| website=[http://www.toronto.ca/ City of Toronto]| Census Year=2001| Extra references=None| }} Toronto is Canada's largest city and the Provinces of Canada capital of Ontario. Toronto's population is 2,518,772 (2004Statistics Canada estimate); that of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is 5,203,686 (2004). Residents of Toronto are termed ''Torontonians''. Toronto is part of the Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario, a densely populated region of around 7 million people. Approximately 23% of the Canadian population lives within the Golden Horseshoe region, and about one-sixth of all Canadian jobs lie within the city limits. ==Overview== Known as the "economic engine of Canada", Toronto is considered a major world city, exerting significant regional, national, and global influence. Toronto is Canada's financial, cultural, and health sciences centre. It has one of the most diversified economies in North America with the largest concentration of head offices in a variety of fields, the highest concentration of cultural workers and institutions, and the largest arts community in Canada. Indeed, in January 2005, it was designated by the federal government as one of Canada's cultural capitals. It is one of the safest cities to live in North America; its crime rate is lower than that of any major U.S. metropolitan area and is one of the lowest in Canada as well. The current mayor of Toronto is David Miller. ==Demographics== Toronto is one of the most multicultural cities in the world, with 1 in 3 or about (36%)comprised of visible minorities, meaning that 63% of the population is of Europe origin, chiefly of English-Canadian, Scottish, Italian-Canadian, and Portuguese Canadians descent. Chinese Canadian and Indo-Canadian are each about 10% of the population. Half of all Black Canadian live in Toronto, and they constitute around 6.6% of the population. By 2017, those of European origin are expected to be a minority in the city. Almost 20% of the population is under 14 years of age, whereas those who are over 65 constitute 11.2% of the population. Population growth yearly is 1.9% a year. The majority of Torontonians are Christian, but the city has well established Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, and Sikh communities. While English language is the predominant language, Statistics Canada reports that there are significant populations of others, such as Chinese language and Italian language. Fewer than 2% of Torontonians claim French language (Canada's other official language) as their mother tongue. Toronto has a population density of 3,939.4 residents per km². Its total land area is 629.91 km². It experienced a 4.0% population change from 1996 to 2001. ==Geography and climate== The City of Toronto covers an area of 641 km² (247 square miles) and is bounded by Lake Ontario to the south, Etobicoke Creek and 400-Series Highway to the west, Steeles Avenue to the north, and the Rouge River to the east. The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) extends beyond the city boundaries and includes the regional municipalities of Halton Regional Municipality, Ontario, Peel Regional Municipality, Ontario, York Regional Municipality, Ontario and Durham Regional Municipality, Ontario. The GTA is part of a larger, natural ecosystem known as the Greater Toronto Bioregion. This ecosystem is bounded by Lake Ontario, the Niagara Escarpment, and the Oak Ridges Moraine, and includes several watersheds that drain into Lake Ontario. It is also the northern extent of the Carolinian forest zone. Toronto's climate is moderated by Lake Ontario; its climate is among the mildest in Canada. It receives significantly less snowfall during the winter than most other Canadian cities, and winters tend to be quite mild in comparison. However, recent years have shown a trend towards varying winter weather. During the winter months, daytime high temperatures average just a few degrees below freezing (although residents usually endure two or three cold snaps each year). Ironically, sunny days in Toronto during the winter tend to be the coldest. A typical snowfall during the winter will be no more than 10 cm (4 inches). Summer high temperatures typically range from 25-30�C (77-86�F), though temperatures as high as 32�C (90�F), and sometimes higher, are not unexpected. Such "heat waves" generally last no more than a couple of days, and are usually coupled with high humidity and smog. On June 14, 2005, at the start of the summer, Toronto recorded it's 21st "smog warning" of the year, surpassing the previous annual record of 20, set in 2001. Unlike some other Canadian cities, Toronto experiences four distinct and noticeable seasons. ==History== ===Pre-European period=== Located on the northern shore of Lake Ontario, Toronto was originally a term of indeterminate geographical location, designating the approximate area of the future city of Toronto on maps dating to the late 17th century and early 18th century. Eventually the name was anchored to the mouth of the Humber River, the end of the Toronto Carrying-Place Trail portage route from Georgian Bay; this is where the city of Toronto is located today. The source and meaning of the name remains a matter of debate. Most common definitions claim that the origin is the Huron word ''toran-ten'' for "meeting place". However, it is much more likely that the term is from the Mohawk nation word ''tkaronto'' meaning "where there are trees standing in the water," a reference to a specific location at the northern end of what is now Lake Simcoe, then known as "Lake Toronto". The portage route up the Humber River eventually leads past this well-known landmark. As the portage route grew in use, the name became more widely used and was eventually attached to a French trading fort just inland from Lake Ontario on the Humber. [http://geonames.nrcan.gc.ca/education/toronto_e.php] Part of this confusion can be attributed to the succession of peoples who lived in the area during the 18th century: Huron, Senecas, Iroquois, and Mississaugas (the latter having lent their name to Toronto's modern-day western suburb). Until the beginning of British Empire colonization there were no permanent settlements, though both native peoples and the French did try, including the construction of another small fort near the mouth of the Humber, currently buried on the grounds of the Canadian National Exhibition. ===European settlement=== European settlement in central Canada was quite limited before 1788, amounting to only a few families, but it began growing quickly in the aftermath of the American Revolution. The French established a trading fort, Fort Rouill�, on the current Exhibition Grounds around 1750, but it was abandoned in 1759. United Empire Loyalists, American colonists who refused to accept being divorced from the United Kingdom, or who felt unwelcome in the new republic, fled the US to the unsettled lands north of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario; some had fought in the British army and were paid with land in the region. In 1788, the British negotiated the purchase of more than a quarter million acres (1,000 km²) of land in the area of Toronto. The site was then chosen by Governor John Graves Simcoe on July 29, 1793 as the new capital of the newly organized province of Upper Canada, moving from Newark, Ontario (now Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario) on February 1, 1796. Specifically the town, then known as York, Upper Canada, was built inland from the Toronto Islands, a chain of small islands leading into a marsh(long since drained away) at their eastern end, with an opening at the western end. This formed a natural protected harbour, one that was defended with the construction of Fort York at the entrance on what was then a high point on the water's edge with a small river on the inland side (Garrison Creek). The town proper was formed closer to the eastern end of the harbour, near what is now Parliament Street. Governor Simcoe was concerned with opening military communications between the settlements in the southwest of Upper Canada (notably Newark), and those to the east (Kingston, Ontario, then points east to the border with Lower Canada). Dundas Street was the western route, leading to the town of the same name near Hamilton, Ontario, but then continued west instead of southeast towards Niagara, and today it ends near the US border at Windsor, Ontario. Kingston Road today forms the basis of the major Toronto-Montreal route. A third route, Yonge Street, was opened northward to Lake Toronto (later renamed Lake Simcoe) and cut in three years. Yonge Street now forms the dividing line between east and west in Toronto, and is sometimes called "the longest street in the world" as it snakes its way for 1,896 kilometres (1,178 miles) to Rainy River, Ontario, on the Minnesota border. Today, all these roads mentioned are still in use. In 1813, as part of the War of 1812, York was attacked and partially burned. It was in retaliation for this that British forces attacked Washington, DC, the next year. Fort York was lightly manned at the time, and realizing that a defence was impossible, the troops retreated and set fire to the magazine. It exploded as the US forces were entering the fort, leaving a big crater in the ground (that no longer exists), and many US soldiers were killed in the explosion. After the US forces left a new and much stronger fort was constructed several hundred yards to the west of the original position. Another American attack in 1814 was defeated with ease, the landing force never being able to approach the shoreline. (Due to Land reclamation this newer fort now lies hundreds of metres inland and largely hidden behind the Gardiner Expressway.) In 1834, the town reverted to the name Toronto to distinguish it from about a dozen other localities in the province (including the county in which Toronto was situated), and this was the name under which the city was incorporated on March 6 of that year, with William Lyon Mackenzie as its first mayor. Toronto was the site of the key events of the Upper Canada Rebellion in 1837. The Irish potato famine of 1846–1849 brought a large numbers of Irish diaspora into the city. Protestant Irish immigrants were generally welcomed by the existing Scottish and English population, and soon occupied important positions in business, education and politics. The Orange Order became a dominant force in Toronto society, so much so that the 1920s Toronto was called the "Belfast of Canada", and the order's influence only diminished in the 1940s. [http://www.ulster-scots.co.uk/docs/orange/originscanada.htm] In contrast, Irish Catholics arriving in Toronto faced widespread intolerance and severe discrimination, both social and legislative. The Irish population essentially defined the Catholic population until 1890, when German and French Catholics were welcomed to the city by the Irish, but the Irish proportion still remained 90% of the Catholic population. However, various powerful initiatives such as the foundation of University of St. Michael's College in 1852 (where Marshall McLuhan was to hold the chair of English until his death in 1980), three hospitals, and the most significant charitable organization in the city (The Society of St. Vincent de Paul) by Irish Catholic groups strengthened the Irish identity, transforming the Irish presence in the city into one of influence and power. [http://collections.ic.gc.ca/magic/mt38.html] ===Growth=== Toronto grew rapidly in the late 19th century, the population increasing from 30,000 in 1851 to 56,000 in 1871 and 181,000 in 1891. Modern amenities came to Toronto, including an extensive streetcar network in the city (still operational) plus long-distance railway and radial railway. One radial line ran mostly along Yonge Street for about 80 km to Lake Simcoe, and allowed daytrips to its beaches. At the time Toronto's own beaches were far too polluted to use, a side effect of dumping garbage directly in the lake. The Grand Trunk Railway and the Great Northern Railway (US) joined in the building of the first Union Station (Toronto) in the downtown area. A large section of the downtown was destroyed in the 1904 Toronto fire, but it was quickly rebuilt. As the city grew it became naturally bounded by the Humber River, Toronto to the west, and the Don River, Toronto to the east. Several smaller rivers and creeks in the downtown area were routed into culverts and sewers and the land filled in above them, including both Garrison Creek and Taddle Creek, the latter running through the University of Toronto. At the time they were being used as open sewers, and were becoming a serious health problem. The Don River has an especially deep ravine, cutting off the east at most points north of the lakeshore. This was addressed in 1919 with the construction of the Prince Edward Viaduct, better known today as the Bloor Street Viaduct, linking Bloor Street on the western side of the ravine with Danforth Avenue on the east. The designer, Edmund Burke, fought long and hard to have a lower deck added to the bridge for trains, a cost the city was not willing to provide for. Nevertheless he finally got his way, and thereby saved the city millions of dollars when the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) subway started using the deck in 1966. The Prince Edward Viaduct represented a turning point in Toronto's history. Now linked to what were formerly separate towns, Toronto "filled out" in the first half of the 20th century, becoming a single larger city. ===Immigrants=== During the late 19th century and throughout the 20th century, the Irish immigrants who had followed the British Empire to Toronto were followed by many other immigrant groups: first Italians, and Jews from various part of Eastern Europe; later Chinese, Russians, Poles, and many other eastern Europeans; and by the latter half of the 20th century immigrants and refugees from many other parts of the world. [http://www.frommers.com/destinations/toronto/0034020044.html] The large numbers of immigrants helped Toronto's population swell to over one million by 1951, and double it again, to over two million, by 1971. [http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=J1SEC626334] A continuous influx of newcomers from Atlantic Canada, and large numbers of immigrants from around the world have contributed to the steady growth of Toronto and its surroundings since the Second World War. Today, Toronto is the main destination for new immigrants to Canada. ===Recent history=== In 2001, Toronto lost the bid to Beijing in hosting the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. In 2002, Toronto hosted the World Youth Day 2002 and the late Pope John Paul II. The municipal government's two largest unions, Locals 79 and 416 of CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees) went on strike a few weeks before the scheduled event, meaning that services such as libraries, day care, parks programs, and other important services were not available. Since city workers also pick up garbage and recycling, city parks were piled high with trash; some parks were designated official dump sites for the duration of the strike, while others were used as illegal dumps. The Ontario government tabled back-to-work legislation to end the strike, so the city was back to normal before World Youth Day started. In 2003, Toronto was hit by the SARS epidemic. Although the disease was primarily confined to hospitals and health-care workers, tourism in Toronto significantly suffered because of media reports. To help recover the losses the city suffered in industries and tourism, the city held a "Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto," colloquially called 'SARSStock,' headlined by The Rolling Stones and featuring many famous bands such as ACDC, Rush (band), The Guess Who, Justin Timberlake. The concert attracted some 450,000 people, making it one of the largest concerts in history, second only to Woodstock festival in 1969 (which had 500,000 people). The city was also affected by the 2003 North America blackout. The results were chaotic, with the city grinding to a halt, the streets being deserted and power not being restored for more than 12 hours in many cases, and in some areas for three days. In the Toronto municipal election, 2003, David Miller was elected to replace Mel Lastman as mayor, after running a successful campaign which included the promise to cancel a proposed fixed link to the Toronto Island Airport. In 2004, Toronto balanced its budget for the first time in years. This came from a GST exemption for cities, modest property tax increases, and bailouts from higher level governments. According to a United Nations report, Toronto has the second-highest proportion of immigrants in the world, after Miami, Florida. Almost half of Toronto's residents were born outside Canada. [http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2004/07/16/migrants040716.html] The resulting cultural diversity is reflected in the numerous ethnic neighbourhoods of the city; and the proliferation of authentic shops and restaurants derived from cultures around the world makes the city one of the most exciting places in the world to visit. Moreover, the relative tranquility that mediates between such diverse populations is a testament to the tolerant character of Canadian society. ==Government== Torontonians elect representatives to the federal, provincial, and municipal levels of government. 22 Members of Parliament (MPs) representing Toronto sit in the House of Commons in Ottawa, and another 22 Members of Ontario's Provincial Parliament (MPPs) sit in the Legislative Assembly in Queen's Park, located in Toronto. Being Ontario's capital, many provincial offices are located in the city. Toronto's local government consists of 44 elected councillors (representing around 55,000 people each), who along with the mayor, make up the Toronto City Council. Toronto elects a new government every three years, in November. The City of Toronto represents the fifth largest municipal government in North America, and has an operating budget of $6.4 billion CDN. The current municipal government is rooted in the creation of the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto (known more popularly as "Metro") in 1954. This new regional government, which encompassed the smaller communities of East York, Ontario, Etobicoke, Forest Hill, Ontario, Leaside, Ontario, Long Branch, Ontario, Mimico, Ontario, New Toronto, Ontario, North York, Scarborough, Ontario, Swansea, Ontario, Toronto, Weston, Ontario, and York, Ontario, was created in light of the need for more coordination of city services. The postwar boom resulted in suburbanization, and it was felt that a coordinated land use planning strategy, as well as shared services, would be more efficient. These thirteen townships, villages and cities continued to exist independently of the regional government, and continued to provide some local services to their residents. Gradually, the Metro goverment began taking over management of services that crossed municipal boundaries, most notably highways, water, and public transit. [[image:toronto-cityhall.jpg|thumb|right|275px|Toronto City Hall]] On January 1, 1967, several of the smaller municipalities were amalgamated with larger ones, reducing their number to six. Forest Hill and Swansea became part of Toronto; Long Branch, Mimico, and New Toronto joined Etobicoke; Weston merged with York; and Leaside amalgamated with East York. This arrangement lasted until 1998, when the regional level of government was abolished and the six municipalities (Toronto, Etobicoke, North York, East York, York, and Scarborough) were amalgamated into a single municipality or "megacity". Many people criticized this change, which came on top of a massive "downloading" of provincial services to the municipal level, with little to no new revenue available. A plebiscite indicated that a majority of the citizens of Toronto opposed amalgamation, but criticisms were raised about the leading nature of the question asked. Various polls produced conflicting results. However, in Canada (and Ontario), plebiscites are not legally binding. The Ontario under Premier Mike Harris had the power to ignore the result and did so. Mel Lastman, the long-time mayor of North York before the amalgamation, was the first mayor of the new "megacity" of Toronto. At this point the definition of Toronto itself came into some doubt. In the Toronto municipal election, 2003, over 88% of those voting did so for a mayor that had discussed forming a new Province of Toronto - the second-place finisher Tooker Gomberg (8%) strongly favoured this move, while Mel Lastman (80%) also voiced his support. His statements were far more likely an attack on the provincial government, rather than a serious proposal, however, and after winning the election he did nothing to advance this idea. The notion was also favoured by urban activist Jane Jacobs. In all probability such a separation is legally difficult or impossible - under the Canadian constitution the municipalities have no actual power; they are just permitted to make use of provincial authority. This of course was one of the main problems that had concerned the activists - a few small groups, notably the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, advocated an extended campaign of property damage and resistance to Ontario's government. This led to Toronto's first large-scale riot in the summer of 2000 - a violent confrontation in front of the provincial legislature - as well as several smaller such events in 2001. When prominent federal politicians including Paul Martin and later Jack Layton (New Democratic Party (NDP) leader and for 20 years a Toronto City Councillor) began promising a "new deal for cities", and large banks began issuing papers on it, the rhetoric in general became more muted and support for violent or radical solutions had faded. None of these deals have, however, been realized. Politically, Toronto is a very liberal city to North American standards. It is a stronghold for the Liberal Party of Canada both federally and provincially, except in the downtown area where the NDP is strong. The Conservative