Anonymous wrote:I completely reject the premise that old/dated= bad. This is what is wrong with our country. My kitchen is from 2000. The brown cabinets are high quality, as is the dark granite. The appliances are in perfect working order. But I’m sure OP would be horrified and rip it all out to a landfill to put in a white farm kitchen.

My kitchen is so old that it's been white for over 30 years .

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Canadians have always been frumpy and sad.

Omg the opposite. I LOVE Canadians. They are chill, unassuming, low ego and cool. They have confidence and don’t need to brag and impose like Americans.

+1
Never met a Canadian I didn't like.

Cousin was victim of an armed robbery in downtown Toronto.

So it does feel like the 90s in that way.

I completely reject the premise that old/dated= bad. This is what is wrong with our country. My kitchen is from 2000. The brown cabinets are high quality, as is the dark granite. The appliances are in perfect working order. But I’m sure OP would be horrified and rip it all out to a landfill to put in a white farm kitchen.

We said the same thing last summer, it was nice.

Anonymous wrote:Visiting family in the Toronto area. We haven’t been here since before Covid. We spend the weekend out in Toronto shopping and I can’t believe how antiquated everything feels. Everything from home decor to basic media feels so ancient; We went to three stores with whole sections dedicated to CDs and DVDs. The clothes and fashion was popular in the States years ago. I just feel like I have stepped back in time. It’s even worse in the suburbs. What’s the deal?

I'm keeping my CDs. Streaming services can take digital content from you or artists can withdraw from certain platforms. They can't take my CD away.

Anonymous wrote:Have you ever been to australia? or new zealand...? gasp

Yes.

I think people go to small towns like Hokitika or Dubbi and say "this is like the 1950s" because there are no huge airport or bullet trains or shopping plazas full of neon lights or Gucci/Chanel/Ralph Lauren stores. The same can be said of Front Royal, Virginia or Shepherdstown WV or any other small US town.

It might also be said about New York or Philadelphia by people coming from Tokyo or Shanghai.

Then you go to places like Paris and Rome and Madrid that work to preserve their history.

Funnily enough, an old NZ friend criticized the fact that we live in a 1950s house in Fairfax, implying we should have demolished it and built something more modern. He wondered why we were living in the 1950s.

I don’t think Toronto is known as a global shopping hub, so there’s that.

All of Canada has less population than some US states, so as a country, the retail buying power is weak. Aside from that, the population is hugely spread out, so logistical issues make retailers not want to do business here.

It’s also November. Who goes in a shopping trip in Toronto in November? I’m guessing you were stupid enough to go to the Eaton Center instead of just heading to Yorkville or something like that.

Overall, 2014 was a happier time than 2024 so I wouldn’t mind! In seriousness, I love Canada, Montreal in particular. The major cities do sometimes seem a bit slower than ours and I love it. My favorite bakery in Montreal supposedly opens at 8 but often it’s not really until 815. People are chiller about work. Good for them.

Anonymous wrote:Canadians have always been frumpy and sad.

Omg the opposite. I LOVE Canadians. They are chill, unassuming, low ego and cool. They have confidence and don’t need to brag and impose like Americans.

Anonymous wrote:Smaller cities being behind bigger cities on fashion trends is a thing, but at this point 90s fashion just keeps coming around every 5 years so I don't know how you can tell anymore who is behind the times. Maybe they're actually ahead of our next nostalgia-rooted trend.

FWIW my circles are moving back to physical media because stuff keeps getting removed from streaming.

This is so true. Everything is a blend. How can you tell what's on trend?

There are also tons of movies being filmed in Canada. And not period pieces!

Anonymous wrote:Visiting family in the Toronto area. We haven’t been here since before Covid. We spend the weekend out in Toronto shopping and I can’t believe how antiquated everything feels. Everything from home decor to basic media feels so ancient; We went to three stores with whole sections dedicated to CDs and DVDs. The clothes and fashion was popular in the States years ago. I just feel like I have stepped back in time. It’s even worse in the suburbs. What’s the deal?

100% agree!!!!

It's funny, I used to think that about France for instance (where I am from), but huge contrast now: Tech stuff like Apple Pay and payments in general -this used to be very annoying- are now seamless, and they also are so much more advanced when it comes to the environment: zero pesticide landscaping everywhere on roadways and towns, no plastic bags...It makes the US look behind.

Can you imagine how I felt when US had beepers while the poor old country had cellphones, or checks that never arrived there.
It is easier to set up a new system than it is to fix the old.What's a check? Home phones also were skipped as cellphones came in mid 90s.
Really depends on a place.
I find USA bars and restaurants such dumps. They put in minimum investment to meet requirements and they are ready to make money. Go check out the dumps in Adams Morgan.

Anonymous wrote:Have you ever been to australia? or new zealand...? gasp

np It is pretty far and expensive so no, haven't been. But thanks for the condescending
message!