[TOareaFan]

I don't see it. To take your first example, Upminster Bridge is 25km from central London, and if you take a look at the street view, you'll see that the main arterial is a two-lane road lined with storefronts, surrounded by duplex housing. It also has a bus on an 8-minute frequency. On the other hand, 25km from the centre of Toronto on the alignment of the Spadina subway would take you somewhere around Weston and Langstaff, where I see four-lane arterials with nothing fronting them, surrounded by mazelike postwar subdivisions containing single detached houses with 2-car garages; the buses come every half hour if you're lucky. Doesn't look apple-y to me.

Upminnster Bridge looks a lot like downtown Brampton.....we have some frequent bus service! Can we get a subway

 

[someMidTowner]

Theres a downtown Brampton?

 

[Paolo]

Theres a downtown Brampton?

yes there is and highway 10 runs through it. wink wink

 

[Hipster Duck]

Theres a downtown Brampton?

Ha ha. There is, but among Canadian cities with a population of 500,000 - 750,000, Brampton's downtown isn't exactly on the level of Winnipeg's or Quebec City's

Seriously, though, I've always thought about how feeble the GTA's other centres are. Downtown Brampton, though it's getting better, still feels about the same as the downtown of a Southwestern Ontario city of 40,000 albeit with some highrises. Mississauga made the cardinal mistake of building a new masterplanned "downtown" from scratch rather than naturally expanding out of Port Credit. I guess the three other downtowns in the immediate GTA (so, not including KW, Barrie, Peterborough, etc.) are Hamilton, Oshawa and Oakville. You don't exactly have the options for exciting inner city living outside of Toronto that you have in other metropolitan areas of North America like Chicago, New York or San Francisco.

 

[drum118]

I took the train from Euston Station and travel 30 minutes north to Harrow & Wealdstone Station to catch speeding trains. I found one of the tube lines ends there also along with connection for trains.

I would class the area smaller than Brampton and surprise to see the tube this far out, but it was busy. Trains also stop here either for Euston Station or Gatwick Airport with stops along the way inbound.

The tube service was about every 10-15 minutes.

 

[Dan416]

yes there is and highway 10 runs through it. wink wink

Actually I think it's Main Street there.

 

[someMidTowner]

Actually I think it's Main Street there.

You know it's rural when the main street is actually called Main Street

 

[nfitz]

You know it's rural when the main street is actually called Main Street

Danforth and Main is rural?

 

[someMidTowner]

How does Danforth and Main apply. my post was "You know it's rural when the main street is actually called Main Street" Are you under the impression that Main St. is Toronto's main artery?

 

[nfitz]

How does Danforth and Main apply. my post was "You know it's rural when the main street is actually called Main Street" Are you under the impression that Main St. is Toronto's main artery?

It was the main artery in the former town of East Toronto pre-almagamation, along with Lake View Avenue.

 

[TOareaFan]

How does Danforth and Main apply. my post was "You know it's rural when the main street is actually called Main Street" Are you under the impression that Main St. is Toronto's main artery?

Aside from that.....can you explain how any part of Brampton (let alone "downtown" Brampton) fit any definition of "rural"....they may not fit your definition of a dense urban setting....but "rural"....really?

Yes, the street name harkens back to when it was a smaller place....but, to satisfy you, please tell us at what point they should they have changed the name from Main Street? When the population hit 100k? 200k? 300k? 400k? 500k?......if Canada's 9th largest municipality is "rural"...we are working from different definitions.

 

[someMidTowner]

Aside from that.....can you explain how any part of Brampton (let alone "downtown" Brampton) fit any definition of "rural"....they may not fit your definition of a dense urban setting....but "rural"....really?

Yes, the street name harkens back to when it was a smaller place....but, to satisfy you, please tell us at what point they should they have changed the name from Main Street? When the population hit 100k? 200k? 300k? 400k? 500k?......if Canada's 9th largest municipality is "rural"...we are working from different definitions.

rural roots and surroundings. suburban built form. I should have been clearer. I'm not suggesting they should have changed the name of main street, but at the same time the name conjures a small town image. Also Brampton can have all the credit it wants for being Canada's 9th largest municipality - but to me and most other torontonians - it exists in its current form as a direct of urban sprawl and is more viewed as a suburb than a standalone municipality. It may have more people than cities like Halifax, but just like Halifax - you can find farmland by driving for 10 minutes. So I guess I should have referred to Brampton as "a rural town which rapidly became a city due to Toronto's urban sprawl problem"

Just to be clear: this is how "Canada's 9th largest municipality" transitions from subdivisions to farmland

So the word rural isn't really much of a stretch

 

[jamincan]

Let's be clear. Rural is farmer's fields. Urban is city streets. Main Street in Brampton isn't rural in even the most generous use of the word.

 

[someMidTowner]

No point debating if people don't read your posts before replying with a blunt 2 line response with no supporting argument.

 

[TOareaFan]

rural roots and surroundings. suburban built form. I should have been clearer.

Yes, like a lot of municipalities in Canada, the roots are rural.....but that is a long way from your statement that the name of the street let's "You know it's rural"

I'm not suggesting they should have changed the name of main street, but at the same time the name conjures a small town image.

Other than changing the name, though, how could they combat that mistaken impression you got/have/gave that Brampton still is rural. There are lots of streetnames that conjur up a small town image...in lots of places. Even in our greatest urban setting, there is a great desire to name areas "X" Village....for that precise reason.....it doesn't mean they are, either, small town settings or "rural". At least in the case of Main Street in Brampton, it is a legitimate continuation of an old name rather than a marketing exercise.

Also Brampton can have all the credit it wants for being Canada's 9th largest municipality - but to me and most other torontonians - it exists in its current form as a direct of urban sprawl and is more viewed as a suburb than a standalone municipality. It may have more people than cities like Halifax, but just like Halifax - you can find farmland by driving for 10 minutes. So I guess I should have referred to Brampton as "a rural town which rapidly became a city due to Toronto's urban sprawl problem"

Brampton (nor I) is not looking for "credit" on how it became what it is.....nor is it looking for "credit" when it climbs further up that "table" (as it inevitably will do, by provincial mandate). What they (and I) are looking for recognition of the fact and rather than slough it off as some rural suburb, acknowledge that there are issues that arise from allowing/encouraging 1/2 a million people to live in a place and encouraging that number to climb towards 3/4 million. This latest discussion about Brampton and its built form arose out of a tongue-in-cheek remark I made about Brampton's downtown as it relates to similar/smaller places outside of London (UK) that have full subway service. To be clear, the "can we have a subway" remark was a joke....but there does need to be investment at from the Provincial level of government consistant with the size of the community if it is to ever grow beyond the impression you have. It has to be linked to the transit system of the region with, far, more frequent train service and more adequate roadways, it has to have something remotely close to the provincial average of hospital beds per population and it probably needs to be considered for one of those satelite univiersities....or it has no chance of attracting the sort of employment base (beyond its traditional role as a warehouse town) that creates that standalone city "feeling".

Just to be clear: this is how "Canada's 9th largest municipality" transitions from subdivisions to farmland


So the word rural isn't really much of a stretch

The word rural in the context of what was beind discussed (ie. downtown Brampton/Main Street) is a huge stretch. The transition to farmland happens, yes abruptly, at the edges and fringes of the currently built city.....the much hated (not just by you) "sprawl" will quickly take care of that within Brampton's borders (unfortunately)...not sure what (if anything) Brampton should/could do about the neighbourhing communities to shed your "rural" designation.....but, within the context of the discussion that you used the word, this is what you described as rural:

Hardly King and Bay.....but "rural"....not even close.