Party of Canada have no Toronto members in either the federal or provincial legislatures, and were not even close in most ridings. While labour unions have considerable influence, they are generally not the catalyst for the liberal nature of Toronto; the high immigrant population and the strength of activist groups are the main reasons. Toronto is the core of support for liberal causes like same-sex marriage and gun control in Ontario (and Canada), which puts it at odds sometimes with the rural areas which are far more conservative. ==Economy== Toronto is a port of entry, as well as being an important commercial, financial, and industrial hub. It is the banking and stock exchange centre of the country, and is Canada's primary wholesale and distribution point. Its importance as a port increased after the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway. Ontario's wealth of raw materials and hydroelectric power have made Toronto into a primary centre of industry. The city and its surrounding area produces more than half of Canada's manufactured goods. Until the 1970s, Toronto was the second largest city in Canada, after Montreal. The economic growth of Toronto was greatly stimulated by the development of the auto industry and of large mineral resources in its hinterland, and by the completion in 1959 of the St. Lawrence Seaway which allowed ships access to the Great Lakes from the Atlantic Ocean. Further growth in the Toronto area is often attributed to the rise of Quebec nationalism, though the extent of its influence is still contested by some who argue that its effect was exaggerated by the English media. During the 1970s, the Parti lib�ral du Qu�bec and the Parti Qu�b�cois enacted several French-language laws that were perceived as unfavourable towards English-language businesses and English-speaking Montrealers, and many relocated to Toronto where the French language is not necessary for business. In recent years, Toronto has become one of the centres of Canada's film industry, along with Vancouver, due to the lower cost of producing films and television shows in Canada. The city's streets and landmarks can be seen in a variety of different films, mimicking the streets of major American cities such as Chicago and New York City. As the business and financial capital for the country, Toronto houses the Toronto Stock Exchange, the fouth largest stock exchange in North America by value traded and ninth in the world. The Toronto Stock Exchange Group has led North American exchanges by being the first to trade electronically and the first to become listed publically. The Toronto financial industry is based on Bay Street, the city's equivalent to Wall Street in New York City. A number of major corporations are based in the city, as prominent and diverse as the Hudson's Bay Company, TD Canada Trust, Celestica, Four Seasons Hotels, Rogers Communications, MDS Inc. and many others. Numerous other companies are based in the Greater Toronto Area outside of the city limits Nortel, IBM Canada, and Magna International. ==Education== [[Image:UT_University_College.JPG|right|thumb|275px|University College, University of Toronto, at the University of Toronto]] Toronto is home to a number of educational institutions, including the largest university in Canada, the University of Toronto, which has a student population of more than 60,000 across three campuses (one downtown, one in Scarborough, Ontario, and another in Mississauga, Ontario). Each student of the university belongs to one of its colleges. Trinity College is the oldest and most prestigious while University, New, Innis, St. Michael's Colleges are others in ths system. The city is served by two other universities: York University in North York, Ontario and Ryerson University downtown. The city�s Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto) and its associated Glenn Gould Professional School are internationally-recognized centres for musical training. Toronto is also home to the highly respected Ontario College of Art and Design, the fourth-largest art school in North America. In addition to these, Toronto also four post-secondary community colleges—Seneca College, Humber College, Centennial College, and George Brown College—scattered across 29 campuses. Recently, Toronto's community colleges have begun either offering their own bachelor's degree programmes or operating joint degree programmes with neighbouring universities. Toronto also has several private and independent schools, at the secondary and post-secondary levels. These include the International Academy of Design and Technology and Tyndale University College and Seminary. There are also specialty schools such as the Ontario Science Centre Science School. The Toronto Public Library is among the largest public library systems in the world. ==Transport== ===Railways=== Toronto is served by intercity VIA Rail, Ontario Northland, and Amtrak trains through Union Station (Toronto), a grand neoclassical structure in the heart of the city's downtown, which is shared with GO Transit's commuter trains. ===Highways=== ''See also'': List of Toronto, Ontario roads Although Toronto does not have as extensive a highway system as its American counterparts, there are a number of freeways that serve the city and the Greater Toronto Area. Forming part of Toronto's Municipal expressways in Toronto system, the Don Valley Parkway (or colloquially, the DVP) connects the city's eastern and northern suburbs to downtown, while the Gardiner Expressway (or colloquially, "the Gardiner") connects its western suburbs to the downtown core. Extending northward from the Don Valley Parkway is Ontario provincial highway 404, towards Markham, Ontario, Richmond Hill, Ontario, Aurora, Ontario, and Newmarket, Ontario. Extending westward from the Gardiner Expressway is the Queen Elizabeth Way (often called the QEW), which heads towards Hamilton, Ontario, Niagara Falls, Ontario, and Buffalo, New York. Ontario provincial highway 401 (or simply, "the 401") acts as a by-pass of downtown Toronto, and is one of the most congested highways in North America. It connects to Ontario provincial highway 427 (an important connector highway, leading into downtown Toronto), Ontario provincial highway 400 (towards Barrie, Ontario and Ontario's "cottage country"), Allen Road, and Ontario provincial highway 409 (a connector route to Toronto Pearson International Airport). Highway 407 (Ontario) does not operate within Toronto proper, but is a major highway in the Greater Toronto Area acting as a secondary by-pass around the northern end of Toronto. It is an electronic toll road with no physical toll booths, instead depending on Automatic number plate recognition or Electronic toll collection. ===Public transport=== [[Image:Dundas-streetcar-and-ago-as-seen-from-near-deconism.jpg|thumb|275px|A TTC Toronto Streetcar System near the Art Gallery of Ontario.]] Within the city, the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) operates an extensive system of subways, buses, and trams. Toronto has a relatively simple Toronto Subway and RT system (known locally as simply "the subway"). Composed of the Yonge-University-Spadina (TTC), Bloor-Danforth (TTC), Sheppard (TTC), and Scarborough RT lines, the subways run along principal streets and connect Toronto's outlying areas with its downtown core. Most of the city's bus routes connect to subway/RT stations, allowing for free transfers between them. Toronto's Toronto Streetcar System are one of its most distinctive features, as it is the only North American city that still has a large streetcar system that uses mostly in-street operation. Serving a network of eleven different routes, the streetcars operate primarily in the downtown core, though some streetcars do operate outside of that area. All of the city's streetcar lines connect with the subway system. Interregional commuter train and bus service is provided by GO Transit. GO trains and buses connect the city to the rest of the Greater Toronto Area. ===Airports=== ''Main article:'' List of airports in the Greater Toronto Area Toronto's primary airport is Lester B. Pearson International Airport (LBPIA), located just outside the city's borders in neighbouring Mississauga, Ontario. It is the fourth-largest international airport in North America and is the world's largest originator of air traffic into the United States. The city also has a smaller commercial airport, the Toronto City Centre Airport. Situated on the Toronto Islands, the City Centre Airport is primarily a short-haul airport, providing commercial flights to Ottawa and Montreal. It is connected to the mainland by a short ferry. The Hamilton/John C. Munro International Airport is an alternate, relief airport to Pearson. Situated in Hamilton, Ontario, 85 km (53 miles) west of Toronto, it is also a terminus for low-cost carrier, charter airline, and courier traffic. There are a number of general aviation airports in and around the city, including Toronto/Buttonville Municipal Airport, Toronto/Markham Airport, Oshawa Airport, Brampton Airport, and Burlington Airpark. ===Other=== Passenger ferry service to the Toronto Islands is provided by the city's Department of Parks and Recreation. Ferries run year-round from the Toronto Ferry Docks at the foot of Bay Street to Hanlan's Point, Centre Island, and Ward's Island. A high-speed passenger/vehicle ferry service across Lake Ontario to Rochester, Monroe County, New York was launched on June 17, 2004, using the vessel ''Spirit of Ontario I''. The service was marketed using the name "The Breeze", however it was suspended after operating 11 weeks when the company ran into financial difficulties. The vessel was subsequently purchased in a bankruptcy sale by Rochester Ferry Company LLC, a subsidiary of the City of Rochester, and the vessel will return to service in June 2005, operated by Bay Ferries Great Lakes Limited, using the marketing term "The Cat". Seaboard Flights operated a hydrofoil service between Toronto and the Niagara Region. The service has since ceased to operate. ==Landmarks== [[Image:275.jpg|thumb|right|275px|Dundas Square is a flashy public square located near the Eaton Centre]] [[Image:Torontoatnight.jpg|thumb|right|275px|Night view of the city, as seen from the observation deck of the CN Tower]] Perhaps Toronto's most famous landmark is the CN Tower, a steel/concrete transmission tower that, at 553 meters (1815 feet), is the tallest free-standing land structure in the world and the most famous landmark of the city. Directly beside it sits the Rogers Centre (formerly SkyDome), which was the world's first sporting arena to feature a fully retractable roof. It is currently home to the Toronto Blue Jays and the Toronto Argonauts. The Air Canada Centre is the city's other sporting venue, which is the home of the Toronto Raptors, the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Toronto Rock. It was originally built to replace the legendary Maple Leaf Gardens. Toronto's Toronto City Hall is one of the city's most distinctive landmarks. Built to replace its predecessor — now known simply as Old City Hall (Toronto) — its Modernism style