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Right on time! The same tired arguments on every thread with even the most minor criticism of anything in Canada. Economic, political, societal, you name it. Aren't you going to add that Canada is also a multicultural utopia? There was a time when I bought these arguments, but people find out first hand they are either exagerrated or just bs. I can't count the number of times I've been defensively told "it's not that much more expensive". It is, I've been there and done that, so I don't buy that defense anymore. Those extra prices add up fast. Thats why more Canadians immigrate to the US each year (out of a much, much, smaller population) than Americans emigrate north, and thats why immigrants overwhelingly prefer to immigrate to the US and use Canada as a stepping stone! Going to Canada for the culture is one thing, a matter of preference, but there is no economic argument for being in Canada, with the exception of particular circumstances such as being offered a well paying job in the Albertan fields. If you make 100k in America as a rule you need to make at least 140 in Canada to live the same lifestyle, not even factoring in the highway robbery that is housing prices. Its a tough pill to swallow.
I don't really worry about costs too much... I'm too busy earning a good income and enjoying my life ie travelling and such with my partner... Now yes we both make significantly more than the average Canadian or American but my day to day costs are actually not that high..
Where did you shop for groceries and clothing btw.. If you need help on where to shop for good value items in Canada ie good quality/price ratio that are found in Canada and not in the U.S I'm the master of that. I think you paid too much and trust me I've shopped in many U.S cities... Did you grocery shop at Loblaws and buy brand named clothing while here in Canada?
Well take it up with the New York Times study that demonstrated that Canada's Median middle Class after tax income is slightly higher than that of the U.S. The cost or value of housing did not factor into the study. General day to day costs are higher in Canada than the U.S - that is true, but it is also cheaper for housing and healthcare and there are better social benefits on the whole.
Botticelli hit the nail on the head (as he tends to do when it comes to the Canadian economy). Wages can be one thing but when you are getting price gouged left and right it doesnt matter. And the mind boggling part is that most Canadians (unlike botticelli) just take it and dont 'stir up trouble' by questioning the logic of the pricing.
Like when my computer broke in Canada, I did what any regular PC user would do: I looked online for pricing and what I would get. But this time I was in Canada. To my surprise, I didnt find the usual array of well designed websites offering masses of up to date hardware at reasonable prices. Instead you find a few sites that look like a high schooler assembled them. The selection? Laughable, at best. Second world, even. Of course at the time I wasnt laughing. I'd look at the American sites of Newegg or Amazon, etc to find what I wanted to get and then go to the Canadian site only to find it was not yet available, or out of stock. When they had something it would be way overpriced or lacking features. Sometimes asking you to shell out a few hundred more for features that come already on the lower priced American site. $1200 PC on the US sites? $2000 on the CDN sites, and an extra 250 for the same video card included on the US site. Shipping? Just as big of a rip off. The US site would offer free shiping for such a pricey purchase, add on another $100 for the Canadian sites.
So of course I go on foot to Canadian electronics retailers and find the same rip off prices and apologetic excuses - if they even have the up to date products. In the end I found it much cheaper to buy it in the US and pay customs a hefty sum rather than buy it in Canada. How ironic that the government that allows such shameless price gouging to exist would demand money for a product that was bought in the US under the government that fosters superior economic conditions.
^ And that's how buying things in Canada goes. And thats how those higher wages are necessary but eaten up quickly. Always asking for more money and charging extra for what is standard in the US. Its like living in Hawaii, but Hawaii being a chain of islands has a reasonable excuse for it's prices. Quebecois culture is awesome but there is no economic advantage to veing in Canada over the US. Generations of immigrants have discovered this!
Great Link and info- I wonder what the most recent median total income by family type is for Los Angeles... I'm sure the top 10 percent in L.A leave the top 10 percent in Montreal in the dust - but the great equalizer is probably the average joe family in both places and I wouldn't be surprised it the average joe family in Montreal is doing better in income than L.A.
Possibly, but you also have to considered Canadians are taxed at a much higher rate than we are. I worked for an international corporation back in the 90's. Our Candian counter parts in Montreal were paid a slightly higher gross salary for the same position and the reason being was due to the higher taxes. In addition the Canadian dollar was worth less at that time, but I think now we are almost even. It pretty much even out after taxes in accordance to matching the value of the American dollar. I'm not sure how it works now, but that was the case back in 1996.
