How do you feel about where you currently live? (Poll) (houses, neighborhoods)

[Mutiny77]

Jury's still out on that for me; I've only been in my new location for three weeks. But something tells me I won't love it but won't hate it either.

[shappel]

I live in Madison, WI, and there are plenty of days where I absolutely dread leaving my apartment (You'll figure out when those days might occur if you keep reading!). But sometimes I do have to take a step back and realize what a place like Madison has that I take for granted.

Pros:
- Madison is a super safe place. I am spoiled to live in a place where I can open my front door any time of the day or night and feel secure.
- Madison has lots of recreational opportunities. There are bike paths, parks, lakes, beaches, nature preserves, golf courses, tennis courts, swimming pools, snow mobile trails, and more!
- Madison is aesthetically pleasing. The skyline is a postcard, the streets are clean, the air is fresh, and the downtown is well kept and growing.
- Madison is the perfect size. On my bike I can ride from the exciting downtown to the countryside where the smell of manure reins and back again. That's pretty cool!
- The State Capitol of Wisconsin is a gem. I walk in the state capitol every now and again just to remind myself how beautiful it is; a must see!
- The farmers market, concerts on the square, Taste of Madison, Art Fair on the Square, and the winter festival are just some of the fun events held on the Capitol Square.
- Madison has one of the highest rates of restaurants per capita, creating endless possibilities for new and unique options to dine.
- I am personally not into the art scene, but Madison certainly is! Art Fair on the Square, art on State Street, and open houses and opportunities at an abundance of local museums and shops makes Madison an artists' paradise.

Cons:
- WINTER! By far the biggest problem I have with Madison, and really all of Wisconsin and the Upper Midwest, is the winter season. Unlike the Northeast, Great Lakes, and parts of the Ohio Valley and Great Plains, when it snows it is usually followed by single digit temps, which is just too cold to really do anything with.
- Madison is a one-sided, narrow minded political city. Madison is extremely liberal, not just in voting patterns, but in everyday life. Conservatives have no place at the table, are looked down upon, and are treated intellectually inferior, which is a shame.
- WINTER! Winter does not have thaws, it is just an icebox between Thanksgiving and St. Patrick's Day. I'm from here, and it drives me crazy when locals jump for joy just because it's 40 degrees outside. That's not warm!
- State Street, in my opinion, is not all it's talked up to be. Madison's nightlife is really a dirty bar scene that is overwhelmed by desperate college students on weekends. Not too far off of State Street are some "historic" Madison neighborhoods, which are nothing but rundown 100 year old houses that create a bad image for the rest of Madison's downtown.
- WINTER! Winter is not 3 months, it is 5, and don't let anybody tell you otherwise! It brings all the worst in winter conditions without any fun: it's too cold to do anything fun and there isn't enough snow to do anything fun with. The streets are just filthy with old, salted, plowed, and driven over gray and black "snow" that ruins shoes and pant-bottoms.
- The people. I know that there are good and bad people everywhere, but one thing I hate about the Midwest is that people are afraid of other people. Madison epitomizes this: making eye contact, saying excuse me, asking for help, coughing or sneezing, and especially smiling are all looked down upon.
- WINTER! I just wanted to remind the reader that winter in Madison SUCKS!

[Iconographer]

We recently relocated to Seattle from Atlanta. Love the city. My husband recently retired and decided he wants to help handle the support of his parents with his younger brother. I recently sold a house on St Simons Island, GA and used part of the part of the proceeds to buy a 2 BR villa in Christiansted on St. Croix, USVI. Retirement was frankly boring and I and a sorority sister are opening a business down there. So far, so much fun. After our business in Seattle is done, it will be a great place to close out our lives.

[lovely40]

I don't love or hate DFW, but after 2 years it still doesn't feel like home. Looking forward to my upcoming move to the DC metro area in a few weeks. I plan to stay in that area for a few years, possibility into retirement.

[lammius]

Love it, no plan to move, but that's not to say I wouldn't be open to moving if the right opportunity presented itself.

[White Wolf]

North Georgia. Absolutely hate it. Moving either this summer or next year...depends on taxes...

[kehkou]

I lived in Albuquerque for most my life, now I can't imagine living anywhere else. I came from El Paso, which, unlike other Texas cities, is just a hotter, drier, larger Albuquerque, so I feel at home here. My only gripe is that it gets pretty cold here in winter; Even though New Mexico is a sunbelt state (ABQ gets 330 sunshine-days per year), Albuquerque is actually the highest major city in the U.S.* (5,500-6,700 feet), so has cold winters (-5), and damn hot summers (115).

One thing I love is the sparseness of the land; Albuquerque is surrounded by wide open desert and defined by a clear boundary that marks the city limits. One can hike (or ski) into a high mountain forest, walk through a riparian woodland, or stroll through a high desert plain, all within a 30 minute's drive. The food is to die for, especially our legendary chiles, when you can smell the roasts in the air citywide and statewide every autumn (wipes drool). Also those 'once in a lifetime' sunsets that happen every evening in Albuquerque. Maybe its the dust. Sometimes walls of it cover the city, truly a sight to behold. Waking to snow- and fog-covered mountains is a also plus.

Besides my local Neomexicano roots, the above is why I wouldn't want to live anywhere else, having lived in El Paso, DFW, and Gallup, NM.


*Cities with 500,000+ residents

[ntdejene]

North Dallas/Addison/Plano, originally a Georgia Native. I have grown accustomed. to say I like it or hate it would be to difficult. At first hated it. Texas has no income tax, great right? not they nickel and dime you everywhere else. Property tax, property tax, property tax. Climate not a significant enough change to remark about. Atlanta is wetter, more humid and moderate in summer but still can be rough. dallas is consistently hot but drier, somedays maybe 102 and you wouldn't even notice. Both identical in cold seasons. Vegetation and topography, Dallas is ugly. Some parts of the year it can appear green usually in spring and early summer. But the lack of the additional 15 inches in rain and change of soil type does a lot for the scenery. Good news is tyler is short drive away and you can still view the pines, dogwoods, etc a southerner is used to. Dallas is a sprawling never-ending conglomerate of strip malls, medium rise office space, and one story houses. Everything is cheap in DFW. other than necessary government acquired objects ex. registrations, inspections. People of Dallas, its truly diverse. Nations all over the world represented. Especially the latin American countries mostly Mexico. Kind of reminds me of the southwest. the gap between rich and poor in dallas is ridiculous. all you will hear about is how great the texas economy is but heres the truth about texas, a lot of ppl here are living pay check to check, uneducated, and work in service/sales jobs. who can barley afford their mortgage. The rich are filthy rich. As a black male its so sad to see the present state of the dallas black community. I am not welcomed in many night life establishments that are not mainly black. Most blacks in dallas aren't educated. Its hard to believe a more ignorant black population exists coming from Atlanta but yes indeed i believe i have found one. Its truly disheartening. No black lawyers, doctors, ceos etc. the funny thing is the majority of discrimination i have felt wasn't even from whites here in dallas. It was from Pakistanis/Indians, Arabs, Ethiopians (yes that is correct), and Hispanics. The perception of the black male in dallas is horrible. They despise him so much talk with bigotry, hatred, and jealousy. I find it very strange that i feel more comfortable around native white Texans than others of ethnic background. Crime is ok, the worst ghettos of dallas are really just areas of majority black population but everyone keeps referring to them as a place where you never must go like oak cliff or south dallas. its really laughable. Dallas is materialistic. The rich here are LOUD. Culturally bland. dull and void. Anyone can move to texas and overnight put on a cowboy hat and become Texan. but you cant move to Atlanta have a sip of tea and become southern. they believe you can bbq with beef. they wear cowboy boots as business casual but most couldn't tell ya how to till a plot or plow a field. People in Texas will cheer for anything for texas. This is aggravating to me as devout SEC fan. i can not comprehend how you can like 2 college football teams or how you can like the nfl better than college. Good brisket is really good but its hard to find, east texas is the south. but east Texans wants nothing to do with dallas.

[Mini-apple-less]

It's OK, but I'm sort of tired of it.

[FreddyG62]

Hate it, and will be moving soon. Vermont is the perfect storm of Endless Winters, Money-Grabbing Liberal Politicians, High Taxes, and High COL. Moving South.