DIFFERENCES BETWEEN

CANADIAN AND AMERICAN CITIES

BECAUSE CANADA AND AMERICA DEVELOPED ON THE SAME CONTINENT AND AT ABOUT THE SAME TIME THERE ARE MANY SIMILARITIES BETWEEN NORTH AMERICAN CITIES -- BUT THEY DO NOT APPLY AS WELL TO CANADA.

CANADA AND U.S. CITIES DIFFER IN THE FOLLOWING WAYS (?):

(1) CANADIAN CITIES ARE HIGHER IN DENSITY, WHICH MEANS THEY HAVE LESS URBAN SPRAWL. IT IS CHEAPER TO PROVIDE SERVICES IN COMPACT CITIES, AND COMMUTING TO WORK IS FAR EASIER.

(2) THE CORE AREAS OF CANADIAN CITIES ARE MUCH HEALTHIER THAN THOSE IN THE UNITED STATES. IN MANY U.S. CITIES, RESIDENTS HAVE MOVED TO THE SUBURBS TO AVOID CRIME, HIGH TAXES, AND OTHER INNER-CITY PROBLEMS.

THIS HAS CREATED WHAT SOME OBSERVERS REFER TO AS "DOUGHNUT CITIES", WITH POOR CENTRAL CORE AREAS THAT HAVE NO INDUSTRY, NO JOB OPPORTUNITIES, POOR SCHOOLS, DETERIORATED HOUSING, AND NO TAX BASE TO HELP IMPROVE THINGS.

THE STRENGTH OF OUR URBAN CORE IS A MAJOR REASON CANADIAN CITIES HAVE A MUCH LOWER CRIME RATE.

(3) URBAN CANADIANS RELY ON PUBLIC TRANSIT MORE THAN DO AMERICANS, THOUGH BOTH COUNTRIES ARE FAR BEHIND EUROPEAN CITIES IN PUBLIC TRANSIT USE. BECAUSE OF THIS OUR CITIES ARE LESS DIVIDED BY FREEWAYS THAN AMERICAN URBAN AREAS.

(4) RACIAL TENSION HAS BEEN FAR LESS PRONOUNCED IN CANADA THAN IN THE UNITED STATES, WHERE IT HAS LED TO MANY PROBLEMS INCLUDING URBAN RIOTS AND "WHITE FLIGHT" TO THE SUBURBS.

EX: STUDIES SHOW WHEN AN AMERICAN NEIGHBOURHOOD REACHES 7% BLACK RESIDENCE, IT INDUCES WHITE FLIGHT.

(5) CANADIAN AND U.S. PUBLIC HOUSING POLICIES HAVE BEEN VERY DIFFERENT. WITH A FEW EXCEPTIONS, SUCH AS TORONTO'S REGENT PARK AND MONTREAL'S JEANNE MANCE, GOVERNMENTS IN CANADA HAS NOT BUILT LARGE-SCALE, HIGH-RISE DEVELOPMENTS.

PUBLIC HOUSING IN CANADA HAS TAKEN THE FORM OF SMALL, INFILL PROJECTS IN ESTABLISHED NEIGHBOURHOODS. THERE ARE SMALL HOUSING DEVELOPMENTS TYPICALLY CONSISTING OF SMALL APARTMENT BUILDINGS OR ROW HOUSING.

{{QUES: HOW DOES THIS FIT THE POST-MODERNIST MOTIF OF “DENSELY-CONSTRUCTED, MIXED-USE DEVERSE-ENVIROMENTAL” DESIGN?}}

CANADA HAS NOT FACED THE PROBLEM OF LARGE NUMBERS OF ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED PEOPLE CROWDED INTO AREAS THAT CAN EASILY BE NEGLECTED BY THE REST OF SOCIETY.

EX: "URBAN BLIGHT" IN THE U.S. IS SEEN AS THE PROBLEM OF DECREPIT BUILDINGS; URBAN BLIGHT IN CANADA IS THOUGHT TO BE THE PROBLEM OF STREET PEOPLE, PANHANDLERS AND SQUEEGEE KIDS.

QUES: HOW CAN STREET PEOPLE COME TO BE SEEN AS MORE OF A NUISANCE THAN A TRAGEDY – A SOCIAL SANITATION PROBLEM AS OPPOSED TO A SOCIAL JUSTICE PROBLEM?