Woodbridge_Heights
Senior Member
Manhattan had about 100 000 residents in 1810 when the 1811 commissioners plan was released (which is what planned out the grid) by 1830 the population had doubled to 200 000. So I'd weigh a bit towards foresight with a bit of having a more or less blank slate with which to plan out the grid for a city that would eventually (as planned) become a major industrial centre.
It's difficult to compare the current Toronto/Mega City to Manhattan as Toronto is a collection of many former towns, in the same way that NYC is a collection of many former towns/boroughs. Manhattan is a closer analogy to the old city of Toronto and there you will see a bit more order and grid in Toronto's road system with just a bit of randomness owing to a few former trade routes/native paths (see Dundas st, Kingston rd, Dupont st, etc). It's not quite as gridded as Manhattan, but then Toronto isn't as restricted as Manhattan was by basically being between the mouths of two rivers which constrained development.
*** EDIT ***
Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx are far less gridded than any part of the Mega City Toronto
It's difficult to compare the current Toronto/Mega City to Manhattan as Toronto is a collection of many former towns, in the same way that NYC is a collection of many former towns/boroughs. Manhattan is a closer analogy to the old city of Toronto and there you will see a bit more order and grid in Toronto's road system with just a bit of randomness owing to a few former trade routes/native paths (see Dundas st, Kingston rd, Dupont st, etc). It's not quite as gridded as Manhattan, but then Toronto isn't as restricted as Manhattan was by basically being between the mouths of two rivers which constrained development.
*** EDIT ***
Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx are far less gridded than any part of the Mega City Toronto
Last edited: