Softee
Active Member
Lots of cities use downtown/midtown/uptown, such as Atlanta, St. Louis, even Detroit. No one accuses them of trying to copy NYC.
|
|
|
- Thread starter Ramako
- Start date
TOperson
Active Member
I'm not sure how you know whether they are accused of copying NYC or not, but anyway, in the global culture, down/mid/uptown is associated with NYC and certainly with the USA. It's not used in the UK or Australia, for example. So why should a Canadian city bother with it? It's clear from this thread there is no consensus on what these terms mean in the Toronto context, so they are not really useful here, and we already have our own names for our neighbourhoods.
JWBF
Senior Member
It really upsets me when people call Scarborough, etc, suburbs. No matter what area in Toronto we come from, we still live in Toronto, and what affects one of us, affects all of us.
(Sorry, it's a pet peeve of mine.)
bleu
Banned
WHy? being a suburb or not depends on the built of an area, not whether it is politically part of a city or not.
For example, East York and Rosedale are suburbs too. They are simply closer to the core. One is blue collar and one is affluent, but still they are suburbs.
Silence&Motion
Senior Member
It's all relative. I was raised in Scarborough, but I now live downtown. Whenever I go back to Scarborough to visit people, I say I'm going "uptown". A lot of people I know from Scarborough talk this way. Of course, in Scarborough, they wear hats on their feet and hamburgers eat people.
Softee
Active Member
Rosedale is a neighbourhood, not a suburb.
AlvinofDiaspar
Moderator
Softee:
Rosedale WAS a suburb, ditto Annex, Parkdale, The Beach, Leaside, etc - that past was reflected in the architecture and urban fabric even though it's been integrated to the city at large.
JWBF:
Yes and no - in the sense that to some the very act of living in those areas to get away from the bad bad city and "those people" - nevermind the irony of that given the changing fortunes of the inner burbs. It is also reflected in the politics of these areas - which I interpret as protest votes against inevitable changes residents are none to happy about.
AoD
Rosedale WAS a suburb, ditto Annex, Parkdale, The Beach, Leaside, etc - that past was reflected in the architecture and urban fabric even though it's been integrated to the city at large.
JWBF:
Yes and no - in the sense that to some the very act of living in those areas to get away from the bad bad city and "those people" - nevermind the irony of that given the changing fortunes of the inner burbs. It is also reflected in the politics of these areas - which I interpret as protest votes against inevitable changes residents are none to happy about.
AoD
Last edited:
Johnny Au
Senior Member
I consider "downtown" as being bounded by Bathurst St., Lake Ontario, Don River, and Bloor St.
I consider "midtown" as between Bloor and Mt. Pleasant Cemetery.
I consider "uptown" between Old Toronto's northernmost boundary and Mt. Pleasant Cemetery.
I do not consider York and East York as suburbs. I consider those two as similar to Old Toronto, despite not being part of Toronto until 1998.
I consider Etobicoke, North York, and Scarborough as "old suburbs."
I consider the inner 905 as the "suburbs."
I consider "midtown" as between Bloor and Mt. Pleasant Cemetery.
I consider "uptown" between Old Toronto's northernmost boundary and Mt. Pleasant Cemetery.
I do not consider York and East York as suburbs. I consider those two as similar to Old Toronto, despite not being part of Toronto until 1998.
I consider Etobicoke, North York, and Scarborough as "old suburbs."
I consider the inner 905 as the "suburbs."
Last edited:
JWBF
Senior Member
If you want to determine if an area is a suburb or not on residential or industrial/commercial development then that makes things quite harder. Scarborough, for example, being a former city has it's own "downtown" which meets the same standards as Old Toronto.
That's the rub, it all comes down to neighbourhoods, no matter the "political division". Some will always want a separation to point fingers, and assign blame for not getting what they want; case in point, the Ford brothers, they love to use labels.
Jaye101
Active Member
I usually consider Uptown: North York Centre.. Midtown: Yonge and St. Clair/Eglinton and Downtown: the official boundaries...
However I do feel like we're trying to be something we're not when using some of these designations. Particularly Uptown, which historically belonged to Yonge and Bloor. I much rather use names to describe places, such as Yorkvillle = Yonge and Bloor, but with Yonge+StC/Eg it becomes confusing can we call it Forest Hill or is Midtown more appropriate?
I feel that the city should begin creating marketable identities for employment centres that currently lack definable ones. Especially "Midtown."
However I do feel like we're trying to be something we're not when using some of these designations. Particularly Uptown, which historically belonged to Yonge and Bloor. I much rather use names to describe places, such as Yorkvillle = Yonge and Bloor, but with Yonge+StC/Eg it becomes confusing can we call it Forest Hill or is Midtown more appropriate?
I feel that the city should begin creating marketable identities for employment centres that currently lack definable ones. Especially "Midtown."
bleu
Banned
except Yonge/St Clair or Eg is not Forest Hill, which is largely between Avenue Road and Bathurst.
I agree that all these Yonge/something name is tiring and should not be served as neighbourhood names. An intersection is not a neighhourhood, or a whatever-town.
NorthYorkEd
Active Member
This is how I "instinctively" saw the boundaries, speaking as someone who recently moved here with no real concept of the locally established boundaries/neighborhoods.
prosperegal
Senior Member
We could define it this way:
Uptown: North of Eglinton to just north of Lawrence (yeah, I know, not a big area) if we are using the old City of Toronto as a border - North of Lawrence is where Toronto ends and North York begins.
Midtown: Just south of Eglinton (where Minto Midtown is) to just North of Bloor
University District: South of Bloor to just south of College
Downtown: Just south of College to Front
Harbourfront: Anything below
The east-west borders: A little further west than Spadina, but the eastern border depends on the part of the city. For example, the University District's eastern border would only go as far east as a bit past Yonge, while the midtown-uptown borders stretch out to a bit past Bayview).
It doesn't have to be a rectangle or square.
Thoughts?
Uptown: North of Eglinton to just north of Lawrence (yeah, I know, not a big area) if we are using the old City of Toronto as a border - North of Lawrence is where Toronto ends and North York begins.
Midtown: Just south of Eglinton (where Minto Midtown is) to just North of Bloor
University District: South of Bloor to just south of College
Downtown: Just south of College to Front
Harbourfront: Anything below
The east-west borders: A little further west than Spadina, but the eastern border depends on the part of the city. For example, the University District's eastern border would only go as far east as a bit past Yonge, while the midtown-uptown borders stretch out to a bit past Bayview).
It doesn't have to be a rectangle or square.
Thoughts?
bleu
Banned
The university district is so wrong as UofT is only west of Bay St.
It doesn't have to be a square, but what's the east and west boundaries of your so called midtown and uptown?
Riverdale Rink Rat
Senior Member
Ryerson says hello, and maybe the 'University District' can run to Dundas on the east? Then OCADU says, yeah, Dundas feels about right on the west side, too...