When I tell people I moved to Grand Forks from Vancouver, people quite often laugh and ask me, “Why would you move out here?”

Actually it was because I got a job with the Grand Forks Gazette but even though I’m a big city boy moving to a “small town” there is a lot to like.

There isn’t a Starbucks in sight. I love the smell of espresso in the morning but there are as many of those annoying green signs where I’m from as there are trees in Grand Forks and I was starting to get sick of it.

Did you know there are even two Starbucks across the street from one another in downtown Vancouver?

No yuppies. In downtown Vancouver, there are a lot of “chic” people walking around, with an air of arrogance about them. Couldn’t stand it.

You don’t have to pay for parking. I’ve seen the price of parking in Van City go up from a quarter, to 50 cents, to a loonie and a toonie and that might not even get you an hour anymore either, well maybe I’m exaggerating.

As clichéd as it sounds, the people are friendlier. I went to mass last Sunday and a lady asked me if I was new in town and proceeded to welcome me.

People were usually indifferent back home.

As I got farther east from my hometown, it was really nice to see no shortage of Vancouver Canuck car flags. The Canucks are one of the many things I like about my hometown and it’s nice to see some reminders of home.

“We are all Canucks,” as they say.

Mountain 96.7 FM. On my drive up, I saw a number of road signs with local radio stations posted and some of them were playing some weird stuff. I was alerted to the classic rock station and can now drive around with the sounds of Alice in Chains and Van Halen.

I think I’ll do just fine in Grand Forks.