[kettal]

what city hall led initiatives in other Canadian cities are so impressive?

 

[Northern Light]

Tricky Ricky: My thanks, as always, for your contributions, I always enjoy them, thoughtful and nuanced!

JS: I don't want to get off on a tanget that is pro or anti-Miller; except to say that on the policies and indicators that matter, everything for Toronto looks better now that it did when he took over; (lower corp. prop tax and declining, lower development charges etc. on new comm. construction) and so on. )

And in fairness to those who preceded Miller, both at pre and post amalgamation; this is safe city, with largely good and indeed above average public services, from libraries, to yes, Transit....(for all the TTCs flaw's I've been on systems all over the world, there are few that are better (relative to size).

Again the city is not perfect, its not without its needs to improve, and I will be commenting on these shortly (my thoughts). But I wanted a thread with a tone of positivity and ambition for this City rather than Chicken-Little-Sky-Falling, and dispiriting whining, and certain other threads might be noted for...

 

[OttoSchloss]

I think the city is maturing at a pretty fast rate. Moving back was tough for 6 months or so but I know I like it now because I don't feel I'm missing out on anything by being here. I don't think this was always the case with the city. We used to look to various places like Montreal (in the 70s & 80s), New York in the 80s and 90s and it filled us with a sense of inferiority. But not so much now. Toronto no longer wants to be NYC's little sister and the obsession with World Class seems more like a quaint insult from the ROC rather than a reflection of the city itself.

There's more confidence (and definitely ease) among this city's citizens now. Way less, "Toronto is a nice place to live BUT...". All the defensiveness seems to come from other places in Canada now and it seems Torontonians have become accustomed to ignoring the naysayers.

 

[old boy]

I think the city is maturing at a pretty fast rate. Moving back was tough for 6 months or so but I know I like it now because I don't feel I'm missing out on anything by being here. I don't think this was always the case with the city. We used to look to various places like Montreal (in the 70s & 80s), New York in the 80s and 90s and it filled us with a sense of inferiority. But not so much now. Toronto no longer wants to be NYC's little sister and the obsession with World Class seems more like a quaint insult from the ROC rather than a reflection of the city itself.

There's more confidence (and definitely ease) among this city's citizens now. Way less, "Toronto is a nice place to live BUT...". All the defensiveness seems to come from other places in Canada now and it seems Torontonians have become accustomed to ignoring the naysayers.

And bloody well time too ! Toronto is downright big, bold and beautiful, and with confidence in showing it. Getting hosed by the G20 was a hiccup, ( does anyone have a clue if Toronto benefited from this at all )? But in a way it illustrates what the city's really got when it's on full throttle. We still need to measure ourselves against other places, but just in the sense of incorporating their best urban ideas. What's more, this state of mind probably elicits the merest shrug of the shoulders in response to those that harp that this is "old" Toronto being smug. No, it's Toronto being Toronto ! No apology.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

FG:

Getting hosed by the G20 was a hiccup, ( does anyone have a clue if Toronto benefited from this at all )?

Not sure about the benefits part, but the fact that we had a successful Pride the next weekend on the very same stretch of Yonge within a week of the G20 mess speaks plenty about the maturity of the city.

AoD

 

[Riverdale Rink Rat]

FG:
Not sure about the benefits part, but the fact that we had a successful Pride the next weekend on the very same stretch of Yonge within a week of the G20 mess speaks plenty about the maturity of the city.

AoD

Agreed.

Amusingly, with a summer Friday in full effect today despite the rain, downtown looks G-20esque without the fence!

 

[Blovertis]

"Toronto is the city of the future... and always will be."

-- Allan Lamport

 

[Northern Light]

Glen,

With all due respect, kindly get your own thread! Oh, wait a minute you already have one, and the point of this one was specifically to have a Glen-less point-of-view thread.

I respect freedom of speech; but not monopolization of it.

Your views are well known, and I think overwhelmingly, erroneous and unconstructive.

I certainly don't mind differing views; and if you have something genuinely thoughtful or new to contribute, by all means, join the fun.

But I don't want to see any of your repetitive doom-and-gloom on my thread, that was the whole point of creating it.

Thank you for your consideration.

 

[CityPainter]

Thank you for this thread. In the context of economic and social troubles currently confronting cities across North America and Europe, the city of Toronto is holding its own quite well. Certainly there are problems, and things we need to improve, but I'm very tired of this apocalyptic doom vibe that I see coming from many sides. For every negative change over the past few years there are many positive improvements. The G20 was one of the darkest periods I've seen in Toronto for years, but it has not impacted on the day-to-day functioning of the city (the Pride comment above is a great example of that). We have lots of people eager to denigrate our city at every turn: those of us who love it need to be equally vocal in our support. Additionally, this 905 vs 416 competition needs to be ended, though I fear the Rob Ford phenomenon is only going to draw the battle lines more firmly. In the end, both regions will sink or swim together.

 

[OttoSchloss]

"Toronto is the city of the future... and always will be."

-- Allan Lamport

I kind of agree with that. The city rarely feels stagnant (in the last 4 decades at least) and changes pretty rapidly. It may never feel finished or settle into itself like other cities but that's not necessarily a goal all cities should have.

 

[cassius]

I think TV series like Flashpoint help. People (Torontonians) used to laugh at the mere mention of Toronto in American TV programs and Hollywood films. I don't see that as much any more. Here's to hoping the Scott Pilgrim film does well.

Oh, and I know Flashpoint isn't an American show, but it is broadcast in the US, presumably partially financed by CBS, and viewed by more Americans than Canadians.

 

[kettal]

Does Flashpoint mention Toronto in the show, or does it just pretend to be Generic American City?

 

[GraphicMatt]

It's open about its Toronto-ness, as is Rookie Blue the new cop show on ABC.

 

[nfitz]

What about "The Bridge". I've never seen it, but I caught a few minutes last night, and it was full of very recognizable shots of Toronto; subways passing with very clear TTC logos, etc. Is it set in Toronto? And why is called "The Bridge"? There were several shots of, and under, the Bloor-Danforth viaduct. Is that "the bridge"? It's a series about this bridge??

 

[GraphicMatt]

Haven't seen it (but heard it's pretty good) - here's what Wiki has to say:

The Bridge is a Canadian police drama commissioned by CTV and CBS starring Aaron Douglas. The name of the series is derived from the bridge which separates the wealthy Rosedale neighborhood of Toronto with its poorest, the St. James Town projects.