Is Toronto ACTUALLY Similar to New York City?

[@garydare2238]

Having lived in Toronto, NYC and Chicago, Toronto and Chicago are more alike in terms of geography (with a 90 degree clockwise rotation) and layout, and temperaments are closer. NYC is in a class by itself.

[@baseball0681]

Toronto is more like Chicago

[@waynesworld1655]

Very similar! Other then the gun violence

[@andreab7445]

I’ve heard Chicago be called Toronto’s sister city before.

[@R0botWoof]

People outside Toronto compare it to New York, people from here compare it to Chicago

[@R0botWoof]

​@@andreab7445that's probably because they are officially sister cities

[@andreab7445]

@@R0botWoof well there you go

[@bkeen7013]

As a NYer, I visit Toronto (and Montreal) multiple times during the year for work. My attitude towards Toronto is positive, but I also view Toronto as a small city (especially in relation to NY), and not nearly as hectic or expensive as NYC. Love that exchange rate.

[@GpL_2000]

Toronto is by no means “small” it’s bigger than Chicago

[@bkeen7013]

@@GpL_2000 which is still 1/4 of NYC…so small city to me.

[@GpL_2000]

@@bkeen7013 if your benchmark is NYC, then that's outrageous; those standards are way too high. Also, Toronto is more than 1/4 of NYC. Looking at population of just the city proper, Toronto is about 35% of NYC, but accounting for sizing differences in area and looking at strictly density, then in this hypothetical scenario where toronto has just as much area as nyc (only has 80% of it) then Toronto would have about 45% the population of nyc. Toronto's official metro, the "GTA" has only 6.5 million inhabitants roughly, chicago's metro, colloquially referred to as "chicagoland" has 9.5 million. However this is misleading; chicagoland encompasses an extremely vast area and is comparable in size to the area surrounding toronto and much of southern ontario called the golden horseshoe. This entire region has excess of 11 million so Toronto beats chicago in both city proper and while not technically metropolitan region, the numbers can be deceiving because toronto does in fact win in both categories.

[@C-mac_in_the_6ix]

Did you close your eyes the whole time you were here? There are only two cities in the U.S bigger then Toronto.

[@AUSER04-le5se]

@@GpL_2000Chicago is bigger than Toronto actually don’t get it mixed up and have more high rises

[@jonathanray5066]

Thx for visiting!!! "Scandi-French" taste you mention, is the "anglo-germanic", taste from the 1800-1900s immigration, conservative, villages, farming history. Maple syrup is more of the pride of Quebec(They make way more of it), but tourist shops will have maple syrup stuff always. Also Architecture is not as risky due to conservative developers and community meetings always keep things shorter and more muted. This is changing year after year though. We are currently getting our latest skyscraper height battle between 2 developers. The generations of immigration is making the makeup of the city change every few years, every 5 years needs an update tbh, neighbourhoods always changing. I wish we had more cheap eats like NYC, but there is redtape on street food vendors, and the lower density in the majority of areas means it cant be sustained except for some places like Chinatown. (Cheapest Banhmis & Chinese bakery items for example). It is going in a more positive direction in terms of business though, younger generation and immigrants and more daring and competitive, slowly unpeeling the conservatism. Will be an interesting century for the city.

[@pauly5418]

One thing that doesn't get mentioned enough is that Toronto is much younger than NYC. Toronto began as the Town of York in 1793.That's after the American Revolutionary War. The town became the City of Toronto in 1834, but even then it was still only a few thousand people. Downtown Toronto has a lot of 19th Century buildings but you might not notice or realize because stores will be covered with modern signage. Montreal was actually Canada's biggest city until about the '70s-80s. Toronto and the areas around it have been growing steadily. Hey, Markham was mostly farmland 35-40 years ago.

[@dznrboy]

Toronto is not New York. Toronto is Toronto.

[@thethreatwrestling.7053]

I had the opportunity to visit NYC 3 times since my dad lived there for around 10 years and visited Toronto 2 times. Both cities are impresive, big in size, very diverse and so many things to do. They both gave me great experiences as tourist and if you want to visit a place then this two cities are going to be excellent choices.

