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I really do like Canada a lot, but it really is a flat out rip off across the board compared to the vast majority of the US...I'm sorry but my reasons to reside there would have to be cultural or something like that, not economic. I would rather be a really poor person in Canada so that I would have guaranteed health care and a fatter welfare paycheck, but any other economic class I'd much rather be in the US.
Reading about Canada it doesn't sound too bad or like a huge difference but living there, you simply don't get what you pay for (compared to the US that is). Maybe Canada is great for someone coming from Egypt or India, I don't know, I never lived in either place. Most of the people who talk about how the difference isn't that big either lived in a "rip off" area of the US (Seattle, California, NYC to name a few places) or flat out are just reading statistics online without actually living in the US and paying taxes and assessing the cost of living themselves. What you pay for a normal sized house in Vancouver gets you a freakin' mansion in many many places in the US. It's across the board. What I pay for in Montreal would get me MUCH better quality everything in Maryland or Pennsylvania and the weather in June up here is like late March down there. Just basic stuff like going to buy strawberries at the supermarket can be shocking...Honestly I really question how many people here have actually lived in these places and how many people are just reading off of Wikipedia!? I really, really am curious...
Where did you live in Canada? If you're living in the US or from there I can almost guarantee that you wouldn't consider anything other than MTL, TO, Vancouver and possibly Calgary major...Halifax is like a small suburb and Quebec city a large sized town except it's literally in the middle of nowhere....
I'm guessing that by "major" you mean something at least the size of Cleveland or San Francisco...Perhaps you meant something smaller?
Under that criteria, most US states would NOT have major cities including:
Alaska
Hawaii
Oregon
Nevada
Utah
Idaho
New Mexico
Wyoming
Montana
North Dakota
South Dakota
Nebraska
Kansas
Oklahoma (the most borderline of them)
Iowa
Arkansas
Louisiana (after Katrina)
Mississippi
Alabama
South Carolina
Kentucky
West Virginia
Virginia
Wisconsin
Delaware
New Jersey
Connecticut
Rhode Island
Vermont
New Hampshire
Maine
31/50
FTR, I consider cities with hundreds of thousands of people that are major activity hubs major cities. Skyscrapers don't hurt either.
Under that criteria, most US states would NOT have major cities including:
Alaska
Hawaii
Oregon
Nevada
Utah
Idaho
New Mexico
Wyoming
Montana
North Dakota
South Dakota
Nebraska
Kansas
Oklahoma (the most borderline of them)
Iowa
Arkansas
Louisiana (after Katrina)
Mississippi
Alabama
South Carolina
Kentucky
West Virginia
Virginia
Wisconsin
Delaware
New Jersey
Connecticut
Rhode Island
Vermont
New Hampshire
Maine
31/50
FTR, I consider cities with hundreds of thousands of people that are major activity hubs major cities. Skyscrapers don't hurt either.
I actually completely agree with that list. The big resounding difference is that Delaware for example, is tiny and you can drive to Philadelphia or Baltimore. Within an hour for Philly, hour and a half for Baltimore. I used to live right next to Delaware in MD. New York and DC are within three hour drives. And yes, Delaware is a state people forget about. Virginia borders (literally) Washington DC. Connecticut borders (literally) New York City.New Jersey (literally) borders both Philly and NYC. Rhode Island and New Hampshire have less than an hours drive to Boston. Kansas literally borders Kansas City (located in) Missouri. Kentucky (literally) borders Cincinnati. When I say they literally border these big cities, I mean that you can have one foot in Virginia and the other foot in Washington DC. See what I'm saying here?
If I start in Montreal, I drive several hours to the next big city (TO). From TO I drive what seems like forever to the next big city (Calgary). From Calgary it is many more hours to Vancouver and I have made a trip across the entire continent while only hitting 3 major cities.
The difference between places like South Carolina and Alabama is that they are much more densely settled than almost all the Canadian provinces so that when you are driving across them you hit what you seem to consider "major cities" left and right! For example take where I lived before (Maryland) and look at it's population. 5 1/2 million? It's more than every province except Quebec and Ontario. It's the size of PEI.
All the other places you mentioned are effectively, yes that's right, absolutely the middle of nowhere. Maine, Nebraska, North Dakota, Iowa etc are all pretty out there, that's not news to me! I really don't consider anything smaller than Vancouver major. I really don't think people in Moscow or Bangkok have heard of London, Ontario or Edmonton, Alberta but I'm willing to bet they have heard of Montreal, Vancouver or Toronto.
