Canada province/city impression thread

[The Bastard]

$70c is what, like $8US?

It's $53.78 US funds.

[Matt]

Well, like I said, compared to most cities in the US Toronto is definitely MUCH nicer. I'd sooner live there than anywhere in the US aside from NYC. The problem with Toronto comes vis-a-vis rest of Canada and how the citizens and media act in and put off the rest of the country. I guess I have mixed feelings. Overall it's an average city with good and bad features, but which other Canadians justifiably resent/make fun of.

Oh yeh, and the Leafs suck.

The whole media/attitude thing isn't something you can avoid - Toronto has more money and power than anywhere else in the country. People in Toronto are blissfully unaware of the resentment until they visit somewhere else and hear people complain. It's exactly the same as Americans vs people from anywhere else.

The leafs may not be the best team in the world, but supporting them is really fun in an odd way.

On the other hand, Chinatown in Montréal smells fine and I don't remember any problems in NYC either, tho it's been a while since I was down there.

Honolulu's Chinatown smells fine, too, even though we have way more fish/seafood vendors here. The difference is that the dealers clean up after themselves - I imagine it's because trash bylaws are better enforced.

I have been a lot of places on the east coast and some in the midwest tho. There are some cities/places in the US I find decent, both from first hand experience or reputation (Boston, San Francisco, Rhode Island, Minneapolis, Hawai'i, etc) and but I'd still rather live in stinky ole Toronto than any of them.

Oh, there are some US cities I'd live in before Toronto. San Francisco is great and I'm seriously considering moving there after I'm finished school here. Honolulu is awesome - it's got everything you'd want in a city but it's small enough that you can escape the urban sprawl without too much trouble. Having perfect weather 99% of the time is cool also. Even though I now live on an island that's smaller than the GTA and located 3000 miles from anywhere else, I still feel less isolated than I did in Toronto. Being stuck in the middle of a slushy concrete ocean sucks.

But yeah, compared to a lot of US cities, Toronto is a near utopia. Crime is very low, it's really easy to get around, it's clean, the cost of living is cheap, and it's a tremendously diverse place. Some areas of town aren't so hot, but they're nothing compared with the crap I've inadvertently seen in some US cities. The fact that I lived in Canada's larget city for most of my live and was still shocked at seeing Vancouver's homeless problem says a lot.

[jonas]

if someone in montreal attempted to kiss me, i'd slit there throat.

[Rocca]

Montréal - The greatest place in North America. Everything about it is great. It's beautiful, multi-cultural, affordable, safe, cosmopolitan, international, liberal, fun, and so on.

Got you beat, it's -44 here. Brrrrrrrrr ....

Isn't it sick when you're looking forward to -20?

Try working outside every day since the New Year and you've summed up my past weeks pretty well.

[Kenshin]

There's all kinds of nice places to live in the US. But, I couldn't live there for political and ideological reasons. (I'm an evil bleeding-heart liberal socialist, remember.)

[Spent]

Why do all the Montreal people get off bashing Toronto? I hate the ciy myself, and only go when there's a good concert on or to a buddies place to drink, but Montreal just looks like Toronto in the eighties. I wouldn't be too proud to live in some asshole city where all the french text MUST be double the size of the english. At least in Toronto its the same size. Montreal, [much like all of Quebec] needs to get off its high horse and contribute something to the world instead of asking everyone "Remember the World Fair?" or "Remember when the Canadians won a cup?"

[Drewbacca]

It's true. All too often do cities ride high horses with their golden stirrups of extreme snoodiness. The hair on their steed rifled with the memory of their comrades who have fallen in the line of duty (poets, mostly). Have you no shame, Montrealers? What happened to the double kissing attitude that once made you the laughing stock of the nation? Are foreigners to your razer sharp borders not welcome to this custom? I say nay. Nay like the horse you ride on so high and blazen. It's time to do as your forefathers have always done and step down.

VIVA LA MONTREAL... I mean TORONTO!

[sggg]

There's all kinds of nice places to live in the US. But, I couldn't live there for political and ideological reasons. (I'm an evil bleeding-heart liberal socialist, remember.)

Same reason I left.

[Diff-chan]

Why do all the Montreal people get off bashing Toronto? I hate the ciy myself, and only go when there's a good concert on or to a buddies place to drink, but Montreal just looks like Toronto in the eighties. I wouldn't be too proud to live in some asshole city where all the french text MUST be double the size of the english. At least in Toronto its the same size. Montreal, [much like all of Quebec] needs to get off its high horse and contribute something to the world instead of asking everyone "Remember the World Fair?" or "Remember when the Canadians won a cup?"

Ha. It sounds to me like someplace is trying to be Paris II.

[sggg]

but Montreal just looks like Toronto in the eighties.

Explain that.

I wouldn't be too proud to live in some asshole city where all the french text MUST be double the size of the english. At least in Toronto its the same size.

I'm an anglophone and I have no problem with the sign laws. If English was banned I'd have a problem with it but there's nowt wrong with requiring French and requiring it be predominant. The laws are far from perfect and occasionally enforced rather absurdly or immaturely, but on the whole protecting the French language and culture is more important and it keeps Montréal from looking like ever other US city.

Montreal, [much like all of Quebec] needs to get off its high horse and contribute something to the world instead of asking everyone "Remember the World Fair?" or "Remember when the Canadians won a cup?"

Québec contributes an awful lot to world culture (both French and English) for a society of under 8 million people.

Ha. It sounds to me like someplace is trying to be Paris II.

Montréal does not have to "try" to be French. 75% of the population is French and it's the second largest French speaking city in the world.