As has already been noted here on Spacing Toronto, a delegation from the San Francisco Planning + Urban Research Association (SPUR) visited Toronto for four days in may on a study trip to see how things work up here. Last month we posted Lawrence Li’s observations on Toronto that generated some good discussion. Now SPUR’s monthly publication, The Urbanist, is out and dedicated to comparing and contrasting Toronto and San Francisco. You can download the current issue pdf here (3.9 MB)– it’s worth it to read articles on affordable housing in Toronto; Toronto as a Canada’s creative city gateway; geographic comparisons between SF and TO; Toronto’s orphaned spaces; a “Lesson from Waterfront Toronto;” and “Can a City be a Poem:” thoughts on Toronto after meeting with our poet laureate, Pier Giorgio Di Cicco. I also wrote an essay about the value I got out of seeing Toronto through new eyes during the four days I spent with SPUR.
San Francisco’s Urbanist on Toronto
Read more articles by Shawn Micallef
9 comments
Is the Peter Ustinov quote about Toronto (“New York run by The Swiss”)a compliment or an insult? On one hand it sounds derisive, as we are just a nock off of NYC. On the other hand, Switzerland is quite a nice place and Ustinov himself liked it.
Does anyone know?
A compliment.
Well that is good.
It’s also incredibly dated, I think originating in the early 1980s. This was an era when New York was an out-of-control dump (see “Escape from New York” for the prevailing wisdom at the time on Manhattan’s future) and Toronto was the happy, gleaming city that had just invented downtown shopping malls. A delegation from New York city council actually visited the city to try and learn how to build a better New York.
Times have changed. These days, with the inertia, litter, and broken everything I feel Toronto is more like “New York run by the Italians”. I would be very pleased indeed if we could improve ourselves to the point of one day being “Chicago run by New Yorkers”.
Oops, I was wrong. 1987. Still the same pre-recession era.
My understanding was that the “run by the Swiss” idea came from the long history of excellent city hall engineers and staff from the 40’s through to the 60’s led in particular by a Scotsman whose name eludes me. City Hall historians may be better able to help highlight this man and his impact.
R.C. Harris, after whom the filtration plant at Victoria Park is named, was the model of a professional, civic-minded city builder. His era dates back to the early 20th century. He set the pattern in which the City of Toronto continued long after.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rowland_Caldwell_Harris
Like the City, the TTC was run by a hard nosed bunch from its origin in the 20s who were replaced in the 70s and 80s by folks who valued image over quality. This generation helped to change Toronto from its “Swiss” image to more of a Potemkin Village.
It’s worth hearing the observations of outside urbanists.
Lawrence Li’s comment about how the Chinese food is better in our region because all of Hong Kong’s top chefs came here made me laugh out loud. 🙂
But the gulf between the city councillors and the current populace _is_ noteable. Does anyone know if The Dave is going to organize another City Idol contest or if someone else is stepping into those shoes?
Re: Multiculturalism being represented by City Council. I feel like a bit of a mistake was made in regard to the observation that Council is mostly white.
It should be pointed out that many surrounding councils and boards do better reflect our multiculturalism. Brampton and Markham stand out as great examples of the changes that have already taken place. I realize that neither is ‘Toronto’ proper, but that definition is starting to lose its significance. Toronto is far more than just the 416 now.