What people always seem to forget when these threads pop up from time to time is people with money are very rarely if ever are going to be exposed to the most negative parts of the cities they choose to live in. Pro hockey players in St. Louis are going to live in Ladue, Wildwood, Chesterfield, Clayton, Town & Country, etc. Not Walnut Park or East St. Louis. It's the same with other cities.
As for the premise of this thread, I think it's misguided. Are there many American UFAs that choose to sign in Canada? No, but there aren't many Canadians that do either. We're only talking about this because of the McGroarty situation, and that has nothing to do with Winnipeg the city. It's more of an opportunity/playing time situation. They have in fact had good success with American players over the years and don't seem to have a problem resigning them.