The attraction of a place usually comes from a unique combination of mysterious and known factors. For a good long time now, Vancouver has been a remarkable magnet for artists and professionals from all over the globe. Every day there are new arrivals, looking to rent an apartment and settle in to call this place home, at least for a little while. Although there are plenty of obvious reasons that the city has such a pull, there are certain indefinable traits that play a larger part. It may have to do with a Canadian national character, if there can be such a homogenous thing in such a multi-dimensional place, and some of the clues might come from television.
It’s always interesting to see what kinds of local cultural productions will transfer over borders. For Canadians, it’s not a surprise that SCTV and the Kids in the Hall have had such a success with the neighbors to the south. The great shows are sometimes the exception, as far as the locals are concerned, because there is a pretty substantial history of mediocre programming. 
But these shows have a way of working their way into the various rivers of culture and subculture to find ways of making the every day seem hysterically funny. The English-speaking world doesn’t see these kinds of incisive comedy shows very often, and when they do show up, they are put under a terrible scrutiny.
The years have been very good to these particular shows, and because of them, there are more Canadian characters on US-based shows. Dave Foley was probably the big cross-over artist, having been a member of Kids in the Hall before joining News Radio. It’s also partly a matter of time, when there is more easy interchange between the countries, and more interest in living in either place on the part of the other. Young people in US cities do find themselves looking at sites like www.rentstarlight.com and considering living elsewhere, because of the representations in the media as well as positive experiences from others.
There may have once been a kind of foreign-ness between the countries, and perhaps there’s still a touch of it, but these days this has been replaced by a familiarity and respect that is turning into a mutual admiration. There are enough cultural differences to keep things interestingly spicy, and similarities to keep an easy exchange of cultural productions and living situations.