You're right, things do certainly move at a slower pace, not much of a "sense of urgency".
You know what I miss? The hot rolls from the Farmer's Market and Sam's Pizza ( is Sam's still there?). It also took a bit of getting used too that cashier's didn't know you by name or at least know your story ( i.e, "how's the baby" etc) You're lucky if the cashier greets you or looks you in the eye up here. We were not happy to come to Ottawa, although it was #3 on DH's posting preferences. We had asked for Halifax. We love it here now, I tell everybody it is the "Land of Milk and Honey!". Our children were both born in the fall, and had we stayed there, would not have started school until 2 yrs after they started junior kindergarten here.(I would have been in the funny farm by then).Sometimes we think about a posting back to G'Wood, and think, wow, with houses so cheap, maybe we'll buy two! Seriously, though, we owned our home there, but it took 3 yrs after we came here before we could buy. We paid more than twice as much for this townhouse as our 3 bdrm split entry (on 3/4 acres) cost us there. I certainly wouldn't have had the opportunity for the career I have, either, so we are very happy to be here now. The nice thing was that almost everybody in our area moved to Ottawa when we did, so all our neighbors were in the same situation, getting to know people, making new friends,etc, and although we moved across town 2.5 yrs ago, nobody's been posted out yet, and we've made some lifelong friends. Bet you didn't expect this long winded response!
You're best to carry them with you!
I have never met anyone with the same name as myself! 
