Pros and Cons about US and Canada Cities

[notyoueither]

Of course, there could be exceptions. Matrox is there. I doubt they are paying their engineers a lot less than those people could get elsewhere by moving. Of course, they are in trouble, so...

[Tingkai]

If you want to immigrate to Canada, you have to meet some requirements. This following test can tell you if you are qualified:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/skilled/qual-5.html

[Gangerolf]

The climate in the border region IS different, PEkka. The winters are colder than almost anywhere in Finland and in the summertime the humidity is stifling. But in Minneapolis for example there are "skywalks" all over downtown, so you don't have to go outside. It looks like a Mars colony. The city (and the surrounding area) is really nice though.

[Agathon]

Montréal is the coolest city in Canada.

You can tell the quality of a city by the quality of its record stores. In that regard Montréal spanks Toronto.

[Arrian]

Boston is ok, although fair warning: it's hideously expensive to live there. Definitely a good college town with lots to do. Real Estate is just insane. :shudder: I live 1.5 hrs away and my current home would most likely cost 3x as much if it were magically transplanted to one of the Boston suburbs (say... Newton).

Oh, and if you live there you may be doomed to becoming a Red Sox fan, which is it's own special curse.

Hockey... the Bruins are typically decent, but haven't won in a while. They seem to have major issues with beating a certain team from Montreal in the playoffs.

Football: the Patriots are currently in the midst of quite a run (they've won 2 times in the last 3 years).

Basketball... who cares? If you do, though, I *think* the Celtics currently suck.

...

Chicago I've visited twice now. I have a good friend who has been doing graduate work at UChicago. Big city like New York, with traffic that seems about as bad. Cold as **** in winter, with wind you would swear has an evil mind of its own. My understanding is that the summer is comparable to summers here... 80s-90s with fairly high humidity. I don't know about cost of living, but I'd assume it's lower than NYC & Boston, but still fairly high in comparison to other midwestern cities.

Both of Chicago's baseball teams appear cursed (the Cubs haven't won since 1908 and the White Sox haven't won since 1917).

The Blackhawks (hockey)... I've no idea. Unfortunately, my preferred team (NY Rangers) has been so godawful as to be unwatchable for years now, so my knowledge of the NHL has diminshed to nearly zilch.

The Bulls (basketball)... what the hell do I know? I hate basketball.

The Bears (football) haven't been good in a while.

Good luck, Pekka.

-Arrian

[Asher]

Originally posted by notyoueither
Of course, there could be exceptions. Matrox is there. I doubt they are paying their engineers a lot less than those people could get elsewhere by moving. Of course, they are in trouble, so...

Or maybe they do pay their engineers a lot less, which is why they haven't had a good product in many years.

[Stuie]

Move to suburban Philly. We've got it all.

Plus some punk tried to go out of turn at a stop sign yesterday and almost hit me, then has the nerve to honk his horn at me. Of course I gave him a clear view of my middle finger, but all I could think was "Where's the ****ing Supercitizen when you need him?"

[pchang]

Originally posted by Velociryx
Well, I would recommend Columbia, SC, but I fear our climate may not be very to your liking.

On the plus side, we have tons of beautiful, scantily clad women here, and although the wages in SC are somewhat lower than elsewhere in the states, the cost of living is also a good deal lower (example: In the Bay Area, California, a decent home will run you an easy 250k. Here, you can get vast estate for that same money (starter homes run 60-80k).

We have a "bush league" hockey team, and you'd be an all-star, for sure.

On the minus side....climate. You're from the great north, and we only have about two weeks worth of weather you're accustomed to a year in these parts. The rest of the time, you'd find it miserably hot, and in July and August, you'll swear you're living in Hell on Earth. Takes some getting used to, but if you stay mostly inside for those two months, the rest of the year is pure heaven...

-=Vel=-

Your estimate of the price of a decent home in the Bay Area of California is off by at least a factor of 2.

[Tis I]

The Professional Sports sceen in Ann Arbor-

Red Wings- Consistently one of the best hockey teams in the NHL. A bit like the Yankees or Real Madrid in that they are willing to spend the money to buy the best players.

The Pistons- The epitome of teamwork. Won the last NBA championship with a superstar.

The Shock- Female basketball team. Won the last WNBA championship

The Lions and Tigers- Provide perspective for the successes of the other teams . Though this year, the Tigers have massively improved after coming close to having the worst record ever in the history of major leage baseball...

[Japher]

Once you leave California everything else is a lot more "normal"... especially compared to the bay area.

I went to Vancouver once, and found it to be quite nice. Great PT and I bunch of Asians, so the food is good. Plus, tons of bars and strip clubs.

Michigan/MidWest is too cold.

Florida is too wet.

Portland and Seattle are nice. Look into UW.

Colorado is also a fun state with plenty of good schools.

Mass is nice, especially Boston. However, you don't need an ice scrapper to unearth that east coast mentality which cleverly disguised by a southy accent.

The South is nice, but muggy. Still, you can't be their hospitality... Especially in Texas.

[Pekka]

California is nice. But.. it's always hot in there. Californian people always go 'oh we have the perfect weather, always sunny!'. While I rarely experience sunny days in here, always sunny is kind of stupid too.

Bay area was kind of cool though. I liked it.

Portland and Seattle are blah. Always rains, full of hippies.

[Japher]

Than don't go to Berkley... Hippie capitol of the world.

[Pekka]

yeah but it's a goodl school and in nice area. Maybe there will be some hippie girl who wants to spread free love and no deceases. You know, protesting people who eat chicken, with breasts flying around, maybe I grab one 'I stop eating chicken if I can eat you!' and she goes 'oh well well well.. isn't it the most handsome man I've ever seen!' 'yes.. and you, go get a shower and put some deodorant for fox sake and meet me in my place' 'I like a man who takes charge. But I don't put up with a man who tries to suffocate my feminist command..' 'ok whatever, blaablaablaa, just go take a shower OK?' 'Well OK you do seem like a great guy.' 'hell yeah!'.

You see, I can make it work.

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Pekka
California is nice. But.. it's always hot in there. Californian people always go 'oh we have the perfect weather, always sunny!'. While I rarely experience sunny days in here, always sunny is kind of stupid too.

Bay area was kind of cool though. I liked it.

Portland and Seattle are blah. Always rains, full of hippies.

Only inland is hot. Many more people live on the coast.

California has fairly low humidity too. It definitely has the best weather.

[gunkulator]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui

Well... Seattle is like the capital of Hippie.

Boston is considered pretty good for computer stuff. Though Taxachusetts has comparable tax rates to Canada and is full of M*******s .

Sales tax: 5%
State income tax: 6% (I think)

I _know_ sales taxes are more than double in Canada. Not sure about income tax but I suspect they are a good deal higher up north.