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Most Montrealaises and Quebecois will tell you that Montreal is not a "pretty" city - only pretty from an American perspective because of the half-Euro flare and language signs that they don't understand. Many neighborhoods around Montreal, immediately east of downtown, and in South Shore and those in West Island are not what I'd call "pretty" if you define pretty as car-centric suburban strips and half the roads filled with potholes in disrepair.
Quebec City, the provincial capital, is pretty. Many smaller Quebecois towns are pretty. Not Montreal.
Of course Toronto doesn't come anywhere near the economic impact as Chicago, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have a unique character of its own. If you strictly define Toronto as that small patch of buildings around CN Tower and the Financial District dead zone, then by all means.
Well I just got back again from Toronto.Specifically I mean th buildings.Not so much the neighborhoods as those are really nice but nothng special I have not seen anywhere before.
Montreal has many more trees which makes it look niocer as well as more historic buildings.Comparably speaking,those Montrealaisess and Quebecois will say Toronto is worse.
Well I just got back again from Toronto.Specifically I mean th buildings.Not so much the neighborhoods as those are really nice but nothng special I have not seen anywhere before.
Montreal has many more trees which makes it look niocer as well as more historic buildings.Comparably speaking,those Montrealaisess and Quebecois will say Toronto is worse.
Which neighborhoods have you visited thus far, I'm curious?
Most Montrealaises and Quebecois will tell you that Montreal is not a "pretty" city - only pretty from an American perspective because of the half-Euro flare and language signs that they don't understand, along with a confined tourist area around Vieux Port, but try walking 15 minutes east of Vieux Port and come back and tell me it's pretty. Many neighborhoods around Montreal, immediately east of downtown, and in South Shore and those in West Island are not what I'd call "pretty" if you define pretty as car-centric suburban strips and half the roads filled with potholes in disrepair. Even characteristically "pretty" areas like Parc LaFontaine can look somewhat rough around the edges if you look at the state of basic infrastructure.
Quebec City, the provincial capital, is pretty. Many smaller Quebecois towns are pretty. Nice is truly pretty. Marseille is truly pretty. Not Montreal - it is very lively in certain neighborhoods, but neither pretty nor in a state of good repair.
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Yeah, I'd agree.
Montreal's allure is that it is interesting, fun and unique (in the North American context). Not that it's particularly pretty. It does have some very pretty areas IMO, but overall it does not form a "whole" urban experience of which beauty or prettiness is the main takeaway.
In any event, there are very few cities in North America that could be described as pretty. You could probably count them on one or two hands. Quebec City would probably be on the list.
Well I just got back again from Toronto.Specifically I mean th buildings.Not so much the neighborhoods as those are really nice but nothng special I have not seen anywhere before.
Montreal has many more trees which makes it look niocer as well as more historic buildings.Comparably speaking,those Montrealaisess and Quebecois will say Toronto is worse.
Toronto isn't pretty either. Of course, that doesn't make it a standout slouch, since as I mentioned most cities on this continent aren't anything special to look at.
Which neighborhoods have you visited thus far, I'm curious?
I do not pretend to know Toronto well as a resident but.I have been there 3 times and I have stayed in the suburbs of Hamilton ,Brampton and Mississauga.
In the city itself I have friends who live all over .Some in Yorkville,Kennsington Market,Greektown,Little Italy,Distillery District,Bllor West Village,Cabbagetown(because we have one also where I live in Atlanta) and some other places I really cannot remeber by name
I dont just go to tourist areas when i go to a city/I hang where the locals hang.I have many friends there are love the energy of the city but find it uninspiring.
Toronto isn't pretty either. Of course, that doesn't make it a standout slouch, since as I mentioned most cities on this continent aren't anything special to look at.
I disagree.
there are many nice cities.Urbanity does not equal it being pleasant to view
I do not pretend to know Toronto well as a resident but.I have been there 3 times and I have stayed in the suburbs of Hamilton ,Brampton and Mississauga.
In the city itself I have friends who live all over .Some in Yorkville,Kennsington Market,Greektown,Little Italy,Distillery District,Bllor West Village,Cabbagetown(because we have one also where I live in Atlanta) and some other places I really cannot remeber by name
I dont just go to tourist areas when i go to a city/I hang where the locals hang.I have many friends there are love the energy of the city but find it uninspiring.
In Southern Ontario you're not allowed to say that Hamilton is a suburb of Toronto. People in both cities will hate you for it!
I disagree.
there are many nice cities.Urbanity does not equal it being pleasant to view
Oh, but urbanity is not the same as "prettiness".
I still maintain that in North America very few cities offer consistent beauty over a fairly large portion of their footprint. Even Quebec City is borderline IMO. Which gives you an idea of how I think.
I will say though that Montreal does have more classic urban grandeur than Toronto does. In this sense, Montreal might even be said to be more Chicago-esque (and even New York-esque) than Toronto.
This is obviously due to the fact that Montreal was Canada's largest city for over 100 years and was destined early on to be the country's biggest city.
Also, Toronto for a long time had a more Scots-Presbyterian culture and philosophy unfer which stuff that was seen as too ostentatious was likely frowned upon.
I would disagree. Americans and their cities and places tend to be more iconic and well-known for what they are and where they are from because of the American entertainment mega-machine.
Toronto doesn't have anything as closely identified with the city like the Blues Brothers, for example.
The Toronto equivalent to the Blues Brothers movie would be the 1983 comedy Strange Brew starring the wildly popular SCTV characters Bob and Doug McKenzie. The Mckenzie brothers were a huge cultural phenomenon in the early 1980s, every bit as popular and well known as the Blues Brothers.
The Scott Pilgrim series of graphic novels and feature film was also a pop-cultural phenomenon that was closely identified as being extremely Toronto-centric.
A lot of the comments in this thread seem to be extremely U.S.A. centric. Not everyone around the world sees or thinks about the contributions of these three cities the same way as people who were born and bred within the self-contained cultural lens of the U.S.A. do, you know!
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