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What are those things if I may ask? Off topic, I know.
sure. I have been in Toronto for only about 2 years, and there are a few things that I like about it (and Canada as a whole) compared with American cities (I have lived in major cities in both countries).
1) lack of an workaholoc culture. When Canadians say "work hard", that means to work like an average American. Just kidding. But I do realize there is less overtime in here, whereas regular OT is the normal in most US cities. Here, I leave office before 5:15pm 95% of the time. There is a misunderstanding that people work less hard in the US west coast, unfortunately that's not true.
2) slower life pace. Even in the economic hub, life is slow. At first, I am not used to it and hated it. but more and more, I came to appreciate it. Life is for us to live and enjoy, what's the rush? Just compare how people walk in the subway stations in Toronto vs Manhattan, the difference is striking. NYC is magnificent, but the stress is equally high.
3) safer cities, no need to elaborate here.
4) smaller wealth difference. There is no or few $50 million year-end bonuses, which means there are fewer insanely rich people out there. Smaller wealth gap often means more peace of mind: you don't always think about making more money just to match the lifestyle of your neighbour. Of course there are richer Canadian, but is Forest Hill really comparable to Beverly Hills? I don't think so.
5) more vacation days: not as many as the Europeans, but definitely more than the US. More important, it is actually possible to USE those days (your boss won't tell you, hi John, you are completely booked up from March to Nov, please take your vacations at some other time).
It took time to realize why Canada always ranks much higher in terms of life quality than its more richer neighbour. It is not how much you earn, what you consume that defines your life quality. It is how you spend each day of your life.
The thing that I dislike about Canada is its lack of its own culture, as someone mentioned earlier (locals tend to argue we do have this and that, but come on!). That's very disappointing. The second thing would be the higher prices of everything from books and coffee to automobiles.
However, all the above things are work/stress related, and they apply to average joes like me. For someone with a great professional ambition, who aspires to be super rich, I suggest look south. Canada is not the right country for you.
I wonder what industry kkgg7 works in to not see the workaholic attitudes of some people Since Toronto is considered the Financial Centre of Canada, there are always big-businessmen who finish the moment the trading floor stops but there are also those businessmen who are working until 8-9pm every day. It's really industry dependent, but I can agree with you as someone seeing how rush-rush people in New York and Chicago are.
I will also agree with him on the culture front, Canadians try so hard, almost desperately to gain a unique image. I was born in Canada and lived here my entire life so I see this on a constant basis. It's a lot of "Oooh ooh William Shatner is Canadian! So is Jim Carrey! Pamela Anderson!" and so on.
But you know what? I'm sure anyone from any town in the U.S would happily brag about someone famous from their town. Up here, it's just on a more national level.
Cost of living? I would say take your average consumption bills and add 25% to get what we pay. Cell phones, gas, groceries, clothing, cars, anything really.
Anyway, I'm a bit off topic so my top 5:
1. Houston / New York
2. Toronto
3. Vancouver
4. Louisville
5. Chicago
Based my top 5 on enjoyable experiences I've had in those cities so I am limited in knowledge.
Canada-
Banff National Park for the beauty
Thunder Bay for the fishing
Maritime Provinces for the beauty and isolation
Montreal for the beautiful women!
USA-
California Central Coast
Anywhere in the Ozark Mtns of Arkansas or Missouri
Upstate New York
Myrtle Beach South Carolina
Mena Arkansas
I wonder what industry kkgg7 works in to not see the workaholic attitudes of some people Since Toronto is considered the Financial Centre of Canada, there are always big-businessmen who finish the moment the trading floor stops but there are also those businessmen who are working until 8-9pm every day. It's really industry dependent, but I can agree with you as someone seeing how rush-rush people in New York and Chicago are.
That's exactly why I said when Canadians say work hard hard, that means to work like an American. Working until 8-9pm is not remotely considered as Overtime in the financial, IT and some industries. A friend of mine told me his 33 year old boss has the reputation of having worked for over 270 days in a row, with no weekends, no vacation days at all and work past midnight most of those days! My friend in Chicago seldom goes home by 9pm, and he sometimes complains: simply nobody leaves and I feel bad about leaving too
That's exactly why I said when Canadians say work hard hard, that means to work like an American. Working until 8-9pm is not remotely considered as Overtime in the financial, IT and some industries. A friend of mine told me his 33 year old boss has the reputation of having worked for over 270 days in a row, with no weekends, no vacation days at all and work past midnight most of those days! My friend in Chicago seldom goes home by 9pm, and he sometimes complains: simply nobody leaves and I feel bad about leaving too
What you described in this post makes me sick. You are showing all Americans as victims of the system, which isn't true. Maybe such cases exist, but nobody I know works like this. I live in NYC and have a 9-5 job, as most of my friends and relatives do. Yes, Americans are known to work more than Canadians, but for me and my friends it is only statistics. I'm sure that doen't matter where you live, YOU decide how much you want to work. Nobody can force you work more than you want. Those people you described either like their jobs to death, or it's their own fault they let it happen.
What you described in this post makes me sick. You are showing all Americans as victims of the system, which isn't true. Maybe such cases exist, but nobody I know works like this. I live in NYC and have a 9-5 job, as most of my friends and relatives do.
I tend to agree with this. If most Americans were working such crazy hours, American cities wouldn't have morning and afternoon rush hours, would they?
1. NYC
2. Toronto
3. Chicago
4. Boston
5. San Francisco
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