Torontoist: Wainwright Thinks There's Something Wrong with Toronto

warmflash

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 11:33:26 -0500

Designer Tyler Brûlé, leaps into the fray in today's National Post. Monocle’s upcoming July/August issue names the world’s 25 most liveable cities. Montreal comes in at number 16 and Vancouver at eight. Not surprisingly, considering who runs Monocle, Toronto is absent from the list. Tyler Brûlé (who also founded Wallpaper*) has been vocal about Toronto not necessarily being his favourite place. What were his exact words about a trip in 2005? Oh yes: “I just felt angry;” “it felt like a place that had taken nothing away from its mistakes;” “skyline littered with eyesores,” et cetera. Last week, after a “break from the city” of a year and a half, he came back to promote the special Monocle issue and celebrate his grandmother’s 90th birthday. He stayed at his mother’s house in Etobicoke. Does he hate it here? Not exactly. He’s hard on a lot of cities, especially ones that don’t live up to their potential. And with Toronto, as he told Adam McDowell, it’s personal.  Q Has your opinion of Toronto improved at all since your last visit?  A Well, I think — and I’ve certainly gone on record with this in the Financial Times and in other places — that Toronto has a case of “the comfies.”  Q What does that mean, specifically?  A You’re in a rapidly growing North American city and, for all of its traffic woes and urban woes, life is still pretty good here. However, there are dozens of cities that are hurtling ahead of Toronto. That’s where the comfort issue comes in. Even though it’s lost its raison d’être, it’s still incredibly comfortable.  Q So you mean comfort in terms of complacency. What are we complacent about?  A How can we have one of the most important cities and have this railway lands issue where still nothing has been done? We have this opportunity on the harbourfront which has become completely squandered. In the adopted home of Jane Jacobs? She would be flipping in her grave now if she could see what’s happening. I also look at where that energy ends — on Richmond, Queen, wherever it may be — and then the gaps, the canyons, of towers that are going up. I mean, where’s the street life? And my God, when you fly over Toronto you see these vast tracts of two-car garages that jut out in front of the house, and these communities where you have to live by the automobile. It won’t be sustainable.   Q Does Toronto in particular frustrate you because you used to live here?  A Yeah. And it had potential. That’s where the issue of comfort comes in. It has all of the natural assets, that’s not the issue. Why don’t we have high-speed rail? Why don’t we have the world’s most stellar public transport system, a model that people come from all the world to see? Bombardier is in both Toronto and Montreal. We could go on and on. I worry that it’s going to come screeching to a halt, and it’ll be game over a little bit.  Q What would your advice be to David Miller to get us over the comfies?  A If your brand is stuck or broken or in need of reinvention — and I don’t think Miller should be beaten up for it; I don’t know the man and I don’t know if there’s a need for new leadership — get on a plane and go look at 10 cities around the world. Look at the frequency that Zurich has with its tram system, for example. Ask yourself, “Is this something that we should be doing?”  Why would I come here? That’s a central question. What brings me to Toronto versus Montreal? Montreal can play its French card, later opening hours and certainly its more liberal nightlife. That’s incredibly important.  When you’ve got friends coming into town, the last thing you want is for people to go, “He’s got a really nice flat and it’s great that his kids go to a nice school, but shit, it’s boring there.” Poor sad run down shabby Toronto. City of missed opportunities. The town fun forgot.

DaveH

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:12:31 -0500

YYaaawwwnnnn. Scratch scratch scratch.

Gloria

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:19:21 -0500

I *like* New York. Not that we ought to pattern our every move after what they do there, but still, you can do much worse than New York.

Svend

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:15:46 -0500

I met Rufus at a party in Montreal several years ago, he ended up vomiting on a bicycle chained outside. We certainly don't need that in Toronto.

toronno

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:02:29 -0500

Well, to be honest there is something missing here. Maybe if Toronto stopped trying to emulate other cities and just tried to be "Toronto", more people would like us and even want to visit. And Rufus is one hell of an entertainer!

tripper

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:08:04 -0500

It's a Canadian thing. We're a modest folk. Success embarasses us. It's too American. Canadians bash Toronto for the same reason they (we) bash artists that are more successful in the US than they are at home. We hate anything and anyone who gets too big and shiny. You there, Toronto! You're getting too big and sparkly and gay and artsy and multicultural for our liking. You think you're better than us, don't you? Well, we don't go on for that sort of thing 'round here. It makes us uncomfortable ... down there.

Ryanvonzuben

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:57:19 -0500

I never understood what it is that Toronto does when people criticize it for trying to be like New York. Putting up more skyscrapers? Trying to build a better transit network? Being more surly? Some billboards go up at Yonge and Dundas and apparently that means the 2-5 million of us are all wannabes.

