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A Torontonian Perspective
by Lorne Opler
Straight up the QEW is where I live; in the city that rates as your most popular weekend destination, perhaps only second to NYC. Of course, that’s Toronto, a place loaded with so much to do, two days and two nights on the town is never enough; great restaurants, theatre, and Eaton Center shopping. A walkable downtown, a neat subway system, and perhaps best of all, a favorable exchange rate. Born and raised here, I know it well. And you know it too, as a clean, attractive, multicultural mecca. Sure, it’s a nice place to visit, and yes… many would want to live here. So isn’t it odd, therefore, that despite its rave revues and enviable reputation, my attention and interests have always focused on Buffalo?
Why would I prefer a city who's downtown is only now awakening from a decades old slumber, to one that beats 24/7? Why am I drawn to a town impossible to traverse without a car, to one where a safe, clean transit system can whisk me anywhere across this town?
To start, my roots are WNY ones. My father is a Lockport native. And though he moved north before I was born, I’ve been visiting your city ever since before I can remember, appreciating it for its inherent qualities that are increasingly absent in sophisticated Toronto; friendliness, lack of pretence, a willingness to simply acknowledge the passer-by on the street – sadly, a rare occurrence in my town.
But it’s more. There is a personal identification I feel with Buffalo that extends beyond my family connection. I relate to your personality and psychology - the urban underdog, the survivor city, resistant to putdowns, resilient to defeat. It may get knocked around in the media, where Toronto only gets raved about. It may be joked about on late night TV, where Toronto only gets praised. But where Toronto has glitter, Buffalo has heart. Where Toronto has prettiness, Buffalo has pluck. I’ll take pluck over pretty any day. Pluck has substance and depth. Not always the case with pretty. Sure, the big guy across the border may grab all the fanfare, but we all know everyone roots for the little guy. That’s one reason I like Buffalo.
And yes, Toronto glitters. But remember that phrase, “all that glitters is not gold?” That would hold true about this town. Escape up here from Friday afternoon to Sunday night, and you’ll never see the cracks that appear behind the city’s facade. To be sure, those cracks may seem tiny, especially in comparison to comparable sized cities in the US. But ask anyone who’s lived in this town long enough, who remembers Toronto before Condos Gone Wild, and you’ll get a heap of advice about the downside of unchecked development. Take heed, Buffalo, as you embark on your own urban renaissance.
No doubt the explosion of living spaces in Toronto’s core has contributed to its go-go energy. But the social fabric and aesthetic feel of the downtown have been radically altered by the glut of these showcase shoeboxes. Today, only those with high incomes and deep pockets can afford to live in the city’s centre. And the absence of any thoughtful architectural design to these designer dwellings has created a splatter of uninspired, formulaic looking towers devoid of character, taste and visual appeal.
Turn almost any corner in downtown and midtown Toronto and you will see another copycat condo built Manhattan style – taller, bigger, brasher – oblivious to its physical surroundings and neighbourhood character! .
This is not the Toronto I’ve known, or felt proud of growing up. The Toronto I grew up in was content with its reputation as being an attractive place with progressive politics and affordable neighbourhoods. But by the early late 1980’s/early 1990’s, things began to change. Toronto was not satisfied with merely being Canada’s number one city. It wanted an international label and began trying to re-invent itself as the next New York, Paris or London. Not coincidentally, this agenda marked the beginning of the condo craze that continues unabated to this very day.
Admittedly, the result of Toronto’s efforts to reach “world-class” status has yielded some spectacular new architecture in the form of radically eye-popping additions to the venerable Royal Ontario Museum, and Art Gallery of Ontario, and bold new buildings such as the Four Seasons Opera House and the Ontario College of Art and Design.
But the presence of the soon to be completed Trump Tower, now rising 68 floors above street level, will eventually overshadow many of this city’s home grown, high rise headquarters with a smugness and self importance that is simply not Torontonian. No better an example is the Trump Tower of this city’s headstrong and blindsided rush to re-invent itself into something it is inherently not. I don’t want an ersatz replica of a New York City landmark to dominate this skyline when I am an hour’s plane ride away from the real thing.
Buffalo has much to learn from Toronto’s urban amnesia. It’s a simple lesson too. Don’t forget who you are. Don’t forsake your homegrown attributes for things that glitter but are not gold. Buffalo may not rank high on a list of cities with soaring skyscrapers and conspicuous consumption, and I’m not ignorant to the fact that it faces a laundry list of challenges. But as you bring a much needed and much awaited makeover to your downtown, remember, it’s your intangibles that push the city to the top of the list, and it’s your intangibles that are not in need a makeover; an affable, outgoing, unpretentious character; a work ethic rooted in blue collar values; and a cultural climate that allows people to simply be themselves. Indeed, these are the very reasons why so many ex-Buffalonians speak wistfully about their hometown, and why they would move back if circumstances were more favourable.
They are also the reasons why this Torontonian feels an emotional connection to your city that perhaps few people up here can understand. You have a lot to teach this sophisticated city north of the border. I just wish people up here would listen.
I’m not saying this area is terrific and wonderful, but eh, it’s home. It will always be home. Even if I end up on the opposite side of the world, Buffalo will still feel like my favorite t-shirt.