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Hi everyone. Glad to see I'm not the only one with this problem! Anyway, I have lived in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Florida, and Hawaii. Usually, I feel like an idiot when I tell people that I don't like any of these places all that much, except for Michigan. People judge me on that one! Especially, my boyfriend's mother. She thinks I'm nuts. I can assure all of you that I'm perfectly sane. Here is my story. I grew up in Indiana, which I became very bored with. I felt like my opportunities were limited there. So, I packed up my suitcases and moved to Hawaii to study nursing at the tender age of 20 with the financial help of my father. Bless his soul. I lived on the magical island of Oahu. But, the magic was gone by the end of the first year. I realized I had made a huge mistake, but I was stuck and had to finish school. I lived in a dumpy one bedroom apartment with drug dealers all over the place. It was scary. I don't know how I managed to study considering all the noise and loud music coming from their units. Homeless people were everywhere! I was constantly harassed by them. No decent men to date at all! The good ones were either tourists or Navy guys from Honolulu. But, those were just meaningless flings. I made some friends at the University, but there is no nightlife in Hawaii, so partying was out of the question. The only things to do for fun are nature walks, beach, and more nature walks. Anyway, I cried a lot while I lived there. I had island fever, you know, ISOLATION fever. I didn't think I would make it to graduation, but my father would be devastated, so I stayed. I was miserable and lonely.
Two weeks after graduation, I moved to Chicago, which is close to where I grew up in Northwest Indiana. I liked it at first and that is when I met my ex-husband and we lived downtