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- insufficient transit (although this is finally being taken are of, though it's going to take close to two decades of construction to get things where they need to be with new and expanded subway and LRT lines).
- too many condos developments being built without sufficient planning, and with poor design and architecture that is often ugly and totally incongruent with Toronto's dominant aesthetic.
- Toronto generates way more in tax revenue than it ever gets back from the provincial and federal government. The city is a huge cash cow, a massive economic engine for the entire country, but we always have to go hat-in-hand to higher levels of government to beg for money that should be ours to begin with. And since the other levels of government are unwilling to to give us what we need for transit expansion, school maintenance, infrastructure development, and the building of public housing, Toronto is way behind the mark in all these areas, with yearly budget deficits to boot.
- Toronto is currently undergoing a massive building boom in both commercial and residential sectors. My problem is that I don't think there is enough emphasis on building neighbourhoods, and too much emphasis on just throwing up condo developments that lack amenities and have little to know character at street level. I guess you could sum that up by saying insufficient or poor urban planning.
- relentless gentrification which has led to most desirable neighbourhoods in the Old City becoming out of reach for most low and middle-income people just in the last decade.
- our current mayor is a boob who seems to oppose many of the things Torontonians want and support many of the things Torontonians hate, and possibly has a serious substance abuse issue that he refuses to admit to.
- our winters can be cold, but global warming has meant that nine out of the last ten years were the warmest on record, and heavy snow seems to be a thing of the past, along with extended cold snaps. Nowadays the temp hovers around the freezing mark from December through March. Almost the exact same climate as Chicago.
- one of the most congested cities in North America (see transit). Surprisingly, Vancouver scores much worse.
Positives
- Toronto has some great, diverse, interesting inner city neighbourhoods with lots to do and explore.
- Toronto has a great mish-mash of architecture that creates a totally unique urban landscape that combines older Victorian, Edwardian, mid-century utilitarian blandness, and ultra-modern flavours. Combine that with the ubiquitous tangle of streetcar wires and utility wires overhead, the back alleys filled with graffiti and tags and all manner of small garages that run between streets for homeowners to park, and the backyard views where decades of additions and alterations to the rear of houses and tangles of cables running overhead between houses have created some really diverse behind-the-scenes streetscapes and you have an urban aesthetic that is chaotic and ever-changing, but one-of-a-kind and uniquely Torontonian. Some people hate it, but most - including myself - love it.
- some of the finest Victorian residential architecture in North America along with San Fransisco (dominated by the bay-and-gable style, which can be seen on almost every street in the Old City). I think Toronto may also have more distinctly Victorian architecture than anywhere else in North America, including San Fran.
- a very high quality of living
- considered an Alpha World City by the GaWC
- extremely cosmopolitan and multicultural
- a decent transit system which is currently undergoing massive expansion. Toronto's transit system has the third largest ridership in North America after Mexico City and New York.
- the largest city, and financial hub of Canada, a G7 nation
- an hour's drive from the US border
- the centre of a massive urban area called the Golden Horseshoe, which has a population of 8.76 million people.
- a great cultural hotspot with, among other attractions, the largest English-speaking theatre industry outside London and New York; Canada's premiere opera company; the Toronto Symphony Orchestra; the Toronto Ballet Company; perhaps the largest film festival in the world; the largest Caribbean Carnival after Trinidad (I'm pretty sure Caribana is larger than Jamaica's Carnival, but I could be wrong. It's definitely not as big as Rio's Carnival, but Caribana is a Caribbean-themed event); home of Nuit Blanche, a city-wide arts and culture festival; home of Pride, one of the largest LGBT festivals in the world; the largest film and television industry outside LA and New York (though Vancouver is gaining on us); home of a world-class museum and a Frank Ghery designed art gallery that has some of Canada's best art, in addition to lots of famous European pieces and frequent instalments of pieces from other great art galleries. There's much more, but this is a good start.
- a excellent sporting city, with a franchise in every North American League, and some strictly Canadian leagues that are very popular - the Argonauts for the CFL and the Rock for lacrosse (one of the most exciting live sports around).
There are more positives (and negatives), but I'll leave it at that.
