Florida Lauds Toronto's 'Town Gown' Success Story

Richard Florida tours the University of Toronto and finds that its seamless "organic" integration with downtown Toronto makes it a unique "town-gown" success story.

2 minute read

January 15, 2008, 7:00 AM PST

By Michael Dudley


"'One of the world's top universities, [the University of Toronto] occupies 68 hectares in the heart of downtown Toronto - a healthy accumulation of neo-Gothic heritage buildings, a neo-hideous library and some more recent and lovelier additions (the Terrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research stands out), all densely packed into a quilting of parks and sporting fields and interlaced by walking paths that teem with backpack-toting students."

"And yet, despite its size and its status as an elite university, it is neither overbearing nor elitist, instead blending into the city in a way that is described by virtually anyone who has ever thought about it as 'seamlessly.'"

"'You have an urban university a couple of kilometres from the main financial city core, accessible on foot, by subway, by mass transit, in a real neighbourhood with functioning shops and residences where people live, work, learn and play,' Richard Florida says as he crosses University Avenue at College Street."

"'If you asked me to name the most unique thing about Toronto's spatial structure, its geography, its regional urban character, it's this. It's the fact that it has a world-class university that is a seamless part of its geography. There are very few cities and universities in the world that can say that.'"

"He has studied and worked at a number of American ones and none matches what he has found in his adopted city...He even ponders whether the university, by being so accessible and located in the heart of the city, didn't contribute to Toronto's easygoing attitudes about multiculturalism."

"Universities attract talent and advance technology, Dr. Florida says, but there is a third T that is often overlooked: tolerance."

"'I wonder,' he says, standing in front of the main gates leading into King's College Road, 'if having the University of Toronto here in the centre of the city, creating a kind of meritocratic, open-minded, pluralistic mentality, didn't have something to do with Toronto's emergence as one of the most tolerant, open-minded, accepting and inclusive cities in the world.'"

Saturday, January 12, 2008 in The Globe & Mail

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 16, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Green vintage Chicago streetcar from the 1940s parked at the Illinois Railroad Museum in 1988.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails

Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

July 13, 2025 - WTTV

Blue and silver Amtrak train with vibrant green and yellow foliage in background.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail

The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

July 14, 2025 - Smart Cities Dive

Worker in yellow safety vest and hard hat looks up at servers in data center.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power

Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

July 18 - Inside Climate News

Former MARTA CEO Collie Greenwood standing in front of MARTA HQ with blurred MARTA sign visible in background.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns

MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

July 18 - WABE

Rendering of proposed protected bikeway in Santa Clara, California.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant

A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.

July 17 - San José Spotlight