WHY TORONTO IS BETTER.

-The name Toronto originated as the Mohawk phrase tkaronto, later modified by French explorers and mapmakers. Tkaronto means "where there are trees standing in the water".
-Toronto welcomes 18 million visitors a year.
-Toronto has a population of 2.48 million people (5.9 million in the GTA - Greater Toronto Area).
-Toronto is the 5th-largest city in North America after Mexico City, New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
-Within a short distance from Toronto, another five million Canadians live and prosper.
-One quarter of Canada’s population lives within a 160 km radius of Toronto.
-Population growth studies have projected the City of Toronto's population in 2031 to be 3,000,000 and Metropolitan Toronto's population to be 7,450,000
-34.8% of the city's area is residential, 7.8 per cent industrial, 2.3 per cent commercial, 7.3 per cent institutional (schools, universities, churches and cemeteries).
-One half of the population of the United States is within one day's drive of Toronto.
-Toronto is also located in the largest flat rate calling area in the world.
-Toronto has the most fibre optic cable of any city in North America.
-Toronto’s Yonge Street is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest street in the world, stretching 1,896 km (1,178 miles).
-North America's largest (27 kilometers) continuous underground pedestrian system PATH, connects 1200 stores and restaurants, 50 office towers, five subway stations, Union Station, six major hotels and several entertainment centres under Toronto's financial core.
-The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is the third largest public transit system in North America after the New York City Transit Authority, and Mexico City Metro. It has the highest per capita ridership rate on the continent.
-Toronto is known as "Hollywood North". Only Los Angeles and New York city are larger feature film and television production centres. About 25% of films produced in Hollywood are actually filmed in Toronto.
-Ontario is the only province in Canada to have its own film office based in Los Angeles, the Toronto Ontario Film Office.
-The Toronto International Film Festival is the largest public film festival in the world and is second only to Cannes in terms of high-profile films, stars and market activity.
-Toronto's theatre district is second only to New York city in North America.
-Professional sports teams include...
Toronto Argonauts (Canadian Football League)
Toronto Blue Jays (Major League Baseball)
Toronto FC (Major League Soccer) (Coming in 2007)
Toronto Maple Leafs (National Hockey League)
Toronto Marlies (American Hockey League)
Toronto Raptors (National Basketball Association)
Toronto Rock (National Lacrosse League)
-The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM): Canada’s largest museum and one of the top 10 in the world.
-Toronto has the largest gay population in Canada and Pride Week in Toronto is one of the three largest Pride events in the world, along with New York City and Sydney, Australia.
- The Caribana™ parade is the biggest single-day happening and largest Caribbean festival in North America.
-Over half of Toronto's labour force has a university degree or college diploma.
-The 4th highest concentration of commercial software companies in the world, and one of North America's hottest animation centres.
-More wireless phones per capita, than anywhere in North America.
-Toronto is one of the most peaceful, large, cosmopolitan cities in the world.
-Toronto Police Services has 5,028 uniformed officers.
-Toronto was ranked as the safest city in the world to live in by the United Nations and the safest metropolitan area in North America by Places Rated Almanac.
-One of the most multicultural cities in the world, Toronto is home to more than 80 ethnic groups and more than 100 languages.
-Ethnic Mix: 57% Caucasian, 20.9% Asian, 8.3% African American, 3.5% Filipino, 1.5% Hispanic, 8.8% Other.
-43 per cent of Toronto's population (1,051,125 people) reported themselves as being part of a visible minority.
top four…
Chinese at 259,710 or 10.6%
South Asian at 253,920 or 10.3%
Black at 204,075 or 8.3%
Filipino at 86,460 or 3.5%
-Dual-language street signs can be found in areas such as Chinatown, Little Italy, Little Portugal, and other communities.
-Toronto has 79 ethnic publications.
-Toronto has the only real castle in all of North America. "Casa Loma" Castle
-Toronto is home to the world's tallest building (CN Tower at 553.33 m).
-Toronto has one of the top ten world economies; beating out Hong Kong, Mexico City and Boston.
-The Toronto Stock Exchange is the second largest on the continent by market capitalization (after New York), and sixth largest in the world.
-There are 187 km of bike paths, 7.8 km of pedestrian paths, & 3 million publicly owned trees.
-There are 1500 parks & 8,000 hectares of parklands (ravines, valleys, woodlots, waterfront natural areas, parks & farmland), or 18.1 per cent of the city's area.
-Toronto Islands: Only a 10-minute ferry ride from the foot of Yonge Street, the Toronto islands offer a panoramic view of the city skyline. Centre Island offers miles of parkland with beaches, barbecues and picnic tables, boat rentals, bicycle paths, a children’s farm and even an amusement park.
-There are 10,033 different streets or, 5,365 km of road (streets, expressways, ramps and laneways) covering 27.4 per cent of the city's area.
-There are 20,371 street intersections in Toronto.
-Toronto has 7060 km of sidewalks.
-There are 535 bridges in Toronto.