Housing costs/rent very affordable
No visible homeless
Easy for driving
Plenty to do for retirees including a very cheap retiree program with NON-foo-foo classes
Very low population density
parking lots not garages or street parking
no state income tax on wages
Lake (college rowing, boating, fishing, walking/biking/roller blading/running trail around lake)
science museum
children's museum
long-time photography club
Good place to live for kids K-12 who want to major in science
Can see mountains
Indoor and Outdoor pool
snow disappears within a few hours after last flake has fallen
historically significant
Arboretum, Hospital, Community College
many greenway trails
plenty of religious choices
July 4 fireworks, Christmas Parade, Secret City Festival
No interstate runs through it (air pollution)
Large percent of people with graduate degrees
gasoline is cheap
no toll roads
State has several FREE state parks
high school kids still can get summer/after school jobs
3 supermarkets, 2 newspapers
If you like city doings, Knoxville is next door
local people are nice...and polite
In a valley
Negative
It's summer from May to mid-October
If you like to shop, limited shopping opportunities in town
tornado warnings
It's humid between May and mid-October
The pizza
no real public transportation
no International airport in East Tennessee
It's hot between May and mid-October.
Did I mention how hot it is 5.5 months of the year?
Negative:
High housing costs
High taxes
Weak public schools
Positive:
Comprehensive, cheap mass transit
Demographic diversity
Abundance of cultural amenities
Abundance of nightlife and entertainment
Major world transportation hub
Major world business and finance center
Great medical and hospital facilities
Great colleges and universities
Generally low crime rate
Moderate weather with four real seasons
Hey, if you can afford it, what's not to like!
Additional Negative:
People in Manhattan transparently suck. Haven't made it to Brooklyn yet so I can't opine on whether that borough lives up to its billing, coolness-wise. Will do so at the end of May
Positives -
1- The Climate: One of the main reasons I stick around here is the fantastic year round climate. For me it's nearly perfect, I appreciate seasonal changes but can't stand lots of cloudy days. ABQ has 300+ sunny days and I love all the vitamin D coming from Boston and Seattle before then it makes a huge difference. Winters are short with only occasional snow dustings just enough to appreciate the season but not too much cold and snow to get tired of it. Summers are long with t shirt weather between April and October but not oppressively hot. Albuquerque in my opinion has a great abundance of 'nice' days in terms of weather in just about any season.
2- Roadtrips!: Albuquerque is a fantastic base for some amazing roadtrips all over the Southwest. Some of the country's best National Parks, mountains, canyons, exceptional hiking and recreational destinations, and interesting landscapes are all within a day's drive. My favorites have been White Sands, Tent Rocks, Taos/Rio Grande Gorge, Southwestern Colorado/San Juan Mountains, Grand Canyon/Northern Arizona. I also love soaking in the local hot springs resorts, it's my favorite thing to do here in winter. Ojo Caliente and Riverbend are amazing.
3- Santa Fe is only an hour away: Sometimes I need to get out of the commercial monotany Albuquerque on a day off and just be someplace close but very different. The charm, artistry, history, architecture, excellent dining,and atmosphere of Santa Fe are all nearby and I enjoy the drive up.
4- Biking: Albuquerque is bar none one of the best biking cities in the US. There are several paved separated bicycle trails around the city, with an excpetionally long one through the beautiful bosque forest along the Rio Grande, and awesome mountain biking trails at the foothills of the mountains.
5- The Sandia Mountains: I think it's awesome on my commute home as I drive up the hill I'm approaching a big wall of mountains. I love having the foothill trails a mere 10 minute drive away combined with all the ammenities of a medium sized city I could ever need at my doorstep.
6- Plenty of elbow room: I love the views of expansive horizons here and all the open space in, around, and at the edge of the city, and some of the best sunsets imaginable. I just love looking at the endless skies here as they are very inspiring.
Negatives:
1- Low esteem: It hasn't realized its potential. There is some local pride here in Albuquerque regarding its heritage and character, but this is not a very esteemed kind of city. Even a lot of locals and natives are cynical and complain a lot about the city and many downright diss it. Albuquerque needs a healthy does of civic pride.
2- Airfare and flights: ABQ has easy access to anywhere in the West, but flying back East is a pain with connecting and expensive airfares
3- Isolation: Though this pairs up with the open space and elbow room that I love about the city, nearest big cities are El Paso (no thanks) 3 hours, and both Denver and Phoenix are 7 hours away.
4- High rate of auto accidents. People complaining about the way people drive in certain regions is commonly found and I'm sure is remarked in threads most states on these forums. I'm from Boston where they drive very aggresively. Unfortunately here they drive like lunatics and there is a very high rate of auto accidents. There's aggressive and even rude driving, then there is just stupid. Unfortunately many Albuquerque drivers resemble the latter.
5- Lack of urban vibrancy downtown and around the city: Downtown Albuquerque is very lackluster and quite frankly dirty (like tagged vandalism and needles on the street kind of dirty). I get down there every now and then but the atmosphere just isn't all that compelling. There are signs of improvement with some interesting small businesses and restaurants but there is so much vacancy there. Some blocks feel vibrant and the next block over can feel derelect. Downtown and surrounding neigborhoods really need a lot more TLC. There are historic neighborhoods on the edges of downtown that have quality craftsman home sand interesting architecture but they are not very well kept.
