Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Does Toronto have cigar-chomping cab drivers who say “Where to, Mac”?
No, but neither does New York, except for maybe in 1950s movies.
As a matter of fact, when I had to take a cab a couple of years ago, I got in and was shocked to find my cab driver was a white guy with no foreign accent. He was actually from Brooklyn. Most NYC cab drivers are Indian, Middle Eastern, or West African.
Hell no. Maybe a Canadian version but the real authentic nyc? Hell no. Way more lively, way more things to do, way more different views, way more different types of people and mindset. Toronto is a big city but really catered to families and foreign investors. More so foreign investors.
Realistically Toronto is bigger than New York. Because I won't include Queen, Bronx, Brooklyn into NYC. They are positively third world or at best feel like some Latin American towns. When people think of NYC outside of North East USA, they mean Manhattan. And Manhattan is smaller in size than Toronto.
I don't mean to say Manhattan isn't important but it isn't the place to be in America anymore. It has long ago moved to coastal Cali. And the booming regions in America are Texas, Florida, even some formerly mid sized towns like Atlanta and Charlotte.
Toronto on the other hand is fast mega sizing. It is the most important city in Canada and is An important financial, technological and cultural centre at the world stage. Not in the top league ATM but will get there in 10-15 years given rapid population growth in Canada and virtually nothing in rest of developed world.( if we discount illegal immigration into America)
Naw man. Not even close. Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx…well, some of the Bronx, lol…are not even close to “third world,” and they are vital parts of the city that are just as fascinating and, in many ways, as iconic as Manhattan. Maybe you visited between 1970 and 1992, when much of the boroughs and large swaths of Manhattan were in really desperate shape, with arson, robbery, depopulation, and poverty highly visible, especially in Brooklyn and the Bronx. If that’s the case, you probably didn’t have a chance to visit them and get a feel for how unique and also quintessentially New York they are.
Furthermore, I don’t know anyone who doesn’t think of the boroughs - well, maybe they forget Staten Island - when they think of New York. Even as a kid, I knew Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx were New York to the core. Brooklyn is increasingly important and has a major nightlife scene and huge cultural cache in many areas, from music to fashion and art. Queens is New York’s most diverse borough, with so many different styles of urban neighborhood represented, while the Bronx is still the heart of the city’s Puerto Rican community, as well as an important landing spot for new immigrants, like Scarborough used to be in Toronto.
And then to say Manhattan isn’t the place to be in America anymore…I don’t think it was ever “the place to be,” but it was and is the most important urban area in the US and one of the three most important in the world, easily. And because Manhattan cannot really be Manhattan without its boroughs, I think your post really misses the ball. New York is unlike any other city on the planet. It may be the greatest city in the Western world, filled with beauty, history, urban grit, massive cultural cache, and one of the two most important homes to the world’s banking and financial systems.
Besides all that, New York has held this title pretty much continually for a hundred years or more, being representative of the American dream to hundreds of millions of people all over the world. I think you might want to revisit the city and your thinking on the city, go check out Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx - get out of mid-town and see The east and west Village, Soho, TriBeCa, the Upper West Side, Upper East Side, Sugar Hill and South Harlem. Manhattan is a city that oozes history on every block. It has a street life that is so vital and effervescent, a style that is unmatched, an attitude that is recognizable everywhere, but also an openness and ever-changing quality that has allowed it to change and remake itself almost every decade without losing that core New Yorkness that my grandfather both embodied and remembered so fondly from the 20’s and Great Depression era.
Toronto ain’t like New York, but neither is anywhere else.
No, they don’t. This is the least similar element between the two cities. NYC developed heavily in the 19th and 20th centuries. Toronto is very new in comparison and has no architectural character. It’s known for being architecturally sterile and ugly - New York is not
Old Toronto is not architecturally sterile or ugly and yes, it does have architectural character - a good example would be it's bay and gable architecture found in many parts of Old T.O among others. Old Toronto actually has quite a good breadth of architectural styles from the 19th century up until today. Now, it obviously is not NYC which is a much bigger, older and more important metropolis but those who dismiss the architecture in Toronto are pushing a nonsensical narrative. They either aren't familiar with the architecture of the city or they have never been here and just listen to 'what they heard.
Outside the core city I wouldn't say Toronto or the metro area is architecturally impressive but then again, most cities' suburban and exurban areas aren't really thrilling.
