West End Lifestyle & Demographics

Grads & Pads
Young midscale urban singles

A collection of young, ethnically-diverse city dwellers living near universities, Grads & Pads represents the nation's most liberal lifestyle. Its residents are a progressive mix of well-educated singles, students and recent grads, service workers and professionals - all living in apartments within mid-sized cities and the satellite centres of major metros. Their incomes aren't high, but these young adults just entering the workforce enjoy the freedom of spending their first paycheques. With three-quarters of the adults unattached, Grads & Pads residents are night owls who frequent health clubs, rock concerts, art galleries and ballet performances. They like to drink: beer, tequila, rum, gin - you name it. They're also political activists who work for social causes, write to public officials and volunteer for political parties and politicians who typically support their liberal views.

Middle $42,289
Young
Ethnic Presence: Some (Mixed)

Grads and pads is home to young and footloose men and women: many have moved into their current apartments within the past year, typically looking for more convenient access to nearby jobs. They're also frequent travelers who are willing to spend a lot of money--$ 1,000-$2,000 on their last trip-to destinations in Canada, Europe, Latin America and Asia. Back in their apartments, they enjoy surfing the Internet (for research and entertainment), cooking gourmet meals and listening to music, especially jazz and alternative rock. When they turn on the TV, it's typically to watch programs with a satiric edge-favorites include "This Hour Has 22 Minutes" and "Malcolm in the Middle"-and Grads and pads residents get all the pop culture references.

How they think
Grads and pads is in many ways the opposite of the stereotype of lazy, disaffected youth. Busy, thoughtful, and happy, these young Canadians are among the most dedicated to Community Involvement, register strong engagement with social and environmental issues (Global Ecological Consciousness, Ethical Consumerism), and are passionate about finding ways to express their Personal Creativity. The Equality of the Sexes goes without saying for this progressive cluster. Residents here see themselves as Belonging to the Global Village not only because their families have in cases arrived in Canada from elsewhere, but because for these wired Canadians, the idea of the world being shrunk by technology is a self-evident truth experienced daily. Residents of this diverse cluster live together happily, eschewing all Ethnic Intolerance and strongly rejecting the Importance of National Superiority.

Attitudes
"Premarital sex improves the later success of a marriage"
"I really pity people who consider their work the be-all and end-all of life"
"The use of marijuana should be legalized in Canada"
"I've been active in a social issue"
"drinking is a part of my lifestyle"

Electric Avenues
Young upper-middle-class urban singles

Urban lifestyles typically attract young singles and couples, and Electric Avenues is no exception. These neighbourhoods - concentrated in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa-Hull and Montreal - are known as havens for university graduates who rent apartments (in low- and high-rise buildings), have white collar jobs and pursue yuppie lifestyles. While residents here have average household incomes, their spending power appears greater because so many are childless households. Like their younger cousins in Grads & Pads, they spend freely on entertainment, designer clothes and cultural events. But being more established, they devote more time to tracking their investments and less time patronizing the local nightclub. While no one would consider Electric Avenues residents conservative, they are less liberal in their outlook than Grads & Pads.

Upper-Middle $62,094
Young
Ethnic Presence: Low

Electric Avenues bring together a diverse mix of cultures in a vibrant city setting: apartment-dwelling singles from a dozen Asian and European countries all united by a youthful, educated sensibility. As Consumers, they're big on travel, books, health foods and yoga. And though supermarket surveys would seem to indicate they are starving-spending less than $50 weekly on groceries-they frequent all types of restaurants. Electric Avenues residents like nothing more than to meet friends at coffee bars, making it the top-ranked cluster for drinking cappuccino.

How they think
Electric Avenues is a cluster of autonomous, flexible and engaged Canadian youth. Electric Avenue residents' flexibility and openness to change is evident particularly in their orientation to matters of gender, sexuality, and family: this cluster is among the strongest on Flexible Definition of the Family, Gender Equality, and Sexual Permissiveness. Electric avenues residents question rules and received wisdom. They want the freedom to make their own decisions without deferring to the wishes of a boss, father, religious leader, or other authority figure: this cluster is strong on Control of Destiny and Adaptability to Complexity in Life. There is a dash of youthful thrill-seeking here, evident in the cluster's high scores on Penchant for Risk-Taking and Importance of Spontaneity in Daily Life. But these young Canadians find no thrill in showing others they're richer or better off; this cluster is among the weakest on the trends Ostentatious Consumption and Concern for Appearance.

Attitudes
"I am willing to pay more for environmentally-friendly products"
"I am more independent than most people"
"I am interested in discovering more ways to improve my intuition"
"The use of marijuana should be legalized in Canada"

Park Bench Seniors
Downscale seniors in urban high-rises

With half of all its residents over 65 years old, Park Bench Seniors is Canada's oldest lifestyle. These downscale retirees tend to live in older, seniors-oriented high-rise apartment buildings - half were built before 1975 - and typically get by on modest pensions. Because most folks here never made it beyond high school and spent their working lives at blue-collar jobs, their lifestyles are unpretentious. Residents pursue home-based leisure activities like knitting, crafts, gardening, reading travel magazines and watching television - especially American sitcoms and mysteries. But they also support the arts, occasionally going to art galleries and ballet performances. In this low-key leisure world, they concede that they rarely go out to restaurants and aren't too keen on entertaining at home, either.

Downscale $31,362
Mature
Ethnic Presence: Low

In Park Bench Seniors, with its disproportionate number of retirees and widows, lower-income residents have ratcheted down their lifestyles. When they shop, they're known as bargain-hunters who patronize stores such as Shoppers Drug Mart, Zellers, and Reitmans. And many are techno-phobic, rarely purchasing computer software, cell phones, cameras or DVD devices. They'll occasionally splurge on a trip-Britain, Mexico, and Las Vegas are popular destinations-but these seniors make do with more modest forms of entertainment. When they splurge, it is most likely on the latest toy for a grandchild.

How they think
Park Bench Seniors is a cluster with strongly held traditional values, not surprising given its status as the oldest cluster in Canada. Strong on three values that often appear together among older segments- Primacy of the Family, Religiosity and Community Involvement-these older Canadians believe in God, family (with dad as the boss) and an old-fashioned model of community. In their small towns, these Canadians don't encounter the kind of diversity that thrives in Canada's cities, and their Ethnic Intolerance reflects their fear of people unlike themselves. Ethnic intolerance is one aspect of these Canadians' generalized Aversion to Complexity in Life. Some of the complexities they find most troubling have to do with gender and sexuality in contemporary Canadian life: this cluster is among the weakest of all on Sexual Permissiveness and Flexible Definition of the Family.

Attitudes
"Young people have too much freedom and not enough discipline"
"I have not already taken steps to ensure that I have sufficient income for my retirement"
"The father of the family must be master in his own house"
"I would never buy products from a company that tested them on animals"
"I try to eat foods that are good for me"

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