{"id":5621,"date":"2010-01-25T07:00:57","date_gmt":"2010-01-25T12:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingmontreal.ca\/?p=5621"},"modified":"2013-01-21T11:44:57","modified_gmt":"2013-01-21T16:44:57","slug":"toronto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/2010\/01\/25\/toronto\/","title":{"rendered":"Toronto"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a title=\"Hello Toronto by Mamonello, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/mamonello\/3672833729\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3357\/3672833729_304fddaf19.jpg\" alt=\"Hello Toronto\" width=\"500\" height=\"307\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Image credits \u2015 Mamonello<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00ab Laissons Toronto devenir Milan, Montr\u00e9al sera toujours Rome. \u00bb<br \/>\n<em>&#8211; Jean Drapeau<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Tonight, l\u2019Orchestre symphonique de Montr\u00e9al, under the direction of Kent Nagano, will be performing at Toronto\u2019s Roy Thompson Hall in what is a standard <em>art share<\/em> between the two cities. However, a recent conversation I had at a vernissage had me exploring the deeper meaning of this cultural exchange. Both a classical arts fanatic and native Montrealer, my interlocutor gushed unapologetically about how cool it would be to play in Toronto \u2015 a shocking bit of flattery that would have been unheard of 5 years ago. I was taken aback. In the past, one had to feign the obligatory scowl at the mere mention of our brothers upstream. Now here I was, standing in front of someone openly praising them. <\/p>\n<p>This got me thinking: has Toronto changed? Is it no longer the city that we have been led to believe? Or had my newfound friend imbibed a bit too much red wine?<\/p>\n<p>The cultural scene in Toronto has exploded over the past 10 years. Because of the political aversion to giving subsidies to any Toronto-based projects, this has mainly been accomplished by a financial push from the city\u2019s business elite. Citizens have become engaged in the arts; sold out shows at the opera and the symphony have become all too common. Festivals have risen to prominence. The municipal summer black book is jam-packed, yet the city still tries to shoehorn more celebrations. Attendance at Luminato &#8211; Toronto Festival of Arts and Creativity, already reaches over 1 million despite only being established 3 years ago. Likewise, Toronto\u2019s Nuit Blanche, established in 2006 already rivals the Parisian original.<\/p>\n<p>Architectural stimulation has finally arrived in the Queen City. While it has long been suffering from the same condo virus ravaging the Canadian urban landscape with its <em>little boxes made of ticky-tacky<\/em>, recent municipal developments are proving to be a lot more interesting. Spaces, such as <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Yonge-Dundas_Square\">Yonge-Dundas Square<\/a> and the collection of Victorian industrial architecture called the <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Distillery_District\">Distillery District<\/a>, are being reinvented and revalorised. Cultural institutions are taking off their cloaks to expose their creativity out in the open: The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.designboom.com\/weblog\/cat\/9\/view\/3161\/will-alsop-ocad-an-urban-manifesto-at-the-canadian-centre-for-architecture.html\">Ontario College of Art &#038; Design<\/a>, the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.canada.com\/travel\/Maligned+Crystal+named+world+modern+marvels\/2260173\/story.html\">Royal Ontario Museum<\/a>, and the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.arcspace.com\/architects\/gehry\/ago\/ago.html\">Art Gallery of Ontario<\/a> have people debating the art of architecture. However, the new Toronto understands not all buildings need to be garish. In an act of subtlety, the <a href=\"http:\/\/images.businessweek.com\/ss\/07\/11\/1130_bwar_fourseasons\/source\/1.htm\">Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts<\/a> (designed by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dsai.ca\/#\/portfolio\/78\/\">Jack Diamond<\/a>), with its granite-coloured walls, blends effortlessly into its surroundings, camouflaging with the famous Toronto <em>Thank God It\u2019s Monday<\/em> businessmen in their dark grey suits. <\/p>\n<p>I never used to believe in that alleged rivalry between Montr\u00e9al and Toronto. With its <em>joie de vivre<\/em> and <em>laissez les bon temps rouler<\/em>, Montr\u00e9al was always the undisputable winner in such a competition. Yet, it is becoming increasingly clear that we can no longer rest on our laurels. Besides, not only do we have Toronto breathing down our backs, clamouring for glory and distinction, but we now must also worry about Qu\u00e9bec. And lest we forget that New York is always ready for a fight. Even cities like <a href=\"http:\/\/www.calgaryherald.com\/columnists\/Bite+Montreal+Stephen+belongs+here\/2252300\/story.html\">Calgary<\/a>, once considered too far removed in order to do us harm, have been secretly stalking their kill. <\/p>\n<p>Montr\u00e9al\u2019s position has never been more precarious: in this sink or swim post-industrial world, what can be done to make sure we stay afloat?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Image credits \u2015 Mamonello \u00ab Laissons Toronto devenir Milan, Montr\u00e9al sera toujours Rome. \u00bb &#8211; Jean Drapeau Tonight, l\u2019Orchestre symphonique de Montr\u00e9al, under the direction of Kent Nagano, will be performing at Toronto\u2019s Roy Thompson Hall in what is a standard art share between the two cities. However, a recent conversation I had at a<a href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/2010\/01\/25\/toronto\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"sr-only\">&#8220;Toronto&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5055,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7842],"tags":[3069,4871,2340,467,3402,4870,4875,347,4876,4869,125,352,536,3068,4191,18,979,45,274,4873,152,4872,4874],"class_list":["post-5621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-urban-design","tag-art-gallery-of-ontario","tag-blanche","tag-businessmen","tag-calgary","tag-distillery-district","tag-four-seasons-centre-for-the-performing-arts","tag-jack-diamond","tag-jean-drapeau","tag-kent-nagano","tag-milan","tag-montreal","tag-new-york","tag-ontario","tag-ontario-college-of-art","tag-ontario-college-of-art-design","tag-other-cities","tag-queen","tag-revitalisation","tag-rome","tag-royal-ontario-museum","tag-toronto","tag-torontos-roy-thompson-hall","tag-yonge-dundas-square"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Toronto - Spacing Montreal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/2010\/01\/25\/toronto\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Toronto - Spacing Montreal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Image credits \u2015 Mamonello \u00ab Laissons Toronto devenir Milan, Montr\u00e9al sera toujours Rome. \u00bb &#8211; Jean Drapeau Tonight, l\u2019Orchestre symphonique de Montr\u00e9al, under the direction of Kent Nagano, will be performing at Toronto\u2019s Roy Thompson Hall in what is a standard art share between the two cities. However, a recent conversation I had at aContinue reading &quot;Toronto&quot;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/2010\/01\/25\/toronto\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Spacing Montreal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-01-25T12:00:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-01-21T16:44:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3357\/3672833729_304fddaf19.