Joey, the problems (from the perspective of a foreigner) start even before you arrive. For example, most visitors (Canadians are thankfully exempt) have to go through ESTA and pay $14 just to request authorization to fly to the US, you still can be refused entry at the border. And if you didn't know, they also fingerprint you when you visit the US, which makes a lot of people feel like a criminal (Canadians are also thankfully exempt). Canadians travelling on mass transport have to pay $5. Border waits at some borders can be hours long at times. There was a cruise ship in St. Thomas that took 6 hours to clear (normally takes about an hour). And then there are cases like
Peter Watts (the author) that just scare us... in Canada it was reported that his crime was getting out of his car to wait outside and not getting back into his car fast enough.
And don't think I'm not as upset about Canada customs, because in the last year they have become less friendly as well. Border crossing that used to take 15 minutes can stretch into an hour, which is just too damn long for a tourist who wants to visit for a few days.
As Europe makes going from country to country a breeze under Schengen, we (both the US and Canada) are making it harder and harder to the detriment of both our countries. We need to make visiting our countries easier, faster and more pleasant. And it starts from the first contact... and that first contact isn't Disney, Universal, the tourism department or even our B&B. The first person our guest comes in contact is a border guard and they give the whole impression and tone to the visit.
Honestly, I wish our two governments could sit down, clear up this nonsense, because so many of our guests want to go back and forth over the border and enjoy both countries..