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Oh dear that article is a shocking piece of journalism, I might start a new thread to discuss rather than a thread hijack.
Good Idea, you might as well attack the Commercial Channels journalism in general, it's uniformly awful, along with basically every News Corp Publication.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Quote:
Originally Posted by drive carephilly
streetcar/trolley/tram are synonymous terms. Light rail is not the same. Melbourne, Sydney, Philadelphia, Toronto, San Francisco, Milan, etc all have streetcars. The Gold Coast, San Diego, Portland, San Francisco, Boston all have light rail lines (or are building them).
I would argue that the utility of the Brisbane system isn't actually better . . . and ridership is irrelevant. Where it takes you and the lifestyle it allows is much more important. For the sake of argument I'll concede that, sure, Brisbane's system is bigger than the cities you mentioned. But it's not better than Portland, Seattle, Denver, Salt Lake City, etc. and in the context of absolutes like "Australian cities have better transit than American cities" well, it's just not true.
I never claimed that. My claim was Australian cities of comparable size have better transit than US cities. I've been to cities such as San Diego, Austin, Nashville and the transit there seemed almost non-existent. Of course I haven't spent enough time in those cities to really know how well the system serves them, but I have spent a lot of time in Brissie and had no problems with the public transport there.
I know ya'll Aussies drive on the left side of the road like Brits do, and the biggest sport is Cricket. But it seems like the American culture has a strong influence on Australian culture in the last 50 years.
Looking at Google Maps of Australian cities. The architecture and layout of Australian suburbs look similar to American suburbs. And most of what Australians watch on TV are American TV Shows.
So are Aussies more culturally similar to North America or the UK?
I am an American so take this with a grain of salt but I personally think Australia has qualities from both the UK and America, which actually makes her fairly unique.
Culturally Australia seems more similar to the UK and Aussies seem to be less individualistic than Americans. But at the same time, Australia does have a similar pioneer-settler history like America and also physically the wide open spaces of Australia does resemble the United States more than England, especially the western United States.
Regarding Australia and Canada
I have always wondered why Australia has States while Canada still uses the colonial sounding word Provinces. I am not sure why this is but maybe this is because Canada wants to emphasize the differences between Canada and the United States, while Australia feels more confident in its own identity?
I have always wondered why Australia has States while Canada still uses the colonial sounding word Provinces. I am not sure why this is but maybe this is because Canada wants to emphasize the differences between Canada and the United States, while Australia feels more confident in its own identity?
I'd say that it's due to different influences. Canada probably chose to call them provinces, due to it's French influence? Whereas Australia has been heavily influenced by the United States and followed suit, by calling them states.
I'd say that it's due to different influences. Canada probably chose to call them provinces, due to it's French influence? Whereas Australia has been heavily influenced by the United States and followed suit, by calling them states.
The word province in Canada actually appeared after it became a British colony.
Hard to tell with all the foriegn aid we give around the world and how much individuals give to charity, our poor people give more of what they dont have to charity than other countries rich. dont drink the kool-aid it will rot your brain!!!!
I have always wondered why Australia has States while Canada still uses the colonial sounding word Provinces. I am not sure why this is but maybe this is because Canada wants to emphasize the differences between Canada and the United States, while Australia feels more confident in its own identity?
Canada didn't federate the same way Australia did. All of the Australian states had a referendum and decided to become one country in 1901. The states were already formed and distinct and independent of one another.
Canada confederated in the 1860s but originally, was just Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. It annexed the other provinces from the UK more or less one at a time but they didn't have their current boundaries back then. Canada as a whole didn't have its present-day boundaries until 1949 when it annexed Newfoundland and Labrador.
The comments on transit use and coverage in Australia are interesting.
If urban Australia is as sprawly and auto-oriented as US cities, what accounts for the heavier transit usage and better coverage in Australia?
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Is Australia more like North America or the UK?