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"\u00c9mile Thomas\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Spacing\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Spacing\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\u00c9mile Thomas\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/2010\/01\/25\/toronto\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/2010\/01\/25\/toronto\/\",\"name\":\"Toronto - Spacing Montreal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/2010\/01\/25\/toronto\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/2010\/01\/25\/toronto\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3357\/3672833729_304fddaf19.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-01-25T12:00:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-01-21T16:44:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/#\/schema\/person\/4b0623a303ad15a6a8475b50a7039e74\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/2010\/01\/25\/toronto\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/2010\/01\/25\/toronto\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/2010\/01\/25\/toronto\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3357\/3672833729_304fddaf19.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3357\/3672833729_304fddaf19.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/2010\/01\/25\/toronto\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Toronto\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/\",\"name\":\"Spacing Montreal\",\"description\":\"Canadian Urbanism Uncovered  |  Montreal Architecture, Urban Design, Public Transit, City Hall, Parks, Walking, Bikes, Streetscape, History, Waterfront, Maps, Public Spaces\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/#\/schema\/person\/4b0623a303ad15a6a8475b50a7039e74\",\"name\":\"\u00c9mile Thomas\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0b6899b4bf9d2a7acb7730da1addb219?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0b6899b4bf9d2a7acb7730da1addb219?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"\u00c9mile Thomas\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/author\/jrthomas\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/author\/jrthomas\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Toronto - Spacing Montreal","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/2010\/01\/25\/toronto\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Toronto - Spacing Montreal","og_description":"Image credits \u2015 Mamonello \u00ab Laissons Toronto devenir Milan, Montr\u00e9al sera toujours Rome. \u00bb &#8211; Jean Drapeau Tonight, l\u2019Orchestre symphonique de Montr\u00e9al, under the direction of Kent Nagano, will be performing at Toronto\u2019s Roy Thompson Hall in what is a standard art share between the two cities. However, a recent conversation I had at aContinue reading \"Toronto\"","og_url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/2010\/01\/25\/toronto\/","og_site_name":"Spacing Montreal","article_published_time":"2010-01-25T12:00:57+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-01-21T16:44:57+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3357\/3672833729_304fddaf19.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"\u00c9mile Thomas","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Spacing","twitter_site":"@Spacing","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"\u00c9mile Thomas","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/2010\/01\/25\/toronto\/","url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/2010\/01\/25\/toronto\/","name":"Toronto - Spacing Montreal","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/2010\/01\/25\/toronto\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/2010\/01\/25\/toronto\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3357\/3672833729_304fddaf19.jpg","datePublished":"2010-01-25T12:00:57+00:00","dateModified":"2013-01-21T16:44:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/#\/schema\/person\/4b0623a303ad15a6a8475b50a7039e74"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/2010\/01\/25\/toronto\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/2010\/01\/25\/toronto\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/2010\/01\/25\/toronto\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3357\/3672833729_304fddaf19.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3357\/3672833729_304fddaf19.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/2010\/01\/25\/toronto\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Toronto"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/#website","url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/","name":"Spacing Montreal","description":"Canadian Urbanism Uncovered  |  Montreal Architecture, Urban Design, Public Transit, City Hall, Parks, Walking, Bikes, Streetscape, History, Waterfront, Maps, Public Spaces","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/#\/schema\/person\/4b0623a303ad15a6a8475b50a7039e74","name":"\u00c9mile Thomas","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0b6899b4bf9d2a7acb7730da1addb219?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0b6899b4bf9d2a7acb7730da1addb219?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"\u00c9mile Thomas"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/author\/jrthomas\/"],"url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/author\/jrthomas\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5055"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5621"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5621\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20967,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5621\/revisions\/20967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}