Obviously there will be less population centers in Canada.... Canada has 10% the population of the US. Obviously between Winnipeg and Sudbury there is a giant lack of anything (Thunder Bay is pretty but come on)....
BTW Ottawa has been forgotten in all of this. Also a major city, IMO
Wanted to chime in. My family lived in California and I lived there until after college. Then the east coast of the US, Australia (Adelaide), Canada (Toronto) and now New England. From my experience, the grass is not always greener and sometimes it is greener where you first started, but in a different locale. After 9/11 I was sick of NY and moved to Australia which I absolutely loved but could not take my allergies (my asthma was severe). I could not find an equivalent job in Toronto to the one that brought me back to the US (New England). Of all the places that i've lived I would say if I had no allergies, I would have never left Oz. But living in the New England seacoast is a pretty nice second option.
So try looking around Canada and perhaps its Toronto and not Canada. To be honest, I have always loved Canada and I still do (I root for Canada in Olympic hockey). I could easily live there again (except Toronto - I was not fond of smog alert days in the summer).
PS. Your friend in California working at Starbucks with a car, etc. etc.. he is getting help from his family or living off student loans or extreme credit card debt or he lives in Fresno, Modesto or Bakersfield (not LA, SD or SF).
Reading about Canada it doesn't sound too bad or like a huge difference but living there, you simply don't get what you pay for (compared to the US that is). Maybe Canada is great for someone coming from Egypt or India, I don't know, I never lived in either place. Most of the people who talk about how the difference isn't that big either lived in a "rip off" area of the US (Seattle, California, NYC to name a few places)
And who wants to live in "non-rip off" areas of the US anyway? I'd rather live in a rip-off Montreal, Vancouver, Seattle or NYC than in a place like Baltimore, Detroit or similar. Cheap doesn't automatically mean life quality. Very often, it's just the opposite.
If I start in Montreal, I drive several hours to the next big city (TO). From TO I drive what seems like forever to the next big city (Calgary). From Calgary it is many more hours to Vancouver and I have made a trip across the entire continent while only hitting 3 major cities.The difference between places like South Carolina and Alabama is that they are much more densely settled than almost all the Canadian provinces so that when you are driving across them you hit what you seem to consider "major cities" left and right! For example take where I lived before (Maryland) and look at it's population. 5 1/2 million? It's more than every province except Quebec and Ontario. It's the size of PEI.
All the other places you mentioned are effectively, yes that's right, absolutely the middle of nowhere. Maine, Nebraska, North Dakota, Iowa etc are all pretty out there, that's not news to me! I really don't consider anything smaller than Vancouver major.
So you think more big cities and overpopulation make a country better? I don't.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hobbesdj
I really don't think people in Moscow or Bangkok have heard of London, Ontario or Edmonton, Alberta but I'm willing to bet they have heard of Montreal, Vancouver or Toronto.
And I doubt many people outside of Russia and Thailand know of other cities in these countries other than Moscow or Bangkok.
I am originally from Hamilton Ont and the weather was always similiar to Toronto being that both places are on Lake Ontario. I remember the cold wind coming from the lake during the winter.
Lot of complaints about the climate and cost of living expenses. $40 is nothing here in Calif...3-5 items for the laundry run that alone.
Have not been back to visit relatives in quite a while...wonder what the min wage is and what the avg wages per hr are. If the cost of a small apt is $1000 a month then wages must be also higher to offset the costs.
Would the OP show us some numbers to qualify his complaints etc?. It would be easier to understand his logic compared to the US.
And who wants to live in "non-rip off" areas of the US anyway? I'd rather live in a rip-off Montreal, Vancouver, Seattle or NYC than in a place like Baltimore, Detroit or similar. Cheap doesn't automatically mean life quality. Very often, it's just the opposite.
A couple hundred million plus people?
Either way, In NYC, you still get what you pay for in comparison to Vancouver, TO, or "low cost of living" Montreal. Go move there and find out. I did. I'm talking about working in the place, paying taxes, and then comparing that to how much it costs for a place, food, internet access, cable TV and a cell phone. The quality for what you pay, how much money you have left over, and selection of goods/services is simply is not comparable.
Last edited by Cornerguy1; 02-25-2010 at 09:52 PM..
Reason: copyrighted material removed
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For example take where I lived before (Maryland) and look at it's population. 5 1/2 million? It's more than every province except Quebec and Ontario. It's the size of PEI.
