Expand North! So much room up there.
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Hell, the US is all they talk about here on lemmy. I'm not sure they don't want to join either.
Kind of like all you would talk about is the festering boil in the middle of your face.
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Legitimate question: what may be the actual reason for this concentration? Is it weather? Natural resources? Is it political? On a related note: what is the reason that Canada as a whole has so few people? It is still mindblowing for me that the entire country has less people than each of the world's top 3 metropolitan areas
wrote last edited by [email protected]I'd argue the weather as the biggest one, at least for BC. Northern BC is absolutely beautiful but it's cold af in the winter and burny as hell in the summer. If we're talking far north in the territories, I know another issue is infrastructure because it's much more difficult to build/get stuff up there. Though this meme misses a big part of the Indigenous/Inuit population that lives up there.
Also, this country is just fucking huge, like bigger than I think any of us realize. If our population were to spread out, it would be a very thin spread.
Edit: I kept thinking about this and got help with some math on it. If the population of Canada were to spread out, we'd each have about 64 acres (0.256km) to ourselves. By comparison, the same calculation in the US with the US population would equal approx 0.03 km, or just over 7 acres per person.
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Legitimate question: what may be the actual reason for this concentration? Is it weather? Natural resources? Is it political? On a related note: what is the reason that Canada as a whole has so few people? It is still mindblowing for me that the entire country has less people than each of the world's top 3 metropolitan areas
wrote last edited by [email protected]Also this map is kinda misleading. Edmonton and the entire 4 maritime provinces are not here, and the main reason so much of the population is close to the border is that something like 1/3 of the population is clustered around the great lakes/st Laurence, because people came here by boat.
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85% of Canadians live within 100 miles of the American border. And yous claim you don't want to be part of them.
*(runs and hides)*
Your instance saved you
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Kind of like all you would talk about is the festering boil in the middle of your face.
wrote last edited by [email protected]Edit: I misread your comment, apologies.
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And in this case winter is going, as global temperatures rise
Summer is coming.
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85% of Canadians live within 100 miles of the American border. And yous claim you don't want to be part of them.
*(runs and hides)*
If anything, this proves how much Canadians don't want to be Americans.
Canadian weather is shitty, you can't grow crops for most of the year. During the fraction of the year where the climate is suitable for growing crops, the variety of things that grow is small compared to what's possible in the US. And, as bad as winter can be, summer's no good either. You don't want to be outside in the winter because it's -30, and you don't want to be outside in the summer because it's +35. The cost of living in Canada is high because you need to heat your home in the winter and cool it in the summer. Almost everybody drives a car because of that "being outside sucks" thing, but cars are expensive to own and operate in Canada. There's the cost of winter tires, more expensive winter fuels, antifreeze in the windshield washer, plus the constant freeze/thaw cycle wrecks the road surfaces, which results in potholes, which results in more wear and tear on cars. In addition, to make driving safe they drop a lot of salt and sand, which just rusts your car. Because the country is a thin strip, everything is far away, and everything communications-related is expensive. And, a low population relative to the US means that a lot of companies just don't offer services in Canada because it isn't worth it to comply with Canadian laws just to get the same number of customers you could get from a single American state. I could keep going on and on.
Yet, despite all that, Canadians huddle up as close as possible to the border for warmth, but refuse to go any further south because that would mean entering the US. As bad as Canada's climate is, putting up with that is an easy decision to make when the alternative is 'Murica.
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Yes, but instead of guarding against white walkers from the north it’s pedos from the south.
I would not throw pedo-shaped stones in a Canadian shaped house. For every Jeffery Epstein there's a Peter Nygard.
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Tbf, the Newfies I've met certainly feel like a figment of my imagination.
That's most of my family and yes.
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They've played the game "Risk" so much they have unrealistic expectations of settlement patterns in real life
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If anything, this proves how much Canadians don't want to be Americans.
