RyansWorld: Toronto

'''Special Note: Please note that this scenario is meant to be read as entertainment, not as an accurate prediction of the future. Also note that the viewpoints and opinions that may come across in this scenario are not necessarily the viewpoints and opinions of the author.'''

Once considered to be the most major city in the Great Lakes region, the importance of Toronto in the economic scheme of things will be replaced by Windroit by the year 2050 (the Detroit portion of Windroit would only become profitable again after the robotics job boom of 2019).

During the remainder of the 21st century, Toronto will be slowly relegated from being an important hub for industry and international trade to having a second-rate seaport and inexpensive land for dying industries and struggling ".com" corporations that are trying to fight off bankruptcy (especially when the Ford Assembly Plant finally shuts down in Oakville due to Toyota gaining a total monopoly on the North American market by 2023). Toronto will, however, maintain its post as the easternmost gateway into the "Great Lakes Megalopolis" as the land between Toronto and Montreal remains much too rural and swampy become part of the megalopolis until the middle of the 23rd century.

Nuclear bombs launched by rebels based out of Venus would destroy Toronto in the year 2230; these bombs had a special cobalt casing for maximum destruction capabilities. After the First Galactic War, Montreal would inherit the position of the being the easternmost gateway with Quebec City being a stagnant port town since 2007.

21st century
All the major industries will turn away from Toronto's corrupt politics and high taxes and work their way west to Windroit once Canada and the United States become a single country in the year 2020; ending centuries of bitter rivalries. Some American business will even flock to be on the western side of Windroit rather than risk their businesses by moving further inland to "older cities" like Hamilton, Toronto, Ottawa, Brantford, London, and Kitchener-Waterloo. Three major epidemics would bring Toronto's economy temporarily crashing: the SARS epidemic of 2003, the H1N1 "swine flu" epidemic of 2010 and the Ebola epidemic of 2015. Due to the Ebola outbreak of 2015 along with subsequent outbreaks of swine flu and SARS, unprecendented innovations in labor-saving technology were introduced. The capitalist system would bring its inevitable end due to an "economic plague which started sometime in the year 2037." Many nearby hamlets were abandoned as people chose to live more urban lives to required less fuel usage. Wages shot up and laborers could move to new localities in response to wage offers.

After the Great Recession came to an end, more people had disposable income and wanted to be around the most economically vibrant cities (like Edmonton, Windsor, and Detroit) for their livelihoods. Due to the abundance of jobs related to robotics, genetics and nanotechnology, the average income of a North American resident is 900% higher in 2045 than it is in 2015. The "Great Lakes Megalopolis" will become the most rapidly growing region in Canadamerica; reaching a population of 62 million by the year 2050. However, Toronto will be lagging in the population growth while Chicago and Windroit will be leading the way with unprecedented population growth not seen since the end of the Baby Boom in the 1970s. The economy will also grow; cancelling out the effects of both the Lesser Recession and the Great Recession. When television became criminalized in the year 2040, the Weather Network became an XM satellite radio station.

After former Toronto mayor Rob Ford passed away of a cancer acquired during his notorious alcohol binges, a by-law was passed stating that he couldn't be buried or interned within the city limits. The law didn't state how far away from city limits the body had to be disposed of so the ashes were dumped all over the QEW when a police car was closer to Burlington than Oakville). Officials working at Toronto City Hall would downplay the Ford administration as much as possible in the subsequent decades. By the year 2105, Rob Ford would simply become a footnote on the Toronto article on English Wikipedia and would never enjoy a separate article ever again.

By 2066, people had enough of travelling to California for tatty souvenirs and wanted the Disney treatment a lot closer to home. The culture shock was huge; with the people of Toronto referring soft drinks as "pop" while the people of Anaheim call them "soda." With Pepsi going bankrupt in 2034, everyone either drink Coca-Cola, store brand pop/soda, energy drinks or water. Disney had abandoned their theme park in Florida back in 2045 due to Cuban tyranny. Walt Disney World and Toronto City Council concluded in 2096 that a Walt Disney World theme park for Toronto had to be indoors and climate controlled; breaking away from traditional North American theme park designs.

22nd century
By the year 2105, the Don Valley Parkway will essentially become more developed than the "Old Downtown of Toronto." While tourism still attracted people to the CN Tower, the SkyDome was demolished back in 2075 in order to provide scrap parts for new buildings. Nobody liked the Toronto Blue Jays since it was forced to join the National League in the 2050 Major League Baseball season. The current Union Station will be refurbished to accept maglev trains, create a subway service from the "old" downtown to the "new" downtown (formerly the Don Valley Parkway) and the downtown will falter just like Old Toronto near St. Lawrence market.

Ten years later, Walt Disney World Canada would open in nearby Oakville as an indoor theme park; followed by the opening of Disney Land Vancouver in the year 2120. It is roughly twice the size of Walt Disney Land but smaller than Walt Disney World. Taking 24 months to complete, the indoor theme park was built by AI engineers.

The Toronto Interplanetary Spaceport opened in 2110 to wild fanfare and a media circus. While considered to be a minor spaceport, it still had frequent flights to/from the Lunar Protectorate and occasional flights to/from Mars.

23rd century


During the First Galactic War's Battle of Toronto in 2230, Toronto was hit three times consecutively by special cobalt bombs and was totally destroyed. All of the bombs were fired from the Venusian planet destroyer the SS Jennifer Martinez; she would be reconfigured into the main consular ship of a more democratic United States of Venus regime after the conclusion of the First Galactic War.

The city was unable to be rebuilt because of the radiation that got into the air and the ground. Nanobots were able to wipe out the radiation from the water in after only 50000 seconds of being put in both Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. Everything within a 200 mile radius around Toronto is declared permanently uninhabitable for all lifeforms. Starting in the 2260s, the Greater Toronto Area was renamed the Greater Toronto Wasteland and the name stuck with the people permanently.

Less than 24% of Toronto's population would successfully evacuate themselves to New York City and Chicago.

Sometime during the late 32nd century, a large army of sentient military robots secretly ran away from a military base in the former Northeastern United States and managed to rebuild Toronto into a self-sufficient community for robots and mutant ghouls who are immune from the effects of radiation. By then, the old subway tunnels were being used as underground vaults for storing weapons, ammunition, food, general items and very important people.

Would you live in this version of Toronto? Yes, I would like to live in this version of Toronto. No, I would find it to be too stimulating for me. No, I would find it to be not stimulating enough for me. Yes, but I would have reservations about certain things in this city.