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This might be the best comment in the OP. I nodded when I read it.
Don't you think that it might be that the Canadians who do that, and I'm acknowledging that there are those, do that precisely because they know that Americans don't think they are in a competition? And that it is a friendly kind of jab to the ribs of the big bruiser who doesn't realise there are other people around?
I just think there are a lot of different ways to take that. The guy who doesn't know he's in a competition doesn't always look the better for not knowing it.
This might be the best comment in the OP. I nodded when I read it.
Sure. I've never met anyone who would rather live in the USA, besides older folks who want to make more money working some private practice or business-type job. Otherwise, I know what's supposed to be implied in this post, and nobody is jealous of the idea of living in the United States.
Also, Americans in general don't seem to be very aware of the going-ons outside their border, so who cares?
Quote:
Originally Posted by netwit
I just think there are a lot of different ways to take that. The guy who doesn't know he's in a competition doesn't always look the better for not knowing it.
In the 1980s when I was in my youth it was actually a big thing how Canadian cities were cleaner than American cities. I actually knew people who would literally keep count of the pieces of litter and other junk on the side of the road when they were visiting down in the U.S. I kid you not.
"Comparing" is still a popular Canadian sport IMO.
In the 1980s when I was in my youth it was actually a big thing how Canadian cities were cleaner than American cities. I actually knew people who would literally keep count of the pieces of litter and other junk on the side of the road when they were visiting down in the U.S. I kid you not.
"Comparing" is still a popular Canadian sport IMO.
Then maybe it was in the 80s that I first heard that Americans were (supposedly) impressed by how much cleaner Toronto was. I think that was in relation to Americans filming in Toronto. I think that certain ideas become faddish and it is often the media driving it and that in much the same way as it is cool to like certain songs, especially when you are young, ideas can also float around and become ingrained eventually in pop culture. So it wouldn't surprise me at all to find that people had made a game out of counting litter in response to media reports that made it into popular culture.
I guess I would quibble about how much meaning that actually has.
I don't go much to the States and can't comment on whether Canadian cities are or are not cleaner.
My experience in Toronto is that it isn't any cleaner than your avg large U.S city - NYC and S.F didn't strike me as particularly clean yet the DT core of Chicago imo seemed cleaner than the DT core of Toronto.. Boston and Seattle about the same.. Some areas immediately surrounding the DT cores of large U.S cities come off as generally more sketchy than Toronto. S.F really surprised me, it was a lot more dicey than I expected!
With that said, in Toronto walk east of the CBD particularly from Yonge Dundas sq on Dundas towards Jarvis and Sherbourne and it isn't exactly spotless and there are still plenty of social housing, shelters, prostitution and dealers.. Not really clean or a nice smelling part of the city either and definitely sketch! Toronto is actually a lot grittier than people think.. I'm not sure why it has this nice and 'clean' image and I certainly wouldn't go around bragging about how clean it is.. You also still have a lot of people with mental health issues in DT Toronto.. They are largely harmless, many beggars but still they are clearly not doing well and many spontaneously scream or talk to themselves and you know they are just looking for that next hit.
My experience in Toronto is that it isn't any cleaner than your avg large U.S city - NYC and S.F didn't strike me as particularly clean yet the DT core of Chicago imo seemed cleaner than the DT core of Toronto.. Boston and Seattle about the same.. Some areas immediately surrounding the DT cores of large U.S cities come off as generally more sketchy than Toronto. S.F really surprised me, it was a lot more dicey than I expected!
With that said, in Toronto walk east of the CBD particularly from Yonge Dundas sq on Dundas towards Jarvis and Sherbourne and it isn't exactly spotless and there are still plenty of social housing, shelters, prostitution and dealers.. Not really clean or a nice smelling part of the city either and definitely sketch! Toronto is actually a lot grittier than people think.. I'm not sure why it has this nice and 'clean' image and I certainly wouldn't go around bragging about how clean it is.. You also still have a lot of people with mental health issues in DT Toronto.. They are largely harmless, many beggars but still they are clearly not doing well and many spontaneously scream or talk to themselves and you know they are just looking for that next hit.
