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Midwest maybe by way of chicago perhaps but not really anywhere else there. Torontonians like to think of toronto as a mini-new york, so you will rarely if ever here Torontonians compare themselves to any city in the mid-west maybe again aside from chicago.
The comment about having a more mid-western personality may be correct or more so maybe a couple decades ago.
I've lived in both Toronto and Chicago. I consider Toronto very simiar to Chicago, and, as such, with a lifestyle and personality more "Midwestern USA" than "Northeastern USA."
I'd have to agree completely with that. I find the NEastern American cities are very, Yankee in character and that is completely absent from Toronto.
Also it seems that almost all American cities Neastern or midwest have a noticable AfroAmerican culture going on and there is none of that in Toronto. There is a west Indies black culture in Toronto though. Toronto is also missing that Mexican culture and influence that most American cities have.
As you've never been to Toronto and you have an interest i've got a great idea for your next vacation, how about a trip to Toronto, you'll love it
To me its a large Canadian city that probably has a bit of Chicago and a bit of NY but nobody i know who lives there has ever compared the city to any place else,its just Toronto..
I'm from Chicago originally, lived in Toronto and now live in New York. Toronto is definitely more Midwestern in both physical appearance and mentality. It is a lot like Chicago - people are very polite in both places, the cities are as clean as a whistle, they're both set on lakes and both have impressive skylines.
Contrary to popular opinion, Toronto doesn't remind me of New York at all. Sure, it's diverse and there's Dundas Square, but that's not enough. New York is about a vibe created by many different elements that don't exist together in that many places in the world, aside from maybe Tokyo and London.
Toronto is really quite a distance from New England. I'd have to say there are very few similarities between Toronto and Boston.
I think the large Canadian cities, and the Canadian regions in general, have more in common with the areas of the USA that are directly south of them and more or less adjacent. The Canadian Maritimes are a lot like New England. Montreal is sort of a unique exception, then Ottawa and Toronto have a lot in common with the American area around the Great Lakes (um, except for Detroit -- perhaps another unique exception...) Calgary has a lot in common culturally with the areas south of it, so I hear, and Vancouver has a lot in common with the Washington and Oregon region. Some geographers have been making this same observation for a long time. I think there's a movement to join BC with WA and OR, I can't remember the hypothetical name of this entity though...
I agree that these comparison might have some value, but basically Canada is not the US, the culture and historical context of the development of Toronto is different, as are most cities. Quite different from Buffalo. The core of Toronto share something with NYC, although the most frenetic neighbourhood in downtown Toronto can't match most neighbourhoods in Manhattan.
I think it was Peter Ustinov who called Toronto, "New York run by the Swiss". That's changed since the city is much more mutliculture than it was 30 years ago, but the analogy still holds in some ways.
In my opinion Toronto should be viewed as entirely unique rather than similar to this region or that city in the US. Having said that, I once had it put to me that Toronto is what Detroit could have been. I think that's an apt description, at least in terms of cityscape, architecture, layout, etc.
Having said that, I think Toronto fits better into the Northeastern US than Midwestern. This place just doesn't have a Midwestern feel, though I can't explain why.
When I visited Chicago I found the resemblance to Toronto to be present, but not so much in the way of cityscape. Chicago has more prominent and intricate buildings owing to their mentality after the Great Chicago Fire. However the street scape and space found in Chicago did remind me more of Toronto, albeit still more dense. I haven't yet made it to NYC, but a simple look at the level of concentration and cityscape shows that it's a much different city than Toronto in those regards. For me the defining characteristic of Chicago was the 'L' and the very industrial look of many parts of the city, which is again different from Toronto. In terms of social similarities I definitely found that Chicago was very Torontonian compared to the surrounding areas, not a trait I would expect to find in NYC.
I'd say that in terms of aesthetics Toronto is more of a hybrid between Chicago and Pacific cities like Vancouver. Toronto has a huge amount of new growth occurring, and the direction that the new architecture is heading isn't something that I really associate with the big American cities. But again, that's delving more into aesthetics than culture.
I say this as one who has only visited, but I agree its hard to compare Toronto to a US region. It is Canada, with a different history, social policies, immigration patterns, etc.
Toronto does not have the down-and-out feeling of most of the Great Lakes region - I found it economically vibrant, safe, healthful and cosmopolitan to an extent (the most diverse city in North America, after all). I find it hard to compare to the Northeast because I didn't find the tough culture one sometimes encounters in the northeast (NYC, Boston, Providence, etc. - although perhaps I stereotype from limited experience?). I found a general Canadian friendliness. (Yes, I know many people elsewhere in these forums have criticized Canadians for being mild-mannered and conversational as opposed to boisterous - but I found people to be quite congenial - and there is a whole thread of guys complaining they never meet women on public transit or in nightclubs in Toronto).
One thing hat struck me was the cultural impact of Toronto being the safest city in North America - indeed, safer than many smaller cities in the U.S. - is that I didn't find people to be very afraid of strangers. I also found there to be a distinct international influence, including European. Perhaps Toronto is a bit like Chicago if one had to compare to a US city? I agree the west coast comparison could be made too - a much larger version of Portland? Anyways, just my impressions as a visitor to Canada on several occasions.
I think it was Peter Ustinov who called Toronto, "New York run by the Swiss". That's changed since the city is much more mutliculture than it was 30 years ago, but the analogy still holds in some ways.
Steve Martin, in a 30 Rock episode, described Toronto as "like NY without all the stuff", having lived in NY, the NE and Detroit (many years back), its most closest to Chicago in look and feel, but not exactly like Chicago. It definitely does not have a NE feel. the one thing I did not like were the smog / heat allerts we'd on occassion get in the summer (1-2 days per year)
Chicago and Toronto feel very similar to me. Both big modern cities on a grid on a great lake.
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