I think you would find that if you drive through the US, you will find the same change from city to town. I've lived in both cities and towns in the US and Canada, and if you end up making a left turn instead of a right, similar differences exist. What you might be missing (and what Zakaria's article was pionting out) is that Canadians aren't putting themselves into debt at the same rate as Americans, so while the Americans may 'look' better off, that doesn't mean they are.