How long does it take to figure out you dislike where you have moved? (job, climate)

[sunflower53072]

How long does it take to figure out you dislike where you have moved? How long is a fair chance?

[clawson26]

I usually give it about six months of do or die optimism before I start poo-pooing a place. I have moved a lot for work though so I have it down to a science. I can almost always find SOMETHING I like about a new place with one or two exceptions. I have lived a couple of places that I'm pretty sure were circles of hell.

[mrsgenealogy]

I have heard that it takes at least a year and I think it's right.

Couple of stories:

My daughter moved to WA from CA when she was about 21. She and her husband moved out in the country to help his father with a farm. At first, she hated the change. One time, when she was working at a small mini-store out in the middle of nowhere, some high-falutin' folks came into the store and the teenage girl made a comment that she couldn't believe anyone actually lived out there, my daughter quickly informed them that she was actually from CA. She was so embarrassed to think they thought she was from there.

She is 35 years old now and vows she'll never leave! She loves country living and feels it is the best place to raise their four children. Once that first year was over, she had begun to warm to the lifestyle and the opportunity to move back didn't present itself so they stayed...until they loved it!

Now, my husband and I recently moved from CA to MO and we're both native Californians. We have been in our new home just under a year and haven't regretted the decision one time even though it has been harder than we thought to find work so our income isn't what we hoped, yet. We never want to go back to the busy highway, big city with all the gangs and immigration issues. We have a home on 2 1/2 acres and can hardly contain our joy. It is so peaceful and our only other problem is that we never want to leave home!

There are still a lot of adjustments to make and new friendships to form so I still stand by my "minimum one year" answer, though.

Welp, that'll do it for me. I look forward to seeing any other's responses and stories!

MrsG

[SALteacher]

I figure a year should give you a good indication whether you will like a place or not. There will always be good and bad things about an area you move to. You just have to do as good a job on your homework researching the place before you move as possible. But as the old saying goes, expect the unexpected.

[mpope409]

I would say that a fair chance is about two years. Especially for the employed-with-kids who don't get to get out much. 6 months is not nearly enough time unless you're single.

[Paula Lynn]

Moving to a new state, I would say give it 2 years.

[SpeedyAZ]

I'd say 6 months to 1 year. You can get acclimated, meet some people, get a feel for the weather, etc. By the time the year is up, I'd say you should have a pretty good feeling whether or not this would be a place you'd like to live or not.

[M TYPE X]

Ohio ... about 48 hours, tops. It only takes a day to find the shuttered malls, slummy Burger Kings, noisy mufflers, and realize you hate your boss and coworkers.

Illinois: about 24 minutes to start to like it
Why? After half an hour, you notice that the cornfields all look the same!

[Southlander]

1 year, to figure out one way or another.
I always dreamed of living in Atlanta. Got married, and did. Hated it the first 6 months. Ok the next 3 months. Then I loved it. Had no money back then but I still loved it. Would be there still, but couldn't make any money.

[vegaspilgrim]

I actually chose three years-- because sometimes you move to a place, you think you like it so much that you become enamoured by it, you even start to think of yourself as a local, until after several years, disillusionment hits in and you realize it might not be the best place for you after all. That's pretty much the situation I'm in right now.