Canadian weather is shitty, you can't grow crops for most of the year. During the fraction of the year where the climate is suitable for growing crops, the variety of things that grow is small compared to what's possible in the US. And, as bad as winter can be, summer's no good either. You don't want to be outside in the winter because it's -30, and you don't want to be outside in the summer because it's +35. The cost of living in Canada is high because you need to heat your home in the winter and cool it in the summer. Almost everybody drives a car because of that "being outside sucks" thing, but cars are expensive to own and operate in Canada. There's the cost of winter tires, more expensive winter fuels, antifreeze in the windshield washer, plus the constant freeze/thaw cycle wrecks the road surfaces, which results in potholes, which results in more wear and tear on cars. In addition, to make driving safe they drop a lot of salt and sand, which just rusts your car. Because the country is a thin strip, everything is far away, and everything communications-related is expensive. And, a low population relative to the US means that a lot of companies just don't offer services in Canada because it isn't worth it to comply with Canadian laws just to get the same number of customers you could get from a single American state. I could keep going on and on.
Yet, despite all that, Canadians huddle up as close as possible to the border for warmth, but refuse to go any further south because that would mean entering the US. As bad as Canada's climate is, putting up with that is an easy decision to make when the alternative is 'Murica.
wrote last edited by [email protected]One minor correction. The reason Canadians drive is not because the weather sucks, Canadians drive so much because our country refuses to build real transit or walkability. Hell half our country is going to court because a few of our provincial premiers want building bike lanes to be illegal. There are other countries with similar climates to Canada where people don't need to extensively rely on their car to live their daily life.
Id also say that the biggest factor to cost of living is cost of housing, which is largely related to our cities making it nearly impossible to build any housing that isnt detached single family homes with minimum lot sizes and set back requirements. This also reinforces the car dependancy
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What exactly are you guarding? I figure there’s a reason not many people live outside of that area depicted.
The canadian shield is a rough and rugged strech of land of exposed rock intermixed with swamps. It covers most of the north/central eastern part of the country and it is very difficult and expensive to build settlements on. It also only provides a few pockets of farmland. The land closer to the border is more hospitable for settlements and farming.
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If anything, this proves how much Canadians don't want to be Americans.
Canadian weather is shitty, you can't grow crops for most of the year. During the fraction of the year where the climate is suitable for growing crops, the variety of things that grow is small compared to what's possible in the US. And, as bad as winter can be, summer's no good either. You don't want to be outside in the winter because it's -30, and you don't want to be outside in the summer because it's +35. The cost of living in Canada is high because you need to heat your home in the winter and cool it in the summer. Almost everybody drives a car because of that "being outside sucks" thing, but cars are expensive to own and operate in Canada. There's the cost of winter tires, more expensive winter fuels, antifreeze in the windshield washer, plus the constant freeze/thaw cycle wrecks the road surfaces, which results in potholes, which results in more wear and tear on cars. In addition, to make driving safe they drop a lot of salt and sand, which just rusts your car. Because the country is a thin strip, everything is far away, and everything communications-related is expensive. And, a low population relative to the US means that a lot of companies just don't offer services in Canada because it isn't worth it to comply with Canadian laws just to get the same number of customers you could get from a single American state. I could keep going on and on.
Yet, despite all that, Canadians huddle up as close as possible to the border for warmth, but refuse to go any further south because that would mean entering the US. As bad as Canada's climate is, putting up with that is an easy decision to make when the alternative is 'Murica.
Canadian here, you summed it up perfectly. Everyone I know would agree with your points exactly. It’s a bit of a shit deal living here sometimes, but it’s infinitely better than being an American. Just look at the amount of disgust a Canadian tourist has when asked if they’re American when visiting overseas.
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They come south for less life threatening healthcare
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Also this map is kinda misleading. Edmonton and the entire 4 maritime provinces are not here, and the main reason so much of the population is close to the border is that something like 1/3 of the population is clustered around the great lakes/st Laurence, because people came here by boat.
The great lakes area was the first area extensively settled and thus has the most developed cities. The great lakes area is also rich in fresh water and farmland.
