Best city in Canada
- Thread starter justinwilliams
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Uh, on my honeymoon this past summer I was "lucky" enough to walk to accidently wander through East Hastings on my way through Chinatown. Before I knew it, my wife and I was standing in the middle of a freakin soup kitchen with 150 of Vancouver's finest on a 35ºC August afternoon, before having to run past a shelter and drug rehab clinic. Fun.
Sorry to say, but the entire area that encompases Vancouver's Chinatown (and about a 2 kilometer radius outside of it) is one of the nastiest, most foul and degrading places I have ever witnessed in Canada, and I have been to a lot of stinkholes and neglected Aboriginal reserves. As a fellow Chinadian, I have been to almost every other Chinatown in major Canadian cities, and it is by far the most deplorable (though Ottawa's is no parade either) - it is a shadow of the ones in Winnipeg, Toronto and even Montreal.
Best city in Canada, Humboldt, Saskatchewan. Population 5500. Small town prairies with most services.
Aaahh! Good ole Toronto, when the sun rises you can see the smog for miles, actually that's about all you can see.
St.Albert, Alberta is where it's at.
St.Albert, Alberta is where it's at.
roflmao.
The only good thing about flatland is the ability to see runaway dog 3 days after it's left.
No scenery except blue and whatever grains one has around them. Except in winter when one sees either white and blue, or white and grey. Peachy.
C'mon Gil, it's not that flat. Ever been here? You can see the dog for only 2 days.
Actually the only real flatness you'll see on the Canadian prairies is when you go through on the Trans Canada. It's very flat around Winnipeg and Regina, as they sit on the bottom of what used to be glacial lakes, but most other places the terrain rolls quite a bit, there are little lakes in valleys, lots of scattered forest, plenty of rivers and streams, and some quite dramatic landscape features left over from the retreat of the glaciers 10,000 years or so ago, like big runoff channels and old shorelines.
And Humboldt is a *very* attractive little city set in nicely forested rolling terrain. If you like to hunt, fish, boat, ski, drink, dance, it's all there.
I dunno what the best city in Canada is though. But I'm pretty sure I've never lived in it. For natural beauty, variety of recreational opportunities, cultural diversity, and other such important things, it's gotta somewhere on the west coast. Nanaimo sounds like a good bet.
Actually the only real flatness you'll see on the Canadian prairies is when you go through on the Trans Canada. It's very flat around Winnipeg and Regina, as they sit on the bottom of what used to be glacial lakes, but most other places the terrain rolls quite a bit, there are little lakes in valleys, lots of scattered forest, plenty of rivers and streams, and some quite dramatic landscape features left over from the retreat of the glaciers 10,000 years or so ago, like big runoff channels and old shorelines.
And Humboldt is a *very* attractive little city set in nicely forested rolling terrain. If you like to hunt, fish, boat, ski, drink, dance, it's all there.
I dunno what the best city in Canada is though. But I'm pretty sure I've never lived in it. For natural beauty, variety of recreational opportunities, cultural diversity, and other such important things, it's gotta somewhere on the west coast. Nanaimo sounds like a good bet.
I have no doubt that every place has some sort of attraction. I was kidding anyway. However, I did spend most of my time reading or in the barcar while crossing the prairies by rail. The Rockies are spectacular by rail if you folks ever get a chance. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than by road.
Um, VanIsle is ok: pretty mild climate; but you can't beat the interior for skiing (heli-, cross-, or downhill). Other than that it's really similar to here.
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Spent about 10 days in Tranna during one summer: 30° heat with humidity of about 110%. Absolutely horrid. Spent most of my time in Shanaghan's pub or hunting down any place with A/C.
:wave: Very interesting reading what all you Canadians have to say about your own cities. I have only had the pleasure of visiting two, and whoever said Montreal had a dark cloud over it - that was definitely my experience. In August! Dreary, dirty, ugly, depressing....ugh. Vancouver was prettier, and the people very nice and polite. Nothing we haven't got here, though.
My best friend from Moose Jaw says the nicest and the best city in Canada is Texas. I tend to agree, but I haven't done a comprehensive survey.
Tell me, what does Canada have that the US does not have? Be nice.
Uncle
My best friend from Moose Jaw says the nicest and the best city in Canada is Texas. I tend to agree, but I haven't done a comprehensive survey.
Tell me, what does Canada have that the US does not have? Be nice.
