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If Canada had the Puget Sound, but the US still existed (which would allow the benefit of Stanley Park for example), do you believe Vancouver would still be Canada's favored West Coast port or would Seattle be favored?
Or what if it's the reverse, and the US had the Vancouver area while Canada still existed?
Depends on what you mean by favour?
I'm biased, but I think Vancouver's natural setting is nicer than Seattles...with the mountains right here. So from a tourism point of view it might be the more popular one in that regard, which might also make people wanting to move to Vancouver chose it over Seattle.
The same would apply if the US had Vancouver. Vancouver's setting is a factor.
Both areas have similar things that attracted people to make a living. Logging, fishing, gold and other mining. So if both were in the same country, and you have a group of people who see the same opportunities in both places, my guess is they may go for the one with the slightly nicer setting.
Vancouver's backdrop is nicer, but in Seattle it's much easier to be close to water, in addition to the drier climate. At the point where leisure became more important to the broad population (early 1990s with the rise of unions etc.) it was easier for Seattle to build a lot of city-nature crossover stuff for people to do right in town. At some point later proximity to skiing became important to a lot of people and Vancouver has an advantage there.
Seattle is both bigger but also far more economically powerful and much wealthier. Even in Canada, it's surprising how little Vancouver effects the national scene.
Not luck. No state income tax in WA. Bill Gates was from Seattle though.
FYI, as of Jan 1, 2019, there is 0.4% tax on W2 income, and as of Jan 1, 2022, there is an additional 0.6% tax on W2 income, so soon it will be accurate to say WA state is a 1% income tax state for most people.
Vancouver's backdrop is nicer, but in Seattle it's much easier to be close to water, in addition to the drier climate. At the point where leisure became more important to the broad population (early 1990s with the rise of unions etc.) it was easier for Seattle to build a lot of city-nature crossover stuff for people to do right in town. At some point later proximity to skiing became important to a lot of people and Vancouver has an advantage there.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Natnasci
How so?
Seattle has more shoreline. It's an ithsmus with Lake Union and the canals cutting right through middle of it. .in addition to Puget Sound it has several.miles of lake shore on Lake Washington. Vancouver has better public waterfront at its core but Seattle has more water views and shoreline as a whole with fresh and salt water on both sides of the city and right through the middle of it. Both cities have stellar mountain and water views. But Vancouver is more defined by mountains and Seattle is more defined by water.
Last edited by Champ le monstre du lac; 09-04-2021 at 06:46 PM..
I guess it would come down to whichever city has the largest natural port/harbor and which ever one has the best access to the best pass for railroads to cross. Not sure if Vancouver has a better port, but for quite some time in the Puget Sound that was Tacoma, and to this day Tacoma has a larger port than Seattle, but Seattle was able to convince most Americans that it was the gateway to Alaska/Yukon and it’s gold, so if Vancouver was under US jurisdiction then I could see Vancouver winning out over Seattle considering it’s closer to Alaska. Another thing that is in Vancouver’s favor is that it sits on the Fraser river delta, so it would attract a lot of farmers and fisher men like Portland did being on the Columbia and Willamette. Also being under US jurisdiction, a bunch of dams and locks would’ve probably been built on the Fraser making the river navigable all the way up to Prince George, which would make Vancouver the premier lumber yard/port. So I think that in this Scenario Vancouver would out compete Vancouver, but I still think that Seattle (or Tacoma) would still be a major city.
I think the question is extremely speculative, even to the point that the premise almost fails with the assumptions. Are we assuming British Columbia never existed? Canada never existed? Both cities are in Canada? Or both cities are in the US?
That being said, I voted for Vancouver because there’s just more land, particularly to the south, for development to have occurred. Seattle is sort of in a weird location. The port access may be better, I don’t know. But I do know the areas south of Vancouver are filled with flat agricultural areas that would have been an easier catalyst for growth. Seattle metro has some areas like that (such as to the north in the Skagit Valley), but too far removed from the city center. I think the perfect location for a city is actually between the two cities, somewhere like Blaine or White Rock/Boundary Bay.
On the contrary, would Vancouver be as popular if it wasn't in Canada? It's Canada's warmest major city with the mildest winters. Vancouver is Canada's LA. But that's not the case if it were part of the US. Secondly, Vancouver has a huge amount of Hong Kong expats due to the British Hong Kong transfer and Canada being a Commonwealth country. Vancouver benefits greatly because it's in Canada.
You're overthinking it. I think that in this scenario we are to assume that they are the same as they are now regardless of the geopolitical circumstances that precipitated their getting there.
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