Toronto is reasonably clean - definitely not a spotless city like Tokyo but in the core it is in general acceptable, except the few areas you mention where there are too many homeless/nutjobs east of Jarvis st, who would ****/sh*t anytime anywhere they want - the city should really do something to clean it up. It is one thing to provide shelter to the poor and crazy, but allowing them to pee on the street all the time is another matter.
San Francisco is as far from clean as I can imagine. I am always puzzled why so many people have a romanticized opinion about this city. It is definitely dirtier than Toronto and way sketchier. Tenderloin would make Moss Park look a middle class nabe. Only last night my friend there showed me some photos about police cars rushing to a crime scene, all that chaos - it happens all the time and he is so used to it. Plus except for the northeast corner, the entire city is not even that urban. I just don't have a positive opinion about SF.
Chicago's core IS cleaner, so is Seattle, you know why? because not many people live there. Neighbourhoods like the Gold Coast have many condos and are very clean, but that's because these places are not exactly diverse and only the wealthy can afford living there - few of the riff raff's. It is like Rosedale/Moore Park is clean.
In the 1980s when I was in my youth it was actually a big thing how Canadian cities were cleaner than American cities. I actually knew people who would literally keep count of the pieces of litter and other junk on the side of the road when they were visiting down in the U.S. I kid you not.
"Comparing" is still a popular Canadian sport IMO.
It really is.
It is pretty obvious that Canadians are obsessed with what happens in the US. Just read any newspaper - they are usually full of insignificant events happening in the US towns. I am often confused why those need to be reported.
And it is definitely true that beating the US in certain areas gives Canadians more satisfaction than anything else. For some, any publicity about what's wrong with the US is good publicity!
There is nothing wrong with paying attention with other countries. I just Canadians when thinking of themselves, should look more at the world in general than only focusing on the US and nothing else.
My experience in Toronto is that it isn't any cleaner than your avg large U.S city - NYC and S.F didn't strike me as particularly clean yet the DT core of Chicago imo seemed cleaner than the DT core of Toronto.. Boston and Seattle about the same.. Some areas immediately surrounding the DT cores of large U.S cities come off as generally more sketchy than Toronto. S.F really surprised me, it was a lot more dicey than I expected!
With that said, in Toronto walk east of the CBD particularly from Yonge Dundas sq on Dundas towards Jarvis and Sherbourne and it isn't exactly spotless and there are still plenty of social housing, shelters, prostitution and dealers.. Not really clean or a nice smelling part of the city either and definitely sketch! Toronto is actually a lot grittier than people think.. I'm not sure why it has this nice and 'clean' image and I certainly wouldn't go around bragging about how clean it is.. You also still have a lot of people with mental health issues in DT Toronto.. They are largely harmless, many beggars but still they are clearly not doing well and many spontaneously scream or talk to themselves and you know they are just looking for that next hit.
You are correct I'd say. Canadian cities today aren't really strikingly cleaner than American cities (except for specific ghetto areas of course).
It was more of a truism in the 80s if I recall. (This was the time when I started travelling to the U.S. more.)
I do recall Americans frequently making comments about it. Particularly about Toronto. (I was working in tourism in Ontario at the time.)
I think that two things have changed since then.
First of all, Canadian cities have become less prim and proper since then IMO. It's most striking to me in Ontario. Quebec was always a bit grottier than Ontario but has remained about the same. Not that Ontario cities are dumps (far from it) but it's obvious there has been less public investments in upkeep in the past couple of decades.
Also, American cities have greatly improved during this time. Many truly were dumps in the 70s and 80s and into the 90s. Not all of them have turned the corner, but in the vast majority there is a very noticeable improvement.
Heck i'm sure there are 4 dollar a dozen eggs in the U.S - what Omega 3 super duper brain power eggs or something.
Come to my SoCal farmer's market and I will show you eggs for $8/dozen.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack
Americans say ''the States'' when talking about their country all the time.
''Well, I couldn't wait to get back to the States, back to the cutest girls in the world. I wish they all could be... California girls!"
Uh...that would be a no. Unless they are writing a song and need a rhyme, or mayyybe if they have lived abroad for many years and have been influenced by foreigners around them saying "the States."
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