Questions for the Americans here.

[Alle_Gory]

You guys ever been through Canada? What do you think of it and how would your compare that to America?

Politics and other official BS is not important. I just want to know what you think of the place, the people and the "culture" we have.

 

[Alle_Gory]

How would you compare Canada to where you live now? How is it better and how is it worse?

 

[element0]

I've never noticed a difference between where I live, Pittsburgh, and the places I've been in Canada; mainly Hamilton, Niagara, Toronto areas, except that the geography is much flatter.

 

[sexysuave]

Great place an all, but just too damn cold for me up there.. I like my sunshine and warm weather. That's a personal preference though. My mood can be weather impacted so I tend to always go back to the sunny parts of the country.

 

[Kerpal]

I've never been there and never really hear anyone talking about it. I've read that it's nice there though.

 

[Alle_Gory]

I've read that it's nice there though.

Depends where you are. If you're in the sea of cookie cutter houses sprawling up all around Toronto, it's pretty ****. No personality, just rows of big bland houses packed closely on tiny lots.

 

[element0]

Depends where you are. If you're in the sea of cookie cutter houses sprawling up all around Toronto, it's pretty ****. No personality, just rows of big bland houses packed closely on tiny lots.

Sounds like most of the midwest.

I do remember the downtown portion of Toronto not being extremely interesting. Besides the fact they had a Chinatown area it reminded me of Columbus.

 

[Quiksilver]

Depends where you are. If you're in the sea of cookie cutter houses sprawling up all around Toronto, it's pretty ****. No personality, just rows of big bland houses packed closely on tiny lots.

I agree.

Spent my childhood in one of the cities between Toronto and Hamilton, and if you drive north of the 401 its endless rows of the same house. Cheaper than custom built I suppose.

One could also argue that the prairies have no personality either. Just row upon row of wheat fields, with a small house at the corner of the lot where the tractor and farmer lives.

The housing bubble could be partly blamed for cheaper-than-dirt houses on overvalued tiny plots of land.

 

[Alle_Gory]

The housing bubble could be partly blamed for cheaper-than-dirt houses on overvalued tiny plots of land.

I see "$1 million" cookie houses that look like ****. Cheaper than? Not likely. The housing bubble is getting out of control.

 

[Quiksilver]

I see "$1 million" cookie houses that look like ****. Cheaper than? Not likely. The housing bubble is getting out of control.

lol

That's my point, the land is so expensive but the houses are so cheap.

 

[Alle_Gory]

So if an American wanted to move to Canada...how likely is it that he could become a citizen and find a job? Is it hard to gain Canadian citizenship? I'm thinking about moving to the Pacific Northwest--i.e. Vancouver, Portland, or maybe Seattle.

Easier than a Canadian citizen getting citizenship as an American.

 

[Desdinova]

One could also argue that the prairies have no personality either. Just row upon row of wheat fields, with a small house at the corner of the lot where the tractor and farmer lives.

LOL! Ain't it the truth!

I live in Canada, and yeah the Winters are pretty fvcking cold up here. I've been thinking of moving down south to Florida after I retire. I enjoy and tolerate the heat much better than the cold.

Apparently health care in the US is way better than up here, but I guess that's because you guys pay for it. We're covered, but the waits are long and hospitals are generally understaffed.

I must say that the food here is of better quality than the US, but the US has much nicer junk food. Pepsi actually tastes good here, and Coke tastes kinda like ass (many of you other Canadians may feel free to disagree.)

Another thing I've noticed is that Canadians are generally much more friendlier than those in the US. You're going to have better luck doing cold approaches here and getting into a conversation than you will in the US, and that goes for both men and women.

We still have fatties, homeless, poverty, murder, disease, so I can't really say that Canada is better than the US, just different.

 

[Alle_Gory]

Apparently health care in the US is way better than up here, but I guess that's because you guys pay for it. We're covered, but the waits are long and hospitals are generally understaffed.

If you're rich then everything is better. In my area the hospitals are very busy and the waits aren't so bad. They're only long if you come in with a non-threatening condition and you get sent to the bottom of the priority pile. I'm not sure how bad it is in the prairies but here I can wait one hour to 3 hours depending on the severity of the problem.

I must say that the food here is of better quality than the US, but the US has much nicer junk food. Pepsi actually tastes good here, and Coke tastes kinda like ass (many of you other Canadians may feel free to disagree.)

I just recently had a small bottle of "new" coke. It has real sugar in it. It's delicious and very filling unlike that high fructose laden **** they normally sell. Pepsi is still awful but I haven't tried the Pepsi throwback with real sugar.

As far as the food, I think the Americans have delicious food. Whenever I go down there even if I'm ordering just plain deli meat from a grocey store it has so much more flavor.

