Florida - Canada Differences

As I've been to Florida many times in the past, I may not have the freshest eye to spot how it differs from my home province. Also part of the reason we're here is to enjoy this different environment, particularly reason no. 1: the warmer weather. But weather aside, there are other things we note.

For example, U-turns. Here the traffic can be easily 3 lanes wide with access points to make u-turns or cross from one side to the other. Of course, there are lights as well but the u-turn is de rigueur, and one gets pretty good as pulling a fast one! Traffic is heavy and the lights are long. It's hard to differentiate one area or town from another: you're in NPR then Port Richey, then Hudson and so on. They blend one into another.

Recycling. Not as evident an effort as in Canada. I've found this town, New Port Richey (NPR) does have a "blue bag" effort where one must buy the bags and ensure their local area has bought into the effort to ensure pickup. But it doesn't appear widely publicized and I've made a mental note to ask the condo president if they are on the pickup route as I have no problem with buying the blue bags. Being a well-trained Ontarian, it now goes against the grain to throw a can or wine bottle in the trash.

Water. In both condo units, there's been water-saver toilets but no water-saver showers. The shower streams down on you like Niagara Falls. While I admit I like this seeming abundance (particularly after my own home water saver shower), it does make me uncomfortable to think of the waste. Apparently NPR has also addressed this and I quote: "Indoor and outdoor water conservation kits will continue to be provided free of charge upon request from the Public Utilities Department." Also "The Code also prohibits installation of shower heads that are capable of exceeding 2.5 gallons per minute."

Right now there are severe drought restrictions re lawn watering but I haven't found it easy to find what they offer in support of the homeowner's effort to reduce water usage. Their website does offer a "free conservation retrofit kit" if you call the Billing and Collection service so I'll follow up on that.

The People:
Black & White. I haven't seen many black people in the general populace although 2 of the ladies we dealt with for our cable service are African-American. One lady, Margaret, seemed astonished when we said hello to her later in the day after she'd provided service to us in the morning. "You remembered me!" she exclaimed. A little research shows African-americans form only 1% of the NPR population.

Hispanic or Latino - while there are abundant bilingual offerings, particularly when calling for service, this group forms only 5% of the NPR population.

Elders - I'd expected to see more "old folks" but, not counting the snowbirds, the population in this town is reasonably spread out:

• 19.1% under the age of 18,
• 7.4% from 18 to 24,
• 24.5% from 25 to 44,
• 20.7% from 45 to 64, and
• 28.3% who were 65 years of age or older.

Friendliness: our experience in this aspect of life has been great. Everyone, no matter their role, has been very friendly and helpful and informative.

Golf - there's a plethora of golf courses around this town. I'd estimate about 80 within easy driving distance. What I've noted that I don't like is the occasional golf course has a resident fee and a non-resident fee. In other words, they blatantly gouge the visitor and reward the locals. Our realtor says there's a way around that: simply get a Florida resident ID. We haven't gone to that length yet so we simply boycott those courses and patronize those who operate more democratically. Speaking of golf, I gotta go. Tee-off at 8:45!