I agree wholeheartedly.

Once again (as per usual), going to great lengths to select street view images that vaguely align with your super subjective narrative.

I've seen PLENTY of areas of Chicago that look almost identical to the street view of Toronto you posted, yet you selected the grittiest, oldest-looking area of Chicago's "favored" district. :rolleyes:

Exactly.

I can see that too, and it makes more sense today since they are orientated in a similar fashion on the mainland compared to the major city on the coast. All of the Jersey side could be considered the East Bay's analog.

Yeah, all those river valley cities.

Look, I get it. Chicago residents would much prefer the world sees Chicago as comparable to NYC than the world sees Chicago comparable to Toronto, but facts are facts, and if we were to base the comparison purely on skyscraper numbers alone (which, to be clear, I am not, as I see far more aesthetic similarities beyond that), the only reasonable comparison is Chicago/Toronto.

Totals:
NYC - 1,356
Chicago - 520
Toronto - 374

Well then, please correct me.

Since there are PLENTY of neighborhood commercial corridors in Chicago's favored quarter that look "almost identical" to Yonge, it should be quite easy to post a few.

Also, LOL at Lincoln Park/Lakeview looking "gritty". Those mean streets are tougher than leather.

uh no, that's not it at all. many people in chicago have a massive chip on their broad shoulder regarding NYC, and abhor any comparisons made between chicago and the big apple.

if you're making it a three-way race, then chicago and toronto are certainly much more similar to each other than either is to NYC, but that still doesn't make chicago and toronto "essentially twins".

anyone who has ever spent a significant amount of time in both cities would know that.

if chicago has a" twin" out there, it's milwaukee, but the size difference is so massive that it's a little bit like that movie with danny devito and arnold schwarzenegger.

People love to cherry pick from Google maps to fit their narratives, with any city. It's very easy to do.

Read my previous post. No one said that Yonge is a typical Toronto street. And, you're right, it's quite similar to Wilshire, which is the point.

Yonge obviously isn't a typical Toronto street, but it's the archetypal main commercial street through the favored quarter. It runs right through the wealthiest areas in Toronto (and maybe Canada?).

If you look at Bloor, or Queen West, you'll see the same differences (generally narrower streets, newer buildings, lots of concrete and glass, a bit shabby/messy). What neighborhood Chicago street looks like Bloor or Queen West?

And if you compare residential streets, you'll see distinct typologies. Chicago has grander, wider blocks, far more historic streetscapes, Toronto has tons of much more modest semi-row blocks that kinda look UK-ish, and the rich streetcar suburbs start immediately north of downtown. It's like if you could stroll from Wilmette to North Michigan Ave.

I don’t think this is true in 2019. Maybe 1969?

Chicago overall looks/feels more modern than NYC, but less than Toronto. It’s a nice middle ground.

Exactly, of course JAYNYC has shown around here before that he has a huge hate-boner for Chicago, so he naturally has to draw these idiotic conclusions.

My recent trip 2 weeks ago to Toronto confirmed to me that it is far from Chicago's "Great Lakes twin", and thinking about NYC had nothing to do with it. They both have a lot of skyscrapers and are on a huge freshwater lake, but largely the similarities of their built environment and the people who live in these cities end there

Chicago and Toronto might share some high-level, lake city elements, but Montreal seems more like Chicago on the street level to me.

https://www.google.com/maps/@45.5232...7i13312!8i6656

https://www.google.com/maps/@45.5218...7i16384!8i8192

https://www.google.com/maps/@45.4763...7i16384!8i8192

https://www.google.com/maps/@45.4783...!7i3328!8i1664

https://www.google.com/maps/@45.5156...7i16384!8i8192

Montreal has a tighter scale and narrower streets, and Chicago has that midwestern gigantism, but I've always seen a similarity in scale and typology there.

"What two cities do you find most similar in nearly every respect?"

For me, none.

There are also those intangibles that cities have (character, vibe, attitude/outlook of the people, culture) and also scenery and available cuisine, that I also compare, and so far, I have found none of the big cities I've been to that I can say are most similar in nearly every aspect. But that's just me of course.

For residential, Toronto's inner-city has a lot of sorta British-looking modest homes, now obviously gentrified, and often random garden apartments. Messy and vibrant:

https://www.google.com/maps/@43.6484...7i16384!8i8192

Chicago's residential inner city looks much more prosperous, substantial and orderly:

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.9364...7i16384!8i8192

I think the Yonge Street example is actually quite apt since it highlights a great difference between the two cities.

Yonge and Eglinton is one of many secondary high-rise clusters in Toronto, a feature that you don't really see in Chicago due to underlying differences between how the cities grew and developed. Chicago is one of the most centralized cities in terms of high-rise location. Tall buildings are tightly grouped within the core, and finding 20+ stories outside of that area is a rarity. This lends itself to having the massive, diverse skyline the city does.

Toronto is possibly the most de-centralized city in Canada/U.S. in this regards. If you could move all of Toronto's suburban commie blocks and new glass towers together in the core it would probably look more like Sao Paulo or some tertiary Chinese city than anything in the States. There isn't really an analogous location in Chicago for St. Clair, Yonge & Eglinton, North York, Downtown Mississauga, Scarborough City Centre, etc. American cities have never really adopted the suburban high-rise living that the largest immigrant groups to Canada are quite familiar with.

I wouldn't call the section he chose a "typical" commercial corridor in Chicago's "favored quarter" either... who's doing the favoring?

And look at this popular retail corridor in Chicago:
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.9100...7i16384!8i8192

And the one you posted: https://goo.gl/maps/fHwqdWn5oKsouRQr7

pretty similar to me!

hahahaha lol ha ha rotflmao ha ha haha 🤣 😂 🤣

Atlanta exhibits certain similarities to both Dallas and Houston.

They look quite different, obviously. Bloor looks very different from N. Milwaukee. And you're aren't comparing apples-apples, you're comparing the hipster center of Chicago with an immigrant neighborhood in Toronto.