Why do you live where you live?

I grew up in a provincial suburb, and I was taught how the world supposedly works by hicks who have no idea how the world actually works. So I swore that I'd live in a city that matters instead of a suburb that doesn't matter, and it all grew from there. I wound up having a strong interest in politics, and so I live in...Washington, DC (within city limits, naturellement).

 

I grew-up in Akron, Ohio... most all of my family were coal miners in West Virginia and migrated to NE Ohio in the 20's for the better manufacturing jobs. My Dad worked in TV in Cleveland and got a wonderful opportunity in San Francisco/Oakland. We moved out west when I graduated high-school. Loved the Bay Area... went 3 hrs north to Chico State (above Sacramento) for college... moved to Carson City, Nevada following graduation and opened a business. Could have just as easily been Redding, CA... there were two-(2) locations we were considering (CC and Redding). I thought Redding was too much like Chico and wanted something different... boy am I glad we choose CC... the area and state have been good to me! Parlayed that into several of them. Along the way was honored with being elected to a few offices and held various appointed positions in the area as well. Sold the businesses and do the consulting thing now. We recently moved up to Incline Village, Lake Tahoe, though still spend a chunk of time in Reno/Carson City and of course Las Vegas. This part of Nevada is scenic, usually gets all four seasons (except for the past few years) and very tranquil. I get to live where many come to vacation and we love it here.

 

Born and raised in Cleveland. Have lived here all my life. I hate the snow but it's too much hassle moving.

 

That right there is a sign you've done something the right way.

My backstory is West Coast all the way: California-Oregon-California. Most of the brackets were So Cal -- Riverside, Temecula, San Gabriel and Pomona valleys. Most of the tweener was suburban PDX and Eugene.

 

All of my adult moves were career driven.....with the exception of buying a different house in the same city occasionally. Our current location is no exception; we moved here in 2010 for a career promotion. I'm very lucky my husband's profession allowed me to make moves for my career.

I retired last year and I'm quickly growing bored of the small city where we live. It is very centally located to major cities and airports (a plus) but choices in the actual city itself are limited. There is virtually no suitable shopping in this city for me. I do love our house though and have put a lot into it since moving here in '10. Our next move will be when hubby retires to somewhere just because we believe we will enjoy living there. We plan to spent 2 or 3 months a year south (haven't decided where yet) but it will be in the US so we can drive and bring the furbabies.

 

Family, career, friends... in that order.
Born in SoCal, lived all over, settled down and planted in the Chicago area
Different seasons are nice, don't care for that 4 letter word, which might be coming down this weekend.

 

I was born and raised in the suburbs of Vancouver, BC... so I've been here my whole life.

I am self employed and work from home so I could pretty much live anywhere but this is the west coast of Canada so I don't think there is anywhere better to live.

 

Better than living under a bridge?

 

I grew up and live in the "Greatest location in the nation" why would I want to move. Great cost of living, world-class arts, world-class eats, traffic is not really a problem, on one of the Great Lakes, I can go on and on. The region is one of the top Boomerang regions in the nation. People leave and then realize the grass isn't always greener. I love the NEO and will always own a home here.

 

Would you believe me if I said it's probably worse? There's a major construction project still ongoing at the 610-290 interchange. The problem with Houston is that on some way it's "too cheap". Houses near the core too expensive? Want a bigger yard? Go further out. The first wave of people move to the new far flung neighborhood, then the city, county, etc.. builds more roads drawing even more people. I have no desire to deal with 290, Katy Freeway, etc so I got a house inside the loop.

Summer do suck here and "swamp-ass" is a real affliction down here.

 

I grew up in corpus christi, tx...flour bluff. ..left for college to denton, TX at the University of North texas...got a job right our of college teaching in the district and haven't left denton...20 years...absolutely love it!


Never go to Dallas or ft. Worth...not a fan of the big cities here...

 

I was born here in Central Mass and still live here. We have high taxes, corrupt politicians, bad roads, we just had ten feet of snow and it's snowing again as I write this but it's home.

On the plus side my kids and grand kids (two) are here, the closest neighbor is 300 feet away, I have a pistol and rifle range in the back yard (maybe connect the dots with the neighbors???) There are more wild turkeys & deer around here than people and the nearest streetlight is about a mile away. I'm half way between Worcester, MA and Springfield, MA the site of the new MGM casino. I hate cities, city traffic and city noise so this is the place to relax and put round holes in paper targets when I get frustrated.

Plus we have the World Champion Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins & Celtics. Fresh seafood, real maple syrup (my trees just started to produce) and fantastic restaurants.

