Quote:
Originally Posted by manny_santos
Or people who choose not to get passports. My parents, for example.
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I think fewer and fewer people are routinely crossing the border all the time, especially when compared to pre-911. There are a variety of reasons for this, but the thickening of the border certainly accounts for a lot.
If it is not easy, convenient and enjoyable, , then people will tend not to do it.
I live 2.5 hours from the border, and four hours from the nearest medium sized American city (Bangor ME). Back in the 90s, we would go down there for a fun weekend and for a shopping trip. You could easily get there on a Friday evening, and have Saturday and most of Sunday to shop and explore. Things have changed. Shopping in Bangor has collapsed (post 911) due to the disappearance of Canadian retail tourism. Shopping in Moncton in fact is now infinitely better than in Bangor. The border is thickened. Gas is more expensive (hotels too). There is very little you can do down there that you can't do here now. The question become "why bother???"
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