I dunno, man. When even rich neighbourhoods can't be bothered to get ratty roads in their area repaired, I highly doubt the investors here give two ships.
 
felix123 said:
This makes me think of Chicago in particular. The architecture in the city loop is breathtaking, and I believe it is the best collection of skyscrapers in the world. If you disagree, take the architecture cruise next time you go and get back to me 😉
No need to go into detail on Chicago's poverty/violence issues, burning barrels under the expressway, etc as everyone knows about this.

On the other hand, Toronto looks cheap from every angle, but Nobu takes it to such an extreme that I have a hard time believing that its buyers aren't going to be irate.
Click to expand...
I mean, I think Toronto was relatively poor in comparison to Chicago between 1880 - 1900 when a lot of those iconic skyscrapers were built. So yes, cheap in comparison. Although when we razed half the buildings downtown for parking lots, that didn't help either. Certainly, Toronto has climbed higher in terms of the GDP these days but I think the blue collar mentality remains in terms of public sentiment for expensive (albeit legacy) buildings & public realm.
 
urbanexplorer said:
I mean, I think Toronto was relatively poor in comparison to Chicago between 1880 - 1900 when a lot of those iconic skyscrapers were built. So yes, cheap in comparison. Although when we razed half the buildings downtown for parking lots, that didn't help either. Certainly, Toronto has climbed higher in terms of the GDP these days but I think the blue collar mentality remains in terms of public sentiment for expensive (albeit legacy) buildings & public realm.
Click to expand...
Not wanting to steer the thread off-topic, but that is actually incorrect.
Chicago's GDP remains far higher than that of Toronto (all those multinationals will do that for you). Not that this predicts quality of life all that well, mind you; though I love both cities, I'd still rather live in Toronto than Chicago.

Est. GDP, 2021 In USD (millions):
Chicago: 714,697
Toronto: 452,492
Edit: I realized you may have just meant that Toronto has had significant economic growth, re: GDP, and our public sentiment hasn't caught up.
 
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felix123 said:
This makes me think of Chicago in particular. The architecture in the city loop is breathtaking, and I believe it is the best collection of skyscrapers in the world. If you disagree, take the architecture cruise next time you go and get back to me 😉
No need to go into detail on Chicago's poverty/violence issues, burning barrels under the expressway, etc as everyone knows about this.

On the other hand, Toronto looks cheap from every angle, but Nobu takes it to such an extreme that I have a hard time believing that its buyers aren't going to be irate.
Click to expand...
Funny, Chicago was exactly the city I had in mind when I wrote the above, although I’ve seen it in other US cities. I was there in 2019, took the bus from the ‘Miracle Mile’ (Michigan Ave) to our Airbnb. Less than 5 minutes after leaving downtown we passed some very desolate area with what looked like abandoned warehouses and industrial plants.
 
felix123 said:
This makes me think of Chicago in particular. The architecture in the city loop is breathtaking, and I believe it is the best collection of skyscrapers in the world. If you disagree, take the architecture cruise next time you go and get back to me 😉
No need to go into detail on Chicago's poverty/violence issues, burning barrels under the expressway, etc as everyone knows about this.

On the other hand, Toronto looks cheap from every angle, but Nobu takes it to such an extreme that I have a hard time believing that its buyers aren't going to be irate.
Click to expand...

Man I loved touring Chicago.
 
felix123 said:
Not wanting to steer the thread off-topic, but that is actually incorrect.
Chicago's GDP remains far higher than that of Toronto (all those multinationals will do that for you). Not that this predicts quality of life all that well, mind you; though I love both cities, I'd still rather live in Toronto than Chicago.

Est. GDP, 2021 In USD (millions):
Chicago: 714,697
Toronto: 452,492
Edit: I realized you may have just meant that Toronto has had significant economic growth, re: GDP, and our public sentiment hasn't caught up.
Click to expand...
Yes, I'm aware. I said Chicago's GDP was higher :) . When I mentioned that Toronto's has climbed, I was referring to where the city was in the 1880's.
 
From Sunday afternoon.

20220612_170611.jpg
 
The grand American cities impress… ours are nice but not impressive except for old Montreal which is unique and there’s nothing like it He n NA of course.
 
felix123 said:
Not wanting to steer the thread off-topic, but that is actually incorrect.
Chicago's GDP remains far higher than that of Toronto (all those multinationals will do that for you). Not that this predicts quality of life all that well, mind you; though I love both cities, I'd still rather live in Toronto than Chicago.

Est. GDP, 2021 In USD (millions):
Chicago: 714,697
Toronto: 452,492
Edit: I realized you may have just meant that Toronto has had significant economic growth, re: GDP, and our public sentiment hasn't caught up.
Click to expand...
Chicago's definitely remains higher, but this isn't quite apples to apples, though. The way that US cities are defined and subsequently how their GDPs are calculated is different to how Canadian metro areas (and most of the rest of the world) are defined.

I think the American approach is more logical - based on commuting patterns and have much larger defined urban regions as a result - whereas most places it's about jurisdictional boundaries or a defined statistical area in the Canadian context.

Basically, the GTA is not a full picture of the economic power of the region, I'd argue it should be the Golden Horseshoe. Based on its population of about 10 million, or 28% of the Canadian population, I'd say the Toronto region has a GDP of about $620B USD based on the 2022 Canadian GDP estimates.
 
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