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The Atlanta "safety problem" is, as usual for American cities, limited to few specific areas...stay away from them and you are as safe as in Toronto.
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Well, there are areas in any city including Toronto that are a bit dodgy. That said, the argument that the safety of a city shouldn't be brought up simply because it is reserved for 'pockets' and outside those pockets everything is 'peachy' (sorry couldn't resist) I just don't think tells the whole story. Fact is there are a lot of issues in those pockets and often they speak to larger matters of segregation and poverty where large swaths of people are left out. You may also find that the income inequality differences between Canada and the U.S can be spoken to by those more pronounced and segregated pockets vs the one's that are 'outside' of those.
This is why I provided the links I did about median family incomes. We all know the U.S has a higher per cap income both in Nominal and PPP terms. If things were distributed more evenly in the U.S than the argument for Canada instantly become weaker.
I found most North American cities too sprawling, unattractive and way too "family friendly". Asian cities, while dense and vibrant, tend to be chaotic and a bit too crowded. European cities strike the right balance. If given total freedom, I would pick Lyon or Toulouse over any North American city, even if that means signifcant loss of "purchasing power". Just buy less stuff, big deal. It is not like local people are starving.
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I think what you wrote underlined is really a key point! We all have different things that make us 'click' and favour different places over others for a number of personal reasons. It is impossible for every country to be even on "purchasing power" - the problem with rankings, listings, GDP per cap measures, Median family incomes, SOL/QOL/COL measures etc is that it is impossible to measure everything for everyone. When I was in Indonesia I asked my tour guide to Borobudur (youngish guy) if he'd ever want to move to say Australia or the U.S etc and he goes, no i'm happy here with a big smile. I said good for you that is the most important thing!
For me, i'm pretty sure for 8 months of the year i'd prefer living in Toronto over Atlanta. That said, it doesn't mean that i'd choose to live in Toronto if I could make my first world income in Bangkok. I'd take Bangkok over Toronto every and any day but I have too much of a family/friend network here and to just quit my job for a year or two - possible but the wife wouldn't be too happy about that lol - plus I really like my job... That said, I admire your free spirit and doing what you want!
I think what you wrote underlined is really a key point! We all have different things that make us 'click' and favour different places over others for a number of personal reasons. It is impossible for every country to be even on "purchasing power" - the problem with rankings, listings, GDP per cap measures, Median family incomes, SOL/QOL/COL measures etc is that it is impossible to measure everything for everyone. When I was in Indonesia I asked my tour guide to Borobudur (youngish guy) if he'd ever want to move to say Australia or the U.S etc and he goes, no i'm happy here with a big smile. I said good for you that is the most important thing!
For me, i'm pretty sure for 8 months of the year i'd prefer living in Toronto over Atlanta. That said, it doesn't mean that i'd choose to live in Toronto if I could make my first world income in Bangkok. I'd take Bangkok over Toronto every and any day but I have too much of a family/friend network here and to just quit my job for a year or two - possible but the wife wouldn't be too happy about that lol - plus I really like my job... That said, I admire your free spirit and doing what you want!
I'm not harping on anything. its a fact of life and I was making a very general point about the fact that because there are differences between the two countries, it may be difficult to come to a conclusion when you factor in lifelong expenses for big ticket items, especially if you have multiple kids. I just made a point you didn't like so the fangs have come out.
As for smaller things a case in point. Say you in Murrietta pay I don't know 30 bucks for a pair of Levi's and I say pay 54 here. Well what if I told you the last jeans I bought were at Urban Planet on sale for 10 bucks? What is urban planet you might say - exactly! Sure I could go to the salvation army and get a pair for prolly 2 bucks but you get my drift - for a lot of items the person has extraordinary control over how much they pay depending on taste and whether they have a proclivity to buy the exact brands selling in both countries. That is why I've been saying not everything is so clear cut. Sure you can find cheaper options in the U.S of course but the fact is it just becomes really hard to compare COL across national boundaries for a lot of things when not a lot of things are comparable.
As for your contention about MUCH higher quality health care or better for most people - that is highly debatable. You can give anecdotal evidence and so can I but your assumptions are very how should I say 'rich' in imagination. Last I looked at the W.H.O HC systems rankings Canada was ranked higher than the U.S. Now both countries are in the 30's so I think we both have work to do to improve our systems. It might be good the U.S identify the system they have - might be a good starting point.
Oh please! Have you read the politics and controversies comments in this forum. Imagine if everyone else used those to come to the conclusion you just did. I'll let you mull over that one! I just thought it was amusing that Saturno chimed your name and voila you appear and you practical never post in here.
The reason I haven't posted much is because this thread, like most, are just the same people posting the same old crap over and over.
life work balance. When you are on your deathbed, it might make more sense to you
...what about the quality of the healthcare they receive as already explained in detail by johnsocal?? That does not count??
assuming quality care doesn't exist in canada? Pffft.
i did talk to women that had babies...they did not feel that impaired.....they plan and they have the babies....and, as i said, the majority (i would say overwhelming majority) of companies offer some sort of maternity leave permit (with or without pay). Still i agree with you that a mandatory maternity leave is a good idea and should be implemented....still people manage the issue quite well and it does not seem to affect birth rates.
yes it's a good idea and those women you talked to would probably agree and want maternity leave like other countries. Just because they don't feel impaired doesn't mean that. It means that those women are strong and ready to do what it takes to have a child in the us. Nothing more.
i do not doubt you know people that think that living in canada is better however i talk about average experience...... Is telling the fact that the small set of people that interact with me and you on this forum, canadians (or lived in canada) that now live in the us, the vast majority of them would not go back, immigrants, on average, would prefer to go to the us instead of canada if they had the chance to get residence....i'm from europe and i think europe has the best quality of life hands down so i do not have a dog on this fight but there is no way around the fact that the us is in general, a more desirable place to live than canada, sorry but this is the truth, denying it is silly....is like me trying to convince you that italy is a bureaucratic paradise....it is not.
desirable for whom. I prefer less " us and them " that exists in the us. The whole healthcare debate down there really isn't about healthcare, but about others not getting stuff " for free ". Which of course is a crock.
what is that suppose to mean?? (fred meyer is not a bad grocery store by the way)......actually that proves my point that canadian shoppers even in inexpensive stores can see the difference in prices compared to canada.
By the way did you check some wal mart stores recently?? Do you think they are still redneck paradise?? Some of them sell fairly fancy grocery items....if you think only low income, low information people shop at wal mart you are sadly mistaken. I would never buy meats, dairy products (well actually now they have some quality dairy products) or fresh produce at wal mart but i have no problem whatsoever buying certain things there.
what i'm saying is that you get people who are bargain hunters and some don't even do there homework. After the effort of going, shopping, gas, eating, time etc, they would of done better in most cases staying home.
cheese glorious cheese! Rosa's isn't the only store. You can get good cheese almost everywhere, and harder to find cheese in cheese shops. You know this.
they have quite a retailer store in burnaby...and they do not get credit cards..what a joke...and their selection lately is mediocre at best....i rather buy a package of imported from italy giovanni rana fresh tortellini at wal mart than some of the supposedly fresh stuff bosa sell. I got once a package of fresh gnocchi from them that literally dissolved in hot water after one minute....
Of the entire conversation this is what you're asking lol
Welllll if you met him you might call him that
I knew you did it intentionally.
But considering he is flying to do a nosejob, I allow it.
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