There is a whole lot more vibrancy and eclectic options down the road on Central Ave in Nob Hill and around the UNM campus. I know many others have seen the city's potential in having a very vibrant urban corridor between Old Town, Downtown, UNM, Nob Hill, and Uptown. However anytime some sort of suggestion of improvement (such as light rail/streetcar) to enhance the cohesiveness of the urban nodes in this city and build it up into a unique and vibrant urban corridor that only Albuquerque could have it gets lupe warm responses to downright rejection in some instances and it will take a lot of time for any true prosperous urban development to get going, especially downtown. There are noticable improvements and steps such as a new grocery store downtown, but overall our downtown and urban vibe is rather lame when it has the potential to be so much more. This city already has a lot of unique local character, it just needs to a big boost to kick it up several notches.
What about the blue meth? I don't know if that's a positive or a negative, but blue meth and Walter White belong on this list somewhere
Relatively low cost of living
Relatively good job market
Pretty good restaurant scene Very good shopping
Mild winters
Lots of things for kids to do (if you have them)
Cons:
Getting very crowded; the traffic is horrible
Nice areas in Dallas itself are getting expensive
Summers are hotter than hell
The city itself is ugly, and this part of Texas is mostly flat and featureless
If you don't like shopping or eating out and don't have kids, this place gets real boring real fast
The people are superficial and snobbish
The area is extremely family-oriented, which is a pro if you have kids but an annoying con if you don't
- World class dining and entertainment / nightlife options
- Public transportation system allowing you to get anywhere in Manhattan relatively quickly / easily
- Tremendous career growth opportunities
- Ability to network / socialize as often as you would like
- The feeling that you walk out your front door and are in the center of everything
- Three airports provide good options. Can be in miami in 3 hours door to door or the jersey shore / hamptons after work
Cons:
-High cost of living / taxation. Live in studio apartment in soho for $3100 a month, and state / city wage taxes toatl > 10%. For that price, you'd think I'd be living in a palace. Nope, a nice studio where my neighbor coming home at 4am wakes me up every single night.
-The city is absolutely filthy. It's quite disheartening, such a world class city. Subway system is disguisting, trash all over. People throw things in the street anywhere. You'll have homeless people urinate or do other things anywhere they desire
- Weather is awful. Have basically been confined to indoors since October 25th, and it's the middle of april and still nasty
- Not having a car feels like it restricts your freedom for traveling outside of city.
- In your face liberalism. I'm all for moving forward, but some things are just a bit too over the edge.
Of course this is biased, but it's the things that are important to me. For the next guy, my pros could be cons, and vice versa.
I've been here eight years and it has served me tremendously well. But it's an absolute love / hate relationship. Dream every day about relocating to Miami.
I split my time between Houston and Vegas so here are pros and cons for both
Houston
Positives:
Economy - jobs and per capital income growth
Great restaurants - BBQ, Cajun, and ethnic food
Very diverse - food and festivals
Mild winter
Galveston Bay and the Gulf - Sailing, fishing, and beach
Low cost of living
No state income tax
Lots of new mixed used developments and city improvement projects
Great freeway system with feeder road
bike trails along bayous
Negatives:
July and August heat/humidity
mosquitoes
Allergies during the Spring
ugly power lines and bill boards
potholes
suburban style stip malls
public transist (improving though)
walkability
high property tax rates
too many chemical plants & refineries on the east side
drunk drivers
sprawls
Las Vegas
positives:
Business are open late or 24 hours
topography: mountains, canyons and deserts
lots of entertainments - night clubs, casinos, shows, and other tourist activities
300+ days of sunshine
affordable (rent is even cheaper than Houston)
Always someone you know is visiting
proximity to Southern California
Good restaurants
Lake Mead
Negatives:
Worst economy
cigarette smoking every where
drunk drivers
panhandling
abandon developments
half filled shopping strip
summer flash flood
scorpions inside my apartment
I live in West Covina, CA which is in the San Gabriel Valley of L.A. County
Good:
Scenery with the San Gabriel Mountains
Hiking
Diversity
Fairly decent restaurants
Lots of colleges nearby
Beautiful women
Bad:
Haven't experienced it yet, but I hear the summers are brutal here
Traffic
Lack of walkability
Not much vibrancy
Strip malls!
Suburbia
Cost of housing
I live in North Orange County and this pretty much sums it up for me as well.
Positives:
1. Natural beauty
2. Good economy
3. Weather
Negatives:
1. High cost of living
2. Mediocre public transport
3. Street trash everywhere
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