still impresses today. Directly in front of City Hall is Nathan Phillips Square, a public space that frequently houses concerts, art displays, a weekly farmers' market, and other public events. It is also the site of a reflecting pool that, during the winter, becomes a popular skating rink. Dundas Square, nearby, is the city's newest and flashiest public square and is located across the street from the Eaton Centre, a large and popular shopping mall. Queen's Park, Toronto is a historic scenic park and public space that is also home to Ontario's Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Being one of Canada's cultural centres, the city is home to a world-renowned museum, the Royal Ontario Museum (frequently known as the "ROM"), and one of North America's largest art galleries, the Art Gallery of Ontario (known also as the "AGO"). Exhibition Place is the home of the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), an annual event that takes place in August. Nearby Ontario Place is a popular amusement park on the waterfront. The Toronto Islands form part of the largest car-free urban community in North America. Accessible by ferry, "the Islands" include a public park and a children's amusement park, Centreville. The Islands are also home to the Toronto City Centre Airport. Casa Loma, a mock castle overlooking downtown Toronto, is one of the city's most popular tourist attractions. Other popular attractions include the Hockey Hall of Fame, the Ontario Science Centre, the Leslie Street Spit, and the city's oldest cathedrals, the Roman Catholic St. Michael's Cathedral (Toronto) and the Anglican St. James' Cathedral (Toronto), both on Church Street. ==Performing arts== Toronto is home to a vibrant live theatre scene, where such companies as Soulpepper, the Canadian Stage, and Tarragon (theater) produce plays. As well, many Broadway theatrical hits originated in Toronto, such as ''Show Boat'' and ''Ragtime (musical)''. Toronto is the third largest centre for English language theatre in the world, behind New York City and London. Venues for theatre include the Canon Theatre (formerly Pantages Theatre and Pantages Cinema), the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres, the Princess of Wales Theatre, the Royal Alexandra Theatre, the Poor Alex Theatre, and the Harbourfront Centre. Musical venues in Toronto include the Toronto Centre for the Arts in North York; Roy Thomson Hall, home to Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO); and Massey Hall. The National Ballet of Canada is based in Toronto and performs at the Hummingbird Centre and formerly at the Walter Carsen Centre. It will move to the Four Seasons Centre in 2006. As Canada's largest city and the main centre of its recording industry, Toronto is also home to many Canadian pop music, Rock and roll, and hip hop artists. This includes both musicians native to Toronto and those who have moved to Toronto from other towns and cities. The live music scene in Toronto is centred primarily in the Queen Street West area, part of what is known as the Entertainment District, although not all of Toronto's music venues are in this neighbourhood. More established acts play at venues such as Lee's Palace, The Opera House, Horseshoe Tavern, The Phoenix Concert Theatre, and Kool Haus (formerly known as the Warehouse). Major concert tours by stars are usually booked into larger venues such as Air Canada Centre, Hummingbird Centre, and Molson Amphitheatre at Ontario Place. ==Events== Toronto plays host to a variety of different events year-round. In June, Gay Pride Week celebrates the city's lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, and two-spirited community, and includes, among other things, a street fair, a variety of entertainment stages, and most notably, the Pride Parade. In July, Caribana, the largest Caribbean festival in North America, attracts more than one million celebrants for the concerts, the food, the King and Queen of the Bands competition, and the very popular Caribana parade. In September, Hollywood celebrities, actors, writers, directors, and producers from around the world descend on the city for the Toronto International Film Festival. ==City issues== ===Crime=== Although crime (including violent crime) in Toronto has been steadily decreasing over the past decade, concern over gun and gang related crimes has come to the attention of the media. While Toronto's homicide rates are extremely low compared to many American cities (in 1999, Toronto had 1.3 homicides per 100,000 compared to Houston's 13.4, Chicago's 23.3, and Washington, DC's 45.5 [http://www.city.toronto.on.ca/quality_of_life/safety.htm]) and Toronto has lower crime rates than most cities in Canada, there are many calls to take action to prevent what is seen as a slide towards an increase in crime. American gang experts have been brought in and increased funding for programs in troubled neighbourhoods have been recently initiated. ===Homelessness=== Toronto is also struggling to come to grips with a growing homeless problem. Many programs and responsibilities have been recently downloaded to the city from the provincial and federal governments, with many arguing that the city must come up with new ways to raise revenue to fund these new responsibilities. ===Public transit=== Toronto has an extensive public transit system, the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), but transit advocates argue that the system has been grossly underfunded in recent years. Recently, higher level governments have indicated they are prepared to fund the system further, so this situation may change. ===The Toronto waterfront=== For decades, the lack of development of the Toronto waterfront has been a major issue, as it is blighted by an elevated expressway (the Gardiner Expressway) that severs the city from the lake. The formerly industrial area is now largely vacant and awaiting redevelopment. In 2004 hundreds of thousands of dollars were sent by the province of Ontario to encourage further development. Currently a movie studio is being built on the site of the R.L. Hearn Power Plant. ===Computer Leasing Inquiry=== A dominant issue in Toronto's municipal politics in recent years has been the Toronto Computer Leasing Inquiry, which has been investigating allegations of impropriety involving computer contracts between the city and MFP Financial Services. ===Garbage=== Another important issue is the city's garbage. Currently Toronto's trash is shipped to Michigan, but concerns with the border and opposition from residents in Michigan has promoted the need to look for alternate sites or expand the recycling program. Besides the blue box (plastic and metal) and grey box (paper) programs, the city has instituted a green bin program to recover compostable materials. Its use began in Scarborough, Ontario and Etobicoke, Ontario and has since been expanded to the rest of the city except the former City of North York, which will participate in 2005. ===Greenbelt=== In March 2005, the provincial government unveiled the boundaries of a greenbelt around the Greater Toronto Area, a 7,200-square-kilometre area stretching from Niagara Falls, Ontario to Peterborough, Ontario. The greenbelt is designed to curb urban sprawl and to preserve valuable farmland surrounding the city. The decision remains controversial, as farmers and other critics say that the "development embargo" being placed on such lands forces down the value of farmland within the greenbelt, without providing just compensation to its owners. Many cities have implemented growth boundaries of some kind, including Ottawa, Portland, Oregon, Frankfurt, and London, as a method of restricting urban growth. ==Neighbourhoods== [[image:church-wellesley.jpg|thumb|275px|right|Church and Wellesley, Toronto's gay village]] ''Main article:'' List of neighbourhoods in Toronto Toronto has over 200 neighbourhoods within its borders, which is why it is sometimes referred to as the "city of neighbourhoods." Before 1998, Toronto was a much smaller municipality and formed part of Metropolitan Toronto. When the city amalgamated that year, Toronto grew to encompass the former municipalities of York, Ontario, East York, Ontario, North York, Ontario, Etobicoke, Ontario, and Scarborough, Ontario. Each of these former municipalities still maintains, to a certain degree, their own distinct identities, and the names of these municipalities are still used by their residents. The municipality that existed as Toronto before the merger is sometimes called the "old" City of Toronto or the Central District. The "old" city of Toronto is, by far, the most populous and dense part of the city. It is also the business centre of the city. The "inner ring" suburbs of York, Ontario and East York, Ontario are older, predominantly middle-class areas, and are highly ethnically diverse. Much of the housing stock in these areas consists of old post-war single-family houses and high-rises. The "outer ring" suburbs of Etobicoke, Ontario, Scarborough, Ontario, and North York, Ontario are much more suburban in nature. ==Toronto's "905" suburbs== Before 1993, the telephone area code 416 included the entire Golden Horseshoe region from Clarington to Niagara Falls, Ontario. The area code was then split, with Metropolitan Toronto (now Toronto) alone remaining in 416, while the rest of the area became 905. In informal usage in Toronto, "905" quickly began to be used as shorthand for the belt of suburbs and exurbs surrounding the city, but not for places like Niagara Falls or Hamilton, Ontario. Toronto itself may similarly be referred to as "416". (Subsequently both area codes 416 and 905 were overlay plan with new codes, 647 and 289 respectively, but popular usage has not been affected by this.) The major "905" suburbs or exurbs surrounding Toronto are: [[image:Toronto_Landsat.jpg|thumbnail|275px|A simulated colour image of Toronto, taken by Landsat 7]] ===West=== ====Peel Regional Municipality==== * Mississauga, Ontario * Brampton, Ontario * Caledon, Ontario ====Halton Regional Municipality==== * Oakville, Ontario * Milton, Ontario * Burlington, Ontario * Halton Hills, Ontario ===North=== ====York Regional Municipality==== * Richmond Hill, Ontario * Markham, Ontario * Vaughan, Ontario * Aurora, Ontario * Newmarket, Ontario ===East=== ====Durham Regional Municipality==== * Pickering, Ontario * Ajax, Ontario * Whitby, Ontario * Oshawa, Ontario * Clarington, Ontario Note: Clarington, Oshawa and Whitby fall into the Oshawa Census Metropolitan Area and Burlington falls into the Hamilton, Ontario Census Metropolitan Area. However, all four of these 905 communities are viewed by the provincial government as part of the Greater Toronto Area, unlike Hamilton or the Niagara Regional Municipality. For more information on the suburbs of Toronto, see Greater Toronto Area. ==Nicknames== Toronto's nicknames include: * T.O. (from Toronto, Ontario - pronounced Tee-Oh) * T-dot (short for "t-dot o-dot") * The Big Smoke (a nickname it shares with many other cities) * Hogtown (referring to the city's growing livestock trading and farmers' markets during the 19th century, or to the