Toronto : Highrise and Urban Development News

[Northern Light]

I think a bit of clarity on the this Chicago/Toronto population vs area thing is in order.

Chicago (City):

Population: 2, 695, 000

Area: 606 sq km

Toronto (City)

Population: 2,720,000 (source: Province of Ontario, 2010)

Area: 636 sq km

****

Chicago Metro

Population: 9,400,000

Area: 28,000 sq km (note this includes farms, rural areas, and if were square would represent an area of 167km x 167km) Anyone who has been to Chicago knows it is nowhere near that big, this is just a census taking area, centred on Chicago.

There is a slightly smaller 'urban' area, still over 5,000km sq, which no local would ever call 'Chicago' and boasts about 8,400,000

Toronto Metro *

Population: 7,000,000

Area: 5,000sq km. (Toronto, Peel, Oakville, South York Region, Pickering, Ajax)

** note how small the land area is

For a fairer comparison to Chicago, use the Greater Golden Horseshoe.

This would include St. Kitts to Bomanville, and the Lake to Barrie.

(more or less the maximum commuting distances to Toronto)

This creates an area of 33,000 sq km, the population of which is in the range of 8,800,000 currently.