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It is not about "catching up". It is about setting a higher bar and attempting to achieve it. Not being able to catch up is not an excuse for not learning from good example.
We are diverse, but not as diverse as NYC or London just because "the foreign born population" is high. Let's not kid ourselves. I have shown stats regarding how many languages are regularly spoken in Toronto vs. NYC and we are not even close. This foreign born stats is less meaningful as apparently if 90% of Torontonian are born in China then all of the sudden we are the most diverse city in the world?
I never said we are AS diverse as NYC. However, outside of NYC the number of ethnicities and cultures we have is extraordinary. Therefore why not take advantage of this.
I agree however, that we should do more to develop and market our attributes. The things we have in Toronto that are great (that you can't bring yourself to say to save your life) we just take for granted that people know about them.. They don't and that is our fault for not doing more.
There are two different things at play here. Toronto and any other city should be the best city it can be and obviously things can be learned from other cities.
But this is mostly limited to bricks and mortar.
A city's personality is different. Just because New York has Times Square does not mean that Toronto needs a mini version of it at Yonge-Dundas.
Paris doesn't have a Times Square or a Piccadilly Circus. Neither does Rome.
This is what I meant in my post about (real) world class cities NOT being preoccupied about being world class.
They just do their own thing.
I normally agree with your opinions and this is no exception.
By the way, Dundas Square hardly reminds anyone of Times Square, if that was the intention. And there is nothing so iconic about Times Square either. I have seen at least a dozen public square that are definitely more interesting than Times Square.
That being said, cities do share a lot in common in terms of what they want to achieve: convenient transportion, safety, well planned streets and neighbourhoods, good achitecture (quality > quanitity), interesting entertainment venues, diverse and innovative restaurants. We may do different things, but more often than not, the goal is similar.
It is a beautiful city and great for nature/recreational people. Stanley Park is a wonderful urban park, UBC has a beautiful campus, Kitsilano is kind of a neat neighborhood but given housing costs there (and not particularly high salaries) it doesn't seem worth it to me. Culturally it is OK and far behind Toronto.
With regard to diversity, I like that about our city but whether it's "as" diverse or even "more" diverse than New York or London - who cares? They're all diverse and it doesn't matter if it scores 9.8 or 9.9 on the "diversity scale."
(My feeling is we're a bit behind NYC and about the same as London).
With regard to diversity, I like that about our city but whether it's "as" diverse or even "more" diverse than New York or London - who cares? They're all diverse and it doesn't matter if it scores 9.8 or 9.9 on the "diversity scale."
(My feeling is we're a bit behind NYC and about the same as London).
true.
Most large north American cities are incredible diverse. Toronto is one of them. I never understood all this hype about Toronto's diversity, as if it is a Toronto thing or Toronto does it so much better than others.
With regard to diversity, I like that about our city but whether it's "as" diverse or even "more" diverse than New York or London - who cares? They're all diverse and it doesn't matter if it scores 9.8 or 9.9 on the "diversity scale."
(My feeling is we're a bit behind NYC and about the same as London).
Absolutely - when you reach a certain level the just noticeable difference becomes harder to tell. Toronto is simply recognized for its ethnic diversity because this is what people see when them come here... and this should absolutely be capitalized. We also have one of the largest gay populations in the world so lets go out and celebrate this diversity and let the world know this is what we are!
true.
Most large north American cities are incredible diverse. Toronto is one of them. I never understood all this hype about Toronto's diversity, as if it is a Toronto thing or Toronto does it so much better than others.
I don't know if I'd say "most" large North American cities are incredibly diverse. The really diverse cities/metros in North America seem to be New York, Toronto, Los Angeles, the Bay Area and maybe the Washington DC area. Montreal, Boston, Vancouver, Chicago and Miami I think would be the next tier down.
I don't know if I'd say "most" large North American cities are incredibly diverse. The really diverse cities/metros in North America seem to be New York, Toronto, Los Angeles, the Bay Area and maybe the Washington DC area. Montreal, Boston, Vancouver, Chicago and Miami I think would be the next tier down.
Houston is more diverse than many think but I'm dubious about claims about it being the "most diverse" city in the US. It's nowhere close to NYC. How are they measuring it? It's a lot of Mexicans, African Americans and a smattering of Asian nationalities.
In the U.S. "diversity" is often crudely measured by balancing proportions of 4 "races" - whites, blacks, "Asians" and "Hispanics" - not a measure of the various ethnic groups and nationalities represented.
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