[@jmedz893]

As a Londoner who has visited both cities, I would say that Toronto is definitely unlike New York. NY just has its own energy that can only be matched by somewhere like London. Although I must say that New York is more well-paced & organised than the built-up Roman leftover that is London. I would say with Toronto, ethnic minorities like East Asians, South Asians, Caribbean etc are equally represented, & not "buried" under the American zeal like in New York. Multiculturalism in Canada is spread out evenly, whereas in London where I'm from - its out of control with too many things to keep up with & lots of people taking the piss.

[@HeatherLewis213]

Tokyo will make New York and London look like Boise, Idaho. Any Asian city has way more energy than New York or London. Just Dhakka will make London feel like a sleepy village.

[@User_dkffkdrkagfgk]

I wouldn't categorize London to NYC. I lived in all three cities plus few others like Rome, Paris, Seoul and Tokyo. London has inner pockets of little neighbors, rather small section of skyscrapers and there is no Roman remains.. as they've been wiped out during wars. London feels brickey just like Toronto with most of its old town houses being the same as Toronto ones built by the british settlers. New york's old housing are diff- built by Dutch settlers. But i think you're on point about culture and multiculturalism. I feel NYC is comparable to Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul- other mega cities.

[@padinfull-yk4ln]

Watched y’all growing up n still tapping in shi is crazy 😂👍🏽

[@jillr3918]

I think we live up to our nicknames. "Toronto the Good" or "The City Fun Forgot". I agree that I don't get why people insist on comparing it to New York lol its pretty different. I think it's a better city to live than to visit. It's a city of neighbourhoods and it being kinda suburban is really true, quite a few areas were rural not that long ago. But there's always something to do and it's quite safe and generally pleasant

[@HeadlessChickenTO]

I find the US to he funny as they are a country of extremes. Republican or Democrat, pro-gun or anti, a Yank/Southerner/West Coaster/Midwesterner, with us or against us. Canada isn't like that at all, we have left, right, center, far right, blue, orange, red, and green. Our diversity has diluted our views to allow for a more grey zone, common ground thinking without going all the way to either extremes. So no, we're not like NYC. But we also are. Toronto has a bit of a similar hustle and bustle attitude, just not as extreme. Toronto has similar housing issues with high rises going up all over the place, just not as extreme. We do try to be "cool" and "hip", we just don't try that hard. What NYC is to the rest of the US, is a similar relation Toronto shares being in Canada. The haters like to say we try hard to be like NYC, they're the ones who usually draw that comparison.

[@C-mac_in_the_6ix]

I don't know why people can't understand what people are actually comparing when it comes to Toronto vs NYC. There's no place on earth like NYC. The size of it is almost indescribable. Toronto is simply the NYC of Canada and it has a similar vibe in the DT core. We have all these land marks that are similar to NYC such as Bay Street, our version of Wall Street. Union station, our version of Grand Central. Yonge Street, our version of Broadway. University Ave, our version Park Avenue. We have the Mink Mile, our version of 5th Avenue. Dundas Square, our cheap knock off of Times Square. Then we have all the "China Towns" and "Greek Towns" and "Little Italy"...etc. When you include the diversity, all the big skyscrapers in the DT core with all those similar land marks I just mentioned, this is why you get people comparing the two cities. There's a reason so many movies and TV shows that are supposed to be in NYC are shot here in Toronto. To compare the vibrancy is a bit tricky. You catch Toronto on the right weekend, and it can be quite chaotic. For example if there is a baseball game , plus a festival like the Caribbean Festival or Nuit Blanche, and maybe a big rock concert all the same weekend, DT Toronto can be crazy. On a Tuesday night in February, it's pretty quite and calm. To compare Toronto to San Diego or Seattle is laughable. Literally no similarities at all. All you have to do is watch youtube vlogs of people that are visiting Toronto and almost everyone one of them will say "I feel like I'm in NYC", so obviously people do get that vibe. The difference is our DT takes about 20 minutes to walk out of. NYC never ends.

