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'Round here, most people have lived in Minnesota all their lives, or at least never lived far away from it. Wisconsin, North Dakota, or even the U.P., maybe.
But they've never lived in any other region for a long period of time, and many have spent most of their lives in a 30-mile radius of where they were born - they might have spent some of their younger years in the "Cities" (Minneapolis-St. Paul Metro Area), but of course NEVER right in the city - who would want to live in a house right up next to your neighbor?
I suspect most of these people are "salt of the earth" types, working in blue-collar occupations. Many of the people who frequently relocate, on the other hand, work in middle- or upper-middle class occupations, which are more specialized or rarer and hence have a national (or international) rather than local labor market. (Of course, there are exceptions running both ways)
My question of you who have spent your life living in different regions of the country, do you, secretly, deep inside, even though you want to resist the feeling, look down on those who have never relocated? Do you view moving across the country as a badge of pride? For those of you who have lived in the same place (or within 300 miles) all of your life, do you look upon those who have relocated as being arrogant about it?
I moved from Pennsylvania to Georgia when I was 16. Based on my experience, I consider moving to be a real pain in the ass. It's exactly why I haven't moved back to Pennsylvania, and have instead resorted to being an ambassador of sorts. Besides, I already know what it's like to be displaced away from everybody I know, so now that I've gotten to know some people here in Georgia, I'm in no mood to be displaced away from them. Once was enough.
Furthermore, many of the people I know here in Georgia grew up in a small town in the southern part of the state, and yet, they're all college-educated and living comfortably there, and they do plenty of traveling across the country. Just because they've lived their entire lives (except for college) in the same small town doesn't make them simple-minded or unsophisticated.
I suspect most of these people are "salt of the earth" types, working in blue-collar occupations. Many of the people who frequently relocate, on the other hand, work in middle- or upper-middle class occupations, which are more specialized or rarer and hence have a national (or international) rather than local labor market. (Of course, there are exceptions running both ways)
Well, we have a lot of posters on CD who haven't ever lived outside of NYC or Philly who take the "I don't have to move cause it's perfect here" route, and I encountered a lot of people back in Boston/Cambridge who had never lived elsewhere, nor planned to live elsewhere, because their families dated back to the Mayflower and they not only had a sprawling house on Brattle Street or a brownstone on Beacon Hill, but property out in other parts of the state, and a many deep-seated family political, education, and business connections that didn't exist outside the region.
Struggle at a firm in LA or DC, or thrive at your dad's in Boston? Can't blame them for choosing the latter, objectively speaking (subjectively, I'd cash in my trust fund and move to California )
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My question of you who have spent your life living in different regions of the country, do you, secretly, deep inside, even though you want to resist the feeling, look down on those who have never relocated?
Nope.
I can look at those people and see things that they grew up with that I lacked: the stability of knowing where you were going to be living in six months, for example. Even as a kid, it was tough to make long-term plans because you had no idea where your dad's next deployment would be or whether he was going to accept a school in Seattle or Boston or New York or ??? I never bothered planning (or throwing) big birthday parties because since my birthday is in September, I usually had just moved a few weeks prior and had just started school, so I knew like one or two people.
You learn to be social and outgoing, but you also assume that you'll be moving before too long, so you make a different sort of connection to people that most others do. You tend to live in communities that are more transient, as well, rather than established neighborhoods, so everyone around you tends to be in a similar boat.
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Do you view moving across the country as a badge of pride?
Yep.
I have a ton to be proud of. I've laid my head all over the country, I've seen lifestyles and traditions and social norms all over the country and it's given me a lot of perspective on life, which I wouldn't trade for anything.
I've shoveled my car out from a record snowfall in Upstate New York, and I've hiked through the Oregon high desert.
I've eaten at the top of the WTC, and at a roadside barbecue pit in the Texas Panhandle.
I've lived in a tower in Downtown Boston; a dumpy duplex in Auburn, WA; a townhouse on an island in the middle of San Francisco Bay; a converted railroad house in Jefferson County, Oregon; a posh design study in Beverly Hills... among many others.
I've seen sunsets and sunrises over mountains, forests, deserts, plains, swamps, you name it.
All this said, I can certainly recall times where I wish that we would have just stayed in one damn place, or that I wouldn't have decided to uproot myself as an adult just because of my own wanderlust.
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For those of you who have lived in the same place (or within 300 miles) all of your life, do you look upon those who have relocated as being arrogant about it?
I'm interested to see the responses from people who haven't moved, or haven't moved much.
I personally would love to be able to live somewhere else for a while. But I understand those who choose not to really go anywhere, at least long-term wise.
I've moved a few times (and possibly again soon) but all within the same metro. Lived here since I was born (20 years). I don't suppose I'll be moving out of the metro anytime soon as the college I'm going to is only 15 minutes away and it's a pretty good college.
I don't look down on anyone who hasn't moved, but I would definitely feel satisfied with myself having had experience in different parts of the country/world.
I have lived in 7 states as an adult. Am I proud of this? I never thought about it, but why not? I had the gumption to pick up and transport my life to 7 different states, find and establish a home and create a new community of friends. These events have had a significant impact in making me the person I am today.
Do I look down on folks who have never moved? No. Their decision to stay put has had a significant impact on making those people who they are today. If they are happy with their lives - good on them!
How about you OP? You asked the question. If it intrigues you enough to open a thread, surely you have some thoughts.
Living in the same place year after year seems like a recipe for brain atrophy and loss of imagination and interest.
Some don't have the economic or educational resources to make a move.
One time, I was driving from the Quebec-NY border to Syracuse, and decided to cut across diagonally from Lake Placid NY toward Syracuse NY, going through the small towns. It was a real eye opener talking to some of the locals. Some have never been to NYC, which they refer to as down-state, and some talk about it with "discomfort." They seem real content to live simple lives.
I don't look down on people who have never relocated or think I'm secretly better because I have -- I just think I have broader experience to draw from. I grew up in southern California. Around those parts, you don't go east of Las Vegas, north of San Francisco, south of Tijuana, or west of Hawaii. Why would you?
If you had to draw a map of the U.S. for a certain kind of southern Californian, you might as well put "thar be dragons" on the parts beyond those realms. They consider going up to Washington state "exotic." They think that in the heart of Atlanta or in northern Virginia people play banjos and pledge allegience to the Stars and Bars. They know NYC is there, and they have a begrudging respect for it -- but they consider it like most Americans consider Paris ... a nice place for sure, and somewhere they would like to go, but nowhere they are ever going to actually go. Chicago? Isn't that in the middle? What else is in the middle? Anything?
My sister never left LA land. She's a California girl through and through. She's a good natured, down-to-Earth sort. She does not look down on the rest of the country. She's just so happy with what she has. She has mountains, she has ocean, she has the world-class city of Los Angeles, she has malls, and she has Vegas and Baja when she wants to get away from it all. What else is there?
The geographical boundaries that she has lived her life in used to seem like the universe to me too. Now, they seem very small. I only left on accident -- long story -- but now that I have moved around a bit, I can't go back. The country is just too big and too interesting to not take in as many of its regions as I can.
Last edited by WestCobb; 03-10-2012 at 08:18 PM..
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