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My hometown lies at the heart of the heart of Silicon Valley. It was overall a great place to grow up, but I haven't visited in over 20 years, and yet I know that it's changed a lot.
There's a lot more traffic now. There was techie culture and bougie culture around when I was a kid, but it's much more so now, and it's edged out a lot of the counter-culture and artsy culture that I used to enjoy. Housing is exorbitant: The house I grew up in is valued at nearly 3 million dollars, and there are more Mini Mansions on postage stamp lots. The tech hyperpresence is interesting, but that probably means more of a workaholic culture and possibly more of an atmosphere of one-upmanship than when I was a kid, and it was pretty bad then.
So, I dunno... Probably not. There are a lot of good nature spots still, the area has an interesting international (especially Asian) cultural profile, and San Francisco and other culture spots aren't far away, but I would overall probably be disappointed and dissatisfied. I plan to visit in the next 3 years or so, and that will give me a better idea.
Thanks for your comments about Silicon Valley. I lived there in the late 70's briefly and dated an IT guy for a year. There was something about the area that was really off-putting for me. It was still pretty laid back (Palo Alto was so nice, there was a bookstore named Printers, Inc. that was really cool) but even then I would spend 45 mins driving 7 miles across Palo Alto to work at SLAC/SSRL. I would attend parties with my b/f and deal with people who were smart but had no social skills (inability to hold a conversation outside of tech, or make small talk). It's even more pronounced now, with the tech/bougie culture. I can see why you wouldn't want to go back.
Northwestern Colorado. Not a chance in hell. I'm still friends with people who I went to high school with on social media, and the ones who never left tend to be ignorant buffoons. It's Trumper Central so if you have a Biden bumper sticker on your car prepare to get coal rolled by an overcompensating Bubba in a big truck, and cursed at and flipped off by the "tolerant" denizens. It's sickening the number of idiots there who buy "The Big Lie" and that QAnon crap. There's a considerable amount of behind-closed-door bigotry in that part of the state, too. They'll be nice to your face, but get them out of mixed company and put a few beers in them and the slurs will flow like the Yampa River in the spring.
Last edited by bluescreen73; 11-08-2021 at 07:44 AM..
That's really interesting. When I drove back east during my move, I drove I-20 and really liked the area east of Dallas - Tyler, Terrell, etc. Very pretty. Said to myself I could even live there but who knows. Probably not. But it IS very pretty. Especially after that long boring drive in west Texas from El Paso to the area just west of Fort Worth.
I wouldn’t want to. In the US alone, I’d prefer to stay in the DC area or move to New York, San Francisco or Chicago. I feel that’s true even as I get older in the future. I’d also be interested in Seattle, Boston and LA. After that Philadelphia, Miami, Phoenix. After that Portland, Baltimore & San Diego. After that, then I’d probably choose Charlotte.
Although FYI I do love Charlotte. But we only have one life to live and I’m not spending it all in Charlotte.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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I was born in San Francisco, but until age 10 lived in San Bruno. I don't miss the noise from jets flying overhead and the constant heavy winds there at all. Where I lived from age 10-19 was Lafayette, CA, and no, I would not move back there either. It's actually a lot like where I am now, but with a slightly lower median income and a much higher cost of living, but most importantly, it's hot in the summer, often as high as 105F and doesn't cool off much at night being in a valley surrounded by hills.
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