Uncle
In the way of spectacular scenery, relatively benign climate zones, attractive little cities (Helena, Montana's a great place to visit), attractive big cities (San Francisco's fabulous), cultural diversity, recreational facilities, employment opportunities, educational opportunities, entertainment, good people, and a host of other factors in quality of life, nothing. Though it depends where you live. I don't think I'd want to live in Los Angeles' Watts neighbourhood, or Vancouver's East Hastings district, or even in the city where I *do* live, Regina Saskatchewan, in either of the neighbourhoods immediately north and east of downtown. Worst neighbourhoods in Canada, according to a recent report in Maclean's magazine (equivalent to Time or Newsweek in the US). I've seen them; I believe it. Pimps, hookers, addicts, thieves, derelicts, losers, criminal gangs, grinding poverty, frequent violence, broken families... pretty sad, but every city of any significant size has them. It's a horrible problem, I wish I knew what the solutions are.
The US has Canada beat all to Hell in the benign climate zones department, and I'd call it a draw on everything else I listed. What we do have that you don't is a publicly funded national health care system (though it seems to be in a bit of trouble these days), a national government that doesn't think it's entitled to police the world and unilaterally ignore the international community (though its current incarnation is likely to be very supportive of US attempts to do so), and a political right that isn't so heavily influenced by looney Christian fundamentalists (though we certainly have our share of those too). But if there is to be only one global super power, the USA is infinitely preferable to any other nation I can think of that might play that role.
Wow, Dexter, you were nice. The US differs so greatly from region to region. Just today on TV,
I heard Simon Cowell say that he had heard auditions for "American Idol" all over the country, and
the absolutely WORST singers were from Seattle. HA! That's funny. He said Southerners sing a
lot better - obviously he hasn't heard me. :laughing7:
So, I would say it is a lot further between your major cities in distance than in the US. That's a nuisance. I can't imagine taking a weekend road trip from Regina to Vancouver. Good Lord! But how would you say Canada differs regionally? And not just with singing.
Uncle
I heard Simon Cowell say that he had heard auditions for "American Idol" all over the country, and
the absolutely WORST singers were from Seattle. HA! That's funny. He said Southerners sing a
lot better - obviously he hasn't heard me. :laughing7:
So, I would say it is a lot further between your major cities in distance than in the US. That's a nuisance. I can't imagine taking a weekend road trip from Regina to Vancouver. Good Lord! But how would you say Canada differs regionally? And not just with singing.
Uncle
Cornell, Markham. http://www.sayitcornell.com. It hasn't felt like home for years until I found this place.
It hasn't felt like home for years until I found this place.
no way you could take a weekend trip from regina to vancouver! itd take at least a three-four day drive!
Maple's right, Regina to Vancouver is out of the question for a weekend car trip. Calgary, Saskatoon, and Winnipeg are in relatively easy reach, Edmonton's a little far, but possible, though I wouldn't try any of them except on a 3-day holiday weekend.
Canada differs regionally about as much the United States does, and similarly, there's no short way to characterize it accurately. Perhaps the most obvious difference is political cultures. Alberta, for instance, has had right wing governments provincially and has routinely sent almost exclusively right wing members to the national parliament for as long as I can remember. Saskatchewan is much more variable in who it elects, and in the last 50 years it's covered the whole spectrum from left to right both provincially and federally. Conventional wisdom is that that's largely a reflection of the different origins of the immigrant communities that settled them, which seems reasonable on the face of it, but you'd think after a century or so things might have evened out a bit more than they have. Quebec of course is in a class by itself. There are distinct regional variations in speech, though few of them are as marked as the differences you'd hear between people from, say, North Dakota and Alabama. It's pretty hard to identify people's origins by their speech patterns anywwhere across western Canada, but a southern Ontario accent, a Cape Breton accent, and a Newfoundland accent, are instantly recognizable.
There's a little capsule summary for you, though as I said, it's not really possible to answer your question accurately in anything this short. You'll just have to take 5 years off and visit everywhere... ;-)
I live in a very small city of just under 25,000 people, and in my mind that's too big! If my husband didn't need to be here for his job, I'd force him to flee to a nice small town up in northern Ontario. I was raised in a town called Cobalt way the hell up north For me, no city in Canada is the best, they are all foul:-(
For me, no city in Canada is the best, they are all foul:-(
I've lived in London, Oshawa, St. John's, Yellowknife, Toronto and now Ottawa. They each have their own uniqueness but for me Ottawa wins hands down. Not too large, with the Ottawa River nearby. The Rideau River runs right by my front window.
Thunder Bay, ON isn't bad especially if you love nature. I also love Saint John, NB. It's such a beautiful city and such nice people.
I live in a very small city of just under 25,000 people, and in my mind that's too big! If my husband didn't need to be here for his job, I'd force him to flee to a nice small town up in northern Ontario. I was raised in a town called Cobalt way the hell up north
The area around Colbalt is so nice! I'm the same way I just love a nice size town especially if it's out in the boonies! Kakabeka, ON is wonderful. It's about an hour or so west of Thunder Bay.