Post videos of your city

[Andrewjm3D]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Thoughtful points. I still think the "signature food" issue, for all its lameness, is a good example of how Toronto has not tooted its own horn enough and "shown the flag" very much.

Generally, in most parts of the world, iconic stuff from the metropolis is *over-represented* in the mind's eye of the hinterland, as opposed to being under-represented like many Toronto-ish things seem to be. I would also venture to say that Toronto-ish icons probably have an abnormally low profile even in Toronto itself - at least when compared to other national metropolises in the world. (These types of cities tend to be self-absorbed and navel-gazing.)

And in light of all this, your comment about giving Toronto some time to come into its own (50 years!) becomes all the more interesting. Toronto has already been the largest city in Canada for more than a generation (since 1980) and for about 50 years prior to that was in many way the co-metropolis of Canada of Canada with Montreal (although Montreal was Ginger and Toronto was Mary-Ann).

I'd say many many places with a lot less than than going for them have developed a unique sense of place (and all that goes along with it) much faster than Toronto has been able to.

Toronto's sense of place is that it's a city where no matter where you're from your ideas, culture, and traditions are welcome and are wanted. You can't tie that down to one dish or catch phrase. Our strength is found in our diversity. Toronto has a huge sense of place we're not a city that likes to toot it's own horn though. When we do we get shit on.

Ignore that video, Pork is not a main dish served everywhere in this city. There is no such thing as a Toronto-ish dish. But you can find food in the city from around the world that's on par with the best recipes from their places of origin. People here know this is one of the best food cities in the world and it boils down to our demographics. If the rest of the world doesn't know this it doesn't really matter. They don't live here.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Andrewjm3D

Toronto's sense of place is that it's a city where no matter where you're from your ideas, culture, and traditions are welcome and are wanted. You can't tie that down to one dish or catch phrase. Our strength is found in our diversity. Toronto has a huge sense of place we're not a city that likes to toot it's own horn though. When we do we get shit on.

Ignore that video, Pork is not a main dish served everywhere in this city. There is no such thing as a Toronto-ish dish. But you can find food in the city from around the world that's on par with the best recipes from their places of origin. People here know this is one of the best food cities in the world and it boils down to our demographics. If the rest of the world doesn't know this it doesn't really matter. They don't live here.

It's a common refrain but ''We are the world'' is already taken.

Most - actually almost all - of the world's hyper diverse cities have strong senses of place. Being diverse is not an impediment to having a unique civic identity. Something can and does emerge from the mix.

It seems odd and hard to believe that Toronto might be so unique that something uniquely Torontonian could not emerge from its mix like it has for every other city that has undergone the exact same transformation.

[Andrewjm3D]

Originally Posted by Acajack

It's a common refrain but ''We are the world'' is already taken.

Most - actually almost all - of the world's hyper diverse cities have strong senses of place. Being diverse is not an impediment to having a unique civic identity. Something can and does emerge from the mix.

It seems odd and hard to believe that Toronto might be so unique that something uniquely Torontonian could not emerge from its mix like it has for every other city that has undergone the exact same transformation.

So tell me what sort of dish would Toronto offer as it's own? And I'm sorry but our diversity is our identity. That's why the city keeps growing by nearly 100,000 people each year. People come here knowing it's one of the most diverse cities in the world, and the most diverse in North America. Something has been and is emerging from our mix. If you can't see what our identity is then maybe you need to make a trip here to find out for yourself.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Andrewjm3D

So tell me what sort of dish would Toronto offer as it's own? .

Why should I be the one to come up with this? I am not even a Torontonian. Don't these things simply emerge naturally from the fertile and unique urban environment in most places?

The whole point of the discussion is that Toronto on most fronts does not have a "signature this" or a "signature that". The best answer has been "we've been growing so fast - give us time".

We got that point, but have also seen other places grow fast and diverse and have this type of identity emerge must quicker.

None of this is really a big deal of course.

Originally Posted by Andrewjm3D

And I'm sorry but our diversity is our identity. That's why the city keeps growing by nearly 100,000 people each year. People come here knowing it's one of the most diverse cities in the world, and the most diverse in North America. Something has been and is emerging from our mix. .