Some Torontonians are obsessed with being like NYC. It's been that way for decades. I find it kind of sad that they have to look elsewhere for their own identity. I've always thought that Toronto has more in common with Chicago, though there are major differences there, too.
Old Toronto is not architecturally sterile or ugly and yes, it does have architectural character - a good example would be it's bay and gable architecture found in many parts of Old T.O among others. Old Toronto actually has quite a good breadth of architectural styles from the 19th century up until today. Now, it obviously is not NYC which is a much bigger, older and more important metropolis but those who dismiss the architecture in Toronto are pushing a nonsensical narrative. They either aren't familiar with the architecture of the city or they have never been here and just listen to 'what they heard.
Outside the core city I wouldn't say Toronto or the metro area is architecturally impressive but then again, most cities' suburban and exurban areas aren't really thrilling.
I did a walking tour in Toronto and saw some interesting architecture. It's a city of its own with its own character and history. I am a person who worked in Manhattan most of her life. Toronto is not Manhattan, but it doesn't have to be. It's just fine being Toronto.
May have fooled people who watched Suits who are not familiar with either city, but it didn't fool me.
(ScotiaBank and Rogers signs on buildings in the background, too few people on the sidewalks, too few cars on the streets, big medians separating two-way roads, the no-parking and street signs were wrong. Even saw a Queen Street sign in one episode. No Queen Street in Manhattan.)
Some Torontonians are obsessed with being like NYC. It's been that way for decades. I find it kind of sad that they have to look elsewhere for their own identity. I've always thought that Toronto has more in common with Chicago, though there are major differences there, too.
I'd like to know the Torontonians as you say who are obsessed. The most common individuals I hear this from are Americans who say it is the 'New York City' of Canada as they are looking for some sort of Canadian correlate to NYC. Most Torontonians don't have any desire for the label and didn't ask for it. Which makes your accusation of looking for another place for an 'identify' even more specious and ridiculous.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mightyqueen801
I did a walking tour in Toronto and saw some interesting architecture. It's a city of its own with its own character and history. I am a person who worked in Manhattan most of her life. Toronto is not Manhattan, but it doesn't have to be. It's just fine being Toronto.
May have fooled people who watched Suits who are not familiar with either city, but it didn't fool me.
(ScotiaBank and Rogers signs on buildings in the background, too few people on the sidewalks, too few cars on the streets, big medians separating two-way roads, the no-parking and street signs were wrong. Even saw a Queen Street sign in one episode. No Queen Street in Manhattan.)
Was still a good show.
I agree the city has its own history and character and it should be judged by its own merits. Nobody from Toronto wants it to be compared to Manhattan - which is the core of a much larger urban area. It would be like comparing Pittsburgh to Chicago - great cities but obviously one much larger than the other. Just like Pittsburgh wouldn't want the comparison neither would Toronto want to be compared to NYC. Toronto does film for many U.S cities and that is because it has a pretty nifty incentive for production companies to come here and it has the amenities and human capital to support these productions. Nothing wrong with this it is good for the economy.
Toronto has been and continues to be a growth star in North America. Much like the 20th century growth spurt of NYC - the 21st spurt is Toronto's. It doesn't look like this is abating so over time, it'll continue to get bigger, busier and just further define its own self. It doesn't need to copy vibes - it has its own vibe and that will only continue as it grows.
I did a walking tour in Toronto and saw some interesting architecture. It's a city of its own with its own character and history. I am a person who worked in Manhattan most of her life. Toronto is not Manhattan, but it doesn't have to be. It's just fine being Toronto.
May have fooled people who watched Suits who are not familiar with either city, but it didn't fool me.
(ScotiaBank and Rogers signs on buildings in the background, too few people on the sidewalks, too few cars on the streets, big medians separating two-way roads, the no-parking and street signs were wrong. Even saw a Queen Street sign in one episode. No Queen Street in Manhattan.)
Was still a good show.
I think the whole Toronto is NYC started years ago when the actor Peter Ustinov was quoted as saying
"Toronto is a kind of New York operated by the Swiss."
It was meant to be amusing.
Whoops, see that was posted back in 2021, post #135
I think the whole Toronto is NYC started years ago when the actor Peter Ustinov was quoted as saying
"Toronto is a kind of New York operated by the Swiss."
It was meant to be amusing.
Whoops, see that was posted back in 2021, post #135
yeah which was probably a complement on his part but becomes misconstrued and this is the thread we have in typical C/D fashion
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