[@ArTOfUrbanReality]

Well put

[@gadielhenriquez5080]

I’m in Toronto right know visiting and I’ve been in NYC like 10 times before and I am agree with you I have been in Chicago too and I can tell you maybe it’s similar to Chicago in geography terms but the vibes it’s so much like an small cleaner version of New York… it’s like to take manhattan without the uptown just the downtown and mix it with queens and Brooklyn without the upper level subway station and adding street car… the results = TORONTO believe me guys

[@C-mac_in_the_6ix]

@@ArTOfUrbanReality Thank you.

[@kbear50]

I just got to Toronto from a visit to NYC. Toronto is great place growing up Chinese-Canadian. NYC is a whole other super-charged pace more comparable to London or Hong Kong. Toronto’s new mayor is Chinese-Canadian!

[@guysovereign]

But she had a white husbad, so she doesn't count as real asian.

[@jmedz893]

As a Londoner who has visited both cities, I would say that the pace of New York is better & more organised than London is. London is a really, really chaotic & frenetic city where people visiting have to really watch their backs everywhere they go. I also find people in both NY & Toronto to be far nicer & less hostile.

[@pauly5418]

@@guysovereign In the Chinese community her husband was known as Mr. Chow. I bet she's 'more Asian' than you are. Everyone knows she speaks Cantonese better than she speaks English. She was born in Hong Kong and came to Canada when she was 13.

[@guysovereign]

@@pauly5418 You're the type of asian male that sees nothing wrong with AFWM relationships.

[@sarahchan5604]

​@@pauly5418Jack Layton equals to Mr Chow?

[@wyhomhui]

My friends from HK say the Cantonese food in Toronto is better than HK.

[@sarahchan5604]

Not the fish ball though

[@gadielhenriquez5080]

I'm in Toronto right know visiting and l've been in NYC like 10 times before and I can tell my opinion I have been in Chicago too and I can tell you maybe it's similar to Chicago in geography terms but the vibes it's so much like an small cleaner version of New York... it's like to take manhattan without the uptown just the downtown and mix it with queens and Brooklyn without the upper level subway station and adding street car... the results = TORONTO believe me guys

[@nanaokyere7141]

Toronto gets compared to New York a lot because of both cities are powerhouses and both are economically engines for both countries. Toronto has 6 boroughs (Scarborough, York, North York, East York, Etobicoke and Metro Toronto) where New York has 5 boroughs (Queens, Bronx, Brooklyn, Staten Island and Manhattan).

[@HeatherLewis213]

New York makes Toronto look small, just like Tokyo makes New York look small.

[@michaellaw5876]

Use to spend every summer in Toronto or Mississauga for 2 months with my family. It's cleaner and has a more family and community oriented environment, especially due to the socialist healthcare and education system. Ppl are more laid back. BUT New York always had this excitement and motivation for me. I'd say Toronto is good for being raised in until high school and for retirement, BUT NYC good for college and work and business. Love how its not even a 2 hour flight apart so I can rack up as much air miles and fly between 2 really nice airports (YYZ and JFK)

[@alexpremium8598]

Bagged milks are in the supermarkets. They sell 3 bags for a total of 4 litres. It's normally purchased for home consumption. Toronto's population is significantly smaller than NYC so it will be much different because we don't have the economies of scale.

[@MedalionDS9]

As a person who was born in Ontario Canada in a city a couple hours drive from Toronto... I've heard this a lot but even locals would say that's bullshit if they've ever actually been to even a fraction of New York... yes Toronto itself is HUGE for a Canadian city hub, but is nowhere near New York on any other metric

[@C-mac_in_the_6ix]

I don't understand why people like you can't wrap their head around what people are actually comparing when it comes to Toronto and NYC. It's not the size. Everyone knows that. It's the diversity and vibe.

[@MedalionDS9]

I don't understand why you care if I didn't grasp the question or not... are you the one in the video asking the question? Let me answer how I want, it's a free world. @@C-mac_in_the_6ix

[@C-mac_in_the_6ix]

@@MedalionDS9 Just trying to help you out with your ignorance.