city's capitalist reputation) * Methodist Rome (late nineteenth and early twentieth century) * Toronto the Good (from its history as a bastion of Victorian morality from the nineteenth century through the 1950s) * Hollywood North (a nickname it shares with Vancouver) * Queen City * Muddy York * The 4-1-6 * The Centre of the Universe (often derogatory) ==Pronunciation of "Toronto"== The stress is on the second syllable. Locals sometimes pronounce the city's name as "Toronno" or "Tronno", "Toranna", "Taranna", "Chrono", "Chranna" or even "Terawhnna" (). However, this is merely a reflection of the varieties of Canadian English and does not represent a unique pronunciation for the city name itself. For instance, many Canadians pronounce the number "ninety nine" as something between "9-D-9" and "9-E-9", whereas many Britons or East Indians will distinctly pronounce "9-T-9". Thus while it is natural that many Canadians will say "Toronno", speakers whose dialects pronounce the "T" distinctly in words like "ninety nine" should do likewise when pronouncing "Toronto". In each case, the speaker merely pronounces "Toronto" in the way that is most natural in his or her dialect. Even for Canadian speakers it is never outright incorrect to pronounce distinctly the second ''t'' in Toronto, and some local people do so. However, pronouncing it "Tor-on-toe" (with equal stress on each syllable) in casual speech is usually seen as a sign of someone who is not a native of the city. ==See also== *List of Torontonians *List of Toronto mayors *Toronto City Council *1976 Summer Paralympics *List of hospitals in Toronto *List of sports teams in Toronto *List of malls in Toronto *List of educational institutions in Toronto *List of media outlets in Toronto *List of neighbourhoods in Toronto *List of attractions in Toronto *List of parks in Toronto *List of annual events in Toronto *List of Toronto's 10 tallest skyscrapers ==External links== * [http://www.toronto.ca City of Toronto Official Website] * [http://www.toronto.com Toronto.com] * [http://wikitravel.org/en/article/Toronto Toronto travel guide at Wikitravel] * [http://www.trailcanada.com/canada-guides/toronto.asp Travel guide to Toronto] * [http://www.trailcanada.com/photos/toronto.asp Photos of Toronto] * [http://geonames.nrcan.gc.ca/education/toronto_e.php The real story of how Toronto got its name] at Canadian Geographical Names * [http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Toronto,Ontario&spn=0.590515,0.879593&t=k&hl=en Zoomable satellite picture of Toronto] * [http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/AtlasMapping/index.aspx?zoom=366.104491¢erx=-79.386506¢ery=43.670077&layers=1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1 Atlas map, Toronto]


Toronto {{Canadian City\| Reference Name=City of , Ontario\| Header Format=Flag and Coat of Arms\| Motto=Diversity Our Strength\| Latitude Longitude=\| CCMapSource=coor br\|d1=43\|m1=41\|d2=79\|m2=38\|EP=\| Elevation=76\| Time zone=EST\| Postal Code=M\| Population description= - Total (2004) - Metropolitan - Cdn. Census division Rank: - Cdn. Mun. Rank:\| Population= 2,518,772 5,203,686 Ranked 1st List of the 100 largest cities in Canada\| Population Density=3939.4\| Area=East to West: 43 1 E3 m North to South: 21 1 E3 m 641\| City Mayor=David Miller\| Governing Body=Toronto City Council
Chief Administrative Officer	Shirley Hoy
Canadian House of Commonss
Jean Augustine, Carolyn Bennett, Sarmite Bulte, John Cannis, Roy Cullen, Ken Dryden, John Godfrey, Bill Graham (politician), Tony Ianno, Jim Karygiannis, Jack Layton, Derek Lee, John McKay (politician), Dan McTeague, Maria Minna, Jim Peterson, Yasmin Ratansi, Judy Sgro, Mario Silva, Alan Tonks, Joe Volpe, Tom Wappel, Borys Wrzesnewskyj
Canadian Senate
Anne Cools, Art Eggleton, Jerry Grafstein, Vivienne Poy, Nancy Ruth, Peter Stollery
Legislative Assembly of Ontarios
Lorenzo Berardinetti, Laurel Broten, Michael Bryant (politician), Donna Cansfield, David Caplan, Mary Anne V. Chambers, Marilyn Churley, Mike Colle, Joseph Cordiano, Alvin Curling, Brad Duguid, Gerard Kennedy, Monte Kwinter, Rosario Marchese, Gerry Phillips, Michael D. Prue, Shafiq Qaadri, Tony Ruprecht, Mario Sergio, George Smitherman, Kathleen O. Wynne, David Zimmer

	North: Vaughan, Ontario, Markham, Ontario
West: Brampton, Ontario, Mississauga, Ontario	Toronto	East: Pickering, Ontario
	South: ''Lake Ontario''

Coastal cities Toronto ang:Toronto simple:Toronto, Ontario

Toronto

This page is part of a Wikipedia:WikiProject_Toronto. Please see that page for guidelines and volunteer to help with related articles. ----- Featured on Template:March 6 selected anniversaries (may be in HTML comment) -------- == Early discussion == Should WNED be on the list of TV and radio stations since it gives its location as "Buffalo Toronto"? See http://www.wned.org User:Edmilne 17:24, Dec 14, 2003 (UTC) :Shouldn't really, thats just the region it covers, the TV station is in Buffalo. -User:Fizscy46 05:07, 15 Dec 2003 (UTC) ::CHCH (Hamilton) and CKVR (Barrie) made the list. WNED ''thinks'' its a Toronto stations as much as those two. User:Edmilne 05:22, Dec 15, 2003 (UTC) If appropriate there could be more economic and cultural information (on immigration, concentration of certain industries in Toronto) perhaps link to in separate topics (eg. I have added one). The phrase "thin on the ground" seemed a bit colloquial so to test how things work I've changed a bit of the phrasing. Not marked as a minor edit due to the comment (is that right?). == Toronto == The EB gave an estimated population for the city at 653,734; (2001 est.) metropolitan area, 4,881,400. Did Toronto's population jump overnight?! :653,734 is for the former city of Toronto, which was merged with several of the suburbs in 1999. The population of the current city, as of the 2001 census was 2,481,494. :The article gives 5,033,541 as the population of the Greater Toronto Area, which is a region diffined by the provincial government and is different than what the census department considers the "metropolitan area" (most significantly, the GTA includes Oshawa). - User:Efghij 03:59, 31 Jul 2003 (UTC) ---- Moved from old Toronto/Culture and Politics: Sub topic for more detail on contemporary Culture and Politics. Perhaps each city could have such an entry. A metadirectory for Canada/Urban_Politics could regroup them all? ---- Personally, I don't think so. I wish subpages would all Larry Sanger/Columns, and that a page like this would live at Culture and politics in Toronto or better yet Toronto culture and Toronto politics (since no doubt they're often disparate topics). --LMS ---- OK good point. I was letting myself be directed by traditional library subcategories for place names. But it would be better if separate articles were written and then regrouped on the main Toronto page for example (for that matter they could go under a Culture and Politics heading in the main article). :''See also :'' Toronto ---- BASHO or whoever, your excellent photos are way too large and should be scaled down 50-60 % to fit neatly with text....DW ---- Thanks for the feedback (I'm a newbie here thanks to Slashdot); I've scaled down the graphics and put them in tables to make things flow better. --User:Basho ---- Is a mention of the Stones concert in 2003 really relevant to an Encylopedia entry about the city? :I don't know...now that I think about it maybe the whole article on the concert itself isn't all that necessary. But the SARS stuff (and related concert, etc) should probably be mentioned somewhere, shouldn't it? User:Adam Bishop 18:09, 5 Aug 2003 (UTC) ::It was larger than Woodstock; if Woodstock gets an article, I don't see why this one doesn't. - User:Montrealais ::Yes. It was very closely associated with the city's recent troubles, and dominated the press for weeks. Also it's a totally Toronto solution to a health problem, to have a big concert for everyone to catch even more diseases from each other, and from Keith Richards, who is immune to all of them, but also carries all of them. ---- Sorry Fizscy, we were editing at the same time - you were doing pretty much the same thing I was, with the list of famous people. I just put them in alphabetical order, so I don't think I undid anything you did. User:Adam Bishop 04:24, 13 Aug 2003 (UTC) ---- Under "TV Stations", TVO (TVOntario - http://www.tvo.org) should be listed. Although it broadcasts province wide, its main studio is in [Toronto] (at younge and eglinton). User:Hyakugei 19:48, 20 Aug 2003 (UTC) Also under "Toronto's Neighbourhoods" we have "The Beach". Its really called "The Beaches" here (and also The Beach links to the book). User:Hyakugei ---- There were a few questionable spellings and namings in the Neighbourhoods list, which I've started to correct. It'd also be good to link them in as The Beaches (Toronto) or similar - there are doubtless plenty of other Parkdales and Rosedales in the world. (I'm in the midst of reading up about naming conventions.) As for the Beach(es), locals are split over the 'proper' name, and have been for decades. A redirect would be a good idea. (There's a discussion of the naming debate in Robert Fulford's "Accidental City".) User:Emcilveen ---- Isn't CKVR actually from Barrie, Ontario? User:Adam Bishop 04:25, 28 Aug 2003 (UTC) :Yes. - user:zanimum It is from Barrie, but it specifically targets the Toronto market as a sort of secondary to CityTV, so I thought it would be worthwhile to include in there. I thought about CITS in Burlington as well, but figured that is better stuck to Hamilton. There is also CHEX in Oshawa, but that is more Peterborough then anything else.User:Snickerdo CKVR is now known as the New VR, it is owned by CHUM television, which is the head company for: City TV, Much Music, Much More Music, New VR, New RO, and SexTV the Channel. Chex is a CBC channel in Peterborough The merger of the megacity was in 1998, not 1999 (To the top comment) To Adam: Yeah, I just re added everything, I saw you fixed the spelling for the Barenaked Ladies too. Does anybody know whether or not April Wine is for the GTA? No, Ottawa User:Dhodges CHEX's main transmitter is on Channel 12 in Peterborough, correct. They also have a semi-satellite that broadcasts Oshawa-Durham specific news on Channel 20. CHEX-TV Oshawa isn't carried on Toronto cable so I figured there was no point in including it in the list. User:Snickerdo ---- There are errors on the list of famous people. Shania Twain is from Timmins, Ontario, a very long way from Toronto - she moved to Nashville, Tennessee almost as soon as she left Timmins and now lives in Switzerland most of the time. David Suzuki is from British Columbia and lives in Vancouver, even further away. This list needs to be checked over. == Immigration == Important facts worth mentioning about immigration: *Toronto absorbed a vast number of immigrants from Hong Kong before that city reverted to China in 1997. *There are 40 religions actively practiced in houses of worship, and 100 languages spoken in Toronto. ---- ''[quote]But now Toronto is the highest immigrant population[1][/quote]'' * Um... What's up with the constant revisions to that