AlvinofDiaspar
Moderator
Tried that already - Americans burned it to the ground. Bad karma.
Probably saved it the fate of having the job done by ourselves, considering the outcome for most civic buildings of the era.
AoD
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Tried that already - Americans burned it to the ground. Bad karma.
There's is no point in envying cities with institutions like those. They are products of their time that cannot be reproduced. We cannot resuscitate Frank Lloyd Wight or Louis Sullivan and commission buildings here to be on par with Buffalo just as we cannot commission Diego Rivera to paint us some original murals depicting the distilling process at Gooderham and Worts. We must stop longing for a past we cannot have and focus on how to cultivate and innovate new, I suppose 'world class' trends.
Just curious, who here would consider any (or all) of these cities "World Class"?
Seoul
Mexico City
Beijing
Mumbai
Moscow
Buenos Aires
Istanbul
Rio
I've been reading through this thread for the first time and I think the one small thing that Toronto can do that can make a big big difference on the way we perceive our city and city life is relaxing our alcohol restrictions.
The one thing I really enjoyed while I was in Europe last summer was how casual the drinking culture was. You could stroll through a park, the old city, or any other street even in the suburbs and you can find a nice casual place to meet, sit down and order a drink, relax and socialize with friends and family. Our alcohol laws here are comparatively strict and prohibitive.
We already have a phenomenal restaurant and food culture in Toronto, and I think embracing patios and bars, extending last hour, and relaxing our liquor laws in general can compliment what we already have and make a big difference on the way we perceive our social spaces and civic community. Not to mention, it would just feel so typically Torontonian! We are a city of neighbourhoods after all.
We already have a phenomenal restaurant and food culture in Toronto...
+1
As for world class cities, Is San Paulo world class? For me, Paris, New York and London are great cities, the others I'm not so sure about. Los Angles is a big suburb pretending to be a city. It has its appeal for many people but I still don't see it as being even second tier. (well, unless you have a parking lot fetish) That place is deader then a door nail. (nobody walks in LA)
What do you mean? Amsterdam's overhead wires are limited to those needed for streetcars. It doesn't have the mess over overhead power lines clumsily strung up on wooden poles covered in rusty staples that you find all over Toronto. Amsterdam has no equivalent to Queen West or College Street with their ubiquitous overhead clutter. I've never been to Tokyo but from what I've seen on Street View the overhead wires are mostly limited to side streets. They do a far better job than Toronto of getting rid of overhead wires on main streets. The degree to which busy commercial streets are plagued with overhead wires is something I've never seen outside of Ontario.If 'no overhead wires' is the mark of a 'world-class' city, I think we can scratch places like Tokyo and Amsterdam off the list
Well it looks like the province is taking some tentative first steps to liberalizing the liquor laws in Ontario with their announcement of allowing beer and wine in certain supermarkets. It's a baby step and even with that step our liquor laws will continue to be hopelessly archaic...but hopefully it will lead to more. Of course, I from what I understand Toronto has the power to do more on its own with the City of Toronto Act.I've been reading through this thread for the first time and I think the one small thing that Toronto can do that can make a big big difference on the way we perceive our city and city life is relaxing our alcohol restrictions.
The one thing I really enjoyed while I was in Europe last summer was how casual the drinking culture was. You could stroll through a park, the old city, or any other street even in the suburbs and you can find a nice casual place to meet, sit down and order a drink, relax and socialize with friends and family. Our alcohol laws here are comparatively strict and prohibitive.
We already have a phenomenal restaurant and food culture in Toronto, and I think embracing patios and bars, extending last hour, and relaxing our liquor laws in general can compliment what we already have and make a big difference on the way we perceive our social spaces and civic community. Not to mention, it would just feel so typically Torontonian! We are a city of neighbourhoods after all.
I have traveled a lot and I can't remember a major city that has as many ugly, over-head wires on its main streets, as Toronto. Most places like San Francisco have it on small streets away from the core but what other major city has those on their major streets, right downtown? I think it sends out a really bad message. It seems to me that almost all of our politicians don't give a damn what this city looks like. Making money and getting re-elected is their only real agenda. Even regular Torontonians don't seem to give too much thought about what we look like or how poorly maintained our public realm is. I wish more people would demand better and vote for city councillors who actually care.
I have traveled a lot and I can't remember a major city that has as many ugly, over-head wires on its main streets, as Toronto. Most places like San Francisco have it on small streets away from the core but what other major city has those on their major streets, right downtown? I think it sends out a really bad message. It seems to me that almost all of our politicians don't give a damn what this city looks like. Making money and getting re-elected is their only real agenda. Even regular Torontonians don't seem to give too much thought about what we look like or how poorly maintained our public realm is. I wish more people would demand better and vote for city councillors who actually care.
+1.
In addition to the visual crap overhead along with the supporting poles that often seem like salvage from a wrecking site, we add narrow mostly badly paved sidewalks, tiny dead trees in raised concrete planters from around 1973, a weird and disturbing mishmash of street light styles (the worst being kitschy retro types in many business improvement districts), and downtown parks where the quality of the landscape and hardscape is an embarrassing mess. I know, I know, we tell ourselves how urban and gritty it all is, but really this city's public realm is sad, shabby and ugly beyond belief.
Welcome, guys! I'm glad you've been able to find this thread and try to ruin it like so many others with the petty whingeing about overhead wires. It was a breath of fresh air to debate Toronto's place in the metropolitan hierarchy without it, but c'est la vie. Welcome aboard!
Wisla -- I'd never thought of Sao Paolo. Thanks for that. Reminds me of another thread where some likened Toronto to Melbourne and sent me looking to see what it was like. Not certain if it goes on the 'places to see' list quite yet, but definitely worthy of more research.