Quote:
Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark
I have to say that I've never really understood the 'rivalry' between Moncton and Halifax. There are things that I like about both, but I would never really compare them as though they are all that similar.
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One cultural thing I used to notice about Atlantic Canada that is less true in many other places in North America is that many Atlantic Canadians view the economy as zero-sum, and view economic activity as the product of goodies that are doled out by higher powers like the provincial or federal governments. Because of this belief they think that what goes to city A doesn't go to city B. But in reality there is a lot of creation that grows the pie for everybody, or there should be. Most of the economic activity happening in Moncton and Halifax is pretty independent, and in the case of Moncton in particular I think having a larger city a couple hours away is pretty advantageous. There are also many kinds of "goodies" that go to Halifax that can't go to Moncton anyway. Shipbuilding is one example.
There is another sense of "rivalry" in which two cities are simply similar to each other and either one could attain the number one spot within a reasonable time frame. AB and SK have cities like this. Halifax and Moncton aren't really like this; one is 3x larger than the other and they are in two different provinces. Saint John and Moncton on the other hand are close together.
There's also a natural inclination for cities to look "upward" when competing or talking about development. The reality is that in the smaller cities in Atlantic Canada there is an asymmetric focus on Halifax, whereas in Halifax there tends to be more talk about cities outside the region. I am thinking specifically about areas like urban planning. This is only natural because of the difference in scale.
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