Wake up Canada, Toronto's bigger than you think.

[ilford]

...but I do find it annoying how they go on about how self-deprecating they are...

I thought it was a really odd article precisely for this reason. So he's moved to Toronto. Good for him. Plenty of people move to Toronto. It's a great place.

But then he adds:

Everywhere we go we are met by Torontonians who...seem mystified that we would move to what they imply is a second-rate city...

Do people in Toronto really have such a low impression of their own community? What on earth is he talking about?

[ibz]

I think thats a great article. Toronto really is a great city that is constantly evolving into (dare I say on this forum...) in the ranks of the world's great cities. Spend a day in Toronto and it won't immediatly blow you away physically like San Francisco say, spend two weeks there and you won't want to leave.

[401_King]

Originally Posted by shreddog

Sigh.

Sorry, 401, but the TSX is a bit player in the world markets. If you actually look up the WSJ, you'll see that over 50% of the articles for the last 30 days are about the currency or football games and nothing is about major financing or M&As from the TSX. BTW, Toronto is not mentioned every day. Just did a check and it only comes up about 10 times this month.

please man, the past month WSJ has been actively been publishing articles about the rising canadian dollar vs USD and the increased M&A activity occuring because of that (ex TD over Bancorp). You should read the print instead of the online edition more often, they give a canadian roundup daily in section C. We got companies like Suncor, Encana, RBC (who gets analysts quoted daily by WSJ) and RIM listed on our TSX, be a little more appreciative of what we have instead of that mopey attitude ur carring around regarding our canadian markets. yes, our exchange is a regional exchange, but its a major north american exchange where activity happens from all over the world. if it weren't for the TSX i'd be out of a job on bay street, =P

[Minato Ku]

Originally Posted by steel

Buffalo and Toronto truly are becoming one region as can be seen in this image. Adding in Montreal is a very big stretch.They share a public TV station. There are increasingly more Canadian companies setting up in Buffalo. The sabers raise their ticket prices for Leafs games. Buffalo shopping centres are filled with Canadian plates.
[...]

Unsing this method, London has 30 million inhabitants, Bruxelles has 40 million and Tokyo 70 million.
And the economic region of Paris or London have 60 million inhabitants and a $2 trillon


I am just a bit suprised $530 billion it is not big for a 22 million inhabitants region.
(Greater Paris has a bigger GDP)

[miketoronto]

Go to Buffalo City Hall and see the mural painted in the 1920's that shows Canada as a weak farming country, and Buffalo as the mighty urban centre that they trade with to gain wealth
Interesting how times change.

[shreddog]

Originally Posted by 401_King

please man, the past month WSJ has been actively been publishing articles about the rising canadian dollar vs USD and the increased M&A activity occuring because of that (ex TD over Bancorp). You should read the print instead of the online edition more often, they give a canadian roundup daily in section C.

The roundup is about Canada and the issues happening there - hell Calgary is referenced almost as much as Toronto this month - see the big article last week on the RR. It's Canada, not the TSX. And yes thes TSX is mentioned daily - in the roundup of markets. Based on that reference, the TSX is on par with BOVESPA or MEX. And how does the rising dollar exclusive to the TSX? And yes, mes culpa on the TD thingie - forgot that one. (Well, not really, just forgot that it happened last month)

Originally Posted by 401_King

We got companies like Suncor, Encana, RBC (who gets analysts quoted daily by WSJ) and RIM listed on our TSX, be a little more appreciative of what we have instead of that mopey attitude ur carring around regarding our canadian markets. yes, our exchange is a regional exchange, but its a major north american exchange where activity happens from all over the world. if it weren't for the TSX i'd be out of a job on bay street, =P

And yes, we have major Canadian companies on the TSX - many of them also listed on the NYSE and LE. The TSX is a major regional exchange - not a major NA exchange. If it were a "major NA exchange" obviously companies elsewhere in NA - that is NOT Canada - would be listed there or would us it as a major source of capital. Well, I'm still waiting for you to answer my original Q on this ... BTW, Nova doesn't really count since it was originally a Canadian company that moved to Pittsburgh and kept it's TSX listing since it has lots of its assets here.

Anyway, this is moot. Toronto is a great city that has a hell of lot going for it - it's just I can't stand some the childish boosting that some of its citizens do. BTW, this is not exclusive just to the GTA - I hate all immature boosting from any burg.

[401_King]

^ it is a major north american exchange. it is watched closely by traders and speculators in the US as well as Canada especially people who arbitrage - i work in this market daily as one. sorry, i'm too lazy to read ur posts again what was your question ? i dont really find the argument about having foreign companies listed on an exchange worthy of major status very convincing. look at the Nikkei, shanghai and sensex indexes/exchanges they are all local as well with little foriegin influence. but we speculate those on a daily basis because we can. this is a global market, everything is connected, TSX is a player, very low key in your standards, but a player. its bigger than you think!

[caltrane74]

Canada is having a great economic boom right now.

