Monday afternoon we rolled to a stop back in B.C. with 10,970 new kilometres on the trusty Highlander and our five- province, 18-state tour behind us. We had a great time, stayed ahead of the nasty weather on the East Coast and visited 15 assorted and long-lost relatives. We bought pastries at a great little bakery in Grenfell, SK, population 947 and enjoyed pastrami sandwiches on Times Square, New York, population eight million.
For a lot of reasons it was trip of pleasant surprises; serendipity on the road. To begin - and as a former Calgarian - I'd always considered Saskatchewan the poor cousin of the Prairie Provinces. In the 1940s and 1950s the population of Saskatchewan declined. It was dirt poor and struggling. Not any more. Today Saskatchewan is an economic powerhouse, the economy bolstered by oil and gas exploration, potash production and mining. Last year the province posted a budget surplus and had its credit rating bumped up from AA+ to AAA. Diversification is the reason for much of the province's success with agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting only making up 6.8 per cent of the Saskatchewan GDP. The Saskatchewan unemployment rate is 4.7 per cent. The national average is 7.4 per cent while B.C. sits at 7. In more ways than one, Saskatchewan is a have province.
Manitoba still muddles along and Ontario has its own set of structural problems, but we came away with an improved feeling for Toronto. Over the years I've spent a lot of time in the big TO on business, but this was the first time I'd been there as a tourist. Most impressive was the Beaches area and the Lake Ontario boardwalk. This area is just as attractive for runners, walkers and cyclists as the Vancouver Seawall. The other Toronto highlight is the Distillery District. At 52,000 square metres, it is the largest collection of Victorian-era industrial buildings in North America. In the 1860s the area housed the Gooderham and Worts Distillery, at the time the largest distillery in the world. Later the operations moved and the area fell into disrepair. In 2001 the property and the buildings were purchased by a developer and the results have been spectacular. The district has 10 streets and 40 heritage buildings. What was once a decaying industrial slum now houses restaurants, boutiques, offices, studios and a performing arts centre. The Toronto Distillery District has to rate as one of the best downtown redevelopment projects in Canada.
Without question though, the real unexpected jewel for us was New York City. This was a must see, but after hearing about the manner of New Yorkers we had some concerns. As it turned out, those fears were unfounded. Overall we found New Yorkers to be friendly, kind and hospitable. This included staff in restaurants, people on the street, clerks in stores and pretty well everyone we met. The other pleasant surprise was the affordability of restaurants. On two occasions - both in Times Square - we enjoyed excellent meals in good quality spots for around $20 an entre. Hotel rates are through the roof, reflecting the high cost of Manhattan real estate, but that aside, New York is a surprisingly reasonable and friendly place to visit. And as we've seen during the past few days New Yorkers are remarkably resilient. Any city that could recover from the horror of 9/11 as New York did can handle a super- storm hurricane.
The last serendipitous find was South Dakota. We were there simply because it was on our way home. But its prosperity took us by surprise. It is flourishing and much more so than many other mid-west states. People there were vibrant and enthusiastic.
Checking out the economy, I found that South Dakota ranks as one of the top seven states for business investment. South Dakota does not have a state personal or corporate income tax but does charge a four-per-cent sales tax. The state has 4.7-per-cent unemployment rate, next door in Missouri the rate is 7.3 per cent. What ever it is doing, South Dakota is doing it well.
This trip has been one of discovery. We visited a lot of places for our first time and came away with some notable first impressions. In all our travels though, one thing came through, happiness and prosperity are not the name of a city, state or province. Rather, positive experiences and community success are inevitably grounded in good ideas and great people.
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The booze and cruise CPI.
Crossing the continent we found the best price for booze in Canada was in Alberta, $49.55 for a 1.75 L bottle of Smirnoff. They sell it in quarts in the U.S. but generally across all states it was half that, ditto for wine. The best gas price was $3.09 a gallon in Zanesville, Pennsylvania. That's 81 cents a litre.
Those low prices are nice, but the U. S. also has $14 trillion debt and according to the International Monetary Fund is rapidly headed towards a fiscal cliff. The country needs a GST, but there's not a U.S. politician around with the jam to suggest any form of taxation remedy. Too bad. When the U.S. sneezes - and it will - Canada comes down with pneumonia.
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