i just got back from running some errands in the center of my adopted northern european capital. it was a nice day, so we walked through the old citadel and through the gardens surrounding the castle. the palace guards at amalienborg were posing for photos with chinese tourists.
because i didn't really grow up with this sort of thing, it kind of charmed me. it probably always will ("let's cut through the palace..."), but these things are so subjective. if i were born here, the above would hold little to no value. things like art deco skyscrapers might be far more appealing, or — as per acajack's example — affordable swimming pools.
you can't really say "better" with canada and europe. i mean, i like playing tennis and don't really like playing squash, but that doesn't mean tennis is better, or that squash should be more like tennis. they're just two different phenomena between which i made a personal choice.
there are some things about where i live that i like, and that are quite tangible. for one, this is a small city of 1.5 million people that has a 107-station rail system. i use it to go everywhere. it's a great thing, and ottawa could have such a system too if they really wanted.
but i am not living in europe for the trains. you don't switch countries over railway setups. the reasons why this continent resonates with me are more internal and subjective; they are kind of the counterpart to the canadian "i like the future and helping to build my country"-type thoughts expressed upthread.
if you are fascinated by history and enjoy the sort of human habits that are made finer by long repetition — rituals, essentially — europe's a good place. if you like the vast, undefined nature of the frontier, you'd be happier in canada. if, like most people, you get kind of a thrill from both things but don't really have a huge temperamental leaning, you'd likely be happy in either an established canadian city like montreal or toronto or a progressive european city like copenhagen or amsterdam.
the stuff we talk about on the forum is really pretty important to me. a street and neighborhood of substantial pre-war buildings isn't an ideal or a perk, it's a prerequisite, and i wouldn't be really happy in a place where that wasn't both available and the norm. i don't like cities where urban living is a niche for yuppies or a market segment (picture a rehabbed factory called something like "the oatmeal lofts," perched above "ginsberg café" in an otherwise parking-lot filled neighborhood)... i like cities where it just goes without saying, where it's what's always been done and is effortless.
in a lot of canada, neighborhoods like this
are something of a boutique product, but in much of europe they're just life. i like that. but i will always have less living space, a lamer car, and fewer possessions here than i would in north america. nothing drastic or anything, but a noticeable step down. you sacrifice a bit of private for a bit of public and that's just that.