Where I'm From and Where I'm At

Due to some unforseen circumstances, this past weekend I found myself back in the town where I did my growins' up: Victoria. Having lived in Calgary as an adult, and finding myself having to return to the Island regularly until further notice, there's some gaping differences that smack you in the face. Alot of people encounter this when returning to their hometowns. No one in Calgary is actually "from" Calgary, right?
Here are just a few of those differences that I noticed upon my return to my particular hometown:

• If you're on, say, the #17 highway from the Ferry terminal at Swartz Bay, the speed limit is mostly 90 km/h (80 around the Elk Lake area). It is perfectly socially acceptable to go at or below the posted speed limit. I used to drive like this when I lived back on the Island, but as a Calgarian I found this idea to be totally repugnant. "Come one people! At least go the speed limit!" were my thoughts as I navigated my way around in my Grandfather's VW. I never ever would have thought this as an Islander.
• If you don't know how the roads work in Victoria, um, well, you're screwed. Take for example the road that gets you from the Pat Bay Highway to the Island Highway. When you off-ramp its "Royal Oak", without warning it changes into "Wilkinson", then just as you thought you were all settled in with one road name, it changes again to "Helmchen". So, poor visitors trying to retrace their steps back from the Island Highway looking for Royal Oak will be sadly mistaken. Victoria is rife with this, this is not an isolated incident.
• Overpasses are for the weak. Both the Island Highway and the Pat Bay Highway, two substantial arteries all are littered with traffic lights. There is no Deerfoot/QE II mindset. They could throw up some interchanges if they really really really focused on it, but its not that urgent in the mind of the Islander. After all, they're driving below the speed limit, they're in no hurry.
• I don't know how the heck this happened, but Victoria is still so damn white bread it almost leads you to ponder if there's some sort of conspiracy afoot. Vancouver is brimming with all different cultures and racially diversity, but Victoria is nowhere near this level. My cabbie from the airport was "of a different culture" (political correctness), but that's pretty much where the cultural mosaic ended.
• "Service" is not a dirty word. At restaurants, stores, coffee shops, etc, you just seem to get the little bit extra in terms of service. Now, I do have a unique perspective: I had both service-oriented jobs in Victoria (fledgling tour company I started) and Calgary (retail jobs to get me through University) and I can tell you that I was far more tolerant to my Victoria clientele. I was pretty much a prick to people I served in Calgary, but so was everybody I worked with. Obviously this is due to Calgary's HUUUGGGE need for service sector workers, but its a difference I noticed, nevertheless.
• Victoria has no Home Team attitude. We used to have a Junior Hockey team: The Victoria Cougars. But we punished them well by forcing them to play in this run-down old barn, the Memorial Arena. Man, that place was a dump. There was ZERO motivation to build a new rink back then so the team moved. No one cared. There's the odd article about there being interest in getting another Junior team, but there's still no interest. That bloody Steve Nash has everybody playing basketball now.

Now, I have to set this point straight, I am NOT slamming Victoria. I still love it, I always will. It's beautiful, and has tonnes of history and culture. You're crazy if you don't visit there at least once in your life, as a North American. My point is that everyone experiences these little twinges when they go back home to visit. Am I wrong?