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Golden Horseshoe
DCHP-2 (Mar 2017)
Spelling variants:golden horsehoe
n. — Geography
the most densely populated region of Southern Ontario, resembling a horseshoe shape.
Type: 1. Origin — The term Golden Horseshoe refers to the geographical area of Southern Ontario that stretches around the western end of Lake Ontario (see the 1959 quotation). As seen in Image 1, the region (appearing in red) forms a horseshoe-like shape. The Golden Horseshoe covers roughly the area between the northern city of Oshawa and the southern city of St. Catharines, including the Greater Toronto Area. The second 1954 quotation, read by Herbert H. Rogge, president of Canadian Westinghouse, was penned "by [Hunter] MacBain, a gifted wordsmith who worked at Canadian Westinghouse" (Chambers 2010: 22). It antedates the first 1954 quotation by a few months and is quite possibly "the first public mention of 'Golden Horseshoe' anywhere" (Chambers 2010: 22).
The Golden Horseshoe is characterized by its population density and growth (see the 2004 quotation), accounting for more than a quarter of the nation's population, and is described as "one of the fastest growing areas in North America" (see the 2014 quotation). The attribute golden seems to derive from its traditional heavy industry and subsequent wealth (see the first 1954 quotation). The term is most frequently used in Canada (see Chart 1), specifically in Ontario and Quebec (see Chart 2). Today, the term Greater Golden Horseshoe (see the 2014 quotation) is used for a larger area, represented by green in Image 1.
See COD-2, s.v. "Golden Horseshoe", which defines the term as a Canadian region, and ITP Nelson, s.v. "Golden Horseshoe", which does the same.
The Golden Horseshoe is characterized by its population density and growth (see the 2004 quotation), accounting for more than a quarter of the nation's population, and is described as "one of the fastest growing areas in North America" (see the 2014 quotation). The attribute golden seems to derive from its traditional heavy industry and subsequent wealth (see the first 1954 quotation). The term is most frequently used in Canada (see Chart 1), specifically in Ontario and Quebec (see Chart 2). Today, the term Greater Golden Horseshoe (see the 2014 quotation) is used for a larger area, represented by green in Image 1.
See COD-2, s.v. "Golden Horseshoe", which defines the term as a Canadian region, and ITP Nelson, s.v. "Golden Horseshoe", which does the same.
Chambers (2010) is the most detailed account of the term's origin.
Quotations
1954
"Projected construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway enhances the potential growth possibilities which exist for Hamilton as a leading industrial area and a distribution centre for the great population concentrated in the golden horseshoe surrounding the western end of Lake Ontario.
1954
"Our people believe that for two generations to come, at least, the greatest nexus of population in all Canada will come to centre on the broad terrain to which we have given the name the 'Golden Horseshoe'." So proclaimed Herbert H. Rogge, President of Canadian Westinghouse, addressing the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce on January 12, 1954.
1959
It [the Niagara fruit belt] shares with the "Golden Horseshoe" (a popular name given to the urban complex around the western end of Lake Ontario) a rich agricultural hinterland, cheap water transportation, an excellent network of highways and railroads, and an abundant supply of fresh water.
1966
The regions of this province outside the Golden Horseshoe (the area surrounding Metro Toronto from Oshawa to Niagara Falls) must have proper provincially supported education centres.
1979
Put that sales emphasis on transportation. Burlington's real main street is the Queen Elizabeth Way, which connects Toronto with Hamilton, St. Catharines, Niagara Falls and Fort Erie. Thousands of cars and trucks whiz through daily. For anybody whose primary market is Ontario's Golden Horseshoe, the attraction is obvious.
1988
''We're trying to get more forward passes into the game and I think we can get a second one in (for the '91 championships),'' said Nelson, who felt the Canadians couldn't handle the running game well. ''It would give us one more forward pass and make us closer.''
The bulk of the Canadian teams came from the Golden Horseshoe region in Southern Ontario.
1999
Highway carnage everywhere costs lives, and keeps hospital emergency departments in a chronic state of exhaustion. In the summer, air quality in the Golden Horseshoe becomes near lethal. A friend from the Lake Huron area dropped in on me last summer. She had been planning to go to Toronto but, when from the height of the escarpment she saw a sinister brown cloud hanging over the city, she stopped with us for a swim, and went home: "I'm not breathing that stuff."
2004
The Greater Golden Horseshoe area comprises 16 regions stretching from Waterloo to Peterborough and bordered by the Georgian Bay in the north and lakes Ontario and Erie to the south. [Caplan] said the area is expected to grow by almost four million people over the next 30 years and the government needs to be prepared.
2005
The plan, aimed at directing growth and avoiding urban sprawl, looks at the Greater Golden Horseshoe area, of which Clarington is a part, and which is projected to see growth by 3.7 million people over the next 30 years. [...] To tame the sprawl, greater urban intensification of population densities will be necessary, said Mr. Crome. According to the plan, intensification within the so-called "inner-ring," which includes the urbanized portion of Clarington, would occur via a phased-in increase in the yearly percentage of intensification, so that by the year 2015, a minimum of 40 per cent of all residential development occurs by intensification.
2007
Five of the eight fastest-growing cities in the country are in the Greater Golden Horseshoe, which now embraces one-quarter of the Canadian population. The news is the same elsewhere. Greater Montreal and Greater Vancouver are home to half their provinces' populations. The Greater Golden Horseshoe, Montreal and Vancouver combined now account for almost half of Canada.
2014
The largest concentration of people and cities is in the "Golden Horseshoe" along the western shore of Lake Ontario, including the Greater Toronto Area, Hamilton, St. Catharines and Niagara Falls. The “Greater Golden Horseshoe” describes the extended metropolitan area, including parts of central Ontario surrounding the core region. With more than 9 million people, this area is one of the fastest growing areas in North America. The wider region spreads inland in all directions away from the Lake Ontario shoreline, southwest to Brantford, west to the Kitchener-Waterloo area, north to Barrie and northeast to Peterborough.
2017
Mustangs are our passion!
We drive them, race them, restore them, preserve them and just plain enjoy them. The Golden Horseshoe Mustang Association was originally started as a Classic Mustang club in 1995 by a core group of Classic Mustang enthusiasts in the Greater Toronto Area. Over the years we have become an all years Mustang club and one of the largest Mustang clubs in Canada.
References
- ITP Nelson
- COD-2
- Chambers (2010)
Images
Image 1: A map of Ontario's Golden Horseshoe (red) and Greater Golden Horseshoe (green). Source: Wikimedia Commons. Photo: Vidioman
Chart 1: Internet Domain Search, 3 Jul. 2014