I love visiting Montreal as it's one of my top 5 favorite cities to visit in North America. One thing I noticed the last time I visit a few years ago was how much more decay there was. Personally I don't know the politics of Quebec but I got into a discussion with an English Canadian woman on the streets and I made mention of how I noticed some things has changed for the worst. Her comment was the French are very cultured and she loves that part about the city, but are somewhat less competitive at business and that is why Toronto is thriving and Montreal has decline.
For me personally I would love to live in Montreal to experience the city, but I know eventually I would move back to LA, there is just more to do overall in Los Angeles. I'm also not sure how I would handle extreme cold since I've never been there in the winter. I have visited NYC in January before and lived in Chicago for 6 months several years ago but I moved back to the west coast in early December. I didn't mind the cold in Chicago but it wasn't exactly winter yet. In reality I can't say for sure how I would handle an entire winter since I'm a native Angeleno and have not had to deal with harsh winters and any long period.
It would basically mean though that there's a very small number of two-income households if it's that different from the average household income(which sounds strange since there's obviously a decent amount of two-income households these days).
That's because 18Montclair posted the mean income, the previous (and usual) stat posted was the median income. Los Angeles probably has [a lot] higher income inequality, so the mean and median are two very different numbers. Not sure why you'd use the mean, though.
Does it really? I am guessing that is by route-miles - LA does well with this measurement because its such a huge area with loooong lines (Blue and Gold). Dollars to donuts Montreal's is more heavily-used.
Judging purely by Google Maps transit overlay, it seems like Montreal has some large areas with a lack of rail transit. But maybe they are served with BRT or trams that don't show up on that overlay.
Montreal's subway system is just a bit bigger than Boston's (not counting the green line). Ridership per mile is high. Here's two reasons for high ridership:
1) Lots of feeder bus use
2) High job centralization
Quote:
What kind of commuter rail does Montreal have? Los Angeles has a pretty extensive Metrolink commuter rail, though it is not used much mainly due to frequency. The big news is the through-routing is finally coming true - after years of scratching my head when Oycrumbler mentioned this upgrade at Union Station, it is finally happening. Basically now instead of having to back into Union Station and pull back out (leaving trains SD-bound from the Valley and beyong with excruciatingly long waits at Union Station) the trains can just stop at Union Station like a normal station, and apparently some are going to even skip the hub. Next big step will be double-tracking and fully grade separating.
Commuter rail? Like almost North American cities, probably mediocre.
Ridership is 74,000 / year. One line gets ok frequencies (25 trains / day each direction) and is electrified. On the plus side, there appears to be some fare integration.
Layout and density-wise, Montreal has a strong resemblance to Philadelphia without the decay. There are some low density suburbs, but nowhere as extreme as Philadelphia. Weighted density is slightly higher than Los Angeles.
That's because 18Montclair posted the mean income, the previous (and usual) stat posted was the median income. Los Angeles probably has [a lot] higher income inequality, so the mean and median are two very different numbers. Not sure why you'd use the mean, though.
Because the census bureau does NOT provide data as intimately for median as it does for mean, which I find odd.
Also, we have to remember that LA only has so many homes for sale at any given time. The point is there are more than enough households that can easily affordable the finite inventory of homes on the market so there is no problem finding buyers despite what the median hh income is.
and btw, median household data includes all kinds of households including households of 1 so it's a real stretch to apply the median hh income and therefore declare that LA is way unaffordable, which is the case for the median of all households perhaps, but certainly married couples where both spouses work tend to be more financially stable and earn more money so that demographic is the ideal when thinking about wanting to buying the median house.
Furthermore, the median home price in outlying areas is considerably cheaper than LA and millions of people have moved out there to take advantage of those lower prices.
Because the census bureau does NOT provide data as intimately for median as it does for mean, which I find odd.
and btw, median household data includes all kinds of households including households of 1 so it's a real stretch to apply the median hh income and therefore declare that LA is way unaffordable, which is the case for the median of all households perhaps, but certainly married couples where both spouses work tend to be more financially stable and earn more money so that demographic is the ideal when thinking about wanting to buying the median house.
There's median family income, which includes households of at least two. I've seen median income reported more on the census, the census also shows breakdowns by income brackets.
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