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Ok, I was looking at 2012 stats for the murders. In that year, it was higher than Atlanta, Miami, Chicago and DC. It is good to see that murder rates dropped in 2013, but still very high. But those are not the only stats to contend with. What about rapes and robberies? And what about everything else I pointed out?
I can pull up stats later. Philadelphia did have high rates. The murder rate was down in 2009 and 2010 but jumped up again in 2011 and 2012. After that, the police commissioner was fired and a new one was appointed, and new crime fighting tactics were implemented. Now crime is down across the board both last year and this year and as Philadelphia continues to grow, rebuild, improve neighborhoods and come back from it's post industrial slump into a great 21st century city, I'm confident crime will continue to decrease.
One thing I like about the Philadelphia police department is they post up to date statistics on crime in the city, something other cities don't do.
Overall the murder rate in Philadelphia is down 41% since 2007. Very impressive if you ask me!
Thanks! Agreed! It's obvious that Toronto has more highrises/skyscrapers but they both have great urbanity no doubt. Toronto seems to have more skyscrapers but Philadelphia seems to have more lowrise/rowhome urbanity for a longer stretch.
Toronto actually is ranked number 10 in the world for number of highrise buildings and yeah it doesn't take a lot of careful analysis to determine that the DT core is dense with scrapers
So yes - high rise buildings dot our landscape more than most cities not just in Canada and the U.S but actually in the world. Away from just tall buildings though and in particular Old Toronto it has loads of lowrise urbanity in the form of Victorian and bay and Gable type housing. Additionally streets like Queen Street West, King Street West, College, Dundas St West go on for miles and miles with mixed used residential and commercial urbanity.. I'm sure Philly has more urbanity than shown in pictures but so does T.O. but yeah - both cities are urban in similar and different ways with different architectural styles. We don't do Rowhouse urbanity like American cities such as Philly, Boston, Baltimore, NYC etc urbanity but we do do Victorian urbanity very well in comparison.
Would you please stop thinking this is about you? Its not I replied to a claim I didn't agree with and posted videos and information for others to see and make their own judgement. If you make a claim that a place has better this or better that (or saying it is boring and sterile - hence in particular my vids showing more than just a boring and sterile place) than people are going to respond in the public realm if they don't agree to balance out the ignorance. So why do you think this is about you.... well ok it used to be but i'm telling you!! I'm so over you now lol.. I gave up on that a long long long time ago.. Its ok.. i'm doing just fine now. I cried for awhile but after a visit to Flash on Church I was quickly over it.
As for Philly I have not been to the city.. This is why I cautiously have chosen where I think Toronto exceeds the place but have also been very open to learning about it and taking in its finer points. I've also been clear where I think Philly beats Toronto that you probably missed in with lack of periphery. I also was very clear that the crime stats were detracting from what makes the place interesting in my view and also was very complimentary on many aspects of the city. I even referred to Philadelphia as great so I think it is clear that I am not a Philly basher in the least and highly complimentary.. it is abundantly more appealing to me for architecture, urbanity and history than say a city like Atlanta for example. I can definately see myself visiting Philly (I've been to Penns a few times - Gettysberg and Pittsburgh for instance and loved Gettysberg!). Anyway, with some more careful research on where to go and where to not go for personal preservation I will be going to Philly. I can't see myself going to Atlanta now - especially since Toronto has an Aquarium...
What is this about?YOU?I thought it was an honest discussion in which I gave my honest opinions.
How have I made this about me?
You are so oviously selective in what you chose to quote me that it borders on dishonesty.Just pitiful you need to stoop so low.Im sure your "Wonder Twin "and friends from the "Superhero Hall of Toronto Justice" will chimein any minute to attack me like they always do.
Then it was YOU that brought up Atlanta!
Things dont go you guys way and you get all personal and attack as if your opinion is somehow more valuable.
Fact is I am not a Toronto basher.I have never said anything factually incorrect nor have I not given Toronto props when I felt it was true.Don't really care if it was not enough.
Wow.So Atlanta only has an Aquarium?You CAN see whale sharks in Atlanta.You cant anywjere else in N.America or outside of Asia.
So That it?The only thing to see in Atlanta is an Aquarium??Yet you just said you love Civil War History then you would know Atlanta played a major role in the Civil War.Ever hear of Sherman's March to Sea?
Truthfully there are several cities in North AMerica that there histories and culture are not known world wide.
Does not make them not worth going to.It just is what it is.Every city can't be New Orleans ,Montreal,Savannah or Victoria B.C.
Im sorry but no matter how nice Toronto is,its just not well known to the average person world wide other than is Canada's largest city and its really diverse.
First 2 times I went to Montreal over a decade ago I had never given Toronto much thought before i went to Canada.Only recently after all the development going on am I a little more interested,but Im not going out of my way because I have many close friends there.thats the only reason I am going .
again.
Sure and when one says a city like Toronto is boring and sterile they are opening themselves wide open to a deluge of counter posts including pics, vids and other details to balance it out because it is generally known to be untrue. I also agree that Philly and other American cities in general need to continually do more to deal with violent crime and exploring the root causes of these things.. I myself would be cautious visiting Philly for this reason and Is the reason I have not without more careful research or even the benefit of visiting with a local. Having said that, I really am convinced that for those who live in the city, they are more than aware of how to get around the place and take advantage of all it has to offer without getting shot at or becoming a violent statistic because they have developed local street smarts and common sense.
For most people in Philly it isn't an issue like it would be for an outsider - especially for us Canadians used to the safety of our cities. Personally though, I wouldn't venture a few blocks away from my place at Sherbourne and Wellesley to in and around Mossington Park or the general Dundas and Sherbourne area at night either. I grew up in Jane and Finch but again - I would walk around areas of Driftwood than walk through them.. I know, I've been robbed at knifepoint once in that area as a teenager.
Is Jane and Finch truly the scary place it is made out to be? Never actually been in that area of town.
Don't worry about proving that Toronto is a fun city. I find it hard to believe that someone can go to Chinatown, Kensington Market or the any other grungy, gritty, artsy areas of Toronto and say that the city is boring and sterile. Toronto offers all kinds of experiences, from urban upscale entertainment, to ethnic neighborhoods with all kinds of weird shops and restaurants. IMO, Toronto offers more opportunity for freedom of identity in all aspects (language, clothing, art, food) than Philly. Since I enjoy diversity (in all aspects), I would have 1000x more fun in Toronto than Philadelphia. Philly is a fun town in other ways (for bars, cheap eats and casual entertainment, etc).
Philly is a very provincial city where people are expected to fit into a particular culture/identity. Nothing wrong with that, it is just how it is. Perhaps this particular poster likes cities where people have (or are expected to have) a specific and defined identity, hence his preference for Atlanta as well. (Although Atlanta is losing its provincial nature as well). This is just a guess...
I can pull up stats later. Philadelphia did have high rates. The murder rate was down in 2009 and 2010 but jumped up again in 2011 and 2012. After that, the police commissioner was fired and a new one was appointed, and new crime fighting tactics were implemented. Now crime is down across the board both last year and this year and as Philadelphia continues to grow, rebuild, improve neighborhoods and come back from it's post industrial slump into a great 21st century city, I'm confident crime will continue to decrease.
One thing I like about the Philadelphia police department is they post up to date statistics on crime in the city, something other cities don't do.
Overall the murder rate in Philadelphia is down 41% since 2007. Very impressive if you ask me!
Is Jane and Finch truly the scary place it is made out to be? Never actually been in that area of town.
Don't worry about proving that Toronto is a fun city. I find it hard to believe that someone can go to Chinatown, Kensington Market or the any other grungy, gritty, artsy areas of Toronto and say that the city is boring and sterile. Toronto offers all kinds of experiences, from urban upscale entertainment, to ethnic neighborhoods with all kinds of weird shops and restaurants. IMO, Toronto offers more opportunity for freedom of identity in all aspects (language, clothing, art, food) than Philly. Since I enjoy diversity (in all aspects), I would have 1000x more fun in Toronto than Philadelphia. Philly is a fun town in order ways (for bars, cheap eats and casual entertainment, etc).
Philly is a very provincial city where people are expected to fit into a particular culture/identity. Nothing wrong with that, it is just how it is. Perhaps this particular poster likes cities where people have (or are expected to have) a specific and defined identity, hence his preference for Atlanta as well. (Although Atlanta is losing its provincial nature as well). This is just a guess...
I do.I like cities with partcular history and architecture.
Like I prefer San Antonio over Dallas or Houston to VISIT.
Boring is a word I did use but I meant it in the context that many cities have a lot of thing Toronto has world wide.After you have seen a Koreatown in LA or a Chinatown in NYC,San Fran,D.C.,etc,how different do you thing they are?
Thats what I mean by Boring.I want to seewhat makes Toronto "quitisentially"Toronto not another version of something I have seen everywhere else.This is also why O find it sterile.
Even the architecture in Toronto is underwhelming to me overall.Sure it has some famous landmarks that stand out but every city does.
I'm just not a fan of Victorian stone architecture that dotted all around T.O.
Yes Toronto is one of the most diverse cities in the world.That a negative because it has no idenity of its own but that it is very diverse.
I love dversity and it is found in every major city in some high levels.
Even here in Atlanta I had friends just this weekend over for a cookout for friend from Czech Republic..4 of them are of Indian background(0ne of them is actually from Zambia),2 from China.,2 from Taiwan,A guy also from Czech Republic,3 African Americans, 3 French,! italian ,3 Germans and 7 Americans of various European Heritage.
Is more better?Maybe it is but for most people its not the main reason they move somewhere.Most people just want the presence of diversity,not by measuring by who has more or less.
Philly has like 300 murders a year. Toronto has around 50-60 murders per year with 1 million more people.
End of debate.
You are doing nobody any favors by making such blanket statements without context-certainly not young black males. You cannot compare any American city to Canadian ones on crime and I'm surprised that this has to be constantly explained.
The War on "Drugs" is the longest and costliest war in American history and is fought solely in deindustrialized communities (and mostly minority ones at that)-even though drug usage rates are equal across any demographic-with most studies actually showing people with more means to consume more drugs.
It is a failed policy and only serves to mask the devastating effects of deindustrialization, white flight and inner city black poverty. Of course a drug trade culture persists in communities that were abandoned and left to rot. Instead of addressing the real problem, people like you simplify the crisis by just writing off entire cities when these alarming statistics are national trends in American cities.
In 2013 in Philadelphia 93% of shooting victims were male, 84% black and 72% between the ages of 18-34 while black males make up less than 22% of Philadelphia's population. It is a terrible situation, but we will not be able to move forward if people continue to accept these devastating wars in our inner cities and attacks on our civil liberties ('drug policies' for you euphemism lovers).
Sadly, even in Philadelphia, most pay no attention to the murder and tragedy as it is too easy to ignore. You seem to be on that boat. Personally, it is something I can never ignore for reasons I won't go into now.
Thats what I mean by Boring.I want to seewhat makes Toronto "quitisentially"Toronto not another version of something I have seen everywhere else.This is also why O find it sterile.
Having giving it more thought, I think my issue is more with the "sterile" description of Toronto rather than with it being "boring." Certainly boring is subjective, anything can be boring if you are just not interested in it. So I respect that opinion.
"Sterile," on the other hand, is a unfair description of Toronto. When I think of "sterile" in terms of architecture, I think of the mass manufactured cookie cutter growth prevalent in the South. When I think "sterile" in terms of culture, I think of the bland suburban life rife with shopping malls, little league and summer barbeques.
Maybe "sterile" is referring to the apparent harmonious history and success of the city? It doesn't have a troubled past, or huge problems to overcome. Is that what makes it sterile? Just a thought...
Toronto seems the complete opposite of "sterile" to me. Granted, much of the recent waterfront highrise construction is a bit sterile, but the city has a surprising mix of architecture (both pretty and ugly) and urban decay interlaced with affluence, art, flowers/greenery (think Detroit or Baltimore had they been rich/safe). Toronto is very recognizable. I can tell a street in Toronto a mile away. A sterile place would not have such an identifying factor. In terms of culture, you can pretty much do just anything you can think of, or find any kind of person, so I don't get how it can be sterile.
Having giving it more thought, I think my issue is more with the "sterile" description of Toronto rather than with it being "boring." Certainly boring is subjective, anything can be boring if you are just not interested in it. So I respect that opinion.
"Sterile," on the other hand, is a unfair description of Toronto. When I think of "sterile" in terms of architecture, I think of the mass manufactured cookie cutter growth prevalent in the South. When I think "sterile" in terms of culture, I think of the bland suburban life rife with shopping malls, little league and summer barbeques.
Maybe "sterile" is referring to the apparent harmonious history and success of the city? It doesn't have a troubled past, or huge problems to overcome. Is that what makes it sterile? Just a thought...
Toronto seems the complete opposite of "sterile" to me. Granted, much of the recent waterfront highrise construction is a bit sterile, but the city has a surprising mix of architecture (both pretty and ugly) and urban decay interlaced with affluence, art, flowers/greenery (think Detroit or Baltimore had they been rich/safe). Toronto is very recognizable. I can tell a street in Toronto a mile away. A sterile place would not have such an identifying factor. In terms of culture, you can pretty much do just anything you can think of, or find any kind of person, so I don't get how it can be sterile.
Uhh, what's wrong with summer BBQ's? Trust me, people in cities do BBQ's or grill gatherings as well, be in the backyard of a row house or a rooftop deck on an apartment or condo.
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