| Abstract: | An international comparative urban analysis requires an effort to reconcile not only the variables, but also the units of observation from each country. In a multivariate analysis, failure with regard to the former jeopardizes the validity of the results while failure with regard to the latter risks a priori bias in the interpretation of the results. This comparative, multivariate analysis of urban quality-of-life variables from Canada and the United States calls into question the distinctiveness of the Canadian City in the North American City debate because of such potential bias. As a point of departure from past research, not only is an attempt made to harmonize the set of urban quality-of-life variables with regard to definition, year, and geography, but also to control for the definitional, geographic, and hierarchical differences between the Canadian and U.S. urban systems. Such efforts reveal the Canadian City is indeed distinct from the U.S. City, but also distinct from the North American City, which is a regional entity encompassing Canada and the United States. |
