Largest Canadian cities since 1921

[Docere]

Originally Posted by Docere

A map of Toronto's streetcar system from 1945. Gives you a good sense of the pre-WWII built-up area:

https://transittoronto.ca/archives/maps/Streetcar_1945.pdf

^

[niwell]

Originally Posted by Yuri

How Toronto was if we add East York and York?

Montreal plus Verdun, Westmount and Outremont is at 932,198. I guess Montreal won't go beyond that by 1931.

In Toronto there would have also been development in parts of what is now Etobicoke, including Mimico, New Toronto and Long Branch, with a bit starting in the Kingsway area. Some development East of Victoria Park in Scarborough. Most of this (save Mimico) was considerably less dense than anything within city limits though.

Can't find anything specific for 1930 but 1924 Fire Insurance maps can be found here and there would have been a fair bit of growth in the interim: https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/a...surance-plans/fire-insurance-plans-1924/

Incomplete 1939 aerial photography can be found here: https://schoolofcities.github.io/historical-aerial-imagery-toronto/

[Yuri]

Originally Posted by Docere

Toronto's early 20th century suburbanization, includes population figures.

https://southofbloorstreet.blogspot.com/2015/09/population-growth-in-metropolitan.html

York Township and Verdun were the largest interwar suburbs in Canada.

So Toronto would have 752,779 (York, East York, Forest Hill, Leaside, Swansea, Weston).

Even though Montreal has always been Canada's primate city, Toronto has never been far away and it's remarkably how they kept the very same pace of growth from 1900 to 1960. Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, the other most famous primate city shift, dynamics were very different. São Paulo was just a fraction of Rio's size on the first Census (1872) and has grown faster since then. Finally surpassed Rio somewhere in the early 1960's and it will probably be 2x more populated aound the mid-2030's.

Originally Posted by niwell

In Toronto there would have also been development in parts of what is now Etobicoke, including Mimico, New Toronto and Long Branch, with a bit starting in the Kingsway area. Some development East of Victoria Park in Scarborough. Most of this (save Mimico) was considerably less dense than anything within city limits though.

I did that for 1951, but for 1931 I guess this lakefront western strip would be too thinly populated. When I added up yto 1951, those three communities were below 2,000 inh./km2 density.

[Docere]

It seems like US Census Bureau's metropolitan districts and greater cities in Canada are reasonably comparable for the pre-1950 period. After 1950 US moved to county-based definitions.

[Docere]

Montreal did have some urban or very early suburban districts outside city limits in 1901.

St. Henri 21,192
St Louis du Mile End 10,933
Westmount 8,856

St. Henri and Mile End were annexed ca 1905.

Toronto had no annexations between 1890 and 1905. There was another wave of annexations in the decade before WWI, taking in streetcar suburbs like the Beaches, the St. Clair West area and the town of North Toronto.

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by niwell

Incomplete 1939 aerial photography can be found here: https://schoolofcities.github.io/historical-aerial-imagery-toronto/

Awesome tool, thanks for sharing. The 1954 coverage in particular is incredibly thorough and high res; while the '47 views give a good indication of the overall extents of the pre-war (and very early post-war) built-up area. Also fascinating how little some areas have changed from 1939 to today; while others have obviously been entirely transformed.

As an aside, this is the first time I've seen aerial footage of the community that used to exist on Centre Island - shown here in 1954:




But completely gone by 1965:




Also interesting how the Leslie Spit just doesn't exist until the 1978 imagery.

[Docere]

Comparison of land area of city propers in Montreal, 1880-1930 (square miles as reported then):


1881

Montreal 140,747 5 square miles
Toronto 86,415 9 square miles

1901

Montreal 267,730 9 square miles
Toronto 208,030 18 square miles

1931

Montreal 818,577 47 square miles
Toronto 631,207 34 square miles


Montreal and Toronto look like they're growing at similar rate but Montreal expanded its land area more. Toronto is starting to slowly catch up. Between 1911 and 1931, Montreal Island's population grows from 554,761 to 1,003,868, Metro Toronto from 409,925 to 818,348.

Toronto proper is also built out by 1930, while Montreal has some areas like Cote de Neiges and Park Extension that aren't built out until after WWII.

[Werthers]

Originally Posted by Docere

Canada's 10 largest cities: 1871, 1901, 1931

1871

Montreal 107,225
Quebec 59,699
Toronto 56,092
Halifax 29,582
Saint John 28,805
Hamilton 26,716
Ottawa 21,545
London 15,826
Portland (NB) 12,520
Kingston 12,407

Portland NB? WTF? I know about Portland Maine and Portland Oregon but i've never even heard of Portland NB, i looked it up on Wikipedia and it doesn't exist so it must have amalgamated or been annexed by some other city in NB a long time ago

Originally Posted by Yuri

Yes, but they rebounded greatly on the past 15 years after decades of slow growth. They even surpassed Quebec City and Hamilton.

