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Call them on it. That's what I do when people moan about something they can change.
Or perform a better job of assessing whether it's the U.S. and it's entire citizenry people are busting on, or just responding in kind to the ones who engage in that well known bellicose 'numero-uno' bravado. Even idiots should be able to quantify.
If anything, on here it has been some Torontonians that show animosity towards others. We have seen them call other place "**** holes" or write in a disdainful manner " I have no idea why anyone would want to live (or visit) there?!" There are plenty of examples of this through out the forum. Its been several posters on here from Toronto that constantly do this.
I agree 100%. It's a shame. People in Washington DC do the same thing to those in Baltimore. It's a very petty 'holier-than-thou' attitude that often just makes them look much, much worse. And I say that as someone living in Washington DC.
If anything, on here it has been some Torontonians that show animosity towards others. We have seen them call other place "**** holes" or write in a disdainful manner " I have no idea why anyone would want to live (or visit) there?!" There are plenty of examples of this through out the forum. Its been several posters on here from Toronto that constantly do this.
Yeah, in these types of discussions, comments about Canada (except for their home region) being totally unworthy of interest do unfortunately come most often from Toronto and the GTA.
If I may be perfectly frank, people in Montreal and Quebec probably think this just as much if not more, but there are way fewer of them taking part in these discussions. Or they say it in French and no one pays attention.
I agree 100%. It's a shame. People in Washington DC do the same thing to those in Baltimore. It's a very petty 'holier-than-thou' attitude that often just makes them look much, much worse. And I say that as someone living in Washington DC.
that is because DC is significantly better than anything Baltimore has to offer, in fact it is the best city in the US
It's like anywhere. People complain about the largest city in any country. People in France talk about Parisians in less than flattering terms for example.
I've found friends that are born in Toronto, but have moved here to Vancouver, seem to complain about Toronto more. It's too busy, not a good work life balance etc.
Then some move back after a while
Most Canadians have friends or family that live int the GTA, or have lived there. A lot have visited. In my circle of friends, inner and outer circle, I know of no-one who hasn't at least visited Toronto and they love to visit.
So when others complain about Toronto, at least from a Vancovuerites perspective, it's usually about the winters or the " centre of the universe " supposed complex they have, which I've never encountered in person.
I have great memories of trips to Toronto. I'm going back next year hopefully.
I think the contention that there isn't enough of a work/life balance in Toronto is largely an exaggerated farce perpetuated by people who need to convince themselves of that. People who moved from Toronto to Vancouver need to convince themselves that they made the right choice so they will flatter their new friends with this sort of nonsense lol.. Or they themselves were workaholics and simply didn't want to change their vocation to a job with better work life balance (which they can find in Toronto). I buy the whole I want to live by the Ocean, live by the mountains, live in a smaller city that is slower paced than the there is no work/life balance to be found in Toronto BS.
I work Monday to Friday 37.5 hours a week. This is full time hours at my company. If you work full time hours in any part of the country you normally work those hours or 40. I envy people who can work part time and have a decent lifestyle -they must be living off a nice inheritance, own a business and reached a point where someone else is doing all the work, engaging in illegal activities or getting some form of government assistance and double dipping - they are in the minority even in Toronto as I suspect in most cities in the country. Most people need a full time job even in 'relaxed' places to make ends meet (Retirees/6/49 winners excluded).
People put extra time at work anywhere depending on where they work and how ambitious they are. If you are ambitious and want to move up the ladder and make an 'impression' anywhere you're probably not a clockwatcher. I've established my work/life balance and rarely work more than my 37.5 hours per week and its not expected of me to do more. Couple that with company tenure and I have European equivalent vacation time. I've established my work/life balance in Toronto. Wasn't hard!
I have a friend in Montreal who is a Director and he works WAY more hours than I do. He has a company phone and and makes awesome coin but he works for it and sacrifices a lot personally but its his decision. So like anyplace it really depends on the person and what they choose and less about the city imo.
If anything, on here it has been some Torontonians that show animosity towards others. We have seen them call other place "**** holes" or write in a disdainful manner " I have no idea why anyone would want to live (or visit) there?!" There are plenty of examples of this through out the forum. Its been several posters on here from Toronto that constantly do this.
Its not so much posters in this forum as much as a perceived general sentiment from other parts of the country. If its not true that is great. If it is what exactly can be done about it from a Torontonian pov - probably not much because normally this type of sentiment is rooted in ignorance and vice-versa. As for posters in here - you really don't know where they are from. I certainly don't put down other parts of the country though I won't apologize for Toronto either - there is nothing to apologize for. Most Torontonians don't have a centre of the universe mentality. Its really that simple.
I agree with you on your underlined part as well. Most Americans aren't too happy with what their government is doing as well so I can't fault someone for that. I can understand though why residents of an area get annoyed when outsiders claim to know so much about somewhere and it does get very old to see people who claim how horrible everywhere in the US is. It is an annoying occurrence which happens in the Pittsburgh thread. Many left wing Americans have such high regard for Canada IMO because they likely see it as what America could be without its conservative and religious element which is common in some areas.
There are plenty of ignorant stereotypes about Pittsburgh that still exist as well and are seen on the City vs. City thread when the area gets mentioned so I see where you are coming from there. A lot of people in smaller metros just like to hate bigger cities because of how "pretentious and obnoxious" their residents are and it seems like many from bigger cities like to hate on small cities and rural areas for being "backwards and simple". It does even out in some way to me.
Just remember that not only do Canadians get their info about American/Americans from the media but also by family/friend connections so i'll stick by what I said. Most of the strongest critics of America/Americans are Americans. I bite my tongue though and will just be polite and underline the fact that 'you said it' when they go on their anti American tirades
Actually, if any city in Canada is friendly to Americans it would be Toronto. Many US expats live and work here, they even congregate in certain neighbourhoods in mid-town. Many of them come here and are surprised at the sheer number of people from all over the world who make a living and raise their families here, and everybody just deals with it. There is very little room for hatred and bigotry for any group.
I definitely have noticed an uptick in the number of Americans living here. That said, I think Calgary must have the highest penetration in Canada. About 100K American expats in the greater Calgary area. For the GTA we'd have to have 700K American Expats living here to equal that level of penetration.
A Statistics Canada census from 2006 shows that just over 22,000 Americans were living in Calgary at that time. However, the U.S. Consulate estimates the number of Americans currently living in the greater Calgary area is around 100,000, which was intially reported in an earlier version of this story
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