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One minor correction. The reason Canadians drive is not because the weather sucks, Canadians drive so much because our country refuses to build real transit or walkability. Hell half our country is going to court because a few of our provincial premiers want building bike lanes to be illegal. There are other countries with similar climates to Canada where people don't need to extensively rely on their car to live their daily life.
Id also say that the biggest factor to cost of living is cost of housing, which is largely related to our cities making it nearly impossible to build any housing that isnt detached single family homes with minimum lot sizes and set back requirements. This also reinforces the car dependancy
Seriously, half the fucking country lives in the Québec City - Windsor corridor and we don't even have a high speed train there?? It's a political issue, not a geographical one.
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Seriously, half the fucking country lives in the Québec City - Windsor corridor and we don't even have a high speed train there?? It's a political issue, not a geographical one.
But Canada is "too big" for rail. Except of course all those railways 100 years ago that pretty much made this nation possible, or how nearly every city had trams in most neighborhoods.
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Yes, but instead of guarding against white walkers from the north it’s pedos from the south.
wrote last edited by [email protected]Oh fuck... winter is cumming
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One minor correction. The reason Canadians drive is not because the weather sucks, Canadians drive so much because our country refuses to build real transit or walkability. Hell half our country is going to court because a few of our provincial premiers want building bike lanes to be illegal. There are other countries with similar climates to Canada where people don't need to extensively rely on their car to live their daily life.
Id also say that the biggest factor to cost of living is cost of housing, which is largely related to our cities making it nearly impossible to build any housing that isnt detached single family homes with minimum lot sizes and set back requirements. This also reinforces the car dependancy
I agree that Canadian cities aren't doing enough to build mass transit. But, I still think winter has a lot to do with that.
Mass transit means waiting outside for a bus or tram, and waiting outside when it's either +35 or -30 sucks. Many people will prefer cars for that reason. It isn't the only factor, but it is definitely a factor.
As for bike lanes, winter is a major factor. It's certainly possible to bike in the winter, I've done it for many years, but it isn't easy. In Canada as it exists now, biking in winter means biking in traffic most of the time. Bike lanes exist, but often in winter they just shove the snow to the side of the road and block the bike lanes. I don't know of anywhere in Canada where they clear bike lanes as a priority. That could be done. It is done in some places in Finland, for example. But, there's a catch 22. It's not worth it to clear the bike lanes because there aren't enough winter bikers; there aren't enough winter bikers because it's dangerous and unpleasant to bike during winter because they don't clear the bike lanes.
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I agree that Canadian cities aren't doing enough to build mass transit. But, I still think winter has a lot to do with that.
Mass transit means waiting outside for a bus or tram, and waiting outside when it's either +35 or -30 sucks. Many people will prefer cars for that reason. It isn't the only factor, but it is definitely a factor.
As for bike lanes, winter is a major factor. It's certainly possible to bike in the winter, I've done it for many years, but it isn't easy. In Canada as it exists now, biking in winter means biking in traffic most of the time. Bike lanes exist, but often in winter they just shove the snow to the side of the road and block the bike lanes. I don't know of anywhere in Canada where they clear bike lanes as a priority. That could be done. It is done in some places in Finland, for example. But, there's a catch 22. It's not worth it to clear the bike lanes because there aren't enough winter bikers; there aren't enough winter bikers because it's dangerous and unpleasant to bike during winter because they don't clear the bike lanes.
All the problems you've described are infrastructure abd policy problems We can build climate controlled mass transit stations. We can maintain separated and safe bicycle networks in the winter. We can clear pedestrian pathways of snow instead of plowing the car lane snow onto them. Its all policy and infrastructure. If you make transit the fastest while being convenient and clean, people will use it over cars because it takes less time, not everyone, but certainly enough to make it worth it.
We can't fairly use the there are no cyclists now argument because we haven't given them any real options. We need to provide safe and effecient cycling infrastructure to truly see how many people would prefer to bike. If a city had no roads you could make the argument not to build any roads because nobody drives anyway.
