Mystic Point
Active Member
Designer Tyler Brûlé, leaps into the fray in today's National Pos
Designer Tyler Brûlé, leaps into the fray in today's National Post.
Monocle’s upcoming July/August issue names the world’s 25 most liveable cities. Montreal comes in at number 16 and Vancouver at eight. Not surprisingly, considering who runs Monocle, Toronto is absent from the list. Tyler Brûlé (who also founded Wallpaper*) has been vocal about Toronto not necessarily being his favourite place. What were his exact words about a trip in 2005? Oh yes: “I just felt angry;†“it felt like a place that had taken nothing away from its mistakes;†“skyline littered with eyesores,†et cetera. Last week, after a “break from the city†of a year and a half, he came back to promote the special Monocle issue and celebrate his grandmother’s 90th birthday. He stayed at his mother’s house in Etobicoke. Does he hate it here? Not exactly. He’s hard on a lot of cities, especially ones that don’t live up to their potential. And with Toronto, as he told Adam McDowell, it’s personal.
Q Has your opinion of Toronto improved at all since your last visit?
A Well, I think — and I’ve certainly gone on record with this in the Financial Times and in other places — that Toronto has a case of “the comfies.â€
Q What does that mean, specifically?
A You’re in a rapidly growing North American city and, for all of its traffic woes and urban woes, life is still pretty good here. However, there are dozens of cities that are hurtling ahead of Toronto. That’s where the comfort issue comes in. Even though it’s lost its raison d’être, it’s still incredibly comfortable.
Q So you mean comfort in terms of complacency. What are we complacent about?
A How can we have one of the most important cities and have this railway lands issue where still nothing has been done? We have this opportunity on the harbourfront which has become completely squandered. In the adopted home of Jane Jacobs? She would be flipping in her grave now if she could see what’s happening. I also look at where that energy ends — on Richmond, Queen, wherever it may be — and then the gaps, the canyons, of towers that are going up. I mean, where’s the street life? And my God, when you fly over Toronto you see these vast tracts of two-car garages that jut out in front of the house, and these communities where you have to live by the automobile. It won’t be sustainable.
Q Does Toronto in particular frustrate you because you used to live here?
A Yeah. And it had potential. That’s where the issue of comfort comes in. It has all of the natural assets, that’s not the issue. Why don’t we have high-speed rail? Why don’t we have the world’s most stellar public transport system, a model that people come from all the world to see? Bombardier is in both Toronto and Montreal. We could go on and on. I worry that it’s going to come screeching to a halt, and it’ll be game over a little bit.
Q What would your advice be to David Miller to get us over the comfies?
A If your brand is stuck or broken or in need of reinvention — and I don’t think Miller should be beaten up for it; I don’t know the man and I don’t know if there’s a need for new leadership — get on a plane and go look at 10 cities around the world. Look at the frequency that Zurich has with its tram system, for example. Ask yourself, “Is this something that we should be doing?†Why would I come here? That’s a central question. What brings me to Toronto versus Montreal? Montreal can play its French card, later opening hours and certainly its more liberal nightlife. That’s incredibly important. When you’ve got friends coming into town, the last thing you want is for people to go, “H’s got a really nice flat and it’s great that his kids go to a nice school, but shit, it’s boring there.â€
Poor sad run down shabby Toronto. City of missed opportunities. The town fun forgot.
Designer Tyler Brûlé, leaps into the fray in today's National Post.
Monocle’s upcoming July/August issue names the world’s 25 most liveable cities. Montreal comes in at number 16 and Vancouver at eight. Not surprisingly, considering who runs Monocle, Toronto is absent from the list. Tyler Brûlé (who also founded Wallpaper*) has been vocal about Toronto not necessarily being his favourite place. What were his exact words about a trip in 2005? Oh yes: “I just felt angry;†“it felt like a place that had taken nothing away from its mistakes;†“skyline littered with eyesores,†et cetera. Last week, after a “break from the city†of a year and a half, he came back to promote the special Monocle issue and celebrate his grandmother’s 90th birthday. He stayed at his mother’s house in Etobicoke. Does he hate it here? Not exactly. He’s hard on a lot of cities, especially ones that don’t live up to their potential. And with Toronto, as he told Adam McDowell, it’s personal.
Q Has your opinion of Toronto improved at all since your last visit?
A Well, I think — and I’ve certainly gone on record with this in the Financial Times and in other places — that Toronto has a case of “the comfies.â€
Q What does that mean, specifically?
A You’re in a rapidly growing North American city and, for all of its traffic woes and urban woes, life is still pretty good here. However, there are dozens of cities that are hurtling ahead of Toronto. That’s where the comfort issue comes in. Even though it’s lost its raison d’être, it’s still incredibly comfortable.
Q So you mean comfort in terms of complacency. What are we complacent about?
A How can we have one of the most important cities and have this railway lands issue where still nothing has been done? We have this opportunity on the harbourfront which has become completely squandered. In the adopted home of Jane Jacobs? She would be flipping in her grave now if she could see what’s happening. I also look at where that energy ends — on Richmond, Queen, wherever it may be — and then the gaps, the canyons, of towers that are going up. I mean, where’s the street life? And my God, when you fly over Toronto you see these vast tracts of two-car garages that jut out in front of the house, and these communities where you have to live by the automobile. It won’t be sustainable.
Q Does Toronto in particular frustrate you because you used to live here?
A Yeah. And it had potential. That’s where the issue of comfort comes in. It has all of the natural assets, that’s not the issue. Why don’t we have high-speed rail? Why don’t we have the world’s most stellar public transport system, a model that people come from all the world to see? Bombardier is in both Toronto and Montreal. We could go on and on. I worry that it’s going to come screeching to a halt, and it’ll be game over a little bit.
Q What would your advice be to David Miller to get us over the comfies?
A If your brand is stuck or broken or in need of reinvention — and I don’t think Miller should be beaten up for it; I don’t know the man and I don’t know if there’s a need for new leadership — get on a plane and go look at 10 cities around the world. Look at the frequency that Zurich has with its tram system, for example. Ask yourself, “Is this something that we should be doing?†Why would I come here? That’s a central question. What brings me to Toronto versus Montreal? Montreal can play its French card, later opening hours and certainly its more liberal nightlife. That’s incredibly important. When you’ve got friends coming into town, the last thing you want is for people to go, “H’s got a really nice flat and it’s great that his kids go to a nice school, but shit, it’s boring there.â€
Poor sad run down shabby Toronto. City of missed opportunities. The town fun forgot.
