Can you Go Home Again? (appointed, crime, neighborhood)

[montanamom]

Has anyone out there decided to relocate back to where they were raised, or where they lived once before, and found it had changed? Was it better or worse? Did you regret your move back? Some things, like an old love, are better left in your memory I guess. I went back to the area I grew up in last year, didn't even recognize it, and it kind of "hurt" to see how it had changed. Any thoughts/experiences? Just curious.

[qazzaq9]

I moved back to my home town, Endicott, NY three years ago. I had moved to Raleigh N.C. for something different and a better quality of life. I loved it at first but each year it got more expensive to live and the population kept growing, and the traffic got out of control.

So I decided to move home for a bit as my brother was having his first child, and I wanted to spend some time with all of my family. I also wanted to figure out my next move.

Nothing really changed in the area at all in three years. It was almost exactly how I remembered it. People were still struggling and depressed, no new businesses or jobs except chain stores, and still not much to do besides shop and barhop. This will always be home, especially since my family seems to set more roots all the time, but it's just not for me. I can't wait to leave, and I'm having fun finding that next right spot for me.

[montanamom]

That's interesting qazzaq9. I was born and raised in a once idyllic, all
American suburb of Washington D.C. (Montgomery County, Maryland). It was the perfect place to grow up in the '60's and 70's. Then the area "boomed" in the 1980's and 90's, and I felt like I just couldn't BREATHE there anymore. I took my family and "escaped" and went to a small town just outside Charlotee, N.C. My Grandparents had a farm there when I was growing up, and we used to visit every summer. Well, I enjoyed the small town simple life, but when that area started to "boom" too, I got out, for some of the same reasons you say you left Raleigh!

All these people clamoring to get to Raliegh and Charlotte must think we're nuts or something to leave! Slower Pace? yeah, right. Good luck on finding you next best spot to be.

[qazzaq9]

Originally Posted by montanamom

That's interesting qazzaq9. I was born and raised in a once idyllic, all
American suburb of Washington D.C. (Montgomery County, Maryland). It was the perfect place to grow up in the '60's and 70's. Then the area "boomed" in the 1980's and 90's, and I felt like I just couldn't BREATHE there anymore. I took my family and "escaped" and went to a small town just outside Charlotee, N.C. My Grandparents had a farm there when I was growing up, and we used to visit every summer. Well, I enjoyed the small town simple life, but when that area started to "boom" too, I got out, for some of the same reasons you say you left Raleigh!

All these people clamoring to get to Raliegh and Charlotte must think we're nuts or something to leave! Slower Pace? yeah, right. Good luck on finding you next best spot to be.

Thanks. Raleigh was an easy choice for me. This time has proven to be much harder. I know a lot more of what I am looking for, or more importantly what I am not looking for.

[motormaker]

I went back to the town I grew up because I was offered a job in a near by town. Boy, the town looked like it was caught in a time warp. No growth to speak of, more things run down and very depressing. So for me it would be no.

[Sleddog905]

I do not really like visiting my hometown anymore. We left because of how expensive and crowded it had gotten, and now it's really hard to drive through. It was once a typical small New England farming town. Now the main route through the town is so overdeveloped that it doesn't even look/feel like the same place I grew up. I'm glad we left, and I have no plans of returning to my hometown to live.

[montanamom]

Well, at least I'm not the only one. The "Wonder Years" suburbia of my youth has turned into an unrecognizable metropolis. They even completely tore down my High School (it wasn't even that old) and rebuilt a bigger one in it's place to acommodate the masses. The neighborhood I grew up in is now downright "scary". I guess you can't stop "progress" ...sigh... I know I don't EVER want to go back again, sure glad I've got my memories!

[atlantagreg30127]

I grew up in Charleston, West Virginia. Moved to Atlanta at the age of 18 back in the mid 80s. Could not be more different in terms fo cities.

Charleston, WV. hasn't really had a thriving economy in decades, so to see a single 10 story building going up was a huge hoohah in terms of news. I move to Atlanta and they build the equivalent of downtown Charleston (all of it) every single YEAR here. Charleston has been just barely holding steady with it's metro population and Atlanta has been adding between 90,000 to 150,000 per year, every year, since I moved here. In other words, I moved from a somewhat stagnant area to one that's growing TOO much and too fast.

After having been in Atlanta for more than half my life now, I'm burned out. It's too much. An out of control wheel falling down a hillside. I have toyed for some time with going back to WV, but a recent trip did cause me to become very disappointed with what I saw. My old neighborhood where I grew up as a child is now somewhat slummy... my teen neighborhood is surrounded by a Super Walmart and junk stores. The "nice" areas are now in the suburbs, and crime has risen to fairly high levels for such a smaller city.

So right now I guess my answer would be "no", I could not go back home. I WANT to, but could not, because I wouldn't be able to capture that nice smaller urban area I want. Maybe another town one day. Will have to search!

[radraja]

I'm moving back to my hometown next year (grad school...my top choice just happens to be back home). I know that the city's trying to revamp itself, so that scares me a little. I don't want it to change!

But I guess we'll see...

[danco]

I tried once but my parents changed the locks and rented out my room.