We raised our kids in the mountains of Northeastern PA. It's ski country here, and far too close to Philly and NYC. Typical grocery store parking lot in these parts is usually full of $40K+ SUVs, and four door pick-ups that occasionally get a splash of mulch, or a Christmas tree in the bed. Oddly enough, when we head to remote areas of Canada, like Rural Nova Scotia, or BC, the lot seems to be predominated by affordable, practical 2WD mini-vans.
WHAT? You can actually survive in a far more difficult climate WITHOUT wasting an extra $15-20K on a fancy, upscale SUV? You can actually get everything done around the homestead without a $50K pick-up with four doors and video screens for the kiddies? Who knew? LOL
To me the difference between The Canadians and those of us in the lower 48, is that our northern Neighbors didn't fall for all the hype when it comes to wasting money on vehicles that we "need" to survive the next snowmageddon. They don't cry like little girls every time the clown on TV says it might snow, and they don't rush out, in a panic, to buy every egg, loaf of bread and gallon of milk in town, every time it snows a few inches. We had one local school cancel this week. They did so before a flake hit, and closed for two days, just to be sure. Total accumulation was an inch, in the shade. It's getting pretty pathetic. There are parts of the northeast that are getting to the point that they just don't function when it even threatens to snow. The highway departments rush out to pre-brine all the roads with a spectacularly caustic, toxic soup. The schools close since it "might" snow, and a significant minority of the population gets themselves lathered up to the point that they empty the food stores, them run inside to "ride it out". If it wasn't so sad, it would be funny.
