From: Daniel Berger Date: 2007-07-29T04:52:32+09:00 Subject: Re: Australia or Canada, which one is the best country for a geek?!? On Jul 27, 9:22 pm, Kenneth McDonald wrote: > It'll depend completely on the city and surrounding area. Canada is much > closer to the high-tech stuff in the US. But of course, if you can speak > the appropriate language(s), Australia is much closer to the high-tech > stuff in Asia. > > As has been mentioned, there's a big (in Canadian terms) concentration > of high-tech around Ottawa. However, the real center of Canadian > cultural and commercial activity is Toronto (no, I'm not a Torontonian, > it's just the truth). If the high Quebec taxes are not a deterrent, I'd > suggest that Montreal is probably the optimal combination of high-tech > opportunity, cultural amenities, and general quality of life. Other > things being equal, it's probably where I'd go were I to move back to > Canada, Toronto would be a close second. > > Vancouver is supposed to be a very lovely city; it isn't. I've lived > there, and architecturally Vancouver is somewhere between bland nouveau > West Coast and drop-dead graveled-yard ugly. The _surroundings_ are > beautiful, but even then, be prepared for very damp, gray, depressing > winters--if sunshine is important to you, don't move to Vancouver. > > Canada's general social attitudes are much more European than American > (and the general Canadian attitude towards many current US policies is > probably best described as somewhere between amusement and disgust), so > if you're a strong libertarian-type hacker, you may not like that aspect > of Canada. (Personally, I like it quite a bit.) > > Australia will be warmer. _Much_ warmer. And sunnier. Plus, you know, the beaches. *nudge* *nudge* Dan