Lately, however, Toronto has undergone a remarkable sea change, one that’s redefining the city as stylish, sophisticated, cosmopolitan—cool, even—yet still utterly local....
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Plenty of cities can lay claim to high-profile architecture. Paralleling this, however, is an insatiable boom in residential and hotel development. According to research company Emporis, Toronto has more high-rises under construction than any other city on the continent. The view from the roof of my hotel, the recently opened Thompson, recalls Shanghai or Dubai; I lost count of all the cranes. Among the current builds are the new flagship Four Seasons Hotel, opening this summer and featuring Daniel Boulud’s first restaurant in the city; and the massive Shangri-La Hotel, debuting next month with another New York restaurant import, an outpost of David Chang’s Momofuku chain. Both properties arrive hard on the heels of the Ritz-Carlton and Trump hotels that opened in February 2011 and January 2012, respectively.