The top 10 most distinctive places in North America.

[Denscity]

I think Hawaii needs more love as there is nothing else like it culturally or climate wise (tropical rainforest).

[LakeLocker]

Originally Posted by Acajack

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".

I meant you can't count Miami's Hispanic immigrant population as a reason that it's better than Cancun.

The same logic would apply to transplants.

Arizona isn't a hockey homeland no matter how many transplants put their kids in the system.

[LakeLocker]

Originally Posted by niwell

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.

I almost mentioned you most choose at least 1 native centric location, but assumed it'd obscure native communities not based on language.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by isaidso

And the Maritimes is colonial but a further departure from NYC than New England.

Because the Maritimes and New England feel in many ways like cross-border extensions of one another, I might instead put Newfoundland, especially rural Newfoundland, on this list.

I don't really know what my top 10 would be, but it would include Newfoundland, NYC (or Mexico City) and an Inuit community, though I'd be hard-pressed to say which one.

[hipster duck]

Follow up question: if you had to pick one region in North America to embody "suburbia", which one would it be?

When I conjure up peak suburbia, I usually think of Texas from the 90s. It's probably fed by Richard Linklater movies and Mike Judge shows like Beavis and Butthead and King of the Hill. Slackers hanging around parking lots of convenience stores. High school football and marching bands. Even living a boho lifestyle in a bungalow. It's not Texas, but I remember a pool party I went to in Phoenix when I was younger where people had roman candles burning at nighttime in the backyard, and every room had different sorts of people discussing different things. It was like visiting a bazaar.

In Canada, so many of us live in suburbia, but we don't really celebrate it. Many people actually look down on it. In Toronto, I know many people my age who would rather enter a bidding war to buy an overpriced semi that's falling apart in a walkable neighbourhood than try to make something out of a perfectly good postwar bungalow in Scarborough that's half the price.

[LakeLocker]

Originally Posted by niwell

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.

I almost mentioned you most choose at least 1 native language location, but assumed it'd obscure native communities not based on language.

Funny people are forgetting the native populations in the Yucatan in that.

[LakeLocker]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

Because the Maritimes and New England feel in many ways like cross-border extensions of one another, I might instead put Newfoundland, especially rural Newfoundland, on this list.

I don't really know what my top 10 would be, but it would include Newfoundland, NYC (or Mexico City) and an Inuit community, though I'd be hard-pressed to say which one.

My problem with that reasoning is most of New England is super Densely populated.

When I think of my hometown I think of the literal edge of the Earth. NL is half way to the arctic. Labrador isn't any less Newfie until it turns Inuit.

When I think of New England I think of 400 years of being the heart of North American culture.

For me personally I'd try to combine north Atlantic with French and pick the Anticosti Islands.

Super isolated french speaking ocean culture.

[LakeLocker]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

Follow up question: if you had to pick one region in North America to embody "suburbia", which one would it be?

When I conjure up peak suburbia, I usually think of Texas from the 90s. It's probably fed by Richard Linklater movies and Mike Judge shows like Beavis and Butthead and King of the Hill. Slackers hanging around parking lots of convenience stores. High school football and marching bands. Even living a boho lifestyle in a bungalow. It's not Texas, but I remember a pool party I went to in Phoenix when I was younger where people had roman candles burning at nighttime in the backyard, and every room had different sorts of people discussing different things. It was like visiting a bazaar.

In Canada, so many of us live in suburbia, but we don't really celebrate it. Many people actually look down on it. In Toronto, I know many people my age who would rather enter a bidding war to buy an overpriced semi that's falling apart in a walkable neighbourhood than try to make something out of a perfectly good postwar bungalow in Scarborough that's half the price.

This is more or less what got me thinking of making this thread.

I've gotten really into hockey, and it's interesting to me how much more relevant hockey is in suburban ontario. These places are so bloody bland that their hockey stars truly are their biggest claims to fame.

Places like London/Peterbourgh/Kitchener just scream watch us play hockey.

Everything is so fine tuned for hockey, from the roads leading to arenas, junior hockey pyramids, abundance of pickup trucks etc. It's near impossible to create a hockey player in newfoundland and I think people living in Condo's don't really jive with the lifestyle.

