Which city is the Rodney Dangerfield of Canada?

[DizzyEdge]

Originally Posted by Razor

How about Ottawa?..I'm surprised it didn't make this cut. See it's disrespected so much that it's forgotten!

Wasn't it coined as "The city that fun forgot" by then Toronto mayor Mel Lastman.
It is a federal government town, so by default Ottawa should have a target on it's back.

Ottawa wants to be noticed and have the same level of disrespect as Winnipeg..It wants to have some Rodney as well.

Good point, Ottawa is completely out of mind typically.

[SaskOttaLoo]

Originally Posted by esquire

I'm not going to argue with everyone saying Winnipeg. I find that the people who respect it least tend to be the people who have either never been or have barely been (e.g. visited for 2 days back in 1989 or whatever). When I run into someone from Toronto or Vancouver while I'm abroad, I pretty well expect some feeble joke about snow or mosquitoes to come out of their mouths.

That's for sure. When I mention to people in Saskatchewan that I want to visit there, I get really odd looks. This includes people who live in really rural Saskatchewan. I don't get it...

[rousseau]

"We shall go to New York for some time. Then we go to Ottawa."

Rex grimaced.

"Frightful place. Bloody cold and all the buildings look like elephant turds. But we're supposed to be nice to Canada these days. All sorts of things brewing. Know about the Athabasca tar sands?"

From Michael Palin's The Truth. I'm reading it right now. So there you are, you've been slagged by arguably the finest comic actor (turned travel presenter/writer and novelist) of all time.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by DizzyEdge

Good point, Ottawa is completely out of mind typically.

Really? It's in the national news practically every single day.

Sure, maybe in the eyes of its citizens Ottawa doesn't get the cred it deserves as a capital city, but it's far from invisible.

It's often strongly resented TBQH.

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

In Ontario, I would say Welland and Cornwall. I don't think I've ever heard a good word about either.

I'd add Timmins as well.

[wave46]

Originally Posted by Loco101

I'd add Timmins as well.

Eh, maybe of northern Ontario. I don't think people south of Barrie have much of an idea of Timmins, much less the rest of Canada.

Sudbury would rate higher on that scale - it still carries the 'moon' stigma.

[GeneralLeeTPHLS]

Yea...I'd say in terms of Ontario something like Sudbury might be more disliked, though I never went there and have no idea how nice it is. Maybe Kitchener then...it has that new fugly leaf-glass building that was talked about in the Ugly thread a few months ago...though from what I see on the train it's a healthy and booming city.

Hmm....I never heard if Sault St. Maries is a great place to live.....and whenever I pass by Oshawa it looks depressing from a highway.

[Proof Sheet]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

In Ontario, I would say Welland and Cornwall. I don't think I've ever heard a good word about either.

I'd add Brantford to that list. Most people in Brantford tout its proximity to other places..not a good sign.

[MolsonExport]

Brantford is...armpitty. Clings to its heroes like none other (Gretzky and Bell). Apparently every single Rim Whoreton's Doh!nut is made in a factory next to the 403. The city recently tore down its historic downtown.

[Razor]

Ya, ya ..It's an old one, but just have to say it in the spirit of this thread.


*drum roll*

Branch Manager: We are transferring you to Winnipeg.
Employee: What!! All there are in Winnipeg are whores and hockey players.
Branch Manager: I'll have you know that my wife is from Winnipeg!
Employee: Oh..What team did she play for?

*Dodging tomatoes from Leamington*

[Razor]

Originally Posted by Loco101

I'd add Timmins as well.

Yes in North Eastern Ontario, there's a weird dynamic where although Timmins anchors it's own little region, it's still behind both Sudbury and North Bay for the bigger city stuff. Timmins has a complex because of that. It doesn't have a Junior AA hockey team like the other two cities, and whenever a major chain like a Home Depot or Taco Bell opens up in town, it's loudly heralded.

Am I far off?

[Pinion]

Every once in a while I allow Surrey SSPers to convince me that it's really getting nice in Whalley and then I go there and no... no...

[ssiguy]

I totally disagree with Ottawa. The antipathy towards Ottawa is total centered on it's relationship with the federal government and government largess and corruption. I think it's more envy than anything else, a fat cat city. There is a big difference between jealousy and disrespect.

As far as Surrey is concerned, yes it's improving and there are many very nice areas of Surrey but it still has a horrid reputation backed up by it's own citizens. People never say thy live in Surrey as they don't want to be associated with the name which is why they say they live in South Surrey, Ocean Park, Cresent Beach, Cloverdale etc. People in Richmond, Burnaby, or North Van don't say that.

[Docere]

Originally Posted by Proof Sheet

I'd add Brantford to that list. Most people in Brantford tout its proximity to other places..not a good sign.

Torontonians don't seem to think about Brantford at all. "At least" Hamilton (though less so than in the past) and Oshawa are on the radar in terms of Rodney Dangerfield status.

[Stingray2004]

"Rodney Dangerfield" city of Canada? Don't see any CA version of Cleveland on the list. That said, through folklore, Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Hamilton always seem to at least "touch" that bar, however unfair that may be. Sorry guys - all great towns BTW.

In BC, Surrey, more particularly northern Surrey or its Whalley district has always been the butt of BC jokes. To a certain extent, New Westminster, BC as well.

The ultimate "Rodney Dangerfield" town in BC has gotta be Spuzzum, BC - situate along Hwy 1 in the Fraser Canyon. Spuzzum has always been the butt of BC media jokes - mine as well. Along both directions of Hwy 1, "You Are Leaving Spuzzum, BC" highway signs were once extant.

Spuzzum is also known to be "beyond Hope [BC] and the locale of a legendary "Spuzzum Institute of Technology".

Guess the jokes got so bad that the current remaining population indicates same - ~ 0 from my understanding.

[Black Star]

Originally Posted by 240glt

^ you're living in a fool's paradise Black Star! Otherwise known as Edmonton

That's a good one.. changed my sig!

Lol. Wtf are you talking about!!! Gawd you are straight up painfull as hell.

Leave the city stat. You are a Cancer.

[TownGuy]

I'll say Hamilton for Ontario because Hamilton actually deserves more respect whereas Oshawa really doesn't. In terms of Oshawa, south of the 401 is an industrial wasteland, north of the 401 is a sprawling big-box wasteland centred by an awful downtown. It's also flat as a pancake where Hamilton has the escarpment. Honestly having trouble trying to think of a redeeming quality for Oshawa. I guess it is located well in that the charms of rural Ontario are right on its doorstep being at the edge of the GTA.

What's funny about Oshawa is it could've been another Oakville if it centred itself closer to Lake Ontario. All the burbs in the eastern GTA wasted their waterfront location. There's a pair of nuclear plants, some factories and some sprawl. Whitby and Ajax have decent enough waterfront but nothing is around them. Odd that not one city developed a lakefront downtown.

[Proof Sheet]

Originally Posted by TownGuy

I'll say Hamilton for Ontario because Hamilton actually deserves more respect whereas Oshawa really doesn't. In terms of Oshawa, south of the 401 is an industrial wasteland, north of the 401 is a sprawling big-box wasteland centred by an awful downtown. It's also flat as a pancake where Hamilton has the escarpment. Honestly having trouble trying to think of a redeeming quality for Oshawa. I guess it is located well in that the charms of rural Ontario are right on its doorstep being at the edge of the GTA.

What's funny about Oshawa is it could've been another Oakville if it centred itself closer to Lake Ontario. All the burbs in the eastern GTA wasted their waterfront location. There's a pair of nuclear plants, some factories and some sprawl. Whitby and Ajax have decent enough waterfront but nothing is around them. Odd that not one city developed a lakefront downtown.

Cobourg has the nicest waterfront in that area.

We spent time a few years ago at a sports tournament in Oshawa, south of the 401. Awful area. I recall going on a 'Tim's run' for the parents to this desolate location. The place was full of feral kids and rather broken down looking coffee drinkers.

https://goo.gl/maps/FCVMTbEzQPR2

The police were in this gem of a retail collection arresting some guy.

https://goo.gl/maps/rapWQeD5Drv

[Proof Sheet]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Brantford is...armpitty. Clings to its heroes like none other (Gretzky and Bell). Apparently every single Rim Whoreton's Doh!nut is made in a factory next to the 403. The city recently tore down its historic downtown.

Yep, you can see that factory on the north side of the 403. I seem to recall it has a canadian, US, Irish and maybe German flag in front of the building. I gather it has Irish and German ownership.

Downtown was gutted in the name of progress to put up more parking for stores that get little traffic.

A friend of my son is starting university there in September in a pre-law program at Wilfred Laurier. They have built a lot of new buildings in downtown Brantford as a satellite campus of the main one in Waterloo.

King George Road in Brantford is one of the uglier highway commercial streets in Ontario. It ranks up there with Bayfield in Barrie and the road leading into London from the 401.

[Docere]

It's weird to see "it's not Cleveland" invoked as a "defense" of Winnipeg.

Turning the question around, what's America's "Winnipeg"?