The top 10 most distinctive places in North America.

[LakeLocker]

Here's the game you as a Canada want to experience North America. List the 10 places that'd cover the full range of North American life.


Here's the simple rules.

1. Must include the limited definition of North America, Mex-Can-USA.

2. Must include locations that are french speaking,spanish, and english.

3. Can't include immigrants as a testament to its uniqueness.

4. Must include a variety of geographies and population densities.

5. Must include economic, historical, and political uniqueness.

6. This isn't a game of pure exoticism, if you're talking about bland country/suburban living, you must state the best place to get that experience.

7. The list must be considered in relevance to Canadians.

8. Location specific hobbies are highly relevant to the discussion, sports, music, and other hobbies must be considered.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by LakeLocker

3. Can't include immigrants as a testament to its uniqueness.
.

At first glance, this appears controversial. Would it, for example, disqualify Miami?

[hipster duck]

Well, by numbers alone, Canada is <10% of North America, so we only really can qualify for one entry.

I can only scratch the surface in terms of my cultural knowledge of Mexico and even though the US is nine times our size, I feel that they're more than nine times as culturally diverse.

If I could give four entries to Canada, I'd say:

1. Montreal - only major English-French bicultural metropolis on the planet;

2. Some mid-sized Quebec anywheresville, like Ste Hyacinthe or Sorel or Drummondville. The exact one doesn't matter - the point is it's how Francophones live amidst North American physical surroundings.

3. Iqaluit or some other permafrost settlement of Inuit or Innu culture

4. One of the few remaining Newfoundland outport settlements

---

Some others:

5. Manhattan

6. One of the majority black middle class suburbs of either Detroit or Atlanta

7. One archetypal, postwar American suburban community. There are tens of thousands, so just pick one.

8. A Mixtec or Zapotec-speaking part of rural Oaxaca

9. A majority white, upper middle class suburb of Mexico City or Monterrey

10. A sprawling working class barrio of a Mexican border town like Ciudad Juarez or Tijuana

11. An urban black ghetto in the US

12. A hippie commune

etc.

Limiting it to 10 is very difficult.

[Taeolas]

I sadly don't know enough about Mexico to really pick anything there. But some of my thoughts:

* New York City: This is pretty much the definition of a North American city and an ecosystem of itself that most other cities are pale reflections of.
* LA/Hollywood: This basically encompasses the whole "West Coast lifestyle" and way of life.
* Quebec City/most anywhere in Quebec: Get the North American French experience, wiht a strong historical backing.
* Newfoundland or Cape Breton: The East Coast life style basically, with a solid historical experience on top of it. (Rural coastal Maine or Massachusets could do in a pinch)
* Texas Rancher: The whole cattle drive/ranching life style with the Country twang. Calgary can cover for this experience in a pinch.
* Vegas: Sin City, the lights, the glamour, the loss of your money and all the things to do. Other gambling meccas exist, but (partly thanks to Hollywood) it has set the modern standard.
* The North; whether the Territories or Alaska or Labrador. Experience a different way of life from the warmer south; the midnight sun or the endless night.
* New Orleans: A different take on the North American French, Cajun style.

Two slots left... perfect for Mexico I guess, since I can't think of anything else, though I'm sure others have different takes that are worth mentioning.

[Acajack]

Maybe San Cristobal de las Casas in Chiapas, for the interplay between the Spanish-influenced Mexican culture and the indigenous culture of the Americas.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by Acajack

At first glance, this appears controversial. Would it, for example, disqualify Miami?

I thought it would exclude everything that is not aboriginal...

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

I thought it would exclude everything that is not aboriginal...

This was my understanding as well.

[NS Bayman]

Not sure I understand rule 7, but here is my list in no particular order.

1. Washington DC
2. Grand Canyon
3. Old Quebec/Plains of Abraham
4. Gettysburg, PA
5. Yucatán Peninsula (Mayan Ruins)
6. Rust Belt, USA
7. Canadian Prairies
8. Broadway/Times Square
9. Augusta National, Augusta, GA
10. Las Vegas

[Denscity]

Originally Posted by NS Bayman

Not sure I understand rule 7, but here is my list in no particular order.

1. Washington DC
2. Grand Canyon
3. Old Quebec/Plains of Abraham
4. Gettysburg, PA
5. Yucatán Peninsula (Mayan Ruins)
6. Rust Belt, USA
7. Canadian Prairies
8. Broadway/Times Square
9. Augusta National, Augusta, GA
10. Las Vegas

That's a pretty good list.
I would swap Augusta for a west coast surf/beach/hippie town.

[niwell]

Originally Posted by Acajack

At first glance, this appears controversial. Would it, for example, disqualify Miami?

Technically most of the immigrants in Miami would be considered to be from North America as well, even if it's discounted for this list. Most places in North Americ are shaped by some form of migration.

In any event if we are counting the entirety of North America I agree that Canada doesn't get much skin in the game, really. I'd likely only consider Montreal or something in Nfld. While jarring I don't necessarily consider our Arctic settlements unique enough. You could lump in a GTA suburb as it represents a suburban archetype you don't see much of elsewhere but I guess that violates a rule.

The rules are veering on contradictory but I'd probably include:

-New York City (Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn at least)
-San Fernando Valley or similar very fast growth post-war American Dream style suburb
-Mexico City, or a swath that encompasses the older parts and up into the hills for both ultra rich and poor areas
-New Orleans
-A mid-sized rust beltish city that's experience decay and some rejuvenation
-A US/Mexico border town
-Small midwest farming town
-Wealthy black suburb (Atlanta or Virginia probably)
-Pacific NW beach town/city

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

I thought it would exclude everything that is not aboriginal...

Perhaps the OP can clarify, then.