The Hockey-Industrial complex thrives in SONT suburbs.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by LakeLocker

This is more or less what got me thinking of making this thread.

I've gotten really into hockey, and it's interesting to me how much more relevant hockey is in suburban ontario. These places are so bloody bland that their hockey stars truly are their biggest claims to fame.

Places like London/Peterbourgh/Kitchener just scream watch us play hockey.

Everything is so fine tuned for hockey, from the roads leading to arenas, junior hockey pyramids, abundance of pickup trucks etc. It's near impossible to create a hockey player in newfoundland and I think people living in Condo's don't really jive with the lifestyle.

The Hockey-Industrial complex thrives in SONT suburbs.

A Tim Hortons on every corner so parents can pick up the requisite double-double to-go that they will sip while watching their kids on the ice...

[niwell]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

Follow up question: if you had to pick one region in North America to embody "suburbia", which one would it be?

When I conjure up peak suburbia, I usually think of Texas from the 90s. It's probably fed by Richard Linklater movies and Mike Judge shows like Beavis and Butthead and King of the Hill. Slackers hanging around parking lots of convenience stores. High school football and marching bands. Even living a boho lifestyle in a bungalow. It's not Texas, but I remember a pool party I went to in Phoenix when I was younger where people had roman candles burning at nighttime in the backyard, and every room had different sorts of people discussing different things. It was like visiting a bazaar.

That's a good one for sure. I'd also say the San Fernando Valley and similar areas in the LA basin. Thrown up extremely fast in the post-war era and exemplify a certain aspect of the California American dream. Also featured heavily as a cultural background in movies - usually as a not overly glamorous coming of age example of LA life. Can range from Fast Times at Ridgemont High to Ghost World.

Interestingly enough much of the Valley isn't laid out in what we no think of as stereotypically suburban. Mostly gridded and lots of commercial nodes and lowrise apartment complexes.

[jamincan]

Originally Posted by niwell

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.

I've only worked in Greenland temporarily, so what I saw and experienced was quite limited. In some ways it is very obviously a colonized land; Danish is still the lingua franca, and the Danish influence is unmistakable and one of the things that makes it so unique in the North American context. At the same time, it seems they have reconciled with colonization in a much more healthy way and the Greenlandic culture, language and identity seem far healthier and secure than indigenous cultures in Canada or the US. There's a lot we could probably learn from them, but at the same time I'm probably blind to a lot of the challenges they face as well.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by jamincan

I've only worked in Greenland temporarily, so what I saw and experienced was quite limited. In some ways it is very obviously a colonized land; Danish is still the lingua franca, and the Danish influence is unmistakable and one of the things that makes it so unique in the North American context. At the same time, it seems they have reconciled with colonization in a much more healthy way and the Greenlandic culture, language and identity seem far healthier and secure than indigenous cultures in Canada or the US. There's a lot we could probably learn from them, but at the same time I'm probably blind to a lot of the challenges they face as well.

Some of the voices I've heard on Canada Indigenous Twitter have expressed a certain level of resentment in relation to Greenlanders... I am not certain of all the details, but I get the sense that there's a feeling the Indigenous people there are a little too cozy and comfortable with Denmark and Danish culture.

Which took me a bit by surprise because I always thought Greenland was a pretty good model to follow. But then again it's Twitter, so there is always a heavy dose of sanctimony you have to deal with on issues like that.

[savevp]

Interesting premise. I it is marginally easier but still a fun challenge to pick ten.

1)Vieux-Québec
2)Fogo Island, to me the quintessential outport even though/because it has been touristically preserved
3)Iqaluit or better yet Pangnirtung/Grise Fiord, etc.
4)Cape Breton or PEI to encapsulate the folksy, charming East Coast
5)Hawaii though I have some reservations about whether this is actually North America
6)Lakewood Ranch, Florida as the arch-suburban sprawl example. A Levittown for the 21st-century.
7)Meridian, Mississippi - One of those end-of-the-line Southern cities that time and modernity have completely passed by.
8)Las Vegas - the paragon of American civilisation; monumental ambition and garishness all at once.
10)Guadalajara -Big, Latin, and cosmopolitan but also the violent heart of Mexico's drug wars.
10)Tulum - Beach resort but moreso the ruins of an ancient, advanced civilisation, the likes of which simply don't exist in Canada or the US

I struggled with swapping Hawaii for Manhattan. Hawaii is North American by ownership but not geography. Meanwhile Manhattan is probably the most iconic image of North America but I don't think it's even the best at 'Manhattanisation' anymore. I think Tokyo and Hong Kong are more interesting high-rise typographies and the skyscraper was originally from Chicago. Plus New York City has been in decline for a couple years and that is probably significantly worsening with Covid. So I've left that one off.
If we were going beyond Can-Mex-USA, I think Havana, the mountains of Jamaica, and somewhere like Tegucigalpa, Honduras would be good inclusions. I'd also swap Tulum for Tikal in Guatemala probably.

[jamincan]

Originally Posted by esquire

Some of the voices I've heard on Canada Indigenous Twitter have expressed a certain level of resentment in relation to Greenlanders... I am not certain of all the details, but I get the sense that there's a feeling the Indigenous people there are a little too cozy and comfortable with Denmark and Danish culture.

Which took me a bit by surprise because I always thought Greenland was a pretty good model to follow. But then again it's Twitter, so there is always a heavy dose of sanctimony you have to deal with on issues like that.

It does seem that most Greenlanders are comfortable with a sort-of hyphenated identity. They are Greenlanders and they are Danish. (My sense is that it might not be too different from how Canadians used to once also considered themselves British.) I can't help but think that part of the reason they are comfortable with this is the fact that they have self-government and that Denmark has been far more active in providing basic infrastructure and more to their communities than we have in Canada.

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by niwell

That's a good one for sure. I'd also say the San Fernando Valley and similar areas in the LA basin. Thrown up extremely fast in the post-war era and exemplify a certain aspect of the California American dream. Also featured heavily as a cultural background in movies - usually as a not overly glamorous coming of age example of LA life. Can range from Fast Times at Ridgemont High to Ghost World.

Interestingly enough much of the Valley isn't laid out in what we no think of as stereotypically suburban. Mostly gridded and lots of commercial nodes and lowrise apartment complexes.

SFV reminds me a lot of 1940s-1960s outer Toronto. It's a similar built form to much of North York, Scarborough, and Etobicoke. Just without the tower blocks and newer TODs.

Originally Posted by jamincan

I've only worked in Greenland temporarily, so what I saw and experienced was quite limited. In some ways it is very obviously a colonized land; Danish is still the lingua franca, and the Danish influence is unmistakable and one of the things that makes it so unique in the North American context. At the same time, it seems they have reconciled with colonization in a much more healthy way and the Greenlandic culture, language and identity seem far healthier and secure than indigenous cultures in Canada or the US. There's a lot we could probably learn from them, but at the same time I'm probably blind to a lot of the challenges they face as well.

Instinctually, that would make sense. The Norse started settling in Greenland in the Middle Ages, so it wasn't really a product of the colonial era in the same way that Canada was. Similarly, it's had a lot more time to coalesce into a hybrid culture.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

Instinctually, that would make sense. The Norse started settling in Greenland in the Middle Ages, so it wasn't really a product of the colonial era in the same way that Canada was. Similarly, it's had a lot more time to coalesce into a hybrid culture.

Who was there first, or perhaps more importantly: who's been there the longest, is actually a complex and fascinating question in Greenland.

The answers aren't always necessarily what one might expect.

[LakeLocker]

Originally Posted by Acajack

A Tim Hortons on every corner so parents can pick up the requisite double-double to-go that they will sip while watching their kids on the ice...

What fascinates me most is the diversity in sports focused suburban life across the continent. Part of me thinks the basketball culture of San Diego is exactly like the hockey culture of Sudbury but my guess is they are radically different for people living the lifestyle.

My understanding is that football doesn't even start until highschool, and then most of the activity happens at the local school. Followed by college activity.

In hockey it's age 5-7 when everything starts/happens.

By high school most of the 2nd rate kids have dropped out of competitive hockey. Highschool hockey teams are generally for under achievers, and the local hockey star is usually shipped off to the OHL by age 17. College hockey is for people who couldn't make it in the CHL etc. This just seems so radically different from the midwestern football culture that exists a 100 miles down the road.

