The Chicago Sun-Times takes a dump on Toronto

It's tough growing up, especially when the big kids get jealous they're no longer in charge. With that in mind, Neil Steinberg at the Chicago Sun-Times took the news that Toronto recently surpassed the windy city's population (therefore calling into question his city's very soul) particularly badly yesterday evening.

Chief among Steinberg's gripes is that everyone north of the border seems to understand that Chicago actually has a more populated metro area and if it weren't for amalgamation we would be nowhere close to competing in terms of numbers. Toronto just isn't bellowing at other cities often enough, he scolds.

Steinberg goes on to knock our "donuts" (whoa, easy) and our skyline, whose "only noteworthy element is a TV antenna." Also in the crosshairs are the city's monument to multiculturalism outside Union Station (he can't believe it!) and our insecurity about whether we're "world class" (ok, so maybe that one's accurate.)

"Let us know when you can make a decent pizza, or build a building that bears a second glance. Or when somebody writes a song about Toronto. Or shoots a movie in Toronto that actually takes place in Toronto. We'll be here, waiting, humming 'Chicago.'," he finishes.

Ouch. Can't we just be friends? We could, of course, mention Chicago's crime rate, the Cubs' World Series drought (longer than the Leafs!), or the bland Midwestern attitude that so many Chicagoans sport, but why engage in such hostility?

We're not the ones suffering from envy — for once.

Chris Bateman is a staff writer at blogTO. Follow him on Twitter at @chrisbateman.

Image: "Frozen" by Acid_Punk/blogTO Flickr pool.