Another thing I've noticed is that Canadians are generally much more friendlier than those in the US. You're going to have better luck doing cold approaches here and getting into a conversation than you will in the US, and that goes for both men and women.

My experience has been otherwise, then again I live near Toronto. It could also be due to the "wealth" in the area. The more money people make the more they seem to want to structure everything and isolate themselves in a post modern designed sanitary box.

 

[Julius_Seizeher]

I give tons of credit to Canada's mining industry.

If you can brave the wilderness, there are fortunes to be made mining gold in the Yukon. In Saskatchewan you've got potash, uranium, oil sands, logging, there is just so much mining & resource activity in Canada. The Abitibi Greenstone belt is a prolific mineral resource.

I think it is the massive volume of resource activity that allows the Canadian government to run a socialized healthcare system with such a low national tax rate.

The TSX (Canadian stock exchange) is loaded with junior mining companies where you can make ALOT of money if you buy the right ones.

 

[Fuglydude]

I give tons of credit to Canada's mining industry.

If you can brave the wilderness, there are fortunes to be made mining gold in the Yukon. In Saskatchewan you've got potash, uranium, oil sands, logging, there is just so much mining & resource activity in Canada. The Abitibi Greenstone belt is a prolific mineral resource.

I think it is the massive volume of resource activity that allows the Canadian government to run a socialized healthcare system with such a low national tax rate.

The TSX (Canadian stock exchange) is loaded with junior mining companies where you can make ALOT of money if you buy the right ones.

Low national tax? Perhaps for corporations and those who run their own business. I paid $2000 in taxes my last 2 week pay period...and I've been to the doctor 2x in the last 6 years, one for a compulsory physical, and one for a minor eye issue. I think if you're young and healthy and making a reasonable income, the US is a better place as far as taxes and disposable income go. Taxes are nasty up here once you're making over 100k, and keep in mind I live the most right wing and prosperous part of Canada.

Canada has a shiitload of energy resources as well... Second largest oil reserves next to Saudi, and something like 95% of it is in my province. Its not light sweet crude like the Saudis have, but its still easy enough to extract so that companies make a profit and pump tens of billions of dollars into infrastructure. There's a lot of money in my province, to give you an idea, my neighbor has a bright orange lamborghini galardo and I don't even live in a super posh part of town! I don't get why making 100K is such a big deal in the US. I've always made around that since I've been out of school... it seems like everyone makes at least that up here.

The real estate market up here, in my neck of the woods anyways, is very safe, albeit capital intensive: Investment residential properties require 20% down. We have much tighter laws on leveraging w/ mortgages, and this is a big reason why Canada weathered the storm of the 2008 financial meltdown relatively well. Truth be told, we didn't really feel anything here in north/central Alberta. I mean I heard some people had their overtime reduced, but the economic impact as far job loss, etc was minimal.

I was seriously considering moving to the US in the next few years to further my education, but its really not worth it from a strictly business/financial perspective given how propserous Alberta has been over the last decade.

Based on my limited travels I also think that Canada has more attractive people per capita than the US... This is likely because I've never been to a club or gym in the US, whereas I've been to hundreds up here. There's so many obese people in the US its absolutely crazy...

 

[element0]

Been to the hospital 5-6 times in my life for minor broken bones and stitches, never had to wait more than 20 minutes. But healthcare is big business in Pittsburgh, so we have tons of hospitals.

 

[BigJimbo]

Canada has great healthcare if you have MONEY. You don't wait if you have good insurance in Canada. Even Eastern Europe has good healthcare if you have money. Many Brits go to places like Latvia for cheaper healthcare.

You wait in line in America as well for healthcare! Just visit the typical big city American emergency room at night. Unless you have been run down by an 18 wheeler or shot more than once in the chest you will wait and wait and wait.

America wins when it comes to B.S. Like soldiers protect your freedom to go to Starbucks and party. Hell, you can drink at Starbucks, gamble, booze, etc. at a younger age in Beirut or Moscow than in Kansas City or New York.

 

[sstype]

You wait in line in America as well for healthcare! Just visit the typical big city American emergency room at night. Unless you have been run down by an 18 wheeler or shot more than once in the chest you will wait and wait and wait.

I always spend at least 3 hours at the ER....most of it waiting. And I get a nice $500 bill to boot (I have insurance).

What I don't understand is why we don't just move to single-payer from a risk pool standpoint.

Reagan mandated by law that ERs accept and treat patients regardless of their ability to pay. How can a private insurance model work then if essentially hospitals are forced to pass the costs of treating uninsured patients on to those who do have insurance?

Single-payer, while not perfect, would bring EVERYONE under one giant risk pool. The government, through its monopsony power, can then put pressure on hospitals and pharmaceuticals to reduce its costs. There's no reason hospitals should be charging $50 for a patch of freaking gauze or advil.