I am sorry but diversity is a socio-economic indicator, not an identity and even less a culture. That's like saying Calgary's identity is to be rich.

Diversity is a contributor to the identity of a city like Toronto (and also NYC, London and a bunch of others), but it's not the identity of the city itself.

If people think Toronto's identity and culture is to be diverse, then they are just using it as a "filler" or a "placeholder" in the absence of something more concrete.

Being "everything" is a good way to be "nothing". Not saying that Toronto is "nothing", but it should be wary of going down that path.

There is a big difference between "diversity is what we are" and "diversity is what makes us what we are".

Originally Posted by Andrewjm3D

If you can't see what our identity is then maybe you need to make a trip here to find out for yourself.

I only live four and a half hours away. I have been to Toronto countless times and go there regularly. What makes you think I don't know the city?

[Gerrard]

Toronto's identity is in flux and has been for nearly half a century. Before then it was very easily defined. The Peameal Sandwhich was definitively Torontonian for a city of little diversity with an overwhelming singular cultural majority. Since the 60s this "English" or Presbyterian majority has dwindled. So, Sunday no longer means roast beef dinners with Yorkshire pudding. It's not Queen and country, it's not church on Sundays and staid sensible shoes. It's not throwing up a wall to the "other" anymore. This historic Toronto is easily found in the works of Robertson Davies or Timothy Findlay.

So there's been a loss of identity sure, the not so quintessential Toronto has disappeared but the gains in exchange have been exceptional and for all this loss of the colonial outpost (remember Toronto was founded for loyal British American refugees -if anything that has been the vein of what it is for much of its history) I'm sure no one under 80 with a good memory would give it up it for the Toronto that was. It's not so easy to redefine yourself as it is to define what you no longer are. Also I think this issue is probably more of a recent one (like a decade or so) than anything. Era wise Toronto is very easy to pigeon hole but the truth is the pace of change for the past decade has been very dynamic and really no one has really had time to catch their breath here. It was certainly unrecognizable to me when I moved back from the U.S. after 4.5 years.

Also small town Ontario is very much a place that has definition. It feels very "authentic". Just read some Alice Munro. She can only be writing about one place. And it isn't New England or small town Maritimes.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Gerrard

Toronto's identity is in flux and has been for nearly half a century. Before then it was very easily defined. The Peameal Sandwhich was definitively Torontonian for a city of little diversity with an overwhelming singular cultural majority. Since the 60s this "English" or Presbyterian majority has dwindled. So, Sunday no longer means roast beef dinners with Yorkshire pudding. It's not Queen and country, it's not church on Sundays and staid sensible shoes. It's not throwing up a wall to the "other" anymore. This historic Toronto is easily found in the works of Robertson Davies or Timothy Findlay.

So there's been a loss of identity sure, the not so quintessential Toronto has disappeared but the gains in exchange have been exceptional and for all this loss of the colonial outpost (remember Toronto was founded for loyal British American refugees -if anything that has been the vein of what it is for much of its history) I'm sure no one under 80 with a good memory would give it up it for the Toronto that was. It's not so easy to redefine yourself as it is to define what you no longer are. Also I think this issue is probably more of a recent one (like a decade or so) than anything. Era wise Toronto is very easy to pigeon hole but the truth is the pace of change for the past decade has been very dynamic and really no one has really had time to catch their breath here. It was certainly unrecognizable to me when I moved back from the U.S. after 4.5 years.

Also small town Ontario is very much a place that has definition. It feels very "authentic". Just read some Alice Munro. She can only be writing about one place. And it isn't New England or small town Maritimes.

This interesting post begs the question of why the new Toronto identity cannot be built upon the foundations of the old one. I often hear comments about how the old Toronto is now irrelevant to the modern reality. It's not something you would hear in, say, Boston. Or even New York. Regardless of how diverse these places might become.

[Rico Rommheim]

Originally Posted by FrAnKs

Downtown Montreal timelapse

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Haha this video is hilarious. Big bombastic 80's gay club soundtrack, boring timelapse of a boring part of the city.

