One thing I noticed living in Seattle is that the people here are much more representative of what goes on in the rest of the country than in the Bay Area. The Bay Area is an extremely liberal place with a strong emphasis on big business and big ideas. Seattle area is more laid back with an appreciation for college sports, nature, and doing things the right way. There's more emphasis on quality than quantity.
The dentist offices I've seen are representative of this thought.

For example, I've met a dentist who only works 4-5 hrs per day. He tells me that he would rather do a really good job on the 3 to 4 fillings rather than do a crappy to mediocre job on 10 to 12 fillings. Of course the Bay Area is filled with dentists who do the 10 to 12. I never met any dentist in the Bay Area who chose to work so few hours. Many of the offices here have the hygienist only see 7 patients per day as opposed to the 8 or 9 in the Bay Area.

Because of the increased emphasis on quality, and the laid back atmosphere (there's nothing laid back about the SF Bay Area), people can connect with each other more. I was shopping at supermarket the other day and there was a guy by the door who said "good bye, have a nice day" and looked me straight in the eye. Nobody in the Bay Area ever looked me straight in the eye and greeted me goodbye like that. I still feel awkward when people do that around here which happens frequently. I just look downward because I don't know how to react. It's really sad.

I ate some bread and butter tonite for dinner. I used Tillamook butter to put on the bread. Tillamook is a small local dairy that makes butter and cheese. I don't EVER remember seeing small local dairy brand names anywhere in the SF Bay Area. It was always the same old "Challenge Butter" and whatever you find at Safeway. Even the smaller mom and pop grocery stores all carried the same stuff. I much prefer to try out and support the local vendors cause they have something the big dogs don't have, usually better taste, character, price, or whatever.