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Rank the places you've lived, from your favorite to your least favorite. Please include the length of time you lived there and some comments.
1. NYC (2 years and counting): it simply doesn't get more exciting then this. My wife and I make good money and don't have kids, so the city is our playground. There is simply an endless selection of entertainment and dining options that keeps us intrigued. Will probably move away once we want to have kids and get some privacy.
2. Chicago (2 years): doesn't compare to NYC but we certainly got more apartment for our dollar. Living in lakeshore east (right by the lake) was a great time. If I decided to head back to the midwest (family is there) I'd look no further than Chicago.
3. Indianpolis, Louisville (1 year): I lumped these together because they're really similar from my perspective. Both are typical midwestern cities that were nothing special, but ok places to live.
I know that's only years but everywhere else I've lived is tiny towns that aren't worth mentioning.
1. Portland, OR - 7 years (Biased because it's my hometown and where I truly feel at home. I love rainy weather and green landscapes, and I miss it there so much.)
2. La Habra, CA - 7 years and counting (Where I live now. It's not that bad but I still want the hell out. Hot, dirty, polluted, and probably one of the worst parts in all of Orange County to live in. On top of that, it sucks of be liberal here.)
3. Houston, TX - 3 years (While I love the food, nice people, and thunderstorms in Houston, the summer heat just kills me. I don't agree with the politics either, but it seems to be getting better as their current mayor is gay.)
I was also born in Santa Rosa, CA, but left when I was 2 years old, so I can't say anything.
1. Chicago (still back and forth between here and Ohio) Its my second home, its the birthplace of my mother and where my father was raised, most of my family are natives. Ive been going to Chicago during the summers since I was 3 years old. Love the loop, Rainbow Beach, 63rd and Hayes, DuSable Museum, The Gold Coast, I'm a die hard Bears fan... Love the food. No skyline in my opinion is better than Chicago's excluding New York.... The largest outdoor festival of its kind anywhere - Taste of Chicago... Home to Navy Pier, Lake Shore Drive... Home of the Chicago Bulls and the best basketball player ever - Michael Jordan.... The best brats and Italian Beef Sandwiches.... I can go on for hours, but its late....
2. Toledo, OH (My hometown so I'm biased, but it is an underrated city by a longshot). The home of Jamie Farr, practically any Jeep anyone in the world is driving is made here.... Only a 4 hour drive to Chicago.... Centrally located to anywhere you want to go... 8 hours from DC, 10 hours from both New York and Atlanta... 45 minutes from Detroit, an hour from Canada, 3 hours from Cincinnati, 1.5 hours from Cleveland, 4 hours from Pittsburgh and only 1 hour from the best Amusement Park in the world - Cedar Point... Also, home to one of the most underrated Pizza franchises in the country... Gino's Pizza (The Original)
3. Atlanta, GA (lived here for a while during my internship with Cox, plus a few times I lived here job hunting...) Was my college get-away city... Midtown, Atlantic Station, Underground Atlanta... Best internship any college student can have.. Imagine working for a nationally known TV station and also a radio station where your nights are in VIP with celebrities and future celebrities you known before the rest of the world knew who they were, and you're still in college..... The most respectable HBCU's in the country - Morehouse/Spellman/Clark Atlanta.... The home of Dr. Martin Luther King - Happy King Day.... The Buckhead club scene before it got totally demolished..... Women, women, and more women.... Went to Braves games for FREE!!!!!
4.) Los Angeles, CA (only for 2 months so I didn't get the full luxury of living here) However, while I lived in LA I did part-time extra work so being behind the scenes with celebrities and seeing your favorite TV shows and movies taking place before your own very eyes... Its LA, what more can I say... Worked for Macy's Century City while I was living there and seeing Lindsay Lohan, Halle Berry, etc come through your department store at any given time.... Again, women, women and more women.... Hollywood is actually where I lived.... Imagine waking up in the morning and seeing the red carpet out of your window (yes that was literally what I saw, as well as Longs Pharmacy)... Palm trees, beaches, Santa Monica, Disney Land (got a discount for being with the media...) I can go on here too....