JonathanS

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:37:26 -0500

Nah...doesn't really matter that much. It's only his opinion, which he's entitled to, and in some ways is understandable. However, it's also a bit vague - "trying to be the NY of the midwest"? The entire city is trying? Really? I don't think so. I can see parts of it *maybe* but it's a pretty narrow sampling to base a sweeping generalization. Montreal is awesome but I don't think I could live there. I used to want to but I think I might look too ethnic for them. How's that for a sweeping generalization? Plus, I couldn't pull off the codpiece and those pants.

pman

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 12:49:48 -0500

I'm sick of Montrealers p*ssing all over Toronto while they take massive amounts of money out of us courtesy of the government in Ottawa. Toronto would be a great city if we didn't have Quebec and the maritimes to support.

tripper

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 12:38:59 -0500

"Midwest" refers to the US. Toronto is in Central Canada. Although in the West, everything east of Manitoba is referred to as "out East"

matty

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 12:26:35 -0500

Where is it then? It's certainly not the east coast.

teamscuby

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 12:13:33 -0500

Uhh...Toronto is in the Midwest? Rufus, you're a dummy.

spacejack

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 11:55:54 -0500

That's okay, his voice is like fingernails on a blackboard.

MaryDunne

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 11:43:07 -0500

Who cares what he thinks?

tripper

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 11:16:12 -0500

This is a cautionary tale. Crystal meth addiction totally messes with your sense of geography.

nib

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 11:13:59 -0500

big deal... although maybe if there were less self-conscious (and bandwagoning) american apparel clad hipsters worrying about their totally rad vintage single speed conversion, the city as a whole might feel a lot less wannabe to people that share mr wainwright's sentiment. but don't get me wrong, i'm certainly not a self-loathing torontonian. and yeah, since when is toronto in the MIDWESTERN UNITED STATES?!

matty

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 11:05:49 -0500

Is Toronto in the midwest? I mean, it's near Buffalo which is basically the Midwest. But it's also Canada, so like, it's different than the Midwest. *shrugs*

tyrannosaurus_rek

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 10:43:52 -0500

Let's make Toronto the Montreal of Ontario, so he can hate us for trying to copy that city. Toronto bashing is alive and strong.

aleslinger

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 10:41:37 -0500

Marc, I think the point is that Montreal doesn't bother getting embarrassed about its flaws, which in itself is something we should borrow from them. Because really, who cares what one person thinks? ... especially one person whose sense of geography is such that he believes Toronto is in the Midwest ...

TokyoTuds

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 10:31:26 -0500

I know nothing about him, but he sounds like an a$$ ... Tuds

David Topping

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 10:04:55 -0500

Yeah, Wainwright's not really a big deal. I'm less offended by his comments than by his terrible cover of "Hallelujah." Leonard Cohen or Jeff Buckley, please.

tripper

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 09:35:02 -0500

Montreal does have an effortless, bohemian charm that Toronto can only dream about. But yeah, Ruffy is being a dick. Toronto audiences appreciate him and his music and his shows almost always sell out. So what's the problem? Then again, he was raised in Montreal so the so-called rivalry is probably deeply ingrained in his delicate little soul.

rlangdon

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 09:25:18 -0500

I was going to say something about Wainwright alienating his fans, but everyone else made much better comments. I'm proud of you, Torontonians!

Marc Lostracco

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 09:15:05 -0500

Newsflash: fringy, avant-garde-type people are attracted to fringy, avant-garde scenes, of which Toronto has relatively few. Also, Wainwright is a smoker, so of course he loves Montreal. :-O I have no idea how I can continue to live in this bland city now without Rufus Wainwright's approval. By the way, his music is completely overrated and is often not that good. I'm allowed to say that because I'm Canadian. I do, however, agree that Montreal kicks major ass and Toronto needs to be more like it in many ways. And like Toronto, it's also got its fair share of crap that it should be embarrassed about.

motif04

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 08:58:19 -0500

I bet he didn't buy those shorts in Toronto

matty

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 08:06:09 -0500

Well to be fair, TOers do kind of lay it on a little thick.

Skippy the Magical Racegoat

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 07:48:01 -0500

I, for one, have been hard at work trying to make Toronto the Los Angeles of the northeast. But I guess we're still not good enough for this princess.

McEVIL

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 07:33:15 -0500

Nizza leiderhosen, Wainwright!

AJB

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 03:23:17 -0500

Who is this? Is this the guy that muddles off-key questions about New Years Eve to peddle mediocre shit for The Gap?

finley

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 01:08:12 -0500

man peaked with Tommy Tricker & The Stamp Traveller