iaink

So "Europe" has diversity, but the UK does not then.

dbd33

What's that, 13% of the population? Anyway, it's Montreal that has the distinctive downtown, I don't think Toronto has much of a downtown, Toronto's more like LA; all suburb.

Rich_007

Prolly the 5% of peeps who are so rank uptight they think a lil' ol' smoke of the bee cee ganjee bud will lead them down the perilous left hand path to reefer madness, homelessness, street prostitution, and TV dinners.

Note: all are welcome into the elysian fields, even the uppity who we hope will eventually chill, even if it takes some time to adjust. They will eventually be assimilated into lotus land. Only the peoples' hero Marc Emery gets threatened with expulsion as a Federal sacrificial lamb to Ca-US relations and the never ending Reaganesque "war on drugs" zzzz.

Rich.

dbd33

No, there is more diversity in Europe than in North America. There is less diversity in the UK than in Europe as a whole, but there are still more variations in the way of life around the UK than there are in Canada. For example, in the north of England cultural pursuits, such as pigeon racing and the keeping of whippets, exist that are unknown in south. In some regions there's interest in something called Rugby Union, in others it's Rugby League or football whereas across Canada interest is consistently focussed on the NFL. The UK has more people, so it has more variety and it's near to countries that are different again so someone in the UK can easily experience a range of cultures and lifestyles in a way that someone in Canada cannot.

flashman

If you're going to live in the burbs of any city you mich as well live in the sticks. I probably go downtown Montreal or Toronto more often than the burb dwellers.

iaink

Although you constantly argue here that the population of Toronto is nothing if not a patchwork of unassimilated cultures and lifestyle choices. You seem to want your cake and to eat it too.

According to you Canada is either uniformly mono-cultural, or its teeming with a staggeringly wide variety of imported races religions and lifestyle choices (in the GTA) , none of which are native or natural to Canada and who all keep together to avoid assimilation or cultural dilution.... They seem to be mutually exclusive options to me.

Rich_007

I guess there is a difference in the level and 'normality' access to minorities - i.e. in Canada one can be invited to dine and socialize with first and second gen. immigrants of every creed colour race and nationality.

In the UK this is less diverse, the Caribbean and Asian families are far longer established there. Some recent groups such as Albanian, Kosovan etc exist but are very unlikely to be 'dining and socializing companions' to the great mass of everyday Brits. Even the Polish immigrant workers are a relatively new experience, though there was a rush of them after WW2 for obvious reasons, many fought in the war and others escaped the Nazi horror.

Is there anywhere in the UK I would have second gen. Italian-Can's and German-Can. neighbours, socialize with Ukrainian-Can's, German-Can's, Can-Portugeuse-Can's (obviously removing the Can-suffix for the UK equivalent), apart from in the throbbing diverse metropolis of the People's Republic of Londonistan). ??? Doubtful, so my "diversity experience" is higher here than UK.

Rich.

dbd33

Not at all. The 905 area code is, by and large, a band of deathly suburbia. The 416 area is more lively but owes that to the unassimilated immigrant populations.

iaink

Well of course Europe has an advantage in that its a bunch of completely different countries with different langauges and histories. There is probably more diversity across Africa too come to think of it, but that doesnt mean there is no diversity across canada.

As for steriotypical cultural activities, there is just as much contrast between seal clubbing on the ice floes and totem carving in the redwood forests I would think as there is between Rugby Union vs League. And those sled dog breeders in the arctic north could teach those whippiters a thing or two I bet

iaink

So its almost like its...different...depending where you go?

dbd33

No. Most people live in suburbs or exurbs and those suburbs or exurbs are interchangable. Mississauga is just like Plano which is just like Richardson which is just like Vaughan. OK, maybe Boston Pizza near Calgary has a view of a mountain and Boston Pizza near Halifax has a view of the sea but it's all very similar. A few people do live in the centre of cities or on reservations in a manner different from most but it's not the same degree of variety as is packed into the UK. The UK, for example, includes crofters in Scotland, sectarians living in questionable peace in Northern Ireland, a big rich city, and a huge swath of post-industrial decay, all of it occupied by people with accents so various as to border on mutual unintelligibility. And it's next to France.

iaink

Inuit in the north Quebec separatists, or if the US is to be believed all those fulminating muslim extremists hiding under the beds here Toronto, Vancouver? You got me there

dbd33

I can't go on. I've shot me load on the non-Brit thread.

iaink

Me neither. call it a draw.

Butch Cassidy

How different (in your opinion) is Hamburg from Amsterdam. These being a much better comparision to Toronto Vs Chicago since Netherlands and Germany share a land border whilst UK and Netherlands dont.