And Toronto with "no oil" is playing a big part in this boom. All the money that is being invested here is mind boggling irrespective of your point of view on the place. - People from around the world see Toronto as the Gateway to Canada. Canada is becoming one of the richest countries on earth, even with our small population. Riches based in natural resources and technological innovation which are shared equally across the country. Toronto may not have the biggest stock exchange in the world, but if you want to get a piece of the action in the Alberta oil sands, you still need to wash your money through Toronto banks, exhcanges and brokerage firms. If you want to invest in leading edge Canadian mobile telecommunications technology, you must wash your money through Toronto banks, exchanges and brokerages companies. And when you consider that Canada is a leading country in these fields it all spells good times for Toronto and Canadians in general.

So yes I would say yes Toronto is an important player. Especially in those fields in which Canada plays a world leading role in.

[Cambridgite]

Originally Posted by steel

Buffalo and Toronto truly are becoming one region as can be seen in this image. Adding in Montreal is a very big stretch.They share a public TV station. There are increasingly more Canadian companies setting up in Buffalo. The sabers raise their ticket prices for Leafs games. Buffalo shopping centres are filled with Canadian plates.

The unfortunate thing is that Bushies think Canada is only slightly better than the French since they are foreign. Buffalo is trying to teach them otherwise.

I agree with you on that. The image you have shown is essentially the Greater Golden Horseshoe, but it instead excludes Barrie and includes Buffalo. I think that there is increasingly a Toronto-Hamilton-Kitchener region, which also includes smaller centres like Niagara, Oshawa, Guelph, Brantford and Barrie. And as you can see in the west, there is quite a sizeable urban complex of Kitchener-Guelph-Brantford forming, which is growing much, much faster than Buffalo. By stretching things, you could maybe include Buffalo and London into this mega region. Ottawa-Montreal-Quebec City is its own mega region. There's no way it's part of Toronto's. Oshawa to Ottawa is at least a 4-5 hour drive of mostly farmland. Belleville and Kingston don't add enough to make it continuous. By using such rediculous standards, you'd also have to include Detroit and Chicago.

[Cambridgite]

Originally Posted by Canadian Mind

regarding the hatred of cities, for the record I hate these cities in Canada;

Toronto, Montreal, Quebec, Halifax, Fredericton, Goose Bay, Thunder Bay, Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, Calgary, Toronto, Edmonton, Vancouver, Victoria, Naniamo, Tukteuktuk, Yellowknife, Whitehorse, Nunavut, Resolute, Alert, and as every Community mentioned in the song Toronto Sucks by the Arrogant Worms.

My hatred of these cities is completely valid as I have never visited 95% of them, and I hope they all burn.

I love that song! Even though they listed Kitchener as sucking when they were talking about all the Ontario cities that sucked (pretty much all of them). It's all in good fun.

Originally Posted by Canadian Mind

In all seriousness, this hatred of each others city's is usually a joke gone horribly wrong (hell, I was suspended over a joke that pissed somebody off). The joke pisses somebody off, so they honestly throw the hatred back. I can understand the folks in Toronto being uptight about it all, as most the hatred is thrown at them, but the rest of us should know how to relax and take everything with a grain of salt like we were able to before 9/11 the Separation referendums, and the end of the cold war.

Hear hear!

Originally Posted by Canadian Mind

Some days reading all the shit that goes down in here I feel like the only sane person on these boards is Vid...

Oh Vid, if you read this, I do honestly hope all of Thunder bay burns. Then your city can re-think it's planning and do the whole Urbanism thing right this time around.

Very true though. I like Vid's sense of humour and more neutral standpoint. Big-city Canada is a war-zone on SSP.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by kool maudit

I just bet you that Bald Eagle flew into the USA from British Columbia

[Doady]

Honestly, Toronto is very ugly compared to Montreal.

[MolsonExport]

Heh, Heh. No worries, Toronto. Ya still got what is considered the world's busiest freeway.



http://www.onthighways.com/highway_401.htm

[harls]

Originally Posted by steel

The sabers raise their ticket prices for Leafs games.

So do the Sens!

[Doady]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Heh, Heh. No worries, Toronto. Ya still got what is considered the world's busiest freeway.



http://www.onthighways.com/highway_401.htm

Toronto: The Los Angeles of the North

[caltrane74]

Originally Posted by Doady

Honestly, Toronto is very ugly compared to Montreal.

Yay! Montreal is pretty!!

Pretty like a little girl.

[Canadian Mind]

Originally Posted by Doady

Toronto: The Los Angeles of the North

Should turn that around, Toronto has busier freeways than LA.

[Maldive]

I'm feelin' the love. Everyone knows you'd miss us if we were gone. You'd be left with whiny little jeune fille and oh so many weather lies. ;-)

[Canadian Mind]

hell yea I'd miss you. You guy's help drown out the Quebec nationalists on CBC, and without you guys, all the major corporations would be in Quebec... Bad enough as it is.

[LordMandeep]

Toronto: The Los Angeles of the North
Should turn that around, Toronto has busier freeways than LA.

no LA has like have 7-8 highways that are about as 3/4 as the 401.

we just have that big huge highway with all that traffic on it...