News   Jul 19, 2024
Menkes' Maison 77 Clarendon Topped Off in South Hill
 889     0 
News   Jul 19, 2024
TTC's Next Big Step: Replacing Rick Leary
 3.9K     7 
News   Jul 19, 2024
Third Phase of Quad Residences Advances at York University
 1.2K     4 

Seven ways to make Toronto a world-class city again

For the sake of discussion:

The British Museum is free. NYC's Metropolitan Museum of Art is pay-as-much-as-you-wish. The ROM though costs at least $20 (regular price).

Regardless, Toronto is a great city to live in. There are many better cities for tourism, but Toronto is one of the better cities for living.
 
Last edited:
I've lived in NYC, and it's a great city. But I still think that Toronto is a more livable, equitable, and fair city.

A few things that stand out;

Honestly, if you're a minority and you're not very wealthy (meaning, you don't live in Manhattan or maybe some gentrified Brooklyn neighbourhoods), police harassment / stop & frisks are pretty commonplace. The NYPD dishes those things out like a well-oiled machine. That kind of racial profiling is much more limited in Toronto (in my opinion, anyway), and the TPS is certainly not as good at it as the NYPD is.

The difference between wealthy and poor neighbourhoods can also be pretty stark, which is also something that isn't so extreme in Toronto. In some poorer neighbourhoods, it can be hard to simply find fresh produce at all.

And if you live in Queens or Brooklyn and want to commute from one to the other, it can be horrendous. So their transit system, while super huge, is certainly not perfect. It is very Manhattan-centric.
 
wopchop said:
And if you live in Queens or Brooklyn and want to commute from one to the other, it can be horrendous. So their transit system, while super huge, is certainly not perfect. It is very Manhattan-centric.
Click to expand...

This. Even more oddly, though La Guardia is the closest airport to Manhattan, it's the only one without either a subway or rail connection. (It's otherwise something of a hole...)

There tend to be a lot of random shutdowns in the MTA subway too, and headways can sometimes be unreliable and long. And the average MTA station is a lot uglier and less-safe-feeling than any in the TTC.

In terms of the ROM's admission fees, I think the museum has been on a downward spiral ever since William Thorsell arrived and initiated the "Renaissance ROM" project and the expensive, ugly Crystal. I can't really think of why the renovation was strictly necessary under any circumstances, and if I can think of numerous grievances concerning the hideous Crystal, arguably the most unfathomable is why they'd neglect the majestic Rotunda as the main entrance in favour of a vista of angular white drywall.

And I miss the old dramatic dioramas of the dinosaur exhibit. :(
 
I don't know how many people have heard of a movie called Street Trash, but it is set in a pre-gentrified NYC and set in the poor area. You can see Manhattan in the distance, but the main characters live in a junkyard.
 
CityPlaceN1 said:
We already are a world-class city. Articles like this are ridiculous. We wouldn't have such a massive influx of people from around the world if we weren't.
Click to expand...
Most come to the GTA as they flee economic, political or safety/security problems. Under those circumstances any safe and free city within a welcoming society would do. That doesn't make Toronto world class.

Now, New York today, IMO is world class in this regard, at least Manhattan. Unlike its original desperate immigration foundations, today people move to Manhattan to be part of its cultural and business success. No one flees to Manhattan.
 
Admiral Beez said:
Most come to the GTA as they flee economic, political or safety/security problems. Under those circumstances any safe and free city within a welcoming society would do. That doesn't make Toronto world class.

Now, New York today, IMO is world class in this regard, at least Manhattan. Unlike its original desperate immigration foundations, today people move to Manhattan to be part of its cultural and business success. No one flees to Manhattan.
Click to expand...

The funny thing is I've seen people here put down New York and other world class cities just to prop up Toronto. The insecurity is laughable.
 
JGHali said:
This. Even more oddly, though La Guardia is the closest airport to Manhattan, it's the only one without either a subway or rail connection. (It's otherwise something of a hole...)

There tend to be a lot of random shutdowns in the MTA subway too, and headways can sometimes be unreliable and long. And the average MTA station is a lot uglier and less-safe-feeling than any in the TTC.
Click to expand...

What? I thought only the TTC had delays.
 
Admiral Beez said:
Now, New York today, IMO is world class in this regard, at least Manhattan. Unlike its original desperate immigration foundations, today people move to Manhattan to be part of its cultural and business success. No one flees to Manhattan.
Click to expand...

No, they flee to Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx.
 
Johnny Au said:
For the sake of discussion:

The British Museum is free. NYC's Metropolitan Museum of Art is pay-as-much-as-you-wish. The ROM though costs at least $20 (regular price).
Click to expand...

In Washington, the world famous Smithsonian Museums have free admission.
 
So to be world-class we want an exclusive place for the cultural and business elite of the world, with free admission to museums. Got it.
 
TheKingEast said:
The funny thing is I've seen people here put down New York and other world class cities just to prop up Toronto. The insecurity is laughable.
Click to expand...

I would be quite happy to discuss Toronto's provincial mindset, spineless politicians and business elite who allowed something like Rob Ford to happen, petty-mindedness about sharing downtown streets with transit vehicles, and generally terrible traffic that means driving anywhere is excruciating at any but the most off-peak times.

But I believe we have every other thread on this forum devoted to said topics, so bear with us as we attempt to point out that "world class" cities have their clear downsides too.
 
The point has already been made a here, a few different ways, so I won't belabour it; but Toronto's greatness is its 'compromise'.

The odd exception noted Toronto is rarely #1 in any area, be it transit, the arts, 'social policy', education, low taxes or libertarian freedom..........

However, we're in the top 10 in almost all of those among major urban centres in the world.

Pick your measure, PISA tests show one of the world's best public school systems, usually somewhere between #6-9 and best in North America, crime is low,
unemployment moderate, the city has more cultural amenity than any other in North America excepting New York.....

Of course we're not perfect and no one and no place is; but we have done a pretty good job of saying 'Good or Very good at most things' as opposed to excellent at a few in
exchange for awful at others.

I've had the good fortune to travel, and can say that even the cities people perceive as 'great' often have far more deficiencies than they can imagine.

I'm not tearing those places down, but looking past the post-card.

Paris has more graffiti......its refurbished subway lines are very nice and attractive, but its older stations would fit in NYC for poor lighting, leaks and no escalators.

Just try to find a playground in most neighbourhoods, and see what you think of their sometimes restrictive shopping hours.

Its a great City, but in many ways, lesser than Toronto (and in many better).

***

We can and should aspire to perpetual improvement, especially when its fairly easy to obtain.

I think the free admission to ROM or AGO is very do-able, in so far as the $ they take in, minus all the costs associated with cash-handling and ticket-selling,
aren't really that significant.

A one-time endowment drive (money upfront please) and a modest increase in operating grants should do the trick.

Some quality upgrades to the public realm, particularly as roads come due for work would also be welcome (and is happening).

Some additional 'freedom' around alcohol is also on its way; I'd personally like to see 'Quebec-style' patios allowed (no fence)...but that does not make or break this great city.
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top