sentence? It doesn't even make sense grammatically right now... User:Krupo 06:49, Nov 2, 2004 (UTC) == Amalgamation referendum == In fairness, the way the referendum was held was questionable at best: * The voting was not run by Elections Canada, or a qualified third party organization. In some cases, the referendum was run by groups that were vocally opposed to amalgamation. * There was no standardized, city-wide voting system. Some votes were taken by ballot-box, others were phoned in. There was no actual city-wide enumeration process. * In some cases, to register your vote, you would have to put your name and address on the ballot. (e.g. Scarborough) * Some of the phone-in voting lines had messages which tried to dissuade people from voting for amaglamation (e.g. North York) The results of that referendum cannot be taken as totally accurate. ---- == The Peanut == The Peanut... which Toronto is this? I've never heard of anywhere with that name? Did you make it up or something? - user:zanimum :It's south of Finch & Don Mills. Easily found on a map. It's a widely used name in t-dot. A friend of mine was a long time ago director (or something) of an organization there called the Peanut Project. At its centre is the Peanut Plaza. it's real. User:Trontonian 23:02, 13 Oct 2003 (UTC) :I've never heard of it either, although I myself don't live there, but more power to you. I just took the liberty of looking it up, and wow, I must admit that it is quite peanut-shaped. I just hope someone can do writeups, even if they're just stubs, for all the neighbourhoods. User:Aurang 05:21, 19 Oct 2003 (UTC) * Although the question is a year old, I'll vouch for the peanut's ID. Have a friend living down the street from there. User:Krupo 02:56, Oct 17, 2004 (UTC) The peanut is an area on Don Mills Rd. north of the 401 and south of Sheppard. It has been called this since at least the mid 70s. It is given this name due to its shape. :I've never heard the actual area being referred to as The Peanut but there definitely is a little plaza called Peanut Plaza at that location. In fact, the location of the plaza forces Don Mills Rd to split with the southbound road going around the west side of the plaza while the northbound road going around on the east side. I took out the assertion that Barbara Hall is projected to be elected mayor. It seemed inappropriate to me. Even if the balance of opinion is that it's appropriate it needs to be documented. User:Trontonian 23:02, 13 Oct 2003 (UTC) :Good thing you caught that. Frankly, pre-election polls consistantly show themselves to be inaccurate, so it would be inappropriately hasty to say she is the new mayor. - user:zanimum ::And the campaign isn't really underway, either. User:Trontonian == Torontonians == Further to the list of Famous Torontonians. Does this mean anyone who has spent significant time in Toronto, or was actually born there? William Shatner, for example is from Montreal and Paul Shaeffer is from North Bay.User:Dhodges 17:12, 14 Dec 2003 (UTC) : Could be either, I'd say at least raised there... should we vote? -- user:zanimum : Paul Shaffer is actually from Thunder Bay. Born and raised. Only spent a small amount of time in Toronto. -- user:djsasso ---- ==Conan== Shouldn't someone add a 'graf about the arrival of a certain foul-mouthed canine puppet and his friend, Conan O'Brian, in February 2004? Posterity will want to know. : It's not exactly monumental in shaping the course of our history, but I'll add a link to a stub I'll create. -- user:zanimum ---- ==Statement about Quebec's language laws and Toronto's immigrants== It seems to me that the statement Due to the Quebec language laws, the majority of Canada's new immigrants now settle in Toronto. needs to be moderated somewhat. Surely it's not the ONLY reason the majority of new immigrants settle in Toronto, as this sentence appears to imply? User:Moncrief 06:52, 24 Feb 2004 --- ==Brampton== An anonymous user says that Brampton should be in the northwest, not the west...? --ugen64 --- ==4th largest city in North America== I am admittedly asking this question before doing any independent checking, but where exactly does Toronto rank among North American cities? Aren't NYC, LA, Chicago, and Mexico City all larger than Toronto? Maybe Chicago is smaller. -- fabfablew :This depends on a number of factors, namely (a) your definition of North America (which most people define as including Mexico and Central America, but some Amerocentric people may think otherwise), (b) whether we're talking about the population of the city itself (within political boundaries) or the urban area, and (c) what the definition of the urban area is (census metropolitan area, Greater Toronto Area population, or a little of both). Assuming we all agree that Mexico is a part of North America, Toronto would be the fifth-largest city in North America but would have the ninth-largest urban area in NA. I'm going to take out the fourth largest city bit right now. User:Darkcore 07:58, 7 Apr 2004 (UTC) ::The major consideration is whether it is single city size, in which case it would be Manhattan, LA, Chicago, Toronto. ::Central America is a subcontinent, but, along with the carribeans, is North America. -User:Fizscy46 03:23, 11 Apr 2004 (UTC) ::No, it wouldn't; it would be (1) Mexico City, (2) New York (Manhattan, contrary to popular belief, is NOT a city in its own right), (3) Los Angeles, and (4) Chicago. User:Darkcore 18:46, 11 Apr 2004 (UTC) ::By city proper population, Toronto ranks #5 after Mexico City (8,605,239), New York (8,084,316), Los Angeles (3,807,400), and Chicago (2,896,016). City proper population is unreliable for comparing sizes of different cities because some city boundaries encompass the entire urban area (for example, Calgary and Shanghai) whereas other cities only occupy a small section of the total urban area (for example, Melbourne and London). It is therefore more useful to compare the populations of the urban areas themselves. However, Darkcore's ranking of Toronto at #9 in North America is incorrect due to the incompatibility of the U.S. Census Bureau and Statistics Canada systems for determining "metropolitan area" size. For example, Oshawa and Hamilton, despite being directly linked via 50km of suburbs to downtown Toronto, are not included within the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (CMA), whereas the Philadelphia Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area (CMSA) includes cities such as Atlantic City, 90 km of farmland from downtown Philadelphia. It is for this reason that many feel that the U.S. metropolitan area criteria exaggerate American city sizes compared to international cities. The UN Urban Area estimates are more acceptable because they use more or less the same criteria for all world cities. Using UN Urban Area criteria (UN Population Division), Toronto is also #5 (4,752,000) behind Mexico City (18,066,000), New York (16,732,000), Los Angeles (13,213,000), and Chicago (6,989,000). The cities that would be larger than Toronto if compared using U.S. CMSA numbers instead of UN figures are Boston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Detroit, Philadelphia, Washington, and San Francisco (combined with San Jose)- vicente :::You should note that the U.S. Census Bureau uses a few different measures for determining the size of a metropolitan area. The CMSA (Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area) is simply the largest possible one. The PMSA (forgot what the "P" stands for) may be more reliable. User:Funnyhat 06:40, 21 Jun 2005 (UTC) Excellent post Vicente! == Beach pollution? == I find this strange: '' At the time Toronto's own beaches were far too polluted to use, a side effect of dumping garbage directly in the lake. The Grand Trunk Railway and the Great Northern Railway joined in the building of the first Union Station in the downtown area.'' From what I understand, people would bathe in the water until about the 1950's, when the pollution got *really* bad. The quote implies this was already the case around 1900. The Sunnyside Bathing Pavilion, after all, was all about bathing in the lake in the early 20th century, no? User:Krupo 21:16, Oct 21, 2004 (UTC) I used to swim in the lake in the 1970s. It was actually quite safe. E-Coli bacteria is actually the main source of pollution not industry. Excellent post vicente! == Attractions == I wonder about these places:'' # Scadding Cabin # First Canadian Place # Rowland C Harris Filtration Plant # Canadian Bank of Commerce Tower'' I wouldn't call them attractions - going to remove them. User:Krupo 02:58, Nov 9, 2004 (UTC) == List Mania == The very long list of parks is troublesome - should it even be there? A few notable parks makes sense; this looks excessive. I also wonder about that hotel section... User:Krupo 03:01, Nov 9, 2004 (UTC) :Subpages are the best option. - User:SimonP 03:06, Nov 9, 2004 (UTC) == Insanity == The R.C. Harris Filtration Plant is a significant Toronto landmark and architectural gem in an Art deco style, believe it or not. As a resident I would definitely include it in a list of important Toronto landmarks. Another anonymous person! : Nothing wrong with putting it in a list of landmarks or significant architectural achievements, but that really does belong on a subpage, or, failing that, in a seperate category. It was originally listed as an "attraction," which implies that it's a regular spot for people to visit. Aside from architecture buffs, I can't imagine someone taking a field trip to the filtration plant. User:Krupo 03:58, Nov 18, 2004 (UTC) Maybe there is something weird about Torontonians, but it is set in a park like grounds and there are public tours of the Palace of Purification. If you look around in Google Images you can find some pictures. Anonymous unregistered. The Harris filtration plant is an astonishing building that perhaps should not be on a tourist destination site, but for those who are interested in architecture and engineering, it is worth seeing. BF By the way, the beaches water works (in or near Scarborough) has been featured as the bad guy headquarters a number of times in films (as I understand), and even for the more recent mutant-x tv show. We're sorof embarassed/proud of that. -- Sy == Pronunciation == Feel free to remove my modification of the observations about the pronunciation of Toronto. It just felt good at the time. : Canadians often pronounce the name as "Toronno" or even "Trono". This merely reflects general local pronunciation (for instance, "ninety" is often pronounced somewhere between "9-D" and "9-E", rather than "9-T"). It is never incorrect to pronounce distinctly the second t in Toronto, and many local people do so. Other occasionally heard pronunciations are "Toranna" or "Taranna". Here's a piece of trivia for ya.. We may slur the word locally, but it's becoming a common trend for us to speak more clearly when talking to non-Torontonians, probably because of how embarrasing it is to be thought to slur our own home's name. To that end, I am really kindof offended by this sad reference in the article. =p -- Sy == Links == I've taken these