Great Lakes Cities

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

"With NYC at number one, Chicago and Toronto have the second and third LARGEST skylines on the continent."

This got me interested in seeing the 3 bigguns together...

The 20 tallest in the three cities by roof height (completed or u/c):

NYC - 13
Chicago - 5
Toronto - 2

[Sun Belt]

T.O's skyline would look more impressive if they would knock down the CN Tower.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Sun Belt

T.O's skyline would look more impressive if they would knock down the CN Tower.

your idea is stupid.

here's a better one:

build scores of supertalls around the CN tower to scale it back into the rest of the skyline.


and that's probably what will happen, eventually.

[Sun Belt]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

your idea is stupid.

here's a better one:

build scores of supertalls around the CN tower to scale it back into the rest of the skyline.


and that's probably what will happen, eventually.

Or they could demolish this giant TV antenna and build really cool stuff in it's place.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Sun Belt

Or they could demolish this giant TV antenna and build really cool stuff in it's place.

meh. the footprint of the CN tower is pretty small, given its height.

and i quite like the exclamation point it gives to toronto's skyline.

[The North One]

Originally Posted by Docere

Well Detroit's white flight was more "complete" than pretty much any major US city. I guess the city is so blighted that there's not even a "legacy" Little Italy anymore, so Detroiters cross the border and go to Windsor for that experience.

There never was a little Italy, the Italian community has mainly been on the Canadian side and the ones in Detroit didn't really claim a specific area, they spread out around the city, so you're wrong.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by Docere

Well Detroit's white flight was more "complete" than pretty much any major US city. I guess the city is so blighted that there's not even a "legacy" Little Italy anymore, so Detroiters cross the border and go to Windsor for that experience.

Little Italy is a bad example, since Detroit never really had one of those. Detroit's ethnic enclaves were usually destroyed by slum clearing efforts, not population flight. Detroit's Chinatown is a good example of an ethnic enclave that completely disappeared. It was mostly destroyed by freeway construction/slum clearing for I-75. The famous black enclaves of Black Bottom and Paradise Valley were also destroyed for I-75. But Detroit has some enclaves that survived, such as Greektown (also affected by I-75) and Mexicantown (borders I-75).

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by The North One

There never was a little Italy, the Italian community has mainly been on the Canadian side and the ones in Detroit didn't really claim a specific area, they spread out around the city, so you're wrong.

There was absolutely a Detroit Little Italy. It was commonly called Cacalupa, and was located along Gratiot, originally around Eastern Market. The Italian community moved up Gratiot.

[softee]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

is this one more up to date?


source: http://bojanuzicanin.com/blog/2015/3/27/toronto-skyline-featured-on-looks-like-film-blog

That one is around 5 years old, this one is from 2017.


Toronto by lucas bed, on Flickr

[Steely Dan]

^ muchos gracias!

lovely pic, the toronto skyline is always bursting at the seams these days.

Originally Posted by iheartthed

But Detroit has some enclaves that survived, such as Greektown (also affected by I-75) and Mexicantown (borders I-75).

is detroit's greektown still an actual ethnic enclave with a lot of greek-ancestry people living there?

chicago has "greektown" as well along halsted in the west loop, but it's essentially just a strip of a dozen or so greek restaurants and a greek-american history museum.

in terms of residents, the neighborhood has been completely swamped by the yuppie gentrification of the west loop's residential explosion.

[Docere]

Chicago has a big Greek population but I guess it's pretty dispersed (I think Chicago's old Little Italy and Greektown were destroyed by Daley Sr.'s urban renewal). Toronto's Danforth was used for My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Docere

(I think Chicago's old Little Italy and Greektown were destroyed by Daley Sr.'s urban renewal).

neither were destroyed. they both still exist today, albeit in much-reduced forms.

as i mentioned before, greektown is now more or less a greek-themed restaurant district.

and little italy is similar, though there are still some italian-americans who live in the old neighborhood around taylor street, but it gets watered down with each passing decade due to UIC students.

chicago's greektown: https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8779015,...wBPl9_EKzKowMZiKjQuUA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

chicago's little italy: https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8694751,...SFnQ3_E848ZVQwW4mX17g!2e0!7i13312!8i6656


there's also the much smaller and much less well known "heart of italy" neighborhood on the west side that still has some intact "italianness" to it: https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8476629,...nG8KFlEiEcj3mAU6Jz3jw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

is detroit's greektown still an actual ethnic enclave with a lot of greek-ancestry people living there?

chicago has "greektown" as well along halsted in the west loop, but it's essentially just a strip of a dozen or so greek restaurants and a greek-american history museum.

in terms of residents, the neighborhood has been completely swamped by the yuppie gentrification of the west loop's residential explosion.

Detroit's is pretty much the same thing. It's just a couple of blocks of Greek restaurants and a casino. It is reminiscent of what is left of Manhattan's Little Italy.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Detroit's is pretty much the same thing. It's just a couple of blocks of Greek restaurants and a casino. It is reminiscent of what is left of Manhattan's Little Italy.

Manhattan's Little Italy has hundreds of Italian-American businesses and a number of cultural institutions. There's tons of residential, but actual Italians haven't been there for 40 years, outside of a few rent controlled grannies.

Detroit's Greektown is basically a block dominated by a casino. I think there are like four Greek restaurants left. There's no residential of any type, Greek or otherwise.

I don't see any obvious similarities with Manhattan's Little Italy, outside of the fact that the namesake ethnicity no longer lives there (which is true of any touristy legacy ethnic neighborhood).

[The North One]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Even Erie Street in Windsor is dying. But at least it's intact and a real urban neighborhood:
https://www.freep.com/story/entertainmen...or-destination-isnt-what-used/634479001/

There's nothing in that article that said Erie street was dying, just that there's been a harder time since border crossing was more restricted after 9/11.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by The North One

There's nothing in that article that said Erie street was dying, just that there's been a harder time since border crossing was more restricted after 9/11.

The whole article is about the decline in Italian presence on Erie Street. Canadian immigration flows are unrelated to U.S. border controls.

If you don't like the word "dying" and choose to use "declining" or whatever, go for it. Italians don't come to NA anymore in large numbers.

[Docere]

Few of the turn of the 20th century Little Italies are Italian neighborhoods anymore, in Manhattan or otherwise.

The remaining urban Italian neighborhoods (which are also rather elderly/declining) are either so-called second settlement areas and more urbanized inner ring suburbs, or postwar immigrant areas like Bensonhurst.

[The North One]

Originally Posted by Crawford

There was absolutely a Detroit Little Italy. It was commonly called Cacalupa, and was located along Gratiot, originally around Eastern Market. The Italian community moved up Gratiot.

No, there was no single dominate little Italy section of the city. There was some little congregation around Gratiot under eastern market in the 20's but Italians existed all around the city including southwest and Dearborn.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Manhattan's Little Italy has hundreds of Italian-American businesses and a number of cultural institutions. There's tons of residential, but actual Italians haven't been there for 40 years, outside of a few rent controlled grannies.

Detroit's Greektown is basically a block dominated by a casino. I think there are like four Greek restaurants left. There's no residential of any type, Greek or otherwise.

I don't see any obvious similarities with Manhattan's Little Italy, outside of the fact that the namesake ethnicity no longer lives there (which is true of any touristy legacy ethnic neighborhood).

Yes, Little Italy is four blocks instead of Greektown's two blocks. Thanks for the correction.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by Sun Belt

T.O's skyline would look more impressive if they would knock down the CN Tower.

what?