Your city's "Queens"

[kool maudit]

i have always thought central toronto, in a very general sense, is something akin to a patch of midtown laid down in queens. the density and street-feel can be similar.

these sorts of streets in queens:





while not alike in their particulars, give a sense of much of toronto's feel and scale. queens is the closest american analogue to toronto.

[isaidso]

^^ That reminds me of Bloor/Ossington in Toronto. Queen's feels like Toronto and Brooklyn feels like Montreal?

[dc_denizen]

I can see the queens resemblance in the close in neighborhoods.

There is a bit of Great Lakes vibe in Toronto as well, resembling pre-decline Detroit

Farther out, the suburbs transition to something quite sunbelt-y.

[isaidso]

So are those Queen's photos good representations? I've not been there.

[dave8721]

Originally Posted by isaidso

So are those Queen's photos good representations? I've not been there.

They are good representations of the area of Queens that they were taken in but Queens is a collection of wildly different neighborhoods, from run down ghettos to nice tree lined single family homes, to industrial areas to chicago-esque retail streets beneath elevated train lines, to beach front boardwalk areas, to densly forrested nice walkable and joggable areas...

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by isaidso

Queen's feels like Toronto and Brooklyn feels like Montreal?

I think that's reasonable. Obviously they have their differences, but for North America Toronto is probably the closest comparison to Queens, and Montreal is probably the closest comparison to Brooklyn.

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by dave8721

They are good representations of the area of Queens that they were taken in but Queens is a collection of wildly different neighborhoods, from run down ghettos to nice tree lined single family homes, to industrial areas to chicago-esque retail streets beneath elevated train lines, to beach front boardwalk areas, to densly forrested nice walkable and joggable areas...

Apart from a collection of wildly different neighborhoods like run-down ghettos (barrios) and nice tree-lined streets of single-family homes, the rest does not describe LA's San Fernando Valley, which is why I think these comparisons are silly. I doubt Queens has an equivalent to Spahn Ranch or Laurel Canyon.

[Docere]

Watching All in the Family growing up, the opening credits showing Queens made me think of Toronto. Lots of "Archie Bunker houses" here.

Toronto kind of feels like a mix of Queens and Chicago.

[sbarn]

Originally Posted by isaidso

So are those Queen's photos good representations? I've not been there.

Some of the major Queens neighborhoods (links):

Flushing (NYC's largest chinatown / koreatown)

Astoria (Greek)

Jackson Heights (South Asian / Central+South American)

Court Square (Rapidly densifying)

Long Island City (Reluctant Queensites)

Jamaica (mid-Queens hub)

Rockaway (working class / beach community)

[hipster duck]

Toronto is also kind of like Queens demographically. Not only is it over 50% visible minority, but the visible minorities are not the ones you typically see in large numbers in either Canada or the US: Sri Lankans, Bangladeshis, Afghans, Guyanese, Sub-Saharan African groups of all kinds.

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

Toronto is also kind of like Queens demographically. Not only is it over 50% visible minority, but the visible minorities are not the ones you typically see in large numbers in either Canada or the US: Sri Lankans, Bangladeshis, Afghans, Guyanese, Sub-Saharan African groups of all kinds.

I don't know why I always found the term "visible minority" rather odd; only Canadians use that term, I think.

In Canada, would Armenians and Arabs be considered visible minorities?

[Docere]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

Toronto is also kind of like Queens demographically. Not only is it over 50% visible minority, but the visible minorities are not the ones you typically see in large numbers in either Canada or the US: Sri Lankans, Bangladeshis, Afghans, Guyanese, Sub-Saharan African groups of all kinds.

Very much so. In terms of no group really dominating as well as just the sheer mix of nationalities.

[Docere]

Originally Posted by sopas ej

In Canada, would Armenians and Arabs be considered visible minorities?

Officially, they're supposed to mark themselves as such. But Armenians and Arab Christians don't usually answer "correctly" on the census. Arab Muslims generally do.

[hipster duck]

Originally Posted by sopas ej

I don't know why I always found the term "visible minority" rather odd; only Canadians use that term, I think.

In Canada, would Armenians and Arabs be considered visible minorities?

When you dissect it, every country uses an accounting term for ethnic groups that's mildly offensive. Americans use the concept of "race", for example, which no Canadian ever uses.

I think it's still better to have an ethnic categorization scheme, even if they're all misguided in their own way, than to deliberately have none at all (e.g. France).

Anyway, to answer your question, I believe that Arabs are considered to be 'visible minorities' (since most Arabs are Muslims, and the visibility here is cultural). I'm not sure about Armenians, although my guess would be no.

[Docere]

Queens basically developed between 1900 and 1960 and it covers a large land area so it has a diversity of urban forms. Toronto's 20th century neighborhoods - ranging from the traditionally working class sections of the east end and a fair bit of the west end of Old City of Toronto and from the early 1900s resemble a lot of similar sections in Queens, as do the 1930s-era affluent neo-Tudor parts (i.e. Forest Hill, the Kingsway) and even some postwar sections resemble the 1940s/1950s sections of eastern Queens (i.e. the Etobicoke Lakeshore, the Bathurst-Lawrence area of North York to some degree). I'll try to dig up some photos.

[dc_denizen]

Northeast Philly, the Queens of Philly (in its older sense of working /middle class 1920s neighborhood)



link

South Philly is really the high-density Staten Island or north NJ of Philly. Italians have basically all moved out of the four boroughs...

[Docere]

Didn't Northeast Philly - like Queens - continue to grow significantly after WWII as well?

[streetscaper]

Originally Posted by isaidso

So are those Queen's photos good representations? I've not been there.

When I talk to people about Queens, they don't really understand the behemoth that it is. Even here on SSP most people don't know beyond the rather known Long Island City.

A lot of people are surprised to know that If it were a stand alone city, it would be in the top 5 US cities in terms of density and urban offerings on a grand scale (2.3 million people), numbers 1 and 2 being Manhattan and Brooklyn, respectively.

That said, not only are Queens's demographics a huge mish-mash of ethnicities, so is its built form. Queens's density is quite consistent throughout the borough, at least relative to the other 4 boroughs, but the form of housing is seemingly random throughout with no particular form/style dominating the borough (as with ethnicity). Some neighborhoods are characterized by row houses, others apartment buildings, others detached houses, and yet other semi-detached houses. And actually, in my experience, relative to other boroughs Queens has an abundance of neighborhoods that are themselves a mishmash of housing types, where one block can be row houses, the next detached houses, and the next huge apartment blocks. In some neighborhoods, even one block can have a plethora of housing types and styles.

Here's a small sampling of neighborhoods from Google Maps and streetview, to give you an idea of some Outer Queens 'hoods (including residential and retail corridors):



Richmond Hill (outlined in white):













Bayside:











Flushing (largest NYC Chinatown):











East Flushing (huge Korean presence):







Forest Hills (known for its affluence and red terra-cotta roofs:

[streetscaper]

Some more Outer Queens


College Point:













Hollis:









Woodhaven:

[streetscaper]

Then there's Astoria, relatively well-known to NYers


Astoria: