kEiThZ
Superstar
Toronto is a tad boring and a lot of those criticisms are true.
...And that's exactly why I like it.
Ask New Yorkers how many of them have been to Times Square to see the ball drop or how many Londoners frequent the Tates or the British Museum. You'd be surprised. For cultural elitists (not the average person), only London or New York or Paris or Tokyo will do. These are global cities in the sense that they dominate the global cultural landscape.
For a second tier city, Toronto ain't half bad. It may not be one of the most favoured places to visit. But it damn sure is a great place to live. All those supposed global places are horrendous to live in if you are a working joe. They have issues with poverty, racism, unemployment, crime, etc. that we can't imagine in our nightmares. London comes with attacks on brown skinned residents, Paris comes with the problems of the banlieu. And despite what rap and music videos say, Scarborough or Jane and Finch or Don Mills and Eglinton will never compare to the rough parts of the Bronx (in its more unrefined heydays).
Toronto will never be London or Paris. They were capitals of empires and are still the capitals and major urban centres of their respective (highly centralized) countries. New York is cultural and financial centre of the world's only superpower. For, Toronto to reach those ranks, it's Canada that would have in that league of countries.
All that being said, there are things we could work on. I despair at how much dirtier the city's gotten and how much less friendly people have become. Civic education campaign's on these issues might be warranted. And some more efforts to make the city look nicer, through a little more control over architecture or a little more effort to create more and better public spaces.
...And that's exactly why I like it.
Ask New Yorkers how many of them have been to Times Square to see the ball drop or how many Londoners frequent the Tates or the British Museum. You'd be surprised. For cultural elitists (not the average person), only London or New York or Paris or Tokyo will do. These are global cities in the sense that they dominate the global cultural landscape.
For a second tier city, Toronto ain't half bad. It may not be one of the most favoured places to visit. But it damn sure is a great place to live. All those supposed global places are horrendous to live in if you are a working joe. They have issues with poverty, racism, unemployment, crime, etc. that we can't imagine in our nightmares. London comes with attacks on brown skinned residents, Paris comes with the problems of the banlieu. And despite what rap and music videos say, Scarborough or Jane and Finch or Don Mills and Eglinton will never compare to the rough parts of the Bronx (in its more unrefined heydays).
Toronto will never be London or Paris. They were capitals of empires and are still the capitals and major urban centres of their respective (highly centralized) countries. New York is cultural and financial centre of the world's only superpower. For, Toronto to reach those ranks, it's Canada that would have in that league of countries.
All that being said, there are things we could work on. I despair at how much dirtier the city's gotten and how much less friendly people have become. Civic education campaign's on these issues might be warranted. And some more efforts to make the city look nicer, through a little more control over architecture or a little more effort to create more and better public spaces.