The Best City to Live In is....

[Asher]

On the first hand, Asher is using public health care as an argument, despite not actually supporting it.

I don't?

[techumseh]

You never did before, IIRC.

[Asher]

I think people should be able to opt-out and get their own insurance, but everyone deserves health care.

[techumseh]

NYC is actually pretty safe, compared to other major US cities. Still, it's much more dangerous than any Canadian city. Canadian data is 12 years older than US data, but murder rates have generally come down during that period.

TEN WORST LARGE US CITIES FOR MURDER, 2002 CITY PER 100,000

(1) Washington, DC 45.8
(2) Detroit 42.0
(3) Baltimore 38.3
(4) Memphis 24.7
(5) Chicago 22.2
(6) Philadelphia 19.0
(7) Columbus 18.1
(8) Milwaukee 18.0
(9) Los Angeles 17.5
(10) Dallas 15.8

(*) New York 7.3



The chance of being murdered in Washington,DC in 1990 was 3 times greater than the chance of an American soldier being killed in the Gulf War. The average American city with a population of 250,000 or greater has a murder rate of about 20, whereas cities in the 100,000 to 250,000 range have a rate of about 12. About as many Americans were killed (over 54,000) in New York City between 1962 and 2002 as died in the Vietnam War.

IV. HOMICIDE RATES IN CANADA
The nation-wide average for 2003 was 1.73 homicides per 100,000.

The 1990 homicide statistics for the murder rate for large Canadian cities:

LARGE CANADIAN CITIES BY HOMICIDE RATE, 1990 CITY PER 100,000

(1) Regina 4.72
(2) Saskatoon 4.39
(3) Sudbury 4.00
(4) Edmonton 3.50
(5) Vancouver 3.45
(6) Montreal 3.40
(7) Winnipeg 3.05
(8) Calgary 2.60
(9) Toronto 1.80
(10) Hamilton 1.70
(11) Halifax 1.25
(12) St. John's 0.00


There were no murders in St. John's, Newfoundland in 1989 or 1990.

[techumseh]

Originally posted by JimmyCracksCorn
No SAT in Canada. That is, only kids who are planning on going to US universities will take it (i.e., not many).

If you actually lived here, Imran, you would know that Canadian universities use the full range of scholastic apptitude tests.

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by techumseh
God, I'm torn! Help Asher, the neo-con Calgarian, against a gang of Americans, who are beating him up for daring to compare his city to one of theirs? Or stand by while a bunch of imperio-centric, arrogant yanks get away with embellishing their national self-image yet again?

On the one hand, Asher is defending Calgary. On the other hand GePap is saying NYC is the centre of the universe. On the first hand, Asher is using public health care as an argument, despite not actually supporting it. On the other, the yanks compare NYC to Constantinople. But I can't defend Calgary, I'm an Edmontonian. Gawd, what a dilemma.

Line up behind me at the popcorn stand.

[GePap]

Originally posted by Asher

I'm curious, GePap.

Since you're obviously an interesting person, because you live in New York City, what kind of interesting things do you do there?

Do you go to the orchestra? Do you go to plays? Do you go to restaurants? Do you go to clubs? Do you go to live music/concerts?

Do you go camping with friends? Do you go skiing? Do you go snowboarding? Do you have an outdoor icerink for free in your neighborhood for pick-up games of hockey? Do you have nearby sport fields for games of soccer and baseball and football? Do you go to museums? Do you go to planetariums? Do you have weekend retreats to a friends cabin on a lake in the mountains?

I'm trying to figure out why all of the interesting people in New York. I can and do all of the above in Calgary, so obvious New York must have a lot of things I cannot do here that make it that much more of a compelling place to live. I'm pretty sure you can't easily do a lot of the things in the above list, though...the downside of living in the middle of nowhere like New York -- no good mountains.

I do the culture scene. I wander around a City with countless different neighborhoods, some of them straight out of Shanghai, other straight out of Bogota.

You can go to a museum in any City, but the question is, what kind of museum? Can you go to a European Cloisters just 5 minutes from your house? Have any historical sites that close? Hell, I have a mummufied Saint five minutes from my house, and this is a boring part of town.

NYC is simply a totally different scale from anything you will get in a small city like Calgary. There is a difference between going to "an art museum' and going to the Metropolitan, one of the premier museums in the world. There is a difference between going to see some bones, and going to the American Museum of National History, the largest museum in the world.

I like bieng able to walk for mile along the Hudson river parl, or cross one of the multiple great bridges that connect Manhattan to the rest of the City, all affording spectacular views.

Also the diversity of people is far more astounding. Yes, lots of people leave NYC, and they are replaced, so that you might never see the same person twice in the street. I love being able to go to the park and just happen to see a string quartet playing in the park, a few steps away from a guy in Aztec costume dancing. In NYC that is no big deal, you see things like that daily.

And I am a City boy. I could give damn about "nature". The mountains are there, nice, but I don't do hiking, or skiing, anymore than you do philosophy. Its immaterial to me. If I want to do white sandy beaches, I go to Panama.

Of course, if you want to do all that nature crap, 2 hours by train from NYC you can find skiing and hiking and whatever. If all you like Calgary for its the fact that you can leave it fast to go to nature, then that doesn't say much about Calgary, now does it?

[GePap]

Originally posted by techumseh
God, I'm torn! Help Asher, the neo-con Calgarian, against a gang of Americans, who are beating him up for daring to compare his city to one of theirs? Or stand by while a bunch of imperio-centric, arrogant yanks get away with embellishing their national self-image yet again?

On the one hand, Asher is defending Calgary. On the other hand GePap is saying NYC is the centre of the universe. On the first hand, Asher is using public health care as an argument, despite not actually supporting it. On the other, the yanks compare NYC to Constantinople. But I can't defend Calgary, I'm an Edmontonian. Gawd, what a dilemma.

I don;t give a **** about any other American City, and yes, NYC is todays Constantinople, just as London was in 1900.

I don't care about "liveability", I care about greatness. NYC is a Great city, in the real meaning of that term, not the watered down wishy washy one that always tries to connect Greatness to "good". It can be a harsh, unforgiving place, and it is one of extremes, but Great it most certainly is.

[Asher]

No offense, GePap, but I don't consider walking through neighborhoods interesting, nor do I find it interesting to just walk down a river in a city.

I understand there's lots to do in NYC, but there's also lots to do in a city like Calgary. What makes a city is its people, and from what I know of New Yorkers, and New Yorkers I know, is most of them are simply egomaniacs and superficial.

I'm a city boy as well, but I still enjoy a weekend out in the mountains with friends. It's a shame you can't really experience that out in New York, but I hope you enjoy your ample selection of dry museums.

[Asher]

Originally posted by GePap
I don;t give a **** about any other American City, and yes, NYC is todays Constantinople, just as London was in 1900.

I don't care about "liveability", I care about greatness.

A great city is one where you don't have a high murder rate, high levels of poverty, and planes smashing into your skyscrapers.

The fact that you care more about the status of your city than the livability of your city is pretty disturbing. I like to live, and the standard of living and comfort of my life is valued pretty highly to me. To put that in 2nd place to the reputation and status of your city is insane. Like most New Yorkers...

[JimmyCracksCorn]

Originally posted by techumseh


If you actually lived here, Imran, you would know that Canadian universities use the full range of scholastic apptitude tests.

Its not required, thats a fact. No one I went to school with in Ottawa has ever taken the SATs.

And this Imran DL thing is just boring. Go file a report if you're that concerned about it, you arrogant ass.

[Asher]

I don't know anyone who took an SAT either. I do know people who took the GMAT, however...

[GePap]

Originally posted by Asher
No offense, GePap, but I don't consider walking through neighborhoods interesting, nor do I find it interesting to just walk down a river in a city.

Sad. You miss so much.

I understand there's lots to do in NYC, but there's also lots to do in a city like Calgary. What makes a city is its people, and from what I know of New Yorkers, and New Yorkers I know, is most of them are simply egomaniacs and superficial.

The people in NYC are certainly more interesting. And as for superficial, what live stories, what tribulations, could you come up with in Calgary? Talk about uninteresting.

I'm a city boy as well, but I still enjoy a weekend out in the mountains with friends. It's a shame you can't really experience that out in New York, but I hope you enjoy your ample selection of dry museums.

Good for you. I find the marvels I see in this City far more interesting than rocks and trees. And if I want to see nature's majesty, I simply travel a bit. Make more out of it.

[Asher]

If I want to see NYC, I can travel there too.

Hell, I could move there if I wanted to. But I don't.

[GePap]

Originally posted by Asher


A great city is one where you don't have a high murder rate, high levels of poverty, and planes smashing into your skyscrapers.

The fact that you care more about the status of your city than the livability of your city is pretty disturbing. I like to live, and the standard of living and comfort of my life is valued pretty highly to me. To put that in 2nd place to the reputation and status of your city is insane. Like most New Yorkers...

You seem oblivious to the meaning of Great. Nice is certainly not part of it.

Being in a midnelss burg does not interest me. That's what the suburbs are for.