Quote:
Originally Posted by SpongeG
okay cool.
so outside of those few routes i don't think one can get from alberta or manitoba to the states by passenger train. The west of the US is pretty rural and sparse except for the seattle - vancouver corridor. There are no big significant equivalent cities on the US side for cities like Calgary, Regina or Winnipeg to have a relationship with, within a reasonable travel time or distance of under 200 km.
But how about religious ties? I know a few Mormons here in BC who have fairly strong ties with Utah, for example they send their kids to University there and some end up marrying Americans and then there are the whole polygamists ties between BC and Utah. I think Alberta has some of the same thing with mormons too, don't they have a big temple in Lethbridge?
|
There's definitely a stronger Mormon connection in the deep south of Alberta. The most famous temple is in Cardston, which is 25 km or so from the border. If you tie back to immigration, there are definitely historical US connections in southern AB. The imports from Southern Ontario struggled making a go of the dryland farming and so people with more experience were brought in from the states.
As to the general thread, despite some general cultural similarities that run N-S on the continent, IMO Candian-ness a canadian cultural regions are generally more pronounced. The substantial settlement of most of Canada occured quite differently than that in the states. There areas where you might see a decent amount of cross border commerce in certain industries, but I'd hesitiate to call most of the Cultural/Economic regions.