Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Okay, we're neighbors. We have so much in common and yet are so different. Let's civilly state our preferences and not-so-favorite components of each country.
I'll go first:
U.S.A. pros:
Vastness of the land and geographic diversity, from Guam to American Samoa to Barrow to Key West to the U.S. Virgin Islands!
World's best institutions of higher learning (save for possibly Oxford and Cambridge).
World-class, economically and culturally significant cities such as New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington, Seattle, Houston, and Boston.
The enterprising and pioneering spirit of many people.
The first underground mass transit system in North America.
Expansive interstate highway system that can allow one to drive cross-country in 2 1/2 days.
U.S.A. cons:
Our cities have the highest crime rates in the industrialized world.
Our political system at local, state and federal levels is almost exclusively two-party. Not even Libertarians, Constitutionalists, or true Independents have much say.
Expensive medical care (at least it's not slow, incompetent nationalized healthcare.)
A large sum of "trashy" people who are always expecting their government handout and expect "them's other people" to pay for it.
Poorly controlled illegal immigration.
Canada pros:
Very clean in most areas.
Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal are all world-class and cosmopolitan.
Even larger landscape, it's the world's 2nd-largest country.
Very low crime rate; I think Vancouver is the country's most dangerous city (is it?) and it's worst areas are still safer than many U.S. downtowns.
Some of the best public schools in the world.
The British accent still exists to some extent in Newfoundland.
Canada cons:
The country as a whole gets too freakin' cold in the winter.
Nationalized healthcare...I despise it, even the just the sheer concept, and hope it never comes to the U.S.A.!!!
Much higher taxes than the U.S.A.
Not the extensive, intricate system of hauling goods and people cross-country that there is in the U.S.A.
More relaxed border security, it makes you all more susceptible to terrorists and terrorism in your own borders.
Ladies and gentlemen...on your marks, get set...GO!
Last edited by EclecticEars; 06-25-2008 at 06:52 PM..
I disagree with the crime rate observations. The US has nowhere near the highest crime rates in the industrialized world. According to the UN, Scotland has the highest occurances, per capita, of violent crime.
All the other stuff has been dabated on this forum ad nauseum.
cities in Alberta like Calgary and Edmonton have an economy that's growing very fast, salaries are high and the gdp per capita of Alberta is close to 70 thousand dollars (in the US it was 44 thousand dollars in 2006).
the world class cities are good to have but a lot of the people moving to Canada are coming to make money in cities like Calgary.
Canada's universities are not as expensive as the ones in the US but they have very good reputations.
I think Microsoft gets most of its employees from the university of Waterloo.
*To me, the guys seem cuter in Canada. I've been through most of the US east of the Mississippi River and a few places west of it, but then again I've only been to a few Canadian cities (Toronto, Niagara, and Montreal) and two Canadian small cities/towns (Hamilton & Cornwall). I know it's debateable, but it's just a personal opinion.
*Canadians know more about the world, especially American politics, than we do! I'm not saying all of us Americans are dumb about it, but from the conversations I've had with people here and with people in Canada they seemed to know more about American's economic, global, and political issues.
*Canada has Kinder Bueno and Nutella. You might be able to get it on-line or in Northern states with larger ethnic populations, but I haven't really found any in the South.
*Supposedly, Canada is required to have french-speaking customer support, so many of their support people are from Canada and NOT FROM INDIA! I don't know this for certain though, so correct me if I'm wrong.
*America does have nukes and a strong army. We also won the Stanley Cup . Sorry, I needed to throw some pro-American things in.
*America has lower taxes. But education is less expensive in Canada as well.
*While Canada has a larger tower (CN Tower), the Seattle Space Needle has more character .
-Way too cold, the warmest places in canada have the same climate as some of the coldest cities in America.
-Taxes are much higher.
-Security at borders and airports isn't as tight as in the US, making the country more prone to terrorist attacks.
-Most Canadians have an inferiority complex towards the US, trying to separate themselves from americans and bashing them every chance they get.
-way too cold, seriously its pretty bad.
-lack of interesting things to do, there are only 3 big cities being vancouver, montreal, and toronto. I personally dont care for vancouver because its always raining and montreal because its even colder than toronto.
-Dont believe the myth about free healthcare, you pay for it through your taxes.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
. Sorry, I needed to throw some pro-American things in.
.