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I second that, post was spot on. I have to admit I kind of got bored with Toronto since I lived there for so long, but find myself appreciating it more and more every visit. It really is a city in transition and anyone should be able to appreciate that.
The only part of the post I dont really agree with is the Asian section of grocery stores not being common place. Everyone is jumping on the Asian/Ethnic food bandwagon. I swear 1/4th of every mainstream supermarket I go into now is dedicated to "International Foods"
I second that, post was spot on. I have to admit I kind of got bored with Toronto since I lived there for so long, but find myself appreciating it more and more every visit. It really is a city in transition and anyone should be able to appreciate that.
The only part of the post I dont really agree with is the Asian section of grocery stores not being common place. Everyone is jumping on the Asian/Ethnic food bandwagon. I swear 1/4th of every mainstream supermarket I go into now is dedicated to "International Foods"
I believe Botti was specifically referring to the Chinese sections of the super market, not just international foods. Being ethnic Chinese, there is a pretty distinct difference between Chinese foods offered in your typical "international foods" section in the likes of Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Roche Bros (which is usually mixed up with Thai, Indian, etc.) and the dedicated Chinese sections in a lot of TO grocery markets.
I believe Botti was specifically referring to the Chinese sections of the super market, not just international foods. Being ethnic Chinese, there is a pretty distinct difference between Chinese foods offered in your typical "international foods" section in the likes of Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Roche Bros (which is usually mixed up with Thai, Indian, etc.) and the dedicated Chinese sections in a lot of TO grocery markets.
I am not Chinese, so I defer to you on this.
I guess I just approach all these "ethnic" (I hate that word because all food is ethnic food) food isles with suspicion because they are usually filled with watered down versions that make it easily accessible to people not of that particular group. Whenever I walk down a Caribbean or West Indian food isle in Toronto, NYC, London, Boston, all I see are ingredients I would never dream of cooking with if I wanted to make an authentic meal. So I guess I erroneously assumed it was the same for every community.
I guess I just approach all these "ethnic" (I hate that word because all food is ethnic food) food isles with suspicion because they are usually filled with watered down versions that make it easily accessible to people not of that particular group. Whenever I walk down a Caribbean or West Indian food isle in Toronto, NYC, London, Boston, all I see are ingredients I would never dream of cooking with if I wanted to make an authentic meal. So I guess I erroneously assumed it was the same for every community.
I usually count a place as somewhat authentic when I can see brands directly imported from China, Asia, or the country where the food originated from. Also, there must be certain must-haves. For example, if a self-proclaimed "Chinese food section" doesn't even carry the ingredients to make Mongolian hotpot or the most popular hot chili spices directly imported from China, then it probably isn't very authentic. And no, just having a few brands of soy sauce and instant noodles won't pass. I'd be happy to hear perspectives from Ed and people from other ethnic groups on how they shop
I agree with you that a lot of the stuff is pretty watered down to make it accessible to people from other ethnicities. Makes sense as we are afterall in a western country.
So Buffalo and New York are alike because they are located in the same country and same state...
Not "alike" but "more alike" definitely. Canada and U.S. are like different planets politically alone so any two cities in each country will be more alike than one in the opposing country.
The fact we're comparing Vancouver and Toronto even makes the similarities greater.
Not "alike" but "more alike" definitely. Canada and U.S. are like different planets politically alone so any two cities in each country will be more alike than one in the opposing country.
The fact we're comparing Vancouver and Toronto even makes the similarities greater.
That's because the OP arbitrarily chose Vancouver out of all places for you to vote on.
Vancouver and Calgary are also located in the same country. Are they similar as well? Tell us several points that actually makes Vancouver more like Toronto, than the myriad of other choices out there.
Ok so I haven't yet been to both cities (just a disclosure so you guys don't pounce on me if I get this totally wrong), but I can think of one thing that look similar between TO and CHI in pictures.
The similaritiy I have observed between the two in photos is the type of historic industrial and residential architecture from the turn of the last century.
It looks like there is a lot of red brick construction. So for me (a SoCal resident) this is very striking because there is very little red brick construction in the LA area. Chicago and TO look like they have lots of neighborhoods with greystones (or brownstones?), brick apartment buildings, and lots of row houses. That's just what I have seen from zooming into random streets in both cities on google maps. I think they are very attractive neighborhoods.
That's about all I can think of though for urban construction similarities.
I have heard others say that TO is more "British" in some ways because you see some historic references to the empire/commonwealth on old buildings. Not sure if that's true.
While I hear others describe Chicago as "all american" because it's in the interior of the country.
I am at a loss to explain this one though because I feel that all of CHI's European immigrants helped shape the character and built form of the city lol.
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