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Originally Posted by Northern Light
I would note that both Toronto and NYC are amalgamated cities which evens out resources to various neighbourhoods and allow for better regional planning.
I would offer that both have stronger than typical municipal governments, and that broadly as could be said of SF those governments skew to the political left within their respective state/provincial contexts.
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New York City - a city that collects its own income tax and has its own university system, and a city that has special laws written for it in Albany - has a strong municipal government.
Toronto has a very weak municipal government, both in terms of influence/power and my own opinion of its effectiveness. Actually, I would go so far as to say that its sclerotic and useless municipal government is Toronto's biggest weakness. City council is presided by a collection of narrow-minded suburban councillors, drawn to politics from being aggrieved small business owners. If they bother to show up to council meetings, they bicker at each other and vote on motions like whether to make distracted walking illegal, or whether bicyclists need to be licensed. This is the vacuum which allowed somebody like Rob Ford to become mayor. Toronto city council is basically a third world democracy. If Toronto is successful, it is successful despite its municipal government.
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