[cmrdporcupine]

I take a drive through Detroit and I "notice" entirely different things which somehow your screed above is mostly blind to.

That's about as diplomatic as I can summon up as a reply to your comment, whose substance mostly proves my point about the bizarre exceptionalist world Americans seem to occupy in their heads. It really isn't "noticing"... what you're talking about. It's ideology.

Also GDP per capita is the kind of garbage metric I would expect someone frequent on this forum, and hopefully literate in statistics, to understand the ridiculousness of deploying in conversation.

Also, there's rarely anybody more invested in seeing the superiority of their new (chosen) place other than immigrants, so I don't think that's the argumentative flex you think it is.

[rayiner]

As I said, I like Canada! I’m just trying to explain the American point of view. For example, I care about Detroit. But your typical American doesn’t live in Detroit. The average new home is built in a booming, low tax, Sun Belt state like Georgia and Texas, where my cousins bought McMansions in the last few years.

Also, my cousin grew up in Windsor and having been there plenty of times, it’s shit too.

[ncruces]

Much of the world would have no problem with americans being in love with their McMansions.

But many would find them wasteful, and a terrible place to live, compared to a decently sized apartment (one 10m² - 100 sq ft - bedroom per person/couple and maybe an extra office) in a walkable town.

Just as we find american SUVs totally inadequate compared to our cars.

And it's not matter of cost, we're perfectly “happy” paying borrowing millions of euro for such apartments, and paying far more for our cars.