[@Kendyrodriguezsanchez2415]

But new york only have 830 k/ is not big

[@dtna]

Asian chicks in Toronto are hotties... Toronto is much cleaner and safer than NY or LA. But, social health care there really sucks and taxation is very high.

[@manchuk1d]

Cleaner i'll give you that but safe no, it's a joke here now...crime rate is at an all time high now, homeless population is growing and everything is damn expensive.

[@TheTroyc1982]

@@manchuk1d the murder rate in Toronto is at a 30 year low right now for 2023. it literally the safest it's been probably your entire adult lif.

[@manchuk1d]

@@TheTroyc1982 lol You belive that? sorry but i call bullshit, born and raised here for 32 years and now almost everyday some bullshit happens.

[@CreepyStalker66]

Toronto kicks ass. Lived there twice in the downtown core. Gets tiring though after a while. It can almost cause anxiety.

[@jangyman]

Korean food can be found in a distinct Little Korea on Bloor West ...not part of China town, and not far from a distinctly Ethiopian district.

[@ZODAGAWD]

Raekwon lived in Toronto and he called Toronto "A clean Manhattan"

[@pluckernil]

There is another Koreatown in Toronto at Christie and Bloor too.

[@brendagordon4571]

❤❤❤❤love Montreal Canada 🇨🇦 the people are great and treat you well. I am from Connecticut and always looked forward to attending the Montreal Jazz Festival and staying at the Marriott Hotel.

[@J20666]

every city should have its own personality.

[@bookert7782]

not even close..... NYC is way more dense. The suburbs like Markham and Richmond hill is more like Cali's Orange county area with the asian plazas spread out in the suburbs

[@ritvikawasthi8146]

Tim hortons is goated. It’s just that because the rates are low it attracts a lot people who “don’t clear the vibe check” like Starbucks

[@davidpheap]

Would or have y’all visited Toronto in the winter? Wonder what the vibe difference is.

[@mrperry9679]

j

[@vikingrbeerdserkr8406]

It's definitely much nicer to live here in Canada than in the US :p love to visit you guys though!

[@PetLinkHK]

At least you didn't call Toronto "The Six". 😖

[@barrykung2049]

Toronto is the best! When it comes to food, we have the world in one city. You can eat a different Culture everyday. As long as you have a open mind.

[@Ash_Wen-li]

It's similar in the sense that all big North American cities are very samey

[@theloniuspoon]

Dzo is like a contemporary Viet restaurant. Toronto has a huge viet population. We have a decent food scene here, not as big as NYC obviously. Yeah Toronto is ultra rich vs poor. Canada has a much stronger middle class. You guys definitely hit every single Asian club/bar here that's all of the main ones listed LOL. Toronto is definitely not like NYC, few cities are. I'd say Toronto is more like a Chicago in terms of size. No Scandinavian influence here guys just British/French. We got cold weather architecture though so sometimes it can appear Scandinavian, plus all the logging industry. We still have bag milk it's to reduce weight on transport. The biggest difference is NYC is the ultimate Tier 1 city, while Toronto is a Tier 2. A lot of Torontonians move to just for work cuz we're a finance center too. New Yorkers rarely move here unless they got married or something, plus it's hard to beat New York versus any city in the world honestly. Toronto's golden moment was definitely pre-pandemic but it's still okay now. Not as good as 2013 though that's when it was both way cheaper and way more hype cuz Drake was just coming up.

[@bryanjp79]

Toronto is a nicer version of nyc. It's like taking away all the new york problems but less subway stations.

[@Razear]

It's the most populous Canadian city just like how NYC is the most populous in the U.S. and the both share similar vibes in terms of the landscape and culture. Bay St. is the Canadian equivalent of Wall St. and we also have a well known Chinatown. A lot of kids that I went to school with were Vietnamese, there's a pretty substantial Viet immigrant population here, so you'll see that reflected in the restaurant scene. Also, Hollywood movies that are situated in NYC often shoot in Toronto because the urban centres look so similar. A lot of scenes that are supposed to be the NY subway system are actually shot on the TTC subway system, for example. Montreal is also often compared to NYC but people say it's closer to a hybrid between NYC and Paris because of the French influence in Quebec.

[@ryneagheilim9782]

Crime rates on; Toronto's Jane & Finch Vs. The streets of Bronx and Queens in New York .....

[@gustavomadureira4863]

Toronto is a miniature of New York

[@snappop]

ive seen way more rats in 1 weekend in NYC than ive have in Toronto, and im born and raised ☠☠

[@andreab7445]

Same. I’ve never seen a rat before, raccoons are another story.

[@Apochocolate]

I feel like Toronto west end is pretty bushwick like.

[@tomnvr2082]

Poverty gap in the USA is ridiculous, you’re either really rich or poor. Canada has a lot of middle class because of taxation and conservative culture.

[@manchuk1d]

Poverty is slowly on the rise, homeless is now an issue here.

[@Coltoid]

Toronto has a Koreatown downtown, on Bloor, you were close to it

[@TianZhaoHeavenlyFortune]

Damn I missed you two. I live in Toronto.

[@RKKY-mf7fe]

Toronto is Toronto ❤😊

[@1will2kill]

We still have rats but they hiding

[@TOBoy6338]

No Canadian or Torontoian ever say Toronto is like NYC. Only Americans would make that comparison or start such a debate. Toronto is Toronto. We are not trying to follow anyone. There is a distinct flavour here not found elsewhere. So please stop with the Toronto-NYC comparison lol

[@jamesburns679]

You guys need to check out Ossington next time

[@nelsonoliveira1007]

NY is a Mega city. Toronto is like a little brother. Traffic alone speaks volumes.

[@Muhammadjahaja]

Hopefully toronto will be more like nyc by 2030 as there are supposed tk be 7 more skyscrapers being built but I believe that toronto and new york city have there own incredible features and shouldn't be considered as toronto being nyc of canada instead toronto just being toronto

[@MER1978]

Hopefully A&W takes over as the best known Canadian fast food brand.. it's more deserving than TH at this point.

[@arlentan]

8:30 what happened at Ice 😂😂

[@nmlobos]

Hopefully not as many Asians assaulted on the subway 😬

[@wongjefx980]

Toronto 🇨🇦. .... becoming too American in some ways, when it should be more European. Is 4th largerst city in North America...after NYC, Mexico City and LA.

[@afrigh4109]

Mexico city is the largest in NA followed by NYC, LA and Toronto

[@edgareguia8571]

I think there’s still an A&W in Staten Island. Just saying. 🤷‍♂️

[@mrcannonfodder23]

Noting compares to NYC, but I think you can draw more parallels between Montreal and NYC. Both cities are know for their bagels, Pastrami( smoke meat ), even central park was designed by the same guy who did Mount Royal park. Both cities are ethnically diverse and have a large Hassidic Jewish population. I can't speak on the Asian food as I think most of it is better than MTL. MTL is far less dense than NYC. Like NYC Montreal has it's own special attitude. Montreal probably has one of the best food scenes anywhere in my opinion.

[@shuss-pi3me]

1:22 no american has ever said "ethnic food" ever

[@tomnvr2082]

Hard to compare the two esp since we’re talking about different population sizes

[@JohnHausser]

I say it since years….Toronto🇨🇦 is the most underrated city 🏙️ in North America

[@vikingrbeerdserkr8406]

Naaa, that would be Vancouver :p

[@invisiblerevolution]

Naw.... that be Philadelphia

[@jean-francoischeng8851]

Nah… that would be Montreal !

[@vikingrbeerdserkr8406]

@@jean-francoischeng8851 Montreal is NOT overrated 😜

[@jean-francoischeng8851]

@@vikingrbeerdserkr8406 hence why it’s UNDERrated

[@monchichipower6334]

New york is over rated and over priced

[@Kendyrodriguezsanchez2415]

100%100 is tha

[@victorlui5955]

Hi Hot Pot Boys. 😊

[@feger481]

Isn't it funny how you can satirize an Italian or French accent and nobody says a peep, but go ahead and try to satirize an Asian accent and watch how everybody goes into an uproar calling it racist, probably even if you did it. Wonder why that is?

[@vikingrbeerdserkr8406]

Come try Vancouver/Richmond guys! If you want the best Asian food in Canada.

[@AwakenZen]

British Columbia vs California

[@vikingrbeerdserkr8406]

@@AwakenZen San Fran and Vancouver/Richmond are definitely the two best Chinatowns outside China itself.

[@bangbaba9434]

Speaking of rats- they're mostly at the cityhall- rat infestation started during covid for some reasons

[@oahnewgnod3175]

curious why American cities so dangerous at night can someone explain?

[@brownsupahero]

A&W Canada ≠ A&W. Two different companies

[@amaya3107]

London is the closest to new york

[@timdella92]

Toronto is more like Chicago but more diverse and way safer.

[@heinrichwong1027]

No, London is more like NY

[@zeroman237]

love how you guys talk about racial discrimination a lot but then this guy just goes offff with that offensive Montreal french accent lol

[@BG-hc1qm]

They do all kinds of accents all the time, even chinese accent. Why do people find things to be offended by?

[@jaleeda3657]

One con is the poor immigration diversity. Almost half of all immigrants in the past few years are from one country. The Canada 10 years ago wasn’t like that. It felt more diverse and people assimilated better.

[@rip2025]

The toilet of Canada

[@pluckernil]

Amazon actually sucks here.

[@Tiger_Woo_dds]

Torontonians should chill on trying to be.... You be you. 🎉

[@AbdulAlhazred-l2l]

Toronto has less Wokeness and less crime.

[@AbdulAlhazred-l2l]

@@buffalosabres4000-mh9xh At least, you don't have a biological MALE teacher who wears gigantic fake t!ts in school like Vancouver.🤣🤣

[@jaleeda3657]

Most areas are very woke

[@AbdulAlhazred-l2l]

@@jaleeda3657 'We're Here, We're Queer, We're Coming For Your Children"😒

[@meleahsanchez8879]

Toronto is the best!

[@essgee4225]

It’s kind of whack

[@arcticmonkeysfan]

Nobody in Toronto says that tbh

[@alleneng]

lol so basically its NYC but better

[@humble_integrity]

why would you want to move to toronto???

[@ElZorrotruck]

We Canadians and Americans are the same.

[@AwakenZen]

Lol we're not

[@HeatherLewis213]

no

[@realfalardeau]

Why does Toronto compare itself to American cities? Does it want to be American?

[@StacksSats]

in Toronto, a random person will throw a cheap shot at you while riding public transit

[@tobyod]

Pixel 7 Pro rocks!!!

[@ridiguluz]

Toronto is like the Atlanta for Asians

[@thethreatwrestling.7053]

Toronto's downtown is way bigger and have more population.

[@SuperHonshu]

Is Toronto the real GTA!?

[@mrman3523]

Toronto is more like chicago

[@dennistan7769]

Google Pixel Gang

[@pluckernil]

Rebel is the WORST.

[@LouisianaGoon337]

Toronto is better

[@Rob17NYC]

Hell no. Toronto is soft, like Drake

[@LouisianaGoon337]

Ok clown

[@Kendyrodriguezsanchez2415]

New york es una 💩 Toronto not

[@-amosc.presley-7192]

Toronto state maybe looks like New York City state but if you draw Toronto it’s made backwards all awhile New York City is created Forward. If we zoom into them 2 states? Nicely, asked

[@apoc519]

As a Canadian... Canadians are delusional. Whatever pros and cons our cities have, it's completely overshadowed by the awful winters

[@coolbreeze5683]

I'm from the Prairies... we're not delusional 😂 we realize we live in a hellish tundra for a good chunk of the year but we make the most of it

[@GoldAceNews]

They're white, they all look alike. 🤣