A few years ago in Japan, talking about unique characteristics of a prefecture was a fad. Although some arguments were suspicious, each prefecture definitely has different characteristics. For example, people in the Northern part of Japan are generally humble; when they need help, they don’t say so, even when the earthquake and tsunami hit the Northern part of Japan 20 months ago. They are very different from some of the Sandy survivors.
Today is only a day 2 of my new life in Orillia and it is still too early to talk about characteristics of this city, but I have a feeling that people here are different from those in Hamilton. But, first of all, what characterizes a city? History? Main industry? Weather?
Some days ago, I wrote about corporate culture, and there may be similarities; new people are influenced by other people who have been there since a long time ago, whether it is positive or negative. One of the differences is probably that corporate culture can be changed positively by a strong leader. Unlike local communities, people who work for a corporation chose to work there, more or less, for a common goal. A strong leader can, literally, lead people to the goal.