DIFFERENCES

I have officially been in Rocky for a year now now and thought that I would tell you abou the differences

Lets start with the obvious!

Demographics
The Metro Vancouver area has a population of 2.1 million people and the population of Rocky Mountain House (Rocky) and area has a population of 6,972 and including the County of Clearwater rural approximately 20 thousand people.

Metro Vancouver is ethnically diverse with 52% of its residents having a language other than English as their first language. Rocky is mainly Caucasian with a few visible minorities in their midst as well as the native Indian bands, O’Chiese (504 people), Sunchild (598) and Big Horn (192) bands to the West of Rocky Mountain House.

Geographical Location - Weather

Vancouver is located on the Pacific Ocean and boasts a very moderate climate with little snow, a lot of rain and no extreme weather. It is arguable one of the most beautiful cities in the world surrounded by mountains and oceans. It is located at sea level. Boating, skiing, hiking, running, and any sport that can be performed on mountain or sea are practiced in the area. It is said that you can be on the ski slopes in the morning and sailing in the afternoon in Vancouver and they are right.

Rocky is located just east of the Rocky Mountains and is 3200 feet in altitude. It is
located near many fresh water lakes, Crimson Lake, Twin Lakes and Cow Lake and the North Saskatchewan River runs through the town. Rocky experiences a full range of weather conditions from +35 degrees to -35 degrees Celsius. The weather is tempered by proximity to the Rocky Mountains and winter is broken by Chinook winds. “The reference to a wind or weather system, simply "a Chinook", originally meaning a warming wind from the ocean into the interior regions of the Pacific Northwest (the Chinook people lived near the ocean, along the lower Columbia River).” (Wikipedia)

Rocky is located in a beautiful part of the country and is noted to be the ‘Gateway to Adventure’. Rocky is located at the eastern point of the back country of Alberta backing onto some of the most popular camping and hiking areas in the province. Lakes, rivers, trail riding, canoeing, boating, sailing, ski-doing, snowshoeing, skiing, ice-fishing, fishing are some of the activities that people in this area participate in.

Both locations are very beautiful in their own way and we have come to love Rocky in the same way that we loved Vancouver.

Vancouver

• High humidity
• Moderate temperatures – lots of rain
• Gardeners dream – anything will grow there
• Sea Level
• Wide variety of restaurants – world class food and service
• Unlimited ethnic food diversity
• We ate out a lot☺
• More cars and SUV’s are driven than trucks. Honda and Toyota are very common
• People get married later in life…. Like late 20’s or early 30’s
• Education a priority for future advancement and high-income potential
• Many more large companies and therefore more employees VS self-employed. High competition and therefore higher expectations.
• Outdoor lifestyle with people very interested in being fit and active. Couch potatoes can be found
• Winter activities include skiing, snowboarding and sledding (2.5 hours to Whistler-Blackcomb) .5 hours – 1 hour to North Shore Mountains – Grouse, Cypress and Seymour Mountains
• Critters that frequented our Tsawwassen backyard included raccoons and large black squirrels and crows
• Gas is not cheap in Vancouver – 107.5 per litre
• Fruit and vegetable stands plentiful with excellent choice, quality and prices
• We had a lovely neighborhood pub, ‘The Rose and Crown’, that we loved to frequent in Tsawwassen
• My women friends in Vancouver are very talented with very good jobs in business, health care and technology. I am very impressed with their accomplishments and their drive and ambition.
• My commute in Vancouver took me 1 hour to an hour and fifteen minutes each way. On the very BEST day it took 45 minutes. Don’t even ask what it took on a snow day!
• Debt in Vancouver consists of your house and a couple of cars… probably some credit cards thrown in.
• Car insurance – In Tsawwassen we insured a 2001 Ford F150 for $1500/year and a 2002 Honda Accord for $1800 /year – (with the 40% safe driver discount)
• In Tsawwassen we were driven to earn and succeed more.

Rocky Mountain House

• Dry humidity (some of our furniture cracked after we moved)
• I use LOTS of moisturizer. We need a humidifier in the house
• Hot and cold extremes
• -35 degrees in the winter and +35 degrees in the summer. Chinook winds moderate winter. It can be -35 on Monday and +15 on Thursday.
• Gardening is a nightmare, as it has been known to snow in every month of the year. We had below zero temperatures on June 30 this year and August 31 in 2008 (froze the potatoes and the flowers).
• 3200 feet above sea level, which affects a lot of things including cooking times for food!
• Smaller choice of restaurants and quality. All of the regular fast food places, lots of hamburgers and steaks, a couple of Chinese food, one Italian Seafood (very good and very expensive) and a Taco Del Mar. We eat at home a lot! NO SUSHI RESTAURANT ☹
• More pick up trucks than cars and Chevrolet and Ford are VERY popular. Honda considered to be an ‘import’ and unpatriotic!
• People marry very young… like right out of high school
• Education doesn’t seem as important. Many young men do not finish high school as they can earn very high incomes in the oil and gas field. Men are mostly in trades. High-income earners in trades! And in oil fields! Women have diplomas and degrees but many work as bookkeepers for their husbands or in clerical positions in town. Higher paying careers for women in this town are in health care and education as well as social services. Husbands make piles of money contracting to the oil companies. Rocky has 400 independent Welders (used to be 800)
• Very entrepreneurial spirit in Rocky Mountain House. Many people are self-employed and contract out to the oil and gas industry.
• Outdoor lifestyle with people very interested in being fit and active. Couch potatoes can be found
• Winter activities include skiing, snowboarding (2.5 hours from Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper) snowmobiling, snowshoeing, X-country skiing, ice fishing (just like the movie grumpy old men)
• Critters that frequent our Rocky backyard include lots of deer, coyote, skunk, small brown squirrels and LOTS of birds.
• Gas is cheap in Rocky – currently at 93.9 a litre
• Fruit and vegetables available in grocery stores only. Choice and quality marginal.. grow your own! We have seen some magnificent gardens in and around town. Remember that gardening is a nightmare but very satisfying when you do get it right!
• Having trouble finding a nice neighbourhood pub that we can go to. The closest one that we like is in Red Deer! An 89 klm drive however we are told that the Royal Canadian Legion in town has a terrific steak dinner on Friday nights… we should try it out.
• The women I have met in Rocky are very different but no less accomplished. They have jobs, raise children, cook, bake, sew, can, chase cows, do the bookkeeping for the farm, plant gardens, drive tractors, hay, pick rocks and run the swather and bale hay! Yikes!
• My commute in Rocky takes 8-10 minutes. On a snow day it might take 12 minutes
• Same debt in Rocky Mountain House consists of a house, acreage or quarter section (160 acres) plus a couple of trucks, a holiday trailer, a quad or two and a couple of snowmobiles.
• In Rocky we insure a 2006 Toyota Tundra AND a 2002 Honda Accord for $1540/year
• In Alberta politics are the Conservative Party… no one else matters…
• In Rocky we have been more laid back and relaxed than any other time in our lives…