Tell us about your city/country (condo, house prices, find a job)

[Repubocrat]

Well, I live in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA and although it is not the greatest city in the world, it is a great place to live. Minneapolis and St Paul, Minnesota are called Twin Cities and our metro area has about 3.2 million people. Prince was born and raised here, Bob Dylan was also born in the state and attended the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.We have over 10000 lakes in the state of Minnesota and during the summer, the lakes are a lot of fun. Our winters are harsh and long, temperatures can get as low as -10F(-23C) with wind chills as cold as -40F(-40 C) sometimes. Culturally, we have a lot of Scandinavian influences because many Swedes and Norwegians immigrated here, even the Minnesota accent is influenced by the Norwegian language! We love baseball here (Minnesota Twins), NBA (Minnesota Timberwolves) and also love NFL football(Minnesota Vikings). This is what our city looks like

[albion]

I live in a small village in West Sussex England. Sussex is a coastal county nestled against the English Channel.
The word Sussex means " Land of the South Saxons " the culture here is ancient.
Some of the famous poets & writers who have lived here include,
Rudyard Kipling
Shelley
Tennyson
Conan Doyle
William Blake
Henry James
Also William Wilberforce the anti-slavery canpaigner lived here.
William Penn lived here for a while before moving to the states.
Sussex is made up of rolling hills, ancient forests, villages & towns that nestle in wooded valleys & coastal towns that are full of tourists in the Summer.
Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins & Jimmy Page have homes in the county too.
Because the gulf stream moves close to our coastline, winters are mild, in fact palm trees grow here. If you want to do some shopping you can jump on a ferry and go to France for the day, it's only 30 miles away.

[pigeonhole]

What do u want to know about Paris?
It's a huge megalopolis (about 12 million inhabitants, about the size of the NYC metro area, and that fact is little known outside of France and French Africa).
It's expensive, congested, crowded, dirty, dangerous, and in 20 years time, it will be majority muslim.
But I guess the Louvre (once the paintings and nude statues that offend the Islamic faith will have been removed)and the Tour Eiffel will still be standing (Notre Dame will be a mosque though), that's what import to foreign tourists anyway.....

[Mooseketeer]

Originally Posted by pigeonhole

What do u want to know about Paris?
It's a huge megalopolis (about 12 million inhabitants, about the size of the NYC metro area, and that fact is little known outside of France and French Africa).
It's expensive, congested, crowded, dirty, dangerous, and in 20 years time, it will be majority muslim.
But I guess the Louvre (once the paintings and nude statues that offend the Islamic faith will have been removed)and the Tour Eiffel will still be standing (Notre Dame will be a mosque though), that's what import to foreign tourists anyway.....

You're not exaggerating at all then ... ( " La Sardine qui boucha le port de Marseille" springs to mind )


I have to say you are the most bitter person I have ever met regarding where they live. I really do wish you get to retire soon somewhere which will make you much happier because that level of hatred towards the place you live in must be taking its toll on you .

I simply cannot understand why someone who loathes Paris so much ( a city I too lived in and know very well ) had never immigrated somewhere more to their liking. That is what people do you know when they are unhappy where they live. I really ponder what made you stay so long in a place which you depict on an almost daily basis as the armpits of hell ?
Are you being held hostage at gun point by some officials from the Mairie de Paris ? Is anyone forcing you to remain in such an awful, awful place ?

I really cannot fathom why anyone would remain somewhere they loathe with so much passion ?

[Mooseketeer]

I live in Witney a little Oxfordshire Market Town , 13 miles West of Oxford, England. The town is most famous for its blankets which were sent all over the world ( and traded in North America from the 17th century, including to the Native Americans ( some with small pox according to some records) . Witney made its fortune like the Cotswolds region because of the Medieval Wool Trade. There are about 25,000 people living here .

Oxford is of course the world renowned University town, a beautiful Medieval city of stunning architecture, great Museums, Art Galleries, Gardens , and its famous alumni are too many too mention( here's an overview - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of..._Oxford_people ) .

Christopher Wren's first building ( before he built St Paul's in London) was the Sheldonian Theatre in the city centre, Handel resided in Oxford for a while and helped to gather funds to build the Holywell Music Room, one of the first places in the world ( after Dublin) where "The Messiah" was performed. Halley ( of the comet fame) had his lodgings and a little observatory in New College lane.

The University has no campus which tends to confuse tourists and visitors as the city is "the" Campus , with its myriad of separate colleges and academic organisations.

Oxford is a very beautiful city and perfect for anyone with cultural or academic interests and I never tire of it as there is always so much to see and do from exhibitions to lectures.

Because of its fantastic well preserved wide range of architecture Oxford is used very often in films ( most recently "Harry Potter" and " The Golden Compass" as well as "Shadowlands", "The Madness of King George", "Young Sherlock Holmes", "Quills", Iris", "Brideshead Revisited" etc... and of course the TV series "Morse" ( now "Lewis" ) .

It's incredibly popular with the rich and famous to live in and around and house prices are shockingly expensive ( Oxford was just awarded the dubious title of 5th least affordable place to live in the UK ).
Many people commute to London every day so transport links are pretty good.

The Cotswolds, the area Witney is located in is made up of glorious rolling hills, honey stone little villages with beautiful manor houses and historical buildings and possibly one of the areas many people would regard as "perfect chocolate box England". I love living here I must admit. It is hard to get bored with so much on your doorstep.

oxford pictures - Google Image Search


cotswolds pictures - Google Image Search

Radcliffe Camera , Oxford picture by Mooseketeer1967 - Photobucket
Hawksmoor twin towers, All Souls college, Oxford picture by Mooseketeer1967 - Photobucket
IMG_2842.jpg picture by Mooseketeer1967 - Photobucket
Bridge of Sighs, Oxford picture by Mooseketeer1967 - Photobucket
Radcliffe Camera reflection in Bodleian Library window picture by Mooseketeer1967 - Photobucket

[pigeonhole]

Originally Posted by Mooseketeer

You're not exaggerating at all then ... ( " La Sardine qui boucha le port de Marseille" springs to mind )


I have to say you are the most bitter person I have ever met regarding where they live. I really do wish you get to retire soon somewhere which will make you much happier because that level of hatred towards the place you live in must be taking its toll on you .

I simply cannot understand why someone who loathes Paris so much ( a city I too lived in and know very well ) had never immigrated somewhere more to their liking. That is what people do you know when they are unhappy where they live. I really ponder what made you stay so long in a place which you depict on an almost daily basis as the armpits of hell ?
Are you being held hostage at gun point by some officials from the Mairie de Paris ? Is anyone forcing you to remain in such an awful, awful place ?

I really cannot fathom why anyone would remain somewhere they loathe with so much passion ?

I'm stuck in that backwater for various reasons, the main one being financial.
But if you're offering me a job somewhere more to my liking, why not?

[Mooseketeer]

Originally Posted by pigeonhole

I'm stuck in that backwater for various reasons, the main one being financial.
But if you're offering me a job somewhere more to my liking, why not?

Come on , if life is getting you down as much as all this in Paris, money can't be that important. You do sound terribly unhappy and though I do not share your views on Paris ( though I accept that like ALL big cities it has its serious issues/problems etc.. ) I do feel sorry for you being trapped somewhere so hideous.
It must be detrimental to your well being. You sound intelligent, educated, your English is perfect , what the hell can be keeping you somewhere so awful ?

What sort of job do you have that is not portable to another country or even another part of France more atuned to your needs ?

For Goodness sake Pigeonhole, life's too short to be that unhappy somewhere you loathe. People emigrate all the time, pack your little red spotty handkerchief and head for Roissy.

Where is your ideal location ? I assume you have tried to escape from this life of Parisian Urban Misery before ?

If I could give you a job over here, believe me I would. It makes me sad to see someone so malcontent with his situation. What sort of Job do you do ? Here I am pining for France at the moment ( with the exchange rate of the Euro , a holiday there is just not a realistic or logical option for us) and there you are wishing you lived somewhere else...

There must somewhere in Europe at least you could find a job and settle happily ?!

Toutes mes Condoleances de vivre a Paris , cette ville si monstrueuse et sans attraits pour toi.

Bonne chance pour une retraite heureuse dans un endroit plus propice a une relaxation pleine sans soucis financiers !

[eihab]

Hi, I live in regea it's a small area in Kuwait.
restraunts are all arround us.
sometimes I wish if I live in another country, at least because of my children.
the most thing I miss is entertainment places specially for the kids..
and they have very bad and hot climate with dust storms most of the year, so I can't go out or have a picnic in the open fresh air, Only closed places and malls are available..

[andreaspercheron]

I live in Horsham Township in Pennsylvania in the US. Our town was recently rated one of the top 15 places to live. It's quite pleasant here, everyone is usually out with their kids during the warmer months, they are out walking their dogs, they are riding bikes, etc.. A friend of mine calls this town "Pleasantville" which is a movie reference (if you have ever seen that movie, Pleasantville) - it's a very nice town, virtually no crime, award winning schools, lots to do, close to NY and close to Philadelphia.
Anyway, it doesn't change the fact that I HAVE a huge world to go and see!!! I definitely have a list of locations I would love to see and visit; maybe even stay for a month or two or three LOL

[pigeonhole]

What sort of job do you have that is not portable to another country or even another part of France more atuned to your needs ?

Well, it's a long story and off topic, anyway.
I'll just give you a hint : it may sound self-deprecating, but fact is I have one of those typical French jobs where one is well paid to do next to nothing (see where I'm driving at...) , if I headed to Roissy, I'd be obliged to "roll up my sleeves" (as a fellow Frenchman you see what I mean) for a meager salary, because I have no specialty to speak of...but thanks for caring anyway, I appreciate,there is a real community spirit on USCD!