things to see - Same as above.
Which one comes out on top? Ontario. 8 - 7. Argue away.
Maybe you never heard of Sears much because the company never fully invested in Canada. So for you, it's an unknown quantity up there. Although definitely waning now, it was a powerhouse in Chicago and Illinois, and helped build the state's economy to what it is today.
Nightlife - Ontario? That's pretty laughable when trying to compare it to the Chicago scene. The same goes for diversity. Scenery Ontario? You don't know the national park system in Southern Illinois. Theme parks? I'm not sure anyone halfway intelligent would make that a key comparison point in deciding where to live.
As far as those comparing physical size, you don't rate quality of life with empty and open space. If so, Alaska would be the winner.
And finally no one talks about the extreme high cost of living in Ontario. Housing is out of this world, along with most other everyday essentials. I see long lines of day-tripping Ontarians waiting at the border to cross into Michigan (similar to Illinois) to go shopping and fill up their gas tanks before heading back.
Then you've got your high GST and HST taxes to deal with while trying to afford housing and everyday expenses. No wonder most people live paycheck-to-paycheck there per recent CBC report.
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I mean comparing. 
Toronto to other cities??? How about Dallas, Houston or San Diego?
