Need Info from Torontonians

[ADRI]

Hello,

I chose to write a research piece on the city of Toronto, mainly because I know very little of the area and really want to learn. I am asking of anyone that lives in Toronto, if you could please post particularities dealing with the city, that you feel have shaped or are shaping the way the city operates. This is an urban planning/theory assignment, so the kinds of issues we must write about have to be centered around this theme. For example, for Atlanta, Georgia, the city is formed in the shape of a Y for a very specific (economic reason), or another example is the economic effects of adding the St. Pancras line to the London metro.

Obviously I am not asking for anyone to make the links like the examples, but it would help to know of a few issues/ specifics or particularities associated with the city of Toronto.

Thank you all for your help!

A

 

[greenleaf]

ADRI,

This is not necessarily planning related, but as someone who has lived in two large cities in the US, a peculiar aspect to Toronto (and other Canadian cities) is that by law they cannot add their own sales tax that funnels money back into the city. It (the harmonized sales tax) all goes back to the federal and provincial governments. This, to me, hinders what the city could do in terms of having additional funds at its disposal (i.e. money raised through a small tax in Toronto stays in Toronto and is reinvested in Toronto).

Another aspect that I have found to be different are that there are numerous pockets of density far outside of downtown. There are 20-30 story towers spread out all over the city, and not necessarily on subway lines. This is very different from other North American cities.

Toronto's architecture can be a bit different too. Toronto has undergone building booms at different times than other American cities. The statistics can probably be found somewhere, but there has been a huge skyscraper boom in the past 5 years here while American cities have been hit with the recession. Also, there are a lot of concrete buildings built in the 60s and 70s here that you wouldn't see elsewhere. Check out: http://www.chbooks.com/catalogue/concrete_toronto

You might want to check out the final consultants study for the Tall Buildings Project, which throughout lays out comparisons of planning policy between Toronto and six other cities. You might notice some differences there.

http://www.toronto.ca/planning/tallbuildingstudy.htm

 

[catcher_of_cats]

Not to be a jerk but there are a host of books, research papers, web-based material on this subject that you will find with some leg work.

 

[howl]

There are two subtle legal differences between Canadian and American law that has affected how Canadian cities grow.

Unlike American cities, which have a certain legal status under the law, Canadian municipalities are completely at the discretion of the Provincial government. This means the Provincial government has the power to change the boundaries of a city or amalgamate cities as it sees fit, and they often do, though not without facing grassroots political opposition. This allows revenues generated from municipal taxes to be shared among the whole urban area, rather than having pockets of rich neighbourhoods that are their own municipality surrounded by a larger poor city. The Province also has the power to amend the Official Plan of any municipality as they see fit which means they can control how and where development occurs more effectively. This allows the Province and municipal governments to be more proactive when planning transportation systems, municipal services and social services

Another difference between the Canadian and American systems is in Canada all land is theoretically owned by the Crown not by individuals. To put it simplistically, when you buy land in Canada you are really just buying the right to use the land in perpetuity, not actually buying the land. While the laws regarding eminent domain in the USA allow similar powers, historically it’s been a lot easier for governments in Canada to expropriate land if it’s needed for public uses. It also means the government can control what you do with your land a lot more effectively than they can in the USA. The result is cities can grow in a more orderly fashion, with development being promoted in some locations and prevented in other locations.

 

[nfitz]

One of the interesting things in Toronto is the great library system, particularly the electronic access on the Internet.

 

[HHC]

We're not gonna do your homework for you son, it's called research!

 

[greenleaf]

I would consider asking a message board full of intelligent people who care about the subject research, but that's just me. I fail to see what's wrong with being nice to this person.

Also, I would add Artscape to this list, as a unique entity bringing together redevelopment of buildings and providing substantial space for artists: http://www.torontoartscape.on.ca/

 

[Observer Walt]

We're not gonna do your homework for you son, it's called research!

How rude. It sounds like he is doing research.

 

[ADRI]

Hello and thank you for the insightful replies. What some people have failed to note in my initial post, is that I am looking for the sort of unique elements that is NOT written about, but rather observed and felt once you enter and/or live in a city. This topic is part of a larger piece of research that was started several weeks ago. Books or empirical journal articles do little to answer the question. So, the students thought the next best thing was to ask a friend that lives in the particular cities we are exploring. I do not have friends in Toronto and resorted to using this site.

Thank you again for those that helped in any way. To those that didn't, thanks for wonderful suggestions

 

[nfitz]

I'm intrigued to ponder where one would be studying that one wouldn't have friends in Toronto. Given how Toronto tends to dominate the country, and students from Toronto can be found in any University in the country, I'm assuming that you are studying in another country?

 

[BobBob]

They have the Internet outside of Canada now.

 

[OttoSchloss]

They have the Internet outside of Canada now.

And that's probably how he found this site which is probably more informative for the information he wants versus some government site. I mean, he could have stumbled upon the troll fest at City-data / let's all hate Toronto forums, instead.