| Personal - About Me - Canada |
|
|
My country of birth and my home for more than 23 years, Canada will always have a place in my heart. With perhaps the perfect mix of European & American lifestyles, the country never continues to surprise. Despite a high quality of life and human rights standards, young Canada doesn't always quite live up to its reputation of a land with perfect and almost untouched nature. Fortunate to have still escaped the ghetto and slum development known in many other North American cities, Canadian cities continue to be relatively clean, but often (with few exceptions) completely separated from the wonderful nature promised to every tourist. The size of the land has become an excuse to build everything far apart from each other and a lack of both vision and infrastructure make it almost impossible to survive without an automobile. Even in the cities, where public transportation exists, the service & network pale in comparison to many European cities. New concrete and glass structures quickly replace the old and traditional, roads are made wider, nature is more often destroyed than protected and becomes less accessible as urban sprawl increases the gap between land and city. Such is the trend of the increasingly greed-driven & personal image focused society, where corporations rule, life mimics American sitcoms (instead of the original reverse), malls with identical stores found in every city spring up, families have more cars than family members and televisions find a place in every room of the house. However, the diversity of Canada and its appeal as an immigration country could also be its saving grace. With new citizens, come new ideas, new lifestyles and the very foundations of being Canadian are continually evolving. Still many Canadians take this gift of diversity and their own quality of life for granted and often use both as an excuse to not venture into the world. If more Canadians would experience life abroad, they would both quickly see how much Canada truly has to offer, but also see how much Canada should still learn and adopt from the rest of the world. |
| Windsor |
|
Born in Windsor, I was raised on the family farm near McGregor, ON until the age of 14. Windsor was always the "big city" and quickly reachable by car. During high school, when I attended Sandwich Secondary School (1991-1996, Grade 9-13) my mother, my sister and I lived in the town & city suburb of LaSalle. Although I have emotional ties to the city because of family and friends, I quite dislike the city and the region, despite having a few nice places and attractions. Originally settled my French colonists, British influence took strong hold especially at the end of the 19th century. Today the French language is almost extinct in the region, also partly due to the domination of US media. Surrounded by the Great Lakes, Windsor & Essex County is the most southern region in all of Canada, lying nearly on the same latitude as Barcelona (Spain) or San Francisco (US). Today Windsor (population 200,000) is known as the automotive capital of Canada, which is a side effect of the living in the shadow of Detroit only minutes away across the Detroit River on the US side. The region is extremely flat and has some of the most fertile farming soil and nature reserves in Canada, however, as a border city Windsor is often suffers from the US pollution, which blows from the nearby US industries. In my opinion, Windsor finds itself in a downward spiral. Completely dependent on the automobile industry, Windsor's hope turned to tourism in the form of gambling & dance clubs. The dying downtown core is a most probably a direct result of uncontrolled urban sprawl and growing downtown violence, which isn't supported by the now popular tradition of US tourists, who among other reasons come to Windsor because of the lower drinking age (19) compared to the US (21). A drastic increase in pollution, smog, traffic and cancer cases still doesn't seem ro wake enough environmental attention and instead of e.g. increasing public transit (Windsor has but a few bus lines, no trams, no subways, etc.), the general population seems to cling tighter on the dying hopes of the automobile industry. The working class character and complete lack of a sustainable vision in the city help ensure that Windsor will for many years remain a small shadow of Detroit and an unimportant city in an otherwise magnificent country. |
| Toronto |
|
No, Toronto is not the capital of Canada (provincial capital of Ontario) even though it is the largest city in the country. Upon the relocation of my father to Toronto after the divorce of my parents, Toronto and the region became a second home to me. On two occasions I lived and work (student internships) in this great city. During my late teen years Toronto became a symbol of challenge, development and discovery for me, which only remained a temporary sensation as my desire for exploration abroad grew. Still, one cannot deny the excitement and design of this very modern city with an unforgettable skyline. Formally known as York in early colonial days, Toronto was not a city of great importance at first. The favoured choice of Ottawa as the nation's capital (due to its location farther from the US border) and its distance from the early colonial action in Quebec, Toronto lived and developed for many years in the shadow of Montreal. After World War II immigration helped the population explode and the city to develop, which resulted in a type of infrastructure and construction revolution. Disruption in Quebec in the late 1960's and 1970's added to the growing instability in Montreal, leaving Toronto as the now preferred choice. With the relocation of many business headquarters, it's growing stock exchange, and the construction of skyscrapers, Toronto quickly solidified its role as the financial heart of Canada. Monumental projects (subway, huge highway systems, port expansion, etc.) and the construction of the tallest free-standing structure in the world (1976), the CN Tower, rocketed the city into the international spotlight. Today, one of the most multicultural cities in the world, Toronto is a tribute to Canadian innovation especially with it's mix of culture, business, attractions, landscapes and internationalism. Toronto has grown to a major center in the movie industry thanks also to it's now world renown film festival. On the other side, recent years have witnessed seemingly uncontrolled urban sprawl, increased traffic problems and greater amounts of distant US pollution. This had led to a serious smog problem in Toronto. Once known as an urban forest, many of Toronto's parks and landscapes haven't had the proper care to combat and survive the growing population and misuse from humans. However, in its traditionally innovative fashion and support by programs at one of the top universities in the world (University of Toronto) the city does show signs of recognizing these problems. |
| Recommended Internet Sites |
|
| December 18, 2006 |