People can bring whatever stats they want, but for one reason or another Mississauga sees itself as a city moreso than most suburbs, and that cultural perception is not going away. Is it founded in some fundamental spatial reality? Not really, but its large size and singular administration for so many people make ‘Sauga feel seperate, and that’s all there is to it. Politics has furthered this to its benefit.

Tossing in my two cents here… if you want to point at one or two things that does actually indicate Sauga is more independent than another mere suburb, I think these do exist:

1. First is Pearson and the associated employment ‘mega zone’ to the NE. Having a very large, distinct jobs agglomeration (not really a ‘centre’ given how sprawling it is) means a lot of residents don’t go into Toronto, and alot of people actually come in. Ditto w/ Brampton; many suburbs are closer to the core, but haven’t sprawled nearly as far from it. The census/MTO has lots of data to support these findings too.

2. This leads into the second factor- Mississauga is effectively not an outer suburb. The airport megazone has pulled the ‘centre of gravity’ for the GTHA west, making Sauga ‘central’ for commuters in Oakville, Milton, Brampton, Vaughan etc. In fact, I doubt these places would be as developed as they are if Sauga+YYZ didn’t have the jobs to draw and incite growth. It becomes self fulfilling.

On that note, I’ll just say Mississauga is almost like Brooklyn. It wouldn’t be here without Toronto (ie, Manhattan) but it has captured enough employment to have its own gravity within the region itself, which is not easy to do. As @sixrings reminds us all, there is no Line 2 in Sauga- but perhaps that’s because demand is less than it would be if Sauga wasn’t independent on some level. What people feel is this reality, which some politicians recognize and put into words.

Editing for brevity;
Fin
 
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People can bring whatever stats they want, but for one reason or another Mississauga sees itself as a city moreso than most suburbs, and that cultural perception is not going away. Is it founded in some fundamental spatial reality? Not really, but its large size and singular administration for so many people make ‘Sauga feel seperate, and that’s all there is to it. Politics has furthered this to its benefit.

Tossing in my two cents here… if you want to point at one or two things that does actually indicate Sauga is more independent than another mere suburb, I think these do exist:

1. First is Pearson and the associated employment ‘mega zone’ to the NE. Having a very large, distinct jobs agglomeration (not really a ‘centre’ given how sprawling it is) means a lot of residents don’t go into Toronto, and alot of people actually come in. Ditto w/ Brampton; many suburbs are closer to the core, but haven’t sprawled nearly as far from it. The census/MTO has lots of data to support these findings too.

2. This leads into the second factor- Mississauga is effectively not an outer suburb. The airport megazone has pulled the ‘centre of gravity’ for the GTHA west, making Sauga ‘central’ for commuters in Oakville, Milton, Brampton, Vaughan etc. In fact, I doubt these places would be as developed as they are if Sauga+YYZ didn’t have the jobs to draw and incite growth. It becomes self fulfilling.

On that note, I’ll just say Mississauga is almost like Brooklyn. It wouldn’t be here without Toronto (ie, Manhattan) but it has captured enough employment to have its own gravity within the region itself, which is not easy to do. As @sixrings reminds us all, there is no Line 2 in Sauga- but perhaps that’s because demand is less than it would be if Sauga wasn’t independent on some level. What people feel is this reality, which some politicians recognize and put into words.

Editing for brevity;
Fin
Wait, we're saying Brooklyn isn't part of NYC?

Mississauga is part of the city known as the GTA. There is lots of commuting within that city (City of Toronto to suburbs and vice versa), and it is one integrated economic unit.
 
What's also interesting about Mississauga is that the most eastern parts of the city (ie., closest geographically to Toronto - and to Pearson) are the least desirable parts of the City. Malton, and to a lesser extent, Applewood/Dixie/Rockwood and the entire Burnhamthorpe area are where the lower SES residents of Sauga live (including a trailer park). In Vaughan, the area booming with condos/development is basically as close as you can get to Toronto, same with Downtown Markham. Maybe this helps Mississauga's downtown (MCC) be truly its own unique spot (given its distance away from even the border with Toronto).
 
Wait, we're saying Brooklyn isn't part of NYC?

Mississauga is part of the city known as the GTA. There is lots of commuting within that city (City of Toronto to suburbs and vice versa), and it is one integrated economic unit.
I think his point is that there are plenty of suburbs in nyc. Brooklyn is a suburb. Yet Brooklyn has its own distinct culture and feels more like it could be its own city.
 