I'm sure I could be wrong on some of this but it's a strange curiosity of mine.

Is part of the drudgery of suburban life a product of it being so isolated from the mainstream? Does the diversity of suburban life end up being hidden because it isn't put in the lense of major media?

I spent my highschool years playing bass in a band. We sucked talent wise, but this was a subculture that my cousins, peers, rivals, heroes all experienced. If you didn't grow up in our basement jam sessions you'd never know it existed. And it was something that vanished 10 seconds after me and all my friends left for st john's/the city. My wife is a musician and her urban childhood experience were so different from mine.

Urban life is so vertical, and the horizontal nature of suburban life can easily hide the mystery.

[jamincan]

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

Instinctually, that would make sense. The Norse started settling in Greenland in the Middle Ages, so it wasn't really a product of the colonial era in the same way that Canada was. Similarly, it's had a lot more time to coalesce into a hybrid culture.

When the Norse first settled in southern part of Greenland, the indigenous population was actually the Dorset culture in the north; I'm not even sure if there was contact between them. It was only after the Norse abandoned their Greenland settlements that the present Greenlandic (Inuit) people migrated there. Europeans returned in the 18th century when Hans Egede started a mission there and revived interest in Greenland in Denmark.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by LakeLocker

What fascinates me most is the diversity in sports focused suburban life across the continent. Part of me thinks the basketball culture of San Diego is exactly like the hockey culture of Sudbury but my guess is they are radically different for people living the lifestyle.

My understanding is that football doesn't even start until highschool, and then most of the activity happens at the local school. Followed by college activity.

In hockey it's age 5-7 when everything starts/happens.

By high school most of the 2nd rate kids have dropped out of competitive hockey. Highschool hockey teams are generally for under achievers, and the local hockey star is usually shipped off to the OHL by age 17. College hockey is for people who couldn't make it in the CHL etc. This just seems so radically different from the midwestern football culture that exists a 100 miles down the road.

I'm sure I could be wrong on some of this but it's a strange curiosity of mine.

Is part of the drudgery of suburban life a product of it being so isolated from the mainstream? Does the diversity of suburban life end up being hidden because it isn't put in the lense of major media?

I spent my highschool years playing bass in a band. We sucked talent wise, but this was a subculture that my cousins, peers, rivals, heroes all experienced. If you didn't grow up in our basement jam sessions you'd never know it existed. And it was something that vanished 10 seconds after me and all my friends left for st john's/the city. My wife is a musician and her urban childhood experience were so different from mine.

Urban life is so vertical, and the horizontal nature of suburban life can easily hide the mystery.

My takeaway from the latter part of your post is that the suburbs are way more interesting than most people acknowledge. Even if it's anathema on SSP, I'd definitely agree with that.

I always thought city life was quite interesting (though perhaps a tad overrated compared to other living environments) but never understood why rural life got such a break compared to the burbs, and why the boonies were even effusively praised for being soooo fascinating by some.

There are rural spots that are interesting places but they're few and far between. Especially in Canada-USA OMG.

My hunch is that the suburbs (which aren't perfect living environments I know) get crapped on so much because they (or the flight of people to them) are held responsible for the decline and even destruction of so many great US cities.

[wave46]

Originally Posted by Acajack

There are rural spots that are interesting places but they're few and far between. Especially in Canada-USA OMG.

My hunch is that the suburbs (which aren't perfect living environments I know) get crapped on so much because they (or the flight of people to them) are held responsible for the decline and even destruction of so many great US cities.

There's a banality the suburbs show more clearly in built form than many rural places. We're also a generation who grew up in the suburbs mostly, so there's an element of rebellion against that. Suburbs = mundane family life. It's who they were created for.

There's a whole pile of sad dreck little towns in Northern Ontario and the Prairies. Sure, one can look at a few Southern Ontario towns as somewhat more timeless in built form, but on the whole, small towns aren't generally pinnacles of that.

There's a certain 'purity' that comes to mind when people think of rural settings. Idyllic maybe might be the right word. There's a reason all those cheesy Christmas movies have the heroine return to her 'honest small town roots'.