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by Acajack

We got that point, but have also seen other places grow fast and diverse and have this type of identity emerge must quicker.

Such as?

If people think Toronto's identity and culture is to be diverse, then they are just using it as a "filler" or a "placeholder" in the absence of something more concrete.

But how can a place have an identity when when it is so diverse? (without having had time to "settle"?)

Having a single identity sort of requires everyone to be more or less on the same page.

Originally Posted by Acajack

This interesting post begs the question of why the new Toronto identity cannot be built upon the foundations of the old one. I often hear comments about how the old Toronto is now irrelevant to the modern reality. It's not something you would hear in, say, Boston. Or even New York.

Is it? I don't think New York's identity of the 1850s (pre-boom) has much relevance to the city of today. And Boston never seemed to have quite the same sort of massive paradigm shift as certain other cities - although the post-Irish & Italian Catholic Boston does seem like it'd be pretty far removed from its Puritan English origins. The only difference is that has a rather illustrious history as being the cradle of the American Revolution and for its role in the early nation, something that is obviously going to be capitalized on (but shouldn't necessarily be confused as its "identity").

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by Rico Rommheim

Big bombastic 80's gay club soundtrack

Well you got me all hyped up for nothing. That's some early-2000s trance, neither 80s nor gay.

[Gerrard]

Originally Posted by Acajack

This interesting post begs the question of why the new Toronto identity cannot be built upon the foundations of the old one. I often hear comments about how the old Toronto is now irrelevant to the modern reality. It's not something you would hear in, say, Boston. Or even New York. Regardless of how diverse these places might become.

New York is a place of many identities. But even though its a massive immigrant city like Toronto it's defined by a strong national character of which Canada does not posses. But again even so, the New York of the Upper West Side is much different than say the New York of East Harlem or even of say the West Village circa 1955 or the East Village circa 1980 versus now. I'd wager many native New Yorkers find their city much less definitive now post 9/11 and Sex and the City than they did 2 decades ago. But if they were to define it, it would be in American terms (or their version of what America is).

I know it's a bit cliche but Toronto is made up of a majority of non natives who really have no interest in being defined by its history which to be honest is less than glamorous to begin with. And we don't as a nation exactly force or have a desirable integration policy.

[Acajack]

Guys,

No matter how you slice it, I just can't see how the challenges Toronto faces in building a unique civic identity are that unprecedented.

[Prometheus]

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[thmx]

A cool video I found of Hamilton's Dundas EcoPark project. It will be one of the largest urban parks in Canada. There are some great shots of Hamilton in the video and it might be surprising to some people how green Hamilton is.

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Here is the EcoPark plan if anyone is interested in it: EcoPark Plan pdf.

[thmx]

New promotional videos from Hamilton Economic Development promoting Hamilton to Torontonians. The ad campaign is called 'Happening Here'.


Why Hamilton.
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Having Fun in Hamilton.
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Why Not Move to Hamilton?
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[rousseau]

To quote a certain poster on this forum, those videos for Hamilton are full of lies. Like this one:



Fucking hell. If Hamilton actually had streets and streets full of marvelous rowhouses like that, instead of just that single part of that one block, then Hamilton would be a completely different city than it actually is. And I never would have left the damn place.

Like all promotional garbage, these people are selling a bill of goods with no basis in reality.

[SteelTown]

Originally Posted by rousseau

Fucking hell. If Hamilton actually had streets and streets full of marvelous rowhouses like that, instead of just that single part of that one block, then Hamilton would be a completely different city than it actually is. And I never would have left the damn place.

ROWhouses from flar:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=163831

ROWS of houses from flar:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=173030

[SignalHillHiker]

Eagles on the ice on Quidi Vidi Lake, St. John's (not my video). February 1, 2013:

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[FrAnKs]

Driving in Downtown Quebec city on Charest Blvd. ( Filmed on April 17, 2012.)

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[1ajs]

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[Andrewjm3D]

LEN - IT'S MY NEIGHBOURHOOD

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