What's also interesting about Mississauga is that the most eastern parts of the city (ie., closest geographically to Toronto - and to Pearson) are the least desirable parts of the City. Malton, and to a lesser extent, Applewood/Dixie/Rockwood and the entire Burnhamthorpe area are where the lower SES residents of Sauga live (including a trailer park). In Vaughan, the area booming with condos/development is basically as close as you can get to Toronto, same with Downtown Markham. Maybe this helps Mississauga's downtown (MCC) be truly its own unique spot (given its distance away from even the border with Toronto).
SES?

You think misssissauga road and burnamthorpe represent lower socioeconomic status? Or ponytrail drive and burnamthorpe?

I mean it’s not Lorne park but it’s not exactly where they hand out food stamps.

But I do agree with your premise that mcc being a considerable distance from Toronto (the same distance as STC) just not as well connected transit wise.. will eventually be a blessing in disguise.
 
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I think his point is that there are plenty of suburbs in nyc. Brooklyn is a suburb. Yet Brooklyn has its own distinct culture and feels more like it could be its own city.
I think the mistake is to think there is one Mississauga identity. It is just an administrative unit. Do you think people in Streetsville or Port Credit give a fig about Malton or whatever? No one swells with pride about Square One or Celebration Square.
 
I think the mistake is to think there is one Mississauga identity. It is just an administrative unit. Do you think people in Streetsville or Port Credit give a fig about Malton or whatever? No one swells with pride about Square One or Celebration Square.
I actually do have some pride about celebration square. I thought it might be used once a year. Instead it’s used regularly. It’s a success story no matter how you look at it. So I do have pride about it.

Does any other suburb have a main area where their people congregate? Brampton, Pickering, Ajax, Whitby, Oakville, Vaughan, Richmond hill?! I’ve lived in the gta my whole life and I think the answer is no. That alone is reason to have pride.

Yeah we just agree to disagree. I might be the eternal optimist but you make it sound like there’s zero pride from Mississauga residents. I dont believe that to be true. Side note 20 years ago when I used to live downtown Toronto and you would go shopping on queen street or the distillery there was plenty of stores with NYC art. As if Toronto wasn’t its own place. Today if you would go downtown Toronto there would be much more Toronto centric art and clothes. It used to be cool to wish you lived in nyc. Now it’s hip to embrace Toronto. Mississauga is building its own thing. And its time will come as well. But again I’m an optimist.
 
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Wait, we're saying Brooklyn isn't part of NYC?

Mississauga is part of the city known as the GTA. There is lots of commuting within that city (City of Toronto to suburbs and vice versa), and it is one integrated economic unit.
Not denying that, and definetely not denying that Brooklyn is part of NYC. But Brooklyn is certainly not Manhattan and not a part of the core CBD (Lower MH/Midtown). If anything, this shows the interconnectedness that underpins such pairs. My argument is that secondary centres of a sufficient size can gain their own identity, ala Brooklyn. So again, within the sphere of the GTA, Mississauga occupies a disproportionate amount of (distinct) economic activity and population compared to others. And, it is uniquely positioned to benefit from these strengths thanks to its increasingly central location. Recipe for an identity.

If you want a definitive answer, I agree Sauga is a suburb, but only in the sense that it isn’t the #1 core city. My point is that it is #2. I don’t like this framing that comes up where if we talk about the GTHA as a region, we can’t talk about the nuance within that. Ignoring municipal boundaries, consider this q- is downtown Toronto it’s own economic place? And If so, why is Mississauga not? because it doesn’t look the part? Such perceptions are reductive and a poor standard, so I scrapped together a basis of economics, land use and commute patterns. I haven’t even brought up policy, and there’s lots of it!

I’ll be frank. I have no side in this argument, merely that the case can be made. But, out of principle I am simply not going to reduce every municipality to an indistinguishable part of the greater economic unit- It obfuscates reality! Dismissing their peculiarities is a failure to truly understand how it all comes together to form the fabled GTA/GTHA/GGH economy, and Sauga is a great case to study.
 
I think the mistake is to think there is one Mississauga identity. It is just an administrative unit. Do you think people in Streetsville or Port Credit give a fig about Malton or whatever? No one swells with pride about Square One or Celebration Square.
I think the shocking part is that they do… hence why we are having this conversation. If they don’t, id more quickly attribute it to them being towns that existed prior to Mississauga or being too seperate from the rest of the city (Malton). As my posts above mention, I think any identity would come from where people both live and work. So, it might not line up cleanly with city borders, but there is definetely a unique pull in the central-west GTA distinct from downtown that mostly happens to overlap with Mississauga.
 
Not to take away from the discussion, but I have some images to share from today
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