Personally (and I realize it's not very 2021), I don't see descendants of Spanish colonists in Mexico, partly mixed with indigenous origins, even if not considered "indigenous" officially, as "immigrants".

[Denscity]

Quebec City
Newfoundland fishing village
New Orleans
West coast surf or ski Town
Manhattan
Some facet of Hawaiian paradise
Mexico city
A Mexican town that has an old world centre of town and a beach nearby.
Prairies/oil town either in Canada or the US
Alert Bay

[Metro-One]

1-Quebec City (obvious French culture, old urban)
2-Iqaluit (far north, Inuit, tundra)
3-Tofino (old growth west coast rainforest, surfing beach bum culture, PNW)
4-LA (home base for western entertainment, mixture or cultures)
5-Detroit (home of the rust belt)
6-New York (obvious reasons)
7-Mobile Alabama (to experience the South)
8-Denver Colorado (the Rockies meets the Prairies meets the Great Basin Desert)
9-Mexico City (a taste of real Mexico)
10-Cancun (a taste of Disney Mexico).

[Peggerino]

I don't think I get the point of rule #7 considering most of us are immigrants or have immigrants not very far down the family tree. Still kind of fun exercise though I guess. I'm only doing major cities also as I think it would be too hard to add a small city for each area. I also don't know much about Mexico so can really only speak to the one city I know a little about.

1. New York - Biggest and baddest (in a good way) North American city. Got lots of hustle and bustle and represents something about the US as a whole (not exactly sure what though)
2. Toronto - Most major city in Canada. Represents what the future of Canada will look like in the future, ie more diverse and cosmopolitan.
3. Mexico City - Obviously most urban part of Mexico, represents a mixing of cultures between Indigenous traditions and hispanic culture.
4. Edmonton - In my mind Edmonton is the most 'Canadian' of Canada's big cities. Represents somewhat of an average of our other big/medium-sized Canadian cities (Winnipeg, Ottawa, London, and maybe suburbs of bigger cities like Surrey, Mississauga, and Laval)
5. Montreal - Cultural capital of French Canada.
6. Iqaluit - In my mind it seems like a cultural capital for the Canadian north. Probably the most 'Indigenous' major city (I know it's very small but it's still a capital).
7. Phoenix - Representative of Sun-belt US. Shitty urban planning, pretty ugly, and somehow growing massively. Used to be very conservative but is quickly moving to the left politically as it diversifies. Probably somewhat representative of the political centre for the US in future years.
8. Atlanta - Major southern city and though it shares a number of similarities with #7, has deep roots to the American black population and seems like a major cultural centre for them.
9. Cleveland - Representative of the US rust belt. Grand city with beautiful architecture and obviously had lots of wealth but is now struggling due to de-industrialization and white-flight (somewhat as a response to America's deep history with racism).
10. San Francisco/Bay Area - Representative of the west coast (including Vancouver). Beautiful geography and well-developed economy but deep problems below the surface including housing unaffordability, homelessness, and NIMBYism from the political left.

[SignalHillHiker]

Mexico City, New Orleans, and Montreal. Then just the broader regions - Cascadia, New England/Maritimes, the American South/Gulf Coast, the Prairies, etc.

[isaidso]

I couldn't wean it down to 10 so here are my 11 choices. Including all of North America the total bumps to 14.

I opted for Saguenay over the default choice of Montreal as the latter has elements of NYC. Quebec City had less in common with NYC but Saguenay is furthest still. For the midwest I reached a similar conclusion with Duluth over Chicago or Toronto. And the Maritimes is colonial but a further departure from NYC than New England. I don't think the West Coast needs 2 entries. California is West Coast but feels like a cross between Vancouver and Las Vegas so Vancouver got the nod as did the desert city. The North really needed to entries so that's what I did. Yellowknife and Alert are very different places.


Mexico City
Las Vegas
Vancouver
Yellowknife
Alert
Regina
Mississippi
Duluth
Saguenay
NYC
Maritimes

Haiti
Costa Rica
Nuuk

[MolsonExport]

Given the criteria specified (and just for Canada because I felt like it):
Six Nations of the Grand River: 12,757[5]
Akwesasne Mohawk Nation: 11,500[6]
Blood (Kainai Nation) 148: 8,371[7]
Kahnawake Mohawk Territory: 7,989[8]
Tsinstikeptum 9, British Columbia: 7,612 [9] — Westbank First Nation
Lac La Ronge First Nation: 6,653[10]
Saddle Lake Cree Nation: 6,578[11]
Norway House Cree Nation:6,197[12]
Cross Lake First Nation: 6,076[13]
Samson Cree Nation: 5,418[14]

[jamincan]

Nuuk would be a great member of this list except for the fact that it's not English/French or Spanish, and isn't part of the US, Canada or Mexico.

Seriously, though, Old Nuuk is very unique within N. America, both in built form, and also in the Greenlandic/Danish culture.

[niwell]

Originally Posted by jamincan

Nuuk would be a great member of this list except for the fact that it's not English/French or Spanish, and isn't part of the US, Canada or Mexico.

Seriously, though, Old Nuuk is very unique within N. America, both in built form, and also in the Greenlandic/Danish culture.

I missed this part of the criteria which would arguably disqualify Iqaluit! English remains the lingua franca but Inuktitut is a major part of day to day life for many residents. Less than the smaller communities of course.

Having lived in Nunavut for a bit Greenland absolutely fascinates me. There appears to be more of a Euro influence, but at the same time retains a distinctly Northern typography. The communities also appear to be in a generally higher state of repair than Nunavut, unfortunately for us. I'd also like to make it to some of the far North Nordic communities at some point in my life.

[Acajack]

Interpreting the OP criteria rather loosely, Iqaluit seems to check off all the boxes in terms of "nowhere else but here" for me. Certainly taking relative size into account.