Do people in BC view the United States differently than Ontarians. (crime rates, private school)

[scottyr]

Growing up in Ontario, people here usually based their opinion of the USA on the nearest border towns, Buffalo, and Detroit....cities with much urban blight, racial segregation, crime, guns, sprawl and general decline. When Ontarians think of the USA in general, they usually think of it being a huge collection of many Buffalos/Detroits.....(Ie- people making blanket comments such as "the US is crime ridden/racist/suburban/blighted)


However, in Vancouver, your nearest American cities are Seattle and Portland, two progressive, ultra-modern, walkable, generally safe and similar to Canadian cities in the racial situation/demographics......Does proximity to these cities give Canadians a differant perspective of the US than Ontarians?...sometimes i think Ontarians arent even aware that cities such as Seattle and Portland exist in the US.

[BruSan]

Where are you getting this stuff from? Growing up in Ontario? Never travelled out of it? Been to Niagara Falls the U.S. side?

Ontarians have no more skewed vision of America in general than any of the provinces and that goes for B.C. as well.

I've lived my 66 years in ontario and B.C. combined and found no difference with the way people think of the U.S. on average.

If you're talking about Toronto or another major urban center in Ontario I'd frankly be very surprised to see their viewpoint being any different than those from Vancouver, Victoria or Weazle **** Creek Alberta for that matter.

You need to hang around with a better class of friend if they know nothing about cities in the U.S. other than Detroit or Buffalo. Many Canadians travel extensively throughout the entire U.S and this can be shown by the tourism figures compiled by either country.

One of the single largest group of foreign property owners in the U.S. are Canadians without even considering those figures for owners of business's in the U.S.

You're listening to those Canadians expressing a moral superiority attitude towards the U.S. and this is just a inaccurate as those in the U.S. referring to Canada as that communist neighbour to the north.

In short; travel more and you'll put this one to rest in a hurry.

[Zoisite]

I don't think you can make such broad sweeping generalizations about how people in Ontario or in any of the other provinces feel about the United States. I have to agree with what BruSan said. Your own particular clique of people that you grew up with cannot be a representation of how all other people in Ontario or any other province feel about USA and the cities there. It's only a representation of how your clique feels.

I've lived and travelled all over British Columbia and any time discussions about the USA has come up with folks I've found that different people have differing perceptions about the USA - some good and some bad, just like different people in the USA will have different perceptions of Canada.

I've done a fair bit of travelling around the USA as well and seen some unpleasant towns and cities and seen some really fabulous, beautiful towns and cities. The majority of the people I've met in the USA, or visiting here from the USA, have been friendly and welcoming towards me.

I think you need to do some travelling around the USA as well and acquaint yourself with how very beautiful and diverse it is from coast to coast to coast.

A suggestion would be that if you do that travelling around the States just don't let yourself get involved in political discussions about either USA or Canada and you should do just fine and have enjoyable, memorable travels.

.

[Fontainedude]

I think it's mostly the same Canadians here in Vancouver tend to look down upon american cities which is unfortunate because I think the US still has a lot to offer (Boston,New York,Miami & San Francisco) but broken cities like Los Angeles & Detroit (That have major issues with their gun culture) give our southern friends a bad name.

[kevike]

Originally Posted by Fontainedude

I think it's mostly the same Canadians here in Vancouver tend to look down upon american cities which is unfortunate because I think the US still has a lot to offer (Boston,New York,Miami & San Francisco) but broken cities like Los Angeles & Detroit (That have major issues with their gun culture) give our southern friends a bad name.

Los Angeles is broken? Better tell that to nearly every Canadian entertainer who's ever made it big, because that's where they all choose to live.

[Mhundred]

You're way over generalizing and oversimplifying the view Ontarians have of the US. Trust me the only people in ontario who think of the us as being all detroits and buffalos are those who have never left the province in their lives, so that makes them a small minority.

Not to mention people from windsor just across the border from detroit are some of the biggest detroit backers outside of the city limits. I don't think you'll find detroiters defending detroit like people in windsor do.

[Luhts]

If you want generalizations, I would say that people in Canada (both ends of the country) know a lot more about the reality and the diversity of the US than the US knows about the diversity of Canada.

[maclock]

Originally Posted by Luhts

If you want generalizations, I would say that people in Canada (both ends of the country) know a lot more about the reality and the diversity of the US than the US knows about the diversity of Canada.

I disagree. Excepting some of those Canadians who live and/or who grew up right on the border (and I mean RIGHT on the border), I find that Canadians are pretty ignorant about the States. Likewise, most Americans have pretty hazy notions about Canada.

[GTOlover]

Not really... I would say generally Vancouver and Seattle are alot closer than say Vancouver and Toronto are in terms of views, weather, values and culture...

there is a diffrent kind of laidback lifestyle here in the PNW than there is in other states and provinces outside of the PNW Region...It's hard to explain but just a diffrent type of vibe and feeling out here than backeast IMO.

[Fontainedude]

If you work in the entertainment business and make the big bucks than yes Los Angeles can be a great place to live (West LA is beautiful) but the majority of the city is still filled with high crime rates and poverty. I lived in Glendale in my early 20's and although it was fun it was also a very toxic environment. Not a great place to raise kids unless you can afford playing 25k per year for private schooling.