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I would personally say it's the Upper Midwest and Pacific Northwest. Though the far northern tier of New England certainly has ties to Quebec and the Maritimes as well.
The Upper Midwest, especially Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan, has a very similar accent to Canadian. There's also a lot of trade ... I think people in Toronto would probably feel less connection to NYS than say, people in northern Ontario feel to Minnesota and the U.P. but I could be totally wrong.
And British Columbia shares a lot of similarities and history with Washington and Oregon. The Pacific Northwest is seen as a bi-national region that is more similar than different.
And Glacier National Park in Montana is part of an "international park". Basically anything near the border in the northern US would have pretty strong ties given the good relationship between the countries, relative ease in crossing borders and rather similar cultures shared between the two.
I think that would depend on which region of the U.S. and Canada is in question. Upper northeast states have stronger ties southern Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The upper midwest states have stronger ties to Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. The Pacific northwest has the strongest ties to British Columbia.
Note that the most populous region in Canada is between Toronto and Montreal.
NYS has a pretty good connection. They share a couple lakes, river, natural wonder of the world and 3 major canadian cities are within very easy access from NYS (Toronto, Ottawa & Montreal) and a vast network when it comes to hydroelectricity
Peace Bridge in Ontario and Lacolle in Quebec are both very busy & important border crossings
There are many areas that have strong ties to Canada and I'm not saying NYS is the strongest - but it's definitely there in the conversation
Michigan has very weak ties to Canada. Very few people in Michigan have ever been there, except once or twice to the border. There is no bank in Michigan that will exchange Canadian money. Canadian TV channels are not on Michigan cable systems, except right in the border towns of Detroit, Port Huron and Sault Ste. Marie. Very few Canadians who settle in the US stay in Michigan.
I would say the stronger ties are in Upstate New York, where the nearest big city is in Canada. People in Ogdensburg and Massena and Plattsburgh and Malone grew up watching Canadian TV, which was all they could get, and regularly went there for their big city needs.
There is no "relative ease in crossing the border" anymore. When I arrived in China, I got through customs and immigration faster and with less fuss than at Sault Ste. Marie. Americans simply never go to Canada anymore, nor vice versa, unless there is a compelling need or if it's going to be a trip of several days. I have a friend in Canada who used to drive to the US every time he needed to fill up with gas. He hasn't been across the border now in five years.
In terms of personal travel, the Germans and the French are more willing to casually visit each other's country, than the Americans and Canadians, and they can do so with far less indignity and trepidation inflicted upon them. Compared to the average border crossing in the world, the US and Canada are behaving like lifelong enemies.
The Pacific Northwest doesn't have very close ties to Canada unless you're right near the border area. Seattle is close to Vancouver in some ways, but in much of the Pacific NW you'd be surprised at how many people have never explored anywhere in BC outside of just Vancouver and maybe Victoria for a weekend trip. There's kind of a regional NW identity that's slowly evolving in some ways, but in Oregon, you rarely ever hear about anything Canadian. I mean the Vancouver Canucks might as well be playing in Quebec--there's not much interest in following what's going on over the border--it's more so that having Vancouver BC so close by is seen as an interesting vacation trip close by...
Vermont and Upstate New York seem to have closest ties to Canada in many ways. My girlfriend has family near Lake George, New York and they're always travelling over the border--they watch Canadian TV stations and so on. Likewise my friends in Burlington, Vermont end up going to Montreal more often they they do Boston...
There is no "relative ease in crossing the border" anymore. When I arrived in China, I got through customs and immigration faster and with less fuss than at Sault Ste. Marie. Americans simply never go to Canada anymore, nor vice versa, unless there is a compelling need or if it's going to be a trip of several days. I have a friend in Canada who used to drive to the US every time he needed to fill up with gas. He hasn't been across the border now in five years.
In terms of personal travel, the Germans and the French are more willing to casually visit each other's country, than the Americans and Canadians, and they can do so with far less indignity and trepidation. Compared to the average border crossing in the world, the US and Canada are behaving like virtual enemies.
I'm glad I'm not the only person who's made this observation. Don't you find it quite disturbing? We used to be such close countries; now, what was once practically an open border is becoming a sort of iron curtain.
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