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Originally Posted by wave46
Something in-between? Like most larger cities these days? Not much for a 'brand' I suppose, but as you said, most people are coming for the 'big city' aspect of it.
London is hardly the 'classic British' city today than it was in the past. New York City isn't the hardscrabble gateway to America that it was prior. More like a gateway for rich immigrants. You don't go to New York to find a slice of Middle America.
My original post related to Toronto being a Canadian city. I still think it is one, with the power of 'internationalization' changing it.
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Toronto is not devoid of Canadian cultural traits but by far the most striking one is related to what I might call "societal ethos". In that respect, it is most definitely Canadian. Other more traditional ("put-your-finger-on-it") types of cultural cues that tell you the city is part of a bigger thing called Canada are more discreet and in some cases even marginal.
I am pretty familiar with most of the world's megacities and Toronto is much further down this path that even London, New York City, Paris, etc. In all of these cases there is much more of a reciprocal cultural relationship between the metropolis and the heartland/hinterland. New Yorkers may not eat grits or have luaus but they sure as hell have heard of them and probably have some idea of what they are.
In a sense Toronto may be the closest thing there is to a "globalist capital city". Yes, American culture in Toronto takes up a lot of the space that would normally be occupied by domestic culture, but American culture is also a large part of the diet of globalists around the world regardless of nationality.