If you visit Mass, remember our slogan: "Welcome to Massachusetts! Now leave!"

One last thing. We'd be the best damn drivers in the world if you'd only get out of our way!

 

I live in central Ky, right in the heart of bourbon country. I can look out my kitchen window and see the hospital where I was born 57 years ago (although no longer a hospital). I grew up one street over from where I now live and have never lived over 5 miles away. My dad was self-employed and I have followed in his footsteps somewhat and own four car washes in the area. I never had children of my own, but my wife has three wonderful daughters and we have four beautiful grandchildren as well. She is from a smaller "big city" about 2 1/2 hrs away and keeps the pavement hot from her travels back and forth. I plan to sell my washes over the next few years and pack up and move to the "big city" in IN when I turn 62. It may seem crazy to leave what has been home for every single day of my life, but I can't wait for that chapter.

 

Hi Smartone,spent a couple years in Redding attending Shasta College my late teens late 70's..Intention was to attend Chico State but I came to find out as a shock that since I lived in the dorms at Shasta CC,I would have to pay out-of-state tuition at Chico as well..Stayed another 6 months or so with a job and apartment and a bike as transportation..Ended up heading back to NJ.
Packed up in 1991 to SW Florida and though I still try to get back there once or twice a year,I do not miss it one bit.
The weather here is imo the best in the country.Always hits the warmest in the USA a few days in Febuary and our high temps in summer are never above 100..Sure it's humid and the thunderstorms are severe,but I love it..Hurricanes are hit or miss,worst I've been through is no electricity for a week or so one October..I'd me more afraid to live in Tornado country in the USA..

 

I went to North Texas for one year -- long story short - completed one year - then got married to my fiance/marine - followed him out to California - first to North Island - Coronado Island where he guarded nuclear weapons - a private couldn't afford Coronado so we were in Imperial Beach - a real sh&t hole then to be followed by Oceanside another sh&t hole. - I would never want to live in California again. Then he got a duty station for about 8 years back in our hometown of San Antonio where he was on the Instructor staff training reservists. After 13 years in he had enough and we moved to Fredericksburg, Texas - small town. His mother was descendant of original German settlers and he had spent all his childhood summers up here.

There is so much to do around here and for the most ;part very little crime and it is a great town to raise children - good school district etc. During my husband's enlistment I went back to school changed majors - nursing - And hindsight being 20-20 I would have done something else and i would not encourage anyone to go to nursing school - but that's a discussion for another topic.

 

Not yet.

 

Great thread. I hate where I live. One day, i hope to live in San Diego. That place is awesome.

As always it comes down to getting paid. It's life get a job, get a mortgage, find a wife, have a kid. It's being institutionalized.

 

Fourth Generation Chicagoan. Always lived within city limits (never been outside of the city longer than two weeks), always within a few miles of Belmont and Central.

I stay for family, friends, Lake Michigan water, the food and summer. I think about wanting to relocate at some point upon retirement, but not sure if I'll ever pull the trigger.

 

I originally moved here for a job. I grew up in Boston, got out of there as soon as I could and headed to college in Utah (University of Utah; NOT BYU. ) Moved here in 1983 and have been here since, minus two years in Maryland (ex-hubby was in the military). I always knew I wanted to live out west.

I love Colorado for the scenery but hate winters here. They last too damn long, for one thing! Summers, however, are heaven. Warm days and cool nights. Too hot? Drive up to the mountains! Anyway, when I retire in a few years we'll be going somewhere warmer; probably either Arizona, Nevada, or New Mexico. We have some research to do but so far our "short list" includes Las Vegas, Boulder City, and Tucson and Kingman AZ. Albuquerque and Las Cruces, NM are other possibilities. We actually took a drive to Pahrump a couple of years ago. If there were just a few more amenities there (like decent high speed internet and a movie theater for starters) it'd probably be on the list. I thought it was a cute little town.

 

Born and raised in NE Ohio, still live here, because I have a very good job and it affords me the opportunity for multiple trips to Vegas My job also affords me the opportunity to travel the world. I have done the around the world trip twice now. Traveled 135K miles in one year a few times. I have lived in other places when I was a consultant in my younger years but came home again to Ohio. I also enjoy the summers on Lake Erie where I have a boat. The cost of living is great in NE Ohio...the weather is another story. I would like to move one day somewhere warmer maybe the Carolina's. Love Vegas but don't want to live there, may make my way to Northern California one day. Lived in San Fran.for 1 year when I was younger and also have lived in Dallas, TX.