Here’s a comment just in from a Swedish colleague who’s familiar with Toronto and Washington, D.C.
The best way of learning about the way people perceive their cities is to talk to – taxi drivers. Those are the ones with all the info. When I asked taxi drivers in DC what they thought of the US almost all of them said – “the US is great, if it wasn’t that people are working so hard,” adding how many hours per week they were working themselves. I asked taxi
drivers in Toronto the same thing – and they said: “Canada is great. If
I work hard I can have a decent standard of living”. On the plane back from Toronto, I was squeezed in between two giant men, both with strong eastern European accents. I thought they knew each other, but one was of Polish origin the other one from Russia. We talking and I asked them how long I’d been in Toronto. Both of them laughed and said they were FROM Toronto, not from Poland or Russia. They considered themselves Canadian. Both of them praised Canada, saying this was a country that would promote you for your hard work and a great place to
raise your kids. The Polish man had his son with him and they were going back
to Poland to meet with relatives). So over and over again I got this
message – Canada is good to you if you work hard, whereas the US message has
always been “US is good for you BUT you have to work hard”…There’s a fine
line between the two, but it was so very noticeable to me during this very
short stay.” I think you’ve got it right — and sometimes it takes
someone from outside to notice.
Amazing how much one can learn from a single column and subsequent exchange around the blog-sphere.
October 28th, 2007 at 5:38 pm
Interesting insight, but is it fair to generalize observations made in DC and Toronto to the whole of their respective countries?
I’ve spent considerable time in both and here’s my insight — they’re both great places and you can make a lot of yourself in either one with a variety of approaches to your work/life.
October 29th, 2007 at 4:45 pm
I feel sorry for people who make business trips that put them in an interesting city where all they see is the airport taxi or shuttle, a hotel and maybe a couple of offices. Visiting may be superficial but it’s better than nothing. North Americans are particularly short of opportunities to take holidays (even if we were given 3-4, even 5 weeks, can we really fill them?).
Another way is to live someplace for a few … not in a hotel but in a regular house or apartment. Even then, your impressions may be different depending on whether you live downtown, near downtown or in the suburbs.