links off the "external links" section. I don't think the external links area serves as a place to promote your website just because it has some connection to Toronto. It should at least add something to the reader's understanding with original content, eh? User:Krupo 04:24, Dec 3, 2004 (UTC) * [http://www.stage-door.org/playbill.html Live theatre in Toronto] * [http://www.tdbab.com/torontoconcerts.htm Live concert schedule for Toronto] * [http://www.math.utoronto.ca/toronto/ Welcome to Toronto! Toronto City Guide] == Chicago > Toronto == i take issue with this statement: "in 2003 Toronto had 65 homicides, while similar sized Chicago had over 590." nominally, toronto and chicago are similar in population. but chicago is much more built up, more heavily urbanized and sits in the center of a large suburban sprawl. the city of toronto, on the other hand, includes a LOT of suburbs within the city limits. it just doesnt seem right to me to be comparing the two, but i wanted to see if anyone could argue it before i change it. : Downtown Toronto is a fairly built up urban centre as well, and is the centre of the Greater Toronto Area which is quite sprawling, and getting more so. Besides, according to Toronto Police Services (http://www.torontopolice.on.ca/ ) of the 65 homicides in the city in 2003, 27 occured in "Central Field Command" which includes a small amount of subrurbia as well as the downtown core, and 38 occured in the rest of the city, which is far less urban. I'm not sure that this "suburbs withing the city limits" fact is an issue. I think there is some playing with numbers, though. I think when Chicago and Toronto are considered similarly sized, it includes the whole CMA, doesn't it? These figures are only for the (Amalgamated) City of Toronto. -Senning ::The City of Chicago, including the suburbs within its city limits, has a population of 2,896,016 (US Census 2000). Toronto, on the other hand, has a population of 2,518,772 (Statistics Canada 2004 estimate) within its city limits, so in terms of population, they are comparable. However, the Toronto CMA has a population of 5,715,386 while the Chicago CMSA has a population of 9,157,540. So they certainly are not comparable when taking the suburbs into consideration. User:Darkcore 19:37, 17 Dec 2004 (UTC) :::Why are we comparing U.S. Census CMSA numbers with the Statistics Canada's CMA? The CMSA definitions are far looser than the Canadian equivalent, for example, if a whole county has over 15% of its commuters commuting into the city, then it is included in the CMSA, whereas the CMA only counts individual municipalities, and uses a 25% commuter threshold. If we use UN Urban Areas (defined by the UN Population bureau), Chicago's metro has 7 million while Toronto has 5 million, which makes Chicago only slightly larger than Toronto. - vicente ::I just verified Chicago's homicide stats. The 590 homicides took place within the city limits. However, the comparison is still weak since, as the other person mentioned, Chicago is far more urbanized and includes fewer suburbs within its city limits than Toronto. User:Darkcore 19:40, 17 Dec 2004 (UTC) That observation is silly. Chicago's Metro is not infinitely larger than that of Toronto. Toronto had 62.4% of the population. The two cities fit within 5-10 million metro bracket. These two metro's are CLEARLY comparable. And I think noting that Toronto A MAJOR METRO AREA having 11% of the murder rate of another Large Metro Area, Chicago, is a noteworthy contrast. Atlanta, Houston, Detroit, and DFW are probably better comparisons but it does not mean that the one chosen was by any means a weak one. :No, it's not really that silly considering that Chicago is known for its high crime rate (New York City, which has over 8,000,000, saw 572 murders in 2003, well under Chicago's numbers if you're comparing murder rates), which could be attributed to a variety of factors that you may not necessarily be aware of. So any kind of comparison could be potentially misleading. Comparing murder rate per 100,000 is far more useful as a comparative indicator than giving fixed numbers. :It would be downright ridiculous and stupid to compare Toronto to any of the cities you mentioned. Detroit has been losing population steadily over the past decade or two. Houston, Atlanta, and Dallas are much more sprawling than Toronto. So, again, any comparison would be potentially misleading. I don't see why we need this Chicago/Toronto homicide comparison anyway. As far as I know, no other city article has such a comparison and I don't see how it gives any useful information anyway. User:Darkcore 06:47, 28 Mar 2005 (UTC) ---- Oh brother! I am beginning to think that you are simply picking a fight. If it is not one thing, it is another . . . Do not take this as a personal attack but I think your criticism (not you) is very petty . . . I do not see the problem here . . . Detroit's metro has actually been rising. Secondly, we are simply looking at metros that are of similar population or status. The issue of sprawl is absolutely tangential to the conversation. I find it quite interesting to know that the homicide rate is lower than many American cities of similar size and status. I know of American cities of much smaller population and sprawl that cannot say that they had as few as 65 murders. It was a factor in my decision to visit Toronto and not Detroit-- which I did have to go through. By American standards, it is an incredible statistic and without question should be mentioned. I have always heard this comparison come up when folks talk about Toronto. Heck, if I did not see it mentioned, I would have inserted it myself. :Yes, Detroit's metro population has been rising, but it's core city population has been falling. Besides, these statistics are not for metro areas but for core city areas. Look, I'm just saying that it is misleading to mention this statistic, given the fact that there are a whole host of reasons why this could be so, and a comparison based solely on population numbers is superficial at best. I'm not trying to pick a fight with you--but I am trying to make you see that it doesn't make sense to throw random statistics in an article, unless the comparison actually makes sense. By the way, you should sign your comments so that people know who is saying what (with ~~~~). User:Darkcore 09:15, 28 Mar 2005 (UTC) ==Statement about Quebec language laws and exodus to Toronto== ''moved from Wikipedia talk:Contact us by User:EvanProdromou'' Wilkipedia talk To whom it may concern : If the "truth" of the following comment about Toronto (Ontario) - Canada : (quotation) Up until the 1970s, Toronto was the second largest city in Canada, after Montreal. Much of the growth in the Toronto area was due to the growing separation movement in Quebec and the election of the Parti Qu�b�cois in 1976. The PQ enacted several French-language laws that were unfavourable towards businesses and English-speaking Montrealers. As a result, businesses and English-speaking Montrealers left for Toronto. Due to the Quebec language laws, the majority of Canada's new immigrants now settle in Toronto. (End of quotation) is like the rest of your Encyclopedia, I am wondering how I will trust you again after I read that comment! The tendancy for Toronto to become larger than Montreal begun long before the PQ won in 1976. Even with most immigrants choosing English rather than French when settling in Montreal before 1976, most of immignants then choosed (and still do)Toronto. Only a small amount of English-speaking people from Montreal left to Toronto after 1976. Law number 101 making French the official language of Quebec in 1977 did not prevent neither forbid businessmen to make business in English in Quebec, specialy in Montreal. English-speaking population in Quebec is still about 12-15% - as it was before 1976 - and still has its English-speaking radio stations, TV stations, newspapers, hospitals, schools, colleges and universities in a greater proportion than French-speaking population in Canada out of Quebec has itself. English is official too in National Assembly and in Justice courts. If immigrants have now to study in French in Quebec since 1977, it is true only for the primary school and the secondary school, not for colleges and universities. Moreover : English-speaking immigrants whose parents already studied in English (and many other exceptions) can choose the English-speaking school. Sorry to say that, but your comment are unappropriate, too simplistic and tend to represent only that Canadian opinion which oppose (which is understandable)to Quebec views about separation from Canada. Truly yours, Michel-Guy HUOT 388, 13e Rue Qu�bec (Qu�bec) G1L 2K8 cuir_noir@hotmail.com :Michel-Guy: this is a wiki. If you disagree with something on Toronto, Wikipedia:be bold and Wikipedia:how to edit a page yourself! --User:EvanProdromou 20:05, 18 Dec 2003 (UTC) ---- In every economic history of Canada I have read in the past Toronto surpassed Montreal as the biggest city in Canada and the economic metropolis of Canada a long time before any kind of language law was enacted in Quebec. The big boom in Toronto started in the 1930s (and in a sense has never stopped) with the exploitation of the huge economic wealth of northern Ontario and the expansion of the car industry in its economic hinterland (Windsor, etc). The completion of the St Lawrence Seaway in 1959 (as the article already notes) and major infrastructures such as the Toronto subway are what finished making Toronto as the metropolis of Canada. When banks and some big companies moved their head offices form Montreal to Toronto in the 1970s and 1980s (with a lot of noise in the newspapers) it was in a sense an afterthought because most of their employees were already working in Toronto for a long time. In the last two decades much of the growth of Toronto has come form immigrants pouring in from the British Commonwealth, along with quite a bit of investment funds. So the statement about the language laws of Quebec and the English leaving Montreal seems like pointing out a trickle and forgetting torrents.