Yeah but just barely, all three are neck and neck in population

[Docere]

It was annexed by Saint John in 1889. Today it's the North End of Saint John.

[Wigs]

Montréal will always be remembered as the first Canadian city to reach 1 million people, in 1951 IIRC

[Doady]

Toronto: The Los Angeles of the North. Tiny pre-war urban core that is dwarfed by a huge amount of post-war, car-oriented suburbia, and the busiest freeway in North America cutting right through the centre of it all.

[Docere]

Not all "pre-war" is the same. It's not the hard, fixed boundary you seem to suggest.

L.A. surged in the 1920s, more than doubling in population. It entered the top 10 list in 1920 (at #10) and was the fifth largest US city in 1930.

California had high automobile ownership quite early, even though there was an extensive streetcar system in L.A. too. L.A. in the 1920s (and maybe Detroit?) was probably the birthplace of car-oriented urbanism.

Population of L.A. during interwar period (county in brackets):

1910 319,000 (504,000)
1920 577,000 (936,000)
1930 1,238,000 (2,208,000)
1940 1,540,000 (2,786,000)

L.A. quadrupled in population between 1910 and 1930.

Toronto/Metro Toronto in comparison

1911 376,000 (410,000)
1921 522,000 (611,000)
1931 631,000 (818,000)
1941 667,000 (910,000)

Toronto was a much more dense, eastern/Great Lakes city whose pre-WWII growth pattern was more gradual in nature. It had steady growth but no surge like Chicago in the late 19th century or interwar L.A.

So while both Toronto and L.A. grew quickly after WWII, the base established before the war was quite different.

[Werthers]

Originally Posted by Doady

Toronto: The Los Angeles of the North. Tiny pre-war urban core that is dwarfed by a huge amount of post-war, car-oriented suburbia, and the busiest freeway in North America cutting right through the centre of it all.

I've always considered Vancouver to be the LA of Canada as they're both the biggest westcoast cities, both having miles of sandy pacific beaches, a decidedly hippy vibe as well as being centers for film and TV production

Toronto is more like a mix of NYC and Chicago as both Chicago and Toronto are on the great lakes but Toronto is also Canada's biggest city like NYC is America's biggest, as well both TO and NYC being the business capitals of each country

[craigs]

Originally Posted by Werthers

I've always considered Vancouver to be the LA of Canada as they're both the biggest westcoast cities, both having miles of sandy pacific beaches, a decidedly hippy vibe as well as being centers for film and TV production

Toronto is more like a mix of NYC and Chicago as both Chicago and Toronto are on the great lakes but Toronto is also Canada's biggest city like NYC is America's biggest, as well both TO and NYC being the business capitals of each country

Los Angeles does not have a hippie vibe at all, let alone "decidedly."

Toronto is not like New York City. You are thinking of Chicago.

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by Wigs

Montréal will always be remembered as the first Canadian city to reach 1 million people, in 1951 IIRC

By municipality you mean? Otherwise, the Island of Montreal hit 1 million around 1930, while Metro Toronto (ie. today's City of Toronto) reached a million sometime in the 1940s.

[Docere]

LA's postwar boom was because of good wages in defensive industries, aerospace and other manufacturing, it wasn't just the sun and car culture. Had nothing to do with the "hippie lifestyle."

[sopas ej]

Regarding hippies and Los Angeles, hippies have become a dying breed, if they're not already "dead."

Venice and the Sunset Strip historically were where the hippies hung out in the 1960s. The Strip had a mixed crowd, with hippies, musicians, and celebs all hanging out on the same stretch of boulevard. Hippies (and others) tended to hitchhike.

Venice was a big center of hippie culture. Even well into the 1990s, there were aging hippies that still lived there, and there were even tie-dye and crystal/New Age shops. But that seems to have died out. Venice is now a totally gentrified place (Abbot Kinney Blvd.), and then there are the street performers, vendors, and eccentric characters (and interesting people-watching) on the Venice boardwalk (Ocean Front Walk).

[softee]

The most famous Hippie enclave in Canada wasn't even in Vancouver, it was the Yorkville Village area in Toronto.

[Docere]

I think Vancouver more than Toronto has a rightful claim to be Canada's hippie capital. It's the birthplace of Greenpeace. BC has been the province where people seeking alternative lifestyles tend to migrate.

[Docere]

Toronto profiled in the Saturday Evening Post, 1952:

https://jamiebradburnwriting.wordpress.com/2018/03/02/post-ing-about-toronto/