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-Nightlife: Tie
-Cuisine: Philly
-People: Tie
-Scenery: Tie
-Weather: Philly
-Culture: Toronto
-Walkability/public transportation: Toronto
-Diversity: Toronto
-Nightlife - About a tie. I prefer Philadelphia because of the number of great beer bars due to Philadelphia's predominance in importing European beers and its location as a major distributor of American craft brews. Perhaps there is this great Canadian microbrew scene that I'm unaware of that rivals the American scene, but I'm going with Philadelphia because I prefer to go out and drink great beer.
-Cuisine - Perhaps I'm just partial to the kinds of food I find in Philadelphia. Though Toronto blows away Philadelphia in South Asian cuisine (and probably in the quality of the variety of ethnic cuisine), though that arguably goes under diversity. Toronto's chef-driven scene is probably better too. They excel at different things.
-People - Toronto.
-Scenery - Toronto.
-Weather - Philly.
-Culture - How these terms are defined probably makes a difference. Philadelphia has a much stronger indigenous culture, but that should be expected because of how many Torontonians are from somewhere else. But I'm guessing this is talking about art, history, music, museums, theater. Philadelphia has history and (imo) art, but Toronto is no slouch in this area. To avoid waffling and to show my homerism, I'm also taking Philadelphia.
-Walkability/public transportation - I think Philadelphia is more walkable and Toronto has better public transportation. Where does that put this? In a big city, having great transit is more important that being able to walk. Plus there are some neighborhoods of Philly that aren't walkable at all.
-Diversity - Toronto really easily.
I think it's 5-3 Toronto, but it's a bit less close if I give partial points for areas where they are close. Toronto is simply bigger and more diverse, which wins it a lot of points in my book. That said, this assume I way all the criteria equally. If I want to eat a fattening sandwich, drink a great beer in a great bar, and go to an art museum, I'm going with Philadelphia (and that's probably what I'd end up doing).
I'm pretty biased for Toronto, so it goes without saying that Toronto for everything for me.
It's one of my favorite places on the planet. A personal preference of mine. I don't know, I think I only like Miami, Melbourne, Seoul, and New York as much as (or more than) Toronto.
Philadelphia is okay, honestly not a city for me in the least but has like 7 million people so clearly has things for someone looking for something else.
Just so you know, Toronto also has streetcars (and a much larger network at that), subways and commuter rail and has a FAR larger ridership than Philly. As for diversity, you can't be serious?
Hate?Because I don't agree with you?Interesting. More like your homer- ism is out of control.
I think that's a good overview. Development does definitely play a role in the character of these cities. Philadelphia is arguably the largest "human-scaled" city in the US, which provides the city with a very intimate, pedestrian-oriented environment. It's just a different type of city that tends to value preservation over "new and shiny," whenever possible.
Toronto looks fascinating, and I know it's really booming to become "Canada's Manhattan," although I presume it may be more comparable to Chicago.
Overall, I think you can find fantastic big-city amenities in both cities, but Philadelphia would be more for someone who enjoys Montreal over Toronto.
Agreed. Toronto reminded me most of Chicago-not NYC really. The high rise construction is crazy there but I do prefer the more intimate setting in Philly which makes it a much better walking city IMO. Toronto is also one of the most diverse cities in North America.
Sidenote: Megabus runs trips from Philly to Toronto-it's about 10 Hours but the price can't be beaten for any Philadelphians interested in seeing another cool city for a long weekend.
Hate?Because I don't agree with you?Interesting. More like your homer- ism is out of control.
Because some of your stuff is laughable. Philly is nowhere near as diverse as Toronto. Toronto is hailed as one of the most diverse cities of the world up there with NYC and London. It's not even close. Toronto's public transit also beats Philly. Higher Ridership and has a decent amount of service and extensiveness. You didn't give ANYTHING to Toronto...it was either a tie or Philly wins.
Toronto is a much better city that is currently destroying Philly in status and construction. Philly is just crime ridden and a shell of it's former self, while Toronto is excelling and growing at fast rates.
Toronto is a much better city that is currently destroying Philly in status and construction. Philly is just crime ridden and a shell of it's former self, while Toronto is excelling and growing at fast rates.
That is mostly all your opinion. Philadelphia actually has the larger Metro by about 1.5 Million people and is in the middle of a much larger Metropolis. Toronto has an annual growth rate of about .4% a year while Philly has grown 1.4% the past two years.
Diversity wise, yes Toronto is one of the most diverse cities on the planet with almost 48% of all residents being foreign born. I would also agree that Toronto has the better public transportation but it's closer than some would imagine.
-Nightlife (Toronto for clubs, Philly for bars)
-Cuisine (Toronto for high end/more ethnic offerings, Philly for byob/local food culture)
-People ?
-Scenery Tie
-Weather Philly
-Culture Philly
-Walkability/public transportation (Toronto for PT, Philly for walkability)
-Diversity Toronto
@Afonega, how is Cheesesteaks in the 'culture' category? LOL
Duderino, I think that Toronto was more similar to NYC than Chicago. Just because it's on the lake doesn't mean it's more similar to Chi-town.
Cheesesteaks are Italian. I'm not sure I agree that Toronto is more like NYC, either. It doesn't have five boroughs. It might be more important to Canada than Chicago is to the US but it's got a lot more in common with Chicago.
As far as culture, history, and the things that make a city unique and interesting... Philadelphia. As far as importance, economic might, etc... Toronto.
That is mostly all your opinion. Philadelphia actually has the larger Metro by about 1.5 Million people and is in the middle of a much larger Metropolis. Toronto has an annual growth rate of about .4% a year while Philly has grown 1.4% the past two years.
Diversity wise, yes Toronto is one of the most diverse cities on the planet with almost 48% of all residents being foreign born. I would also agree that Toronto has the better public transportation but it's closer than some would imagine.
-Nightlife (Toronto for clubs, Philly for bars)
-Cuisine (Toronto for high end/more ethnic offerings, Philly for byob/local food culture)
-People ?
-Scenery Tie
-Weather Philly
-Culture Philly
-Walkability/public transportation (Toronto for PT, Philly for walkability)
-Diversity Toronto
Most people use the Toronto Golden Horseshoe for it's true metro area size like people used the SF Bay area. It has roughly 8.76 million residents.
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More like your homer- ism is out of control.
