Do you like, love, hate or could care less where you live? Want to stay or go? (relocating, moved)

[Bayarea4]

I picked "Like," but wish there had been a choice for "Love it, but sometimes I daydream about other places." I do love my quiet San Francisco neighborhood, which is across the street from a woodsy park with an ocean view and far away from the sometimes unpleasant downtown scene. I like having a wide choice of restaurants, shopping and entertainment nearby, and as a retired person, I appreciate living in a city that has world-class doctors and hospitals. I grew up in Northern California and appreciate its mild Mediterranean climate. But I get tired of the coastal fog that blankets the city all summer, and I think it would be nice to have a little snow in the winter.

I enjoy looking at real estate listings in other places and imagine what it's like to live there. It would be nice to be able to afford to live in a house that has more than one bathroom. It would also be nice to live in a town where the stores all have parking lots and you don't have to circle the block like a shark looking for that ever-elusive prey, a parking space, or worry that if you forget to plug the meter, you'll get a $55 ticket.

One of the reasons I spent so much time on City-Data, because it's a window into how the rest of the country lives, how they think, how they see themselves and how they view people who "aren't from around here." The biggest disappointment has been to see so much hostility here toward San Francisco and towards Californians in general, but that's a subject for another thread.

[linicx]

I live in a very rural area in the middle of Illinois. I can be anywhere I want in five minutes. Ten if I want to play a round of golf. I have four seasons. I don't need six locks on my doors. The city is small and self-contained in the Illinois River Valley. If I get bored I am 50 miles from the third largest MSA and oldest city in the state.

[brit3218]

Originally Posted by fallingwater

What did you think of indiana? That is where I am now. I just can't fit into the "culture" here.

I lived in Evansville for college and I lived on campus all four years. I actually enjoyed it. People say that there's not alot to do in Evansville but those were still the best four years of my life.

[brit3218]

[quote=tiluha;22934913]It's good to hear someone loves the place they live...too bad you couldn't magically tone down wintertime


LOL! I know right!

[Schrodinger's Kittens]

I came to Miami from the Mountain West for a job, worked at it a few years, then quit to get my Ph.D. During that time I have both loved and hated Miami and now I couldn't care less about the place, one way or the other, because I'm just burned out on it.

There are some things about south Florida that I love and will miss when I'm gone, but the negatives--too many people, their rude and entitled attitudes, the outrageous political corruption, the feeling of being a stranger in my own country--cannot be overcome. People here describe Miami in terms such as "a beautiful, tempestuous woman who tells you she loves you, then slaps your face." Well, I don't love manufactured drama the way latins do, and I don't care to fight the rest of the populace from the time I leave my house in the morning to when I return in the evening.

Add to this the fact that the job market for scientists and engineers is nonexistent in south Florida and I am packing my bags. Let the place be inundated by rising ocean levels or sink under the graft of its banana republic politics, I don't care. I will treasure my happy memories but once I'm gone I never have to come back here, ever again.

[fallingwater]

Originally Posted by brit3218

I lived in Evansville for college and I lived on campus all four years. I actually enjoyed it. People say that there's not alot to do in Evansville but those were still the best four years of my life.

Ah, that is why I asked. Seems the people that like or liked Indiana live further south from me.

[tiluha]

Thanks to all that have participated so far in this thread/poll! Everyone's point of view is so interesting to me, especially since I'm looking for a place to relocate to. It also has given me ideas of new places to explore as a potential place to live.

TY

[vaughanwilliams]

Looking to leave Florida soon after 40+ years. I just can't take the weather and politics anymore. Especially the weather.

[kwalk65]

Originally Posted by fallingwater

The only thing I like about where I live is my house, yard and some of the shopping around here. Other than that, this place has nothing for me. I would be more than happy to discover a niche but after 3 years it hasn't appeared yet. We can't leave for another 3 years. My problem is I can't move back to where I came from and nor do I want to. I don't want to stay here but haven't a clue on where to go next.

Exactly where I am right now. Live in Raleigh NC (orig from No. Calif) and after 7 years just can't fit here. Nor can I put my finger on it. We can leave here but just can't find anywhere else that feels better after we visit.

Our last stop was Carmel, Indiana --- although there were some great things about the area I just couldn't see myself living there...no real reason...just couldn't. So, we too continue to look.

Maybe those of us that feel "stuck" should start a support group!!

[SCGranny]

We worked and dreamed for 30 years to get what we wanted; lived all sorts of places and worked all sorts of jobs.

Now we love where we live. 100 year old farmhouse, 60 acres, in a town of 145 people - 5000 in the whole county. We have long winters, snow and even occasional blizzards, short warm summers. We have hills that climb to the incredibly blue skies, wild and wet thunderous springs, deep fall where the hills turn gold and red. Rivers that tumble down waterfalls and cut through deep canyons, that are frozen to gaspingly stunning stillness in the winter. Deep dark nights covered in stars, and full moons that catch on the hilltops and turn everything to gold and shadow. Clean air, pure water, no planes, trains, or automobiles. The endless amazing silence, broken only by the keening of the wind, the soft lowing of cows, with the occasional prideful cackle of a chicken laying another egg or a coyote pack howling and shrieking in the distance.

The only way we're leaving here is ten toes up!