Text 24435, 51 rader
Skriven 2008-12-02 19:57:28 av Nick Andre (1:229/426)
     Kommentar till en text av Roger Nelson
Ärende: Re: Attitudes (was: The New National Ant
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On 02 Dec 08  11:19:18, Roger Nelson said the following to Nick Andre:

RN> When I first moved here from New Orleans back in 1979, it was relatively qu
RN> and traffic at its worse was mostly sparse.  Being used to driving on the
RN> Interstate roads and main thoroughfares in and around New Orleans, that was
RN> quite a change for me.  The first thing I noticed, aside from how laid-back
RN> the people here used to be, is that no one knew how to intelligently use th
RN> turn signal lever in their vehicles.  I mean, if they're in a 50 MPH zone, 
RN> turn signal was not activated until they hit the intersection!  That showed
RN> an utter disregard not only for their lives, but the lives of others as wel

I moved to Collingwood in 1998, its a small town (or small city now) about 2 
hours north of Toronto. Its situated in Georgian Bay, right on the waterfront.
The neighboring small towns of Wasaga Beach, Craigleith, Thornbury and Meaford
surround it, also all waterfront small towns. In Collingwood is Blue Mountain,
a small ski hill which at that time was moderately popular.

The timeshare industry really expanded around 1999-2000 and I was at the 
forefront of it, it was "the" job which established a lot of the focal points 
of my career, and I remember that what was once a peaceful town quickly grew 
and expanded in terms of construction, road work, new condos and properties 
and golf courses being built, and of course the "infiltration" of the American
brand-name stores like Home Depot and Walmart. Both were met with strong 
opposition from local business community associations but eventually majority 
ruled and the American chains were there to stay.

The timeshare business went through a variety of changes from 2000 to 2004 and
the company I worked for, grew fast... and downsized fast. I met some very 
interesting people and formed close friendships that still carry on today, but
one thing I'll never forget is Wasaga Beach. There is a two-lane "highway" 
that runs from Collingwood to Wasaga and every summer the tourists from 
Toronto and surrounding areas would come up to the beach to party and have 
fun. Traffic would be backed up for miles and miles... almost all the way from
Toronto up that 400 expressway I made mention of on the phone.

A huge fire in 2007 IIRC destroyed a lot of the local bars, shops and 
restaurants and other touristy-shops on the beachfront in Wasaga and tourism 
suffered somewhat. I was in Collingwood recently and the expansion and work 
done to that town is incredible - except the roads. They are still terrible 
and traffic suffers tremendously. The yearly Elvis festival draws worldwide 
tourism for obvious reasons and its held in July - which means that highway 26
from the 400 expressway into the waterfront towns is a total nightmare when 
you have the Elvis traffic mixed in with the younger crowds who all decide to 
come up to Wasaga beach to party all summer long.

Many memories...

*Nick*

--- Renegade vY2Ka2
 * Origin: His juggling is almost hypnotic. Like a lava lamp. (1:229/426)