--User:AlainV 11:25, 15 Dec 2004 (UTC) :Following up on Michel-Guy and Alain's contestations to the 'Montreal to Toroto' exodus statement, I have added in the article a mention that the extent of which the rise of nationalism in Qu�bec has influenced the growth of Toronto is still debated, and provided [http://english.republiquelibre.org/myths-and-fallacies.html] as a source (which seems to me pretty much grounded with facts, even though they are probably biased bytheir political agenda). I briefly tried to find on the web some sources which could help settling down this question (how big was the exodus of people from Montreal to Toronto mainly due to Quebec nationalism (and not other factors like the auto industry or whatever), and to which extent this contributed to the growth of Toronto). I didn't; so for now, I think that it is NPOV to mention the dispute. If somebody can find reliable sources which could settle the question in one way or the other, I would be happy to see the article edited to include the conclusion. --User:Simon Lacoste-Julien 10:10, 21 Jan 2005 (UTC) == Toronto's name == Can someone come up with a source for this? I have not been able to find anything online or in any books that I have that mentions this. :However, it is much more likely that the term is from the Mohawk nation word referring to "the place where trees grow over the water", a reference to a specific location at the northern end of what is now Lake Simcoe, then known as Lake Toronto. The portage route up the Humber River eventually leads past this well known landmark. As the portage route grew in use, the name became more widely used and was eventually attached to a French trading fort just inland from Lake Ontario on the Humber. User:Darkcore 13:58, 25 Dec 2004 (UTC) [http://geonames.nrcan.gc.ca/education/toronto_e.php Natural Resources Canada] says '''"Linguistically, it originated as the Mohawk phrase ''tkaronto'', later modified by French explorers and mapmakers." Lots of good info there. User:Blacklite 14:21, 25 Dec 2004 (UTC) ==Toronto, Ontario → Toronto== There are around 500 direct links here, but as many from Toronto and Toronto, Canada. Taking into account that most external links and find queries are likely to come in the form of the city name only, I think it should probably be moved to Toronto. Same reason as London contains the article on London, England and York contains the article on York, England. --User:Tony Sidaway|User talk:Tony Sidaway 12:07, 26 Dec 2004 (UTC) * Support'''. If someone links to Toronto without further clarification, they clearly mean Toronto, Ontario. Furthermore, many people (non-Canadians) are aware that there is a large city in Canada named Toronto, but are not aware that it is in the province of Ontario. I don't see any downside to making the move, and it somehow feels more clean. --User:LostLeviathan 23:59, 26 Dec 2004 (UTC) * Support, indeed difficult to see why this hasn't already happened given that Toronto is currently a redirect to Toronto, Ontario anyway! Shouldn't need any discussion imho. --User:VampWillow:User_talk:VampWillow 00:10, 27 Dec 2004 (UTC) * Support. -- User:Naive cynic 00:57, 27 Dec 2004 (UTC) * Comment - I think this is because of the general style for North American cities of City, State/Province. It's also used for Australian cities (although I think Melbourne exists by itself). User:Adam Bishop 01:00, 27 Dec 2004 (UTC) * Support - When people say "Toronto", it's quite safe to assume they mean Toronto, Ontario. User:Raul654 01:43, Dec 27, 2004 (UTC) *Oppose: The name of the article should abide by current naming conventions. Having Toronto redirect to Toronto, Ontario should be sufficient. User:DCEdwards1966 02:36, Dec 27, 2004 (UTC) * Support, for sure. Are there other Toronto's? it would make much more sense for "Toronto" to be the title of the article for toronto, ontario. User:SECProto 03:36, Dec 27, 2004 (UTC) **Well, there is Toronto, Australia...User:Adam Bishop 22:50, 27 Dec 2004 (UTC) * Support. Most likely meaning of "Toronto". —User:Tkinias 22:41, 27 Dec 2004 (UTC) * Support. Just like London, New York City and a lot of other big cities that stand on their own, including Canadian cities like Montreal and Ottawa. —User:ExplorerCDT 23:00, 27 Dec 2004 (UTC) *Support. Clean. Simple. Nuff said. User:Icundell 00:20, 28 Dec 2004 (UTC) *Oppose. Yet another exception to the naming convention. So now we start having exceptions and just because Toronto is a large city, it gets preferential treatment? If we are going to enforce a naming convention, then stick to it. Hundreds of other cities and towns get redirects. People in Western Canada would ask why should Vancouver, Calgary or Winnipeg have to follow naming conventions while all the large eastern cities do not? Looks to me like eastern NA bias here. User:RedWolf 06:51, Dec 30, 2004 (UTC) ::There is a convention to make exceptions for larger cities to the naming convention for cities, in favour of the broadest naming convention (most common usage). Whatever its origins or validity, that is the case. Some other larger cities might be worth the same move; let's not get upset about bias. I would guess most of the voters above aren't even Canadian. User:Rd232 16:18, 30 Dec 2004 (UTC) *Support I believe I'm a little too late to vote, but naming this article Toronto, Ontario IMO borders ridicoulous. Most of non-English language wikipedias refer to Toronto by the name of the city only and not Toronto, Ontario or different variants of it. This kind of convention can be applied to places like Sioux Falls, North Dakota or Red Deer, Alberta but not to Toronto. I mean we are talking about one of the largest cities in the Americas as well as the World's most multicultural city. User:VicFromTheBlock =="World Class"== Why are we not allowed to mention the anxiety of some of the city's leaders about whether or not Toronto is world class? Or the fact that it is a Beta city in the GaWC? If we want to include the "world city" information, the information should be complete and accurate. David Miller was in the Star just last Sunday saying he didn't think Toronto should try to be world class - he believes that it should just be itself. I think a lot of people outside Toronto would say that that is an awfully green and nice beta city. I used to live in Toronto and it's lovely, but it has an unrealistically high self-regard, at least from the perspective of many British, French, Australian and American people I've spoken to. I think Toronto's civic insecurity and its constant navel-gazing (and self-promotion) adds to its quirky charm. That might be why it is so thoughtfully planned and preserved, at least in the centre. I am not from Toronto but actually reside some 5,000 miles north east of there. I'm not Canadian but have been blessed enough to visit the place. "You have got to be kidding" as you North Americans say, when you do not consider Toronto to be a world class city. As an outsider, I can tell you that as it stands, Toronto is currently enjoying a global resurgence in popularity along the lines of New York. As may or may not know or as you may or may not agree, it might very weel take over some other "world cities" in popularity. == Alain == Alain, j’ai des nouvelles pour toi: * La langue d’un artiste n’est pas tr�s importante; * Il n’existe aucun pays du nom �English Canada�. C’est la deuxi�me fois que j’ai d� enlever une telle r�f�rence de cet article. L’autre �tait d’un cochon qui plaignait des services disponibles aux francophones � Toronto bien qu’ils ne fassent que 2% de la population torontoise. Si tu veux discuter de la situation entre les groupes linguistiques du Canada, va s’il te pla�t � Yahoo!, o� cette activit� est permise. Ou, tu peux faire ce que j’ai dit au cochon: Va en discuter avec ton Membre du Parlement! ==A translation of the above message by "Kelisi" and my clarification== begin translation: Alain, I have news for you: * The language of an artist is not very important * There is no country with the name of "English Canada" This is the second time I have had to take out a reference like that in this article. The other one was [from] a swine who [complained about]] services available to francophones in Toronto even though they only make up 2% of the population of Toronto. If you want to discuss the situation between linguistic groups in Canada please go to Yahoo!, where such activities are permitted. Or, you could do what I said to that swine: Go talk to your member of parliament about it! end translation I must apologize if my attempt at making a concise "scope" comment on the status of Toronto as a cultural capital has been misunderstood as the basis for linguistic debate. English is not my mother tongue so I am sometimes clumsy with it. For the last year and a half or so that I have contributed to Wikipedia I have trusted other editors to correct my faults, and I am glad to say that they have done so repeatedly. So, I cannot be anything else but happy and joyful to receive your comments (even though I have some doubts as to the positive nature of your allusion to a swine or a pig) and revise my scope note accordingly. --User:AlainV 03:10, 29 Jan 2005 (UTC) * I'm sorry if I misunderstood you. It seems the misunderstanding was caused by someone else. That nasty little word "the" has no business being there. Heritage Minister Liza Frulla has announced that Toronto is to be A cultural capital, not necessarily the only one. So, I shall edit the article accordingly. Curiously, this announcement came only yesterday (2005/1/27), ''after'' our mysterious editor inserted a similar announcement into the article. --------Kelisi == Anonymous edits on 19 March 2005 == I have just reverted a series of anonymous edits made early on 19 March 2005 (or late 18 March in North America). The edits were not vandalism, but they included a lot of unsubstantiated factual changes, removal of some substantiated information, and some economic analysis that might qualify as original research. Some of those changes may have been legitimate factual corrections, but it's hard to track those specifically through so many rapid-fire edits, especially when no sources for the changes were cited. Perhaps the anonymous user who did that could start with an edit exclusively correcting verifiable factual errors and list the sources here on the discussion page; we could then use that as a baseline for more substantive changes. The reversion was a tough call, because I believe that these were intended to be legitimate contributions, and I'd encourage the anonymous user to resubmit. User:Dpm64 13:28, 19 Mar 2005 (UTC) == Pictures == There seems to be an overabundance of "skyline"-type pictures in this article, which I think is getting a little excessive. How many times can you look at the CN Tower before you start getting nauseous? I propose that we pick one such picture and remove the rest, to leave room for pictures of other scenes around the city. My vote would be for the "Toronto skyline at night" picture. (Could we also get a better picture of the Bloor Viaduct?) User:Darkcore 23:39, 17 Apr 2005 (UTC) *They are also too small. They should really be enlarged to 300px across because of their detail. I suggest to keep the following skyline photos: :*Toronto skyline at night :*Night view == Elevation of Toronto??? == Toronto's elevation above sea level varies quite a bit: downtown is close to lake level, while St. Clair Ave. and further north is quite a bit higher because of an east-west ridge running along the city. According to the Canada Flight Supplement (the official publication used by airlines, etc.) the elevation of Toronto City Centre Airport is 251 ft, or 76.5 m MSL. The elevation of Toronto/Downsview Airport, on the other hand, is 652 ft, or 198.7 m, and the elevation of Toronto Pearson Airport is 569 ft, or 173.4 m. I suggest using the elevation of City Centre, since it is adjacent to downtown and at about same elevation; I could also see an argument for using Pearson, because it's the major airport, but that approach will sometimes give very distorted elevations (at North Bay, Ontario, for example, the airport is on a height of land fa