Why does Oshawa and Whitby feel like that compared to waterloo and Kitchener? (condos)

[Bubble99]

The urban core of waterloo and Kitchener feel bigger than Oshawa and Whitby. The city overall of waterloo and Kitchener feels bigger and more spread out than Oshawa and Whitby. The down town waterloo and Kitchener seem more vibrant and alive than say Oshawa and Whitby.

There seems to be more traffic and bad drivers in Oshawa and Whitby than waterloo and Kitchener. People seem rude and less friendly in Oshawa and Whitby. Also people seem to dress more casual in waterloo and Kitchener than say Oshawa and Whitby. More common to see people in a t-shirt and shorts and flip flops in the summer and non summer common to see people wearing sweatpants well in Oshawa and Whitby it is less common.

Also waterloo and Kitchener feels more like an older city. There bit more conservative vibe in waterloo and Kitchener than more liberal Oshawa and Whitby. Out side of the down town area and urban core area the suburb parts of waterloo and Kitchener seem more sprawling than Oshawa and Whitby.

[memph]

Originally Posted by Bubble99

The urban core of waterloo and Kitchener feel bigger than Oshawa and Whitby. The city overall of waterloo and Kitchener feels bigger and more spread out than Oshawa and Whitby. The down town waterloo and Kitchener seem more vibrant and alive than say Oshawa and Whitby.

Originally Posted by Bubble99

Out side of the down town area and urban core area the suburb parts of waterloo and Kitchener seem more sprawling than Oshawa and Whitby.

Yes, Kitchener-Waterloo is bigger and more populated than Oshawa-Whitby. It's also a bigger employment area, with most residents working in Kitchener-Waterloo, while many residents of Oshawa and Whitby work in Toronto. Downtown Waterloo benefits from being close to two large university campuses, which means a lot of students will go to Downtown Waterloo for restaurants and bars. To a lesser extent, they will go to Downtown Kitchener too since it's not that far either. There's also many condos in their downtowns with young professionals living in them.

Originally Posted by Bubble99

There seems to be more traffic and bad drivers in Oshawa and Whitby than waterloo and Kitchener. People seem rude and less friendly in Oshawa and Whitby. Also people seem to dress more casual in waterloo and Kitchener than say Oshawa and Whitby. More common to see people in a t-shirt and shorts and flip flops in the summer and non summer common to see people wearing sweatpants well in Oshawa and Whitby it is less common.

I'm not familiar enough with Oshawa and Whitby to comment on this.

Originally Posted by Bubble99

Also waterloo and Kitchener feels more like an older city.

Downtown Kitchener is older/historically larger than Oshawa/Whitby, but Waterloo is most similar imo.

Originally Posted by Bubble99

There bit more conservative vibe in waterloo and Kitchener than more liberal Oshawa and Whitby.

I don't really think this is true. Both have a significant blue collar population (mainly in Kitchener and Oshawa, not as much in Waterloo and Whitby), but both also have a significant professional class population, in Oshawa/Whitby much of these are people who work in Downtown Toronto, which has a variety of white collar jobs, and in Kitchener-Waterloo, these are most notably working at the universities and in the tech sector.

Politically, Oshawa/Whitby are more conservative.

2021 Federal election results for conservative/right of centre parties (People's Party + Conservative Party)

51.9% Durham (includes Courtice and northern Oshawa)
46.8% Oshawa
45.4% Kitchener-Conestoga
42.2% Kitchener South-Hespeller
40.2% Whitby
32.4% Waterloo
31.1% Kitchener Centre


2022 Provincial election results for conservative/right of centre parties (New Blue + Ontario Party + Progressive Conservatives)

51.1% Durham
50.5% Whitby
47.3% Kitchener-Conestoga
44.8% Oshawa
32.8% Waterloo
32.2% Kitchener South-Hespeller
31.9% Kitchener Centre

[pdw]

K-W invested in the ion light rail system recently which makes rapid transit around the area very good for a city of its size. Oshawa’s main industry has always been building cars so there’s only buses and 1 go train line in the far south of the city. A light rail system would be a good idea I think and might attract more young professional residents than just suburban commuters to move there.

[Suesbal]

Originally Posted by Bubble99

The urban core of waterloo and Kitchener feel bigger than Oshawa and Whitby. The city overall of waterloo and Kitchener feels bigger and more spread out than Oshawa and Whitby. The down town waterloo and Kitchener seem more vibrant and alive than say Oshawa and Whitby.

There seems to be more traffic and bad drivers in Oshawa and Whitby than waterloo and Kitchener. People seem rude and less friendly in Oshawa and Whitby. Also people seem to dress more casual in waterloo and Kitchener than say Oshawa and Whitby. More common to see people in a t-shirt and shorts and flip flops in the summer and non summer common to see people wearing sweatpants well in Oshawa and Whitby it is less common.

Also waterloo and Kitchener feels more like an older city. There bit more conservative vibe in waterloo and Kitchener than more liberal Oshawa and Whitby. Out side of the down town area and urban core area the suburb parts of waterloo and Kitchener seem more sprawling than Oshawa and Whitby.

Feelings - nothing more than feelings.

[OyCrumbler]

I assume this is because Kitchener and Waterloo are more of their own metropolitan area while Oshawa and Whitby are geographically closer and much more integrated with Toronto as part of the Greater Toronto Area. As such, a lot of the metropolitan area's centers for all sorts of things is going to be more towards Toronto proper while Kitchener and Waterloo are basically the centers for their own smaller metropolitan area.

[Zoisite]

Originally Posted by Bubble99

The urban core of waterloo and Kitchener feel bigger than Oshawa and Whitby. The city overall of waterloo and Kitchener feels bigger and more spread out than Oshawa and Whitby. The down town waterloo and Kitchener seem more vibrant and alive than say Oshawa and Whitby.

There seems to be more traffic and bad drivers in Oshawa and Whitby than waterloo and Kitchener. People seem rude and less friendly in Oshawa and Whitby. Also people seem to dress more casual in waterloo and Kitchener than say Oshawa and Whitby. More common to see people in a t-shirt and shorts and flip flops in the summer and non summer common to see people wearing sweatpants well in Oshawa and Whitby it is less common.

Also waterloo and Kitchener feels more like an older city. There bit more conservative vibe in waterloo and Kitchener than more liberal Oshawa and Whitby. Out side of the down town area and urban core area the suburb parts of waterloo and Kitchener seem more sprawling than Oshawa and Whitby.

How many years have you spent living in those places?

.