Urban Spice
Young multi-ethnic lower-middle-class singles
A collection of immigrant gateway communities, Urban Spice is the urban home for a mixed populace of blacks, Arabs and immigrants from Asia, Europe and Latin America. With nearly half of the singles and foreign born, this cluster is a mecca for educated, first-generation Canadians striving for middle-class status in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. Many of the residents of Urban Spice live in older, garden-style apartments - half of all dwellings were built before 1960 - along streets lined with mom-and-pop shops, fast-food restaurants and convenience stores. The typically close quarters encourages residents to gather instead at health clubs, art galleries, basketball courts, soccer fields and music clubs. And they take an active interest in community, ranking highest among all clusters in working for a political party or candidate.
Lower-Middle $44,248
Young
Ethnic Presence: High (Mixed)
With a relatively high education profile- -a quarter hold university degrees- -the residents of Urban Spice have varied media tastes. They watch a lot of TV shows featuring music fashion and sports, and they read hundreds of magazines at above-average rates, including locally-based titles like NOW and Vancouver Magazine. There's hardly a kind of cuisine that doesn't have an audience in this cultural stew, be it health foods, gourmet ethnic cuisine or junk food. Although their incomes are relatively modest, these young strivers still like to be early adopters of fashion and technology. More residents in Urban Spice take public transportation than drive a car, but owning a European luxury car is a coveted symbol of status.
How they think
Urban Spice is a diverse cluster, but its values are remarkably coherent in their flexible, postmodern flavor and their idealistic outlook. These Canadians register a great Openness Toward Others, perhaps in part because they believe strongly in Introspection and Empathy. While it is not uncommon for new immigrants to wish to display success in their new country ostentatiously (for a generation or two), these young Canadians are more interested in achieving Fulfillment Through Work. Although they are weak on Adaptability to Complexity, they are already handling plenty of complexity and showing values that betray little fear or hostility. Strong on Flexible Definition of Family, Equality of the Sexes and Primacy of Environmental Protection, Urban Spice residents celebrate equality and autonomy, and even have attention to spare for the planet. Finally, this cluster scores high on Belonging to the Global Village; this trend may represent an attachment to a nation of origin, but given the broad-minded values of this cluster, it is as likely to signify an openness to and interest in the whole world-not just the parts most familiar to these thoughtful young Canadians.
Attitudes
"Other cultures have a lot to teach us"
"I tend to be the first to own new electronic products"
"It is very important for me to feel creative"
"I enjoy entertaining"
"The use of marijuana should be legalized in Canada"
