Maybe it's just me, but Penelope seems more chill than Flora. She also gets along really well with Avery, which strikes me as odd, because I'd read that peppy and cranky villagers aren't supposed to get along? Anyway, it's kind of cute how Penelope and Flora have the same personality type, but they seem to balance each other out. It could be that Penelope has been in my village for a while, whereas Flora is a newer resident?
Punchy strikes me as a lot more mellow than Spork was, and he seems to talk a bit less about food. He seems less "lazy" and more... laid-back. Content. He's very much a calming sort of presence. I love having him around.
I recently replaced Tipper with Baabara, and the latter doesn't seem snooty at all. She actually seems kind of elegant. She reminds me of an old-school actress somehow. I could actually believe that she's a famous performer who gave it up to move to a little town in the middle of nowhere.
I do wonder if these differences actually exist, or if it's all in our perceptions... but I'm also not sure if it matters.