5.) Hampton Roads, VA (lived here for 7 years) Large military presence... One of the best beaches Ive ever been to (Virginia Beach)... Similar to Toledo as far as its close proximity to great destinations (Atlanta was my get-away city, plus DC, New York, Charlotte and a Thanksgiving spent in Orlando, FL) Wonderful festivals in downtown Norfolk, now has light-rail, but didnt have that when I was in school... Great colleges (Norfolk State alum) great neighborhoods, rich in culture (Williamsburg, Suffolk) extremely beautiful (water surrounds you everywhere).... Alot of activities and to me is definitely one underrated location.... It has so much to offer..... I also was a popular radio personality while living there... (Some people reading this might know exactly who I am)
6.) Dallas/Ft Worth (Much like LA, I didn't get a chance to really spend alot of time here) One of the best temporary jobs anyone could ask for - The 2010 NBA All-Star Game.... Outside of that I actually had a hard time finding a job here.... Jobs are plentiful there, but media jobs aren't.... Great location for anyone looking to relocate somewhere and get a fresh start... Low cost of living, alot of things to do... The metroplex is home to two major cities - Dallas and Fort Worth.... Also I love the suburb of Arlington (which outgrew alot of major cities in the midwest) I also love the Las Colinas section of Irvington (very nice houses).... I particularly just love Texas.... The only downside was I didn't get to stay here long enough to enjoy it due to a death in the family, but I always said Im going back....
7.) Elizabeth City, NC (lived here for a short period of time) Too rural, too small, didnt have a great experience here... Most of my time was spent driving to Norfolk and Chesapeake, VA.... I lived here for about 3 years then relocated straight to Norfolk, VA.... If you like sleepy southern living, thats quiet, relaxed, you know all of your neighbors, like to go fishing and enjoy potatoe pilling contests than this is your city..... When I first relocated there I got called a Yankee waaaayyy too much.... I did meet alot of nice friendly people and it was rather nice warm weather most of the year, but I was bored practically 350 days out of the year....
New York, Washington DC, Orlando, Detroit, Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, NC, Lexington, KY, Richmond, VA, Cleveland, Dayton, and St. Louis are all cities Ive stayed in and visited often, but never lived there or stayed long enough to say I lived there.....
Last edited by lastonestanding; 01-15-2012 at 11:42 PM..
1) Rome, Georgia- Moved here 9 years ago from Fairburn, Georgia. My wife and I love it. Perfect size for both of us, good school systems, outdoor opportunities, and a thriving (small) downtown. Got to know a lot of people here very quickly and are active members of the community.
2) Atlanta, Georgia-(6yrs, then 2yrs more) Loved living in the city when we were newlyweds without children. Used to frequent Little 5, Grant Park, Midtown and the like. Also, was born here, as were both of my parents, and all of my siblings. Would never move back, but loved it just the same. Can't remember much from my childhood there.
3) Northfield, Minnesota- (5yrs) Great little town in Southern Minnesota. My dad was teaching at St. Olaf College here, I met my wife, finished high school, and made some lifelong friends.
4) Madison, Wisconsin- (2yrs) Was pretty young when we moved here, but remember hiking Picnic Point, visiting my dad as he finished his degrees at UW, and generally a good childhood/teenage memory of the city.
5) Lived also in Orlando, Florida, Fayetteville, Georgia, Richmond, Kentucky, Greenville, South Carolina, Williamsburg, Ohio, Kenosha, Wisconsin, and Chattanooga, Tennessee. Can't remember much about those places, as I was pretty young.
6) Fairburn, Georgia- (2yrs) My wife and I bought our first house here, on the south side of Atlanta. We thought it might be kinda cool, as the Ren. Fest is located here, and they call it "Atlanta's Back Porch". Fairburn is a corrupt, violent, horrible little town full of miscreants and drug addicts. We moved to Rome shortly after I heard automatic gunfire in my back yard, followed by return fire from down the block. Wasn't too sad when the news reported that most of the downtown burned to the ground about two years ago.
1. Delray Beach, Florida - Made the move here last winter and wish I had done it five years ago. I have hated cold weather my whole life so I don't know why it took until my late 20's for me to wake up one morning and say, "Hey, why don't I live somewhere where it stays warm?" The summers get sticky with a high dew point, but the actual heat in July and August is much lower than it is in my old state, Tennessee. I hesitate to say this, because I don't want to attract more dudes to South Florida and thereby increase my competition, but the chicks here are amazing. Not only are they smoking hot, but remember that Beach Boys song with the line, "two girls for every boy"? Well, down here it is more like 3-4. If you're a male and you can't score here, you can't score anywhere.
2. Hendersonville, Tennessee - Nice, safe, clean suburb of Nashville. The Downtown Nashville nightlife is pretty tough to beat when you're in your 20's, and the music scene is unrivaled anywhere in the country. The problems start when you approach 30, as the number of eligible single women in your age bracket who have never been married or popped out any units drops precipitously. Really, this is endemic to any southern city, but is especially pronounced in Nashville. I never found the weather to be the greatest, either. Summer highs regularly break 100, and the humidity is palpable. Winter is dreary: constant grey skies, lows below freezing, and instead of snow we usually got either freezing rain or a so-called "wintery mix" of light snow, ice, and rain. Fall is fleeting, and spring is usually too rainy to enjoy. With all that said, I had some of my best times in Nashville and do not regret living there at all.
3. Oak Ridge, Tennessee -- Near Knoxville. This is where I lived from ages 0-18. Oak Ridge is the "Atomic City" -- the place where the Atomic Bomb that effectively ended World War II was built. Back then, it was a thriving little city teeming with the brightest scientists in the world. In the intervening decades, however, it has stagnated and many areas have fallen into decay. The school system, once ranked as one of the best publics in the nation, is still a higher quality than most in the surrounding areas but it loses its lead more and more each year. Downtown Knoxville and the University of Tennessee campus are about a 30 minute drive, and that area is a lot of fun if you're in your late teens or early twenties. Like a lot of other college towns, however, it begins to take a very juvenile feel once you start getting over 25. It isn't a bad place, though, and I enjoyed growing up here. I hate to even put it last on my list, but I've only lived in a few places -- none of them miserable -- and one of them has to go here.
I just moved here in July but I love this city to death. I had visited the city a ton of times and have always loved it. Unlike most people, I love the weather. I no longer need a car so I don't have a car payment or insurance which makes up for the difference in the cost of living (compared to Texas)
2. Dallas, TX
I was born there. I know the entire DFW like the back of my hand. I have friends throughout the entire region. Plenty of shopping and punk rock (weird combo, right?). I just didn't like how spread out it was and I couldn't take the summers any longer.
3. Austin, TX
Over-rated. It seemed like a big small town the entire time I lived there. I didn't like it at all.
1.) Los Angeles,CA - 1 year and counting. I currently live in Hollywood. I was completely blown away by how much I liked LA. Before I moved here I was on the anti-LA bandwagon (even living just a few miles north of the city), but once I settled in I became very impressed and discovered how little I really knew about LA. I live in a great building with super-nice people and a community feeling there never really was in my Boston buildings. My wife and I have one car which is required for her job but live very car restricted lives, which I never though would happen. There is a ton of things to do and at a surprisingly low price, as well as all the cheap ethnic food you could imagine.
1a.) Boston, MA - 3 years. Only ranked lower because it was so hard for me to get a job out there and basically was broke all the time. Worked in Coolidge Corner and made some awesome friends (though about 75% were not from MA). Lived in a dump in Brighton and then a nicer place on Comm Ave in Brighton. Neighborhood was nice if a little boring, but there was plenty to do within walking distance. If I had a little more money when I was there and could have lived in a more exciting neighborhood ala Jamaica Plain, South End, etc. then perhaps Boston would be #1.
3. Santa Maria, CA - 18 years. I grew up here, Santa Maria is kind of a cow-town, fairly large (100,000 people) but not a lot to do, not many cultural amenities. It is in a great natural setting with beaches nearby and plenty of places to camp, hike, etc. Pretty poorly planned city too, although my brother somehow makes due without a car using the (recently upgraded) bus system. IMO the best Mexican food in the country and Santa Maria Style BBQ is also mind-blowingly awesome. Definitely don't want to live in Santa Maria again but if I had to move back to the area I wouldn't be too disappointed, Pismo Beach and Grover Beach are nearby and actually quite walkable.
4.) Thousand Oaks, CA - 4 years. Went to school here, there is no personality in this bedroom community, and the people there suuuuuuucccckkkkk. (I worked at a Longs Drugs so I got a great cross-section of the residents there, nearly all of them were exactly what you think when you imagine the LA stereotype).
Other than that it is a poorly planned city in which one must own a car to do everyday tasks. I do like my college however, probably the best thing about ole TO. We had the option of moving to this area last year because my wife works in the Agoura / Calabasas area.... Two words: f*** no .
I lived in Pleasanton, CA and worked in Richmond, CA for about 5 months. Pleasanton is a nicer, Bay Area version of Thousand Oaks. Nice downtown. Richmond is actually quite terrifying, it is definitely a dump in places. There are some nice areas though like Point Richmond. I'd say Pleasanton would go after Santa Maria and before Thousand Oaks.
1.) Los Angeles,CA - 1 year and counting. I currently live in Hollywood. I was completely blown away by how much I liked LA. Before I moved here I was on the anti-LA bandwagon (even living just a few miles north of the city), but once I settled in I became very impressed and discovered how little I really knew about LA. I live in a great building with super-nice people and a community feeling there never really was in my Boston buildings. My wife and I have one car which is required for her job but live very car restricted lives, which I never though would happen. There is a ton of things to do and at a surprisingly low price, as well as all the cheap ethnic food you could imagine.
1a.) Boston, MA - 3 years. Only ranked lower because it was so hard for me to get a job out there and basically was broke all the time. Worked in Coolidge Corner and made some awesome friends (though about 75% were not from MA). Lived in a dump in Brighton and then a nicer place on Comm Ave in Brighton. Neighborhood was nice if a little boring, but there was plenty to do within walking distance. If I had a little more money when I was there and could have lived in a more exciting neighborhood ala Jamaica Plain, South End, etc. then perhaps Boston would be #1.
3. Santa Maria, CA - 18 years. I grew up here, Santa Maria is kind of a cow-town, fairly large (100,000 people) but not a lot to do, not many cultural amenities. It is in a great natural setting with beaches nearby and plenty of places to camp, hike, etc. Pretty poorly planned city too, although my brother somehow makes due without a car using the (recently upgraded) bus system. IMO the best Mexican food in the country and Santa Maria Style BBQ is also mind-blowingly awesome. Definitely don't want to live in Santa Maria again but if I had to move back to the area I wouldn't be too disappointed, Pismo Beach and Grover Beach are nearby and actually quite walkable.
4.) Thousand Oaks, CA - 4 years. Went to school here, there is no personality in this bedroom community, and the people there suuuuuuucccckkkkk. (I worked at a Longs Drugs so I got a great cross-section of the residents there, nearly all of them were exactly what you think when you imagine the LA stereotype).
Other than that it is a poorly planned city in which one must own a car to do everyday tasks. I do like my college however, probably the best thing about ole TO. We had the option of moving to this area last year because my wife works in the Agoura / Calabasas area.... Two words: f*** no .
That's funny. I guess I can cross it off my list of potential future homes. From my limited exposure, it seems like a fairly quiet place and desirable if you were either starting a family or retiring. I guess proximity to Topanga/Malibu and LA proper aren't enough.
Can you elaborate on the suck? I’m all for capping on fellow locals, as long as its drawn from sufficient experience. Rich-guy entitlement mixed with suburban gansta bravado? That’s my favorite.
That's funny. I guess I can cross it off my list of potential future homes. From my limited exposure, it seems like a fairly quiet place and desirable if you were either starting a family or retiring. I guess proximity to Topanga/Malibu and LA proper aren't enough.
Can you elaborate on the suck? I’m all for capping on fellow locals, as long as its drawn from sufficient experience. Rich-guy entitlement mixed with suburban gansta bravado? That’s my favorite.
If I was retiring, perhaps I would be ok with Thousand Oaks.
From my time at Longs there were tons of fake breasts, big hair and gaudy-cheap jewelry and Lexus SUVs (all bought on credit). Also a lot of prescription drug abuse (we even had a sting at our store).
My wife lived there for a year, her neighbors across the street were this huge Hispanic family; every morning this Escalade would roll up to pick up some of their kids and blare their horn. They never, ever just walked up to the door. By the number of random cars that drove through that area, we were pretty convinced they were slanging drugs too. They had about 6 cars, which were all parked on the cul-de sac.
The other neighbors were worse, if they found trash on the street, they blamed the four 20-something women next door and actually threw the trash onto my (then) GF's lawn. They also had an a-hole 12 year old that was just really annoying.
Basically, it has all the terrible, stereotypes of Orange County - car-loving, conservative, Mexican hating, phony rich.
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