[cmrdporcupine]

Or how about the other way around -- Americans just didn't want to be part of the old dominion anymore, and split off, leaving a chunk of population separated by a border? The settlement patterns existed before the American revolution. We settled where the land was good and the resources and fresh water and trade routes were.

[logfromblammo]

Only about 12% of George III Loyalists moved to Ontario or New Brunswick after 1783, and some of them later moved back to the former colonies while they still had the opportunity.

[cmrdporcupine]

You missed my point. I'm not talking about the loyalists who moved. I'm talking about the people who stayed. The settlement along the great lakes was already here before the American revolution, both in English/French settlements, and the natives who were here in high concentrations before that.

Modern day settlement along the border reflects a continuation of patterns that were already here.

Though Toronto being a huge population centre instead of Hamilton or Niagara area apparently has to do with the need to be some distance from the border with the expansionist militaristic 19th century Americans.

[stan_rogers]

Toronto had the dual advantages of a nice big natural harbour and several handy mill streams in one tidy little location, along with navigable trails and rivers leading to timber and fur resources. It also used to have a lot of prime agricultural land within spitting distance; most of that has since been paved over.