How Sophisticated Is Small Town Canada?

[Razor]

I'm old enough to remember when Walmart first came into Canada, and I remember reading an article around that time where apparently the buyers had to change their buying patterns and marketing approach for the Canadian market..In the article they stated that, through market research, small town Canada was generally more sophisticated then small town U.S in areas like fashion for one. This article I read stuck with me for all these years, and I'm just wondering what other's thoughts are on this?..When it comes to general worldliness or staying on top of pop culture trends or fashion, How does small town Canada compare to some of the small towns in Europe or other comtinents others on here may have visited? I have noticed that, just in my own experience, people in even small town Quebec really dress up compared to other small towns I have visited.

[mistercorporate]

Originally Posted by Razor

I'm old enough to remember when Walmart first came into Canada, and I remember reading an article around that time where apparently the buyers had to change their buying patterns for the Canadian market..In the article they stated that, through market research, small town Canada was generally more sophisticated then small town U.S in areas like fashion for one. This article I read stuck with me for all these years, and I'm just wondering what other's thoughts are on this?..When it comes to general worldliness or staying on top of pop culture trends or fashion, How does small town Canada compare to some of the small towns in Europe or other comtinents others on here may have visited? I have noticed just in my own experience that people in small town Quebec really dress up as one example.

If we are to classify small town people, we need to first agree on what constitutes a small town.

Less than 10,000 people:

I found small town young women to be quite sophisticated and in tune with pop culture vs the young men. Small town men and older small town women tend to be stuck in a time warp (still living in the 80's) that I found quite bizzare.

Over 100,000 people:

Not much difference from bigger cities, pretty sophisticated.

[Razor]

Originally Posted by Razor

I'm old enough to remember when Walmart first came into Canada, and I remember reading an article around that time where apparently the buyers had to change their buying patterns and marketing approach for the Canadian market..In the article they stated that, through market research, small town Canada was generally more sophisticated then small town U.S in areas like fashion for one. This article I read stuck with me for all these years, and I'm just wondering what other's thoughts are on this?..When it comes to general worldliness or staying on top of pop culture trends or fashion, How does small town Canada compare to some of the small towns in Europe or other comtinents others on here may have visited? I have noticed that, just in my own experience, people in even small town Quebec really dress up compared to other small towns I have visited.

Originally Posted by mistercorporate

If we are to classify small town people, we need to first agree on what constitutes a small town.

Less than 10,000 people:

I found small town young women to be quite sophisticated and in tune with pop culture vs the young men. Small town men and older small town women tend to be stuck in a time warp (still living in the 80's) that I found quite bizzare.

Over 100,000 people:

Not much difference from bigger cities, pretty sophisticated.

Yes, a small town of about 10,000 is probably a good benchmark..I'm curious about people who may of visited small towns across the pond, or in middle America, and their thoughts on that article's assessment.

[MonctonRad]

Your typical resident of a small town in Canada (<10,000) is about 10X more sophisticated than your typical Alabama redneck living in a city of ~ 50,000.

[Razor]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Your typical resident of a small town in Canada (<10,000) is about 10X more sophisticated than your typical Alabama redneck living in a city of ~ 50,000.

Walmart's study seemed to agree with that.

[PEI highway guy]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Your typical resident of a small town in Canada (<10,000) is about 10X more sophisticated than your typical Alabama redneck living in a city of ~ 50,000.

I live in a CITY OF 15,000 that feels like a small town, I spent 4 months in an ontario city of 150,,000. that felt like a small town. To me it is a matter of perspective or image that the town projects. As for the Alaabama city reference, Education is paid/run by the towns or counties in the USA. In general, the poorer the area the education system usually suffers. US family members have mentioned this to us numerous times.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by PEI highway guy

I live in a CITY OF 15,000 that feels like a small town, I spent 4 months in an ontario city of 150,,000. that felt like a small town. To me it is a matter of perspective or image that the town projects. As for the Alaabama city reference, Education is paid/run by the towns or counties in the USA. In general, the poorer the area the education system usually suffers. US family members have mentioned this to us numerous times.

My mother was born in Rumford ME. I've driven through that town a number of times and it always feels depressing, claustrophobic, shabby, poverty stricken and smelly (paper mill). I thank my lucky stars every day that she was sent back to PEI to be raised by her grandparents, so I could be born there rather than a hell hole like Rumford.

It's not just because Rumford is a pulp and paper town. Pictou NS is a pulp and paper town too. Aside from the stink, Pictou is a delightful town populated by engaged citizens, pretty churches and interesting shops and restaurants. There's a world of difference.........

[Marty_Mcfly]

Originally Posted by mistercorporate

If we are to classify small town people, we need to first agree on what constitutes a small town.

Less than 10,000 people:

I found small town young women to be quite sophisticated and in tune with pop culture vs the young men. Small town men and older small town women tend to be stuck in a time warp (still living in the 80's) that I found quite bizzare.

I would tend to agree with this. I don't understand the male time-warp. Maybe it has something to do with what is considered to me masculine, and trying to fit in to this idea in said small towns. It wasn't uncommon to be called an unflattering f-word describing homosexuals if you didn't enjoy spending your teenage years ripping around on the quad, eating baloney, and listening to jiggs and reels. Young women from small towns don't tend to suffer from the same problems.

Difference being of course, that the people who fit this mold don't really ever leave said small towns. The contemporary young male (and female) often do leave though, and blend in quite well with their urban counterparts.

[DizzyEdge]

Originally Posted by mistercorporate

If we are to classify small town people, we need to first agree on what constitutes a small town.

Less than 10,000 people:

I found small town young women to be quite sophisticated and in tune with pop culture vs the young men. Small town men and older small town women tend to be stuck in a time warp (still living in the 80's) that I found quite bizzare.

Over 100,000 people:

Not much difference from bigger cities, pretty sophisticated.

Just in general I find 100,000 seems to be a magic number. Like almost anything you want in a city of 1,000,000 you can probably do in a city of 100,000 although maybe JUST able to do. For a made up example if you want Ethiopian food maybe there's 20 places in the big city, and 1 in the 100k city. So you have it available, but just barely.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by DizzyEdge

Just in general I find 100,000 seems to be a magic number. Like almost anything you want in a city of 1,000,000 you can probably do in a city of 100,000 although maybe JUST able to do. For a made up example if you want Ethiopian food maybe there's 20 places in the big city, and 1 in the 100k city. So you have it available, but just barely.

100,000 is definitely a city by Canadian standards.

In a high population country like the US or especially China, even 200K often feels like a dot on the map. But you go to a place like Regina and it feels like a cosmopolitan city.

A population of four digits or less is a must for small town status, IMO. Even a place like Portage la Prairie, MB (pop 13,000 or thereabouts) isn't something I would classify as a 'small town'. Maybe Ontario can get away with 5 digits, but even there the limit would probably be about 20,000.

[Pavlov]

Originally Posted by esquire

But you go to a place like Regina and it feels like a cosmopolitan city.

Let's not say things that we might later regret.

[DizzyEdge]

Originally Posted by esquire

100,000 is definitely a city by Canadian standards.

In a high population country like the US or especially China, even 200K often feels like a dot on the map. But you go to a place like Regina and it feels like a cosmopolitan city.

A population of four digits or less is a must for small town status, IMO. Even a place like Portage la Prairie, MB (pop 13,000 or thereabouts) isn't something I would classify as a 'small town'. Maybe Ontario can get away with 5 digits, but even there the limit would probably be about 20,000.

Absolutely. In the Alberta context, Lethbridge and recently Red Deer have started to feel like 'real cities' for a lack of better word, both around 100k population. Medicine Hat though, pop 65k feels like it has the bones or potential to be the same, but is missing key aspects, such as the only downtown hotel is a 'rent by the week' type place, which leads to almost no downtown residents, which leads to just one resto-pub open in the evenings ie no downtown nightlife really. There's big city aspects, but not enough for it to come together.

[SignalHillHiker]

Originally Posted by DizzyEdge

Just in general I find 100,000 seems to be a magic number. Like almost anything you want in a city of 1,000,000 you can probably do in a city of 100,000 although maybe JUST able to do. For a made up example if you want Ethiopian food maybe there's 20 places in the big city, and 1 in the 100k city. So you have it available, but just barely.

This is generally true for mainstream interests. Less variety, but more or less the same stuff.

You'll find exceptions - I think St. John's has a disproportionately low number of internationally-known clothing shops. On the other hand, we have Opera on the Avalon. So every smaller city (say 100-500Kish) is going to have its own specific set of things it's lacking, and things it surprisingly has.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Pavlov

Let's not say things that we might later regret.

Originally Posted by wave46

Indeed. Most people from small towns have also spent some of their lives outside of them now too for post-secondary education or something similar. So, most people who live in small towns have had something like a big-city life experience.

Good point. Until relatively recently, there weren't (with the very odd exception) many tertiary education institutions in smaller locales in Canada. Going to university in Canada typically meant going to the big city, especially out west.

These days there are smaller cities and towns with universities so that is starting to change.

It's a far cry from the US where you literally have small towns with universities, e.g. Mayville, ND, pop 1,858, which is home to Mayville State University (there are many other similar examples). With the end result being that if you want to go beyond high school without leaving the farm, you can in many cases. That isn't quite as easy in Canada.

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by DizzyEdge

Just in general I find 100,000 seems to be a magic number. Like almost anything you want in a city of 1,000,000 you can probably do in a city of 100,000 although maybe JUST able to do. For a made up example if you want Ethiopian food maybe there's 20 places in the big city, and 1 in the 100k city. So you have it available, but just barely.

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

This is generally true for mainstream interests. Less variety, but more or less the same stuff.

You'll find exceptions - I think St. John's has a disproportionately low number of internationally-known clothing shops. On the other hand, we have Opera on the Avalon. So every smaller city (say 100-500Kish) is going to have its own specific set of things it's lacking, and things it surprisingly has.

There's something to be said for that. Kingston, at 120k, fits the bill for both. You can do most city things here, but sometimes just barely.

One thing that Kingston punches way above its weight in is fine dining. There's lots of great restaurants here. Downtown Kingston is actually a foodie paradise.

But conversely, one area we do poorly in considering our size is bars. We don't really have any "nice" bars or pubs. They're all low-end, appealing either to university kids or the working poor.

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

There's something to be said for that. Kingston, at 120k, fits the bill for both. You can do most city things here, but sometimes just barely.

One thing that Kingston punches way above its weight in is fine dining. There's lots of great restaurants here. Downtown Kingston is actually a foodie paradise.

But conversely, one area we do poorly in considering our size is bars. We don't really have any "nice" bars or pubs. They're all low-end, appealing either to university kids or the working poor.

Kingston does lack in places you can go at night that aren't university bars or dives. Actually was one of the reasons I left the city, I felt it did not cater to a young single person who was past university age and didn't drink Laker. Though Toronto is far from perfect, I like that in that city I can take someone out to someplace else nice in the evening, whereas in Downtown Kingston everything except Tim Hortons, McDonald's, and the loud pubs close at 7 or 8 during May-August.

[Pavlov]

Originally Posted by manny_santos

Kingston does lack in places you can go at night that aren't university bars or dives. Actually was one of the reasons I left the city, I felt it did not cater to a young single person who was past university age and didn't drink Laker. Though Toronto is far from perfect, I like that in that city I can take someone out to someplace else nice in the evening, whereas in Downtown Kingston everything except Tim Hortons, McDonald's, and the loud pubs close at 7 or 8 during May-August.

Kingston also lacks necessities like banh mi, dim sum, xiao long bao, good indian restaurants, etc, etc.

The big advantage that Kingston has over most other small centres is that it is a two hour train ride from both Toronto and Montreal (which makes its lack of options [or "sophistication" for the purposes of this thread] much more tolerable.

And of course Kingston boasts many of the advantages that "unsophisticated" small towns and cities enjoy: little traffic, short commutes, reasonable housing prices, etc.

[SignalHillHiker]

In general...



But there are just so many factors involved. A middle-class person in a hipstery/touristy town such as Bonavista or Brigus is likely to be much more sophisticated than a working-class person in a town off the beaten path where up to half the population is on social assistance such as Lamaline or Wabana.

But even then, there are so many exceptions that it's hard to justify there actually being a rule. All of the class markers here - accent, religious background, surname, etc. - are far from absolute.

There are just as many girls like this from St. John's as there are from St. Lawrence:

[lio45]

Baymen wear rubber boots in circumstances where they aren't trudging in mud (or expecting to do that in the immediate future) or in water more than several inches deep...?!?

Like as a fashion accessory? Even when you know you're spending the day in town?

[SignalHillHiker]

Originally Posted by lio45

Baymen wear rubber boots in circumstances where they aren't trudging in mud (or expecting to do that in the immediate future) or in water more than several inches deep...?!?

Like as a fashion accessory? Even when you know you're spending the day in town?

Not all or always, of course, but sure. Brightly-coloured Hunter rubbers are actually popular with urban women here also. They basically occupy the niches that Uggs, knee-high leather boots, and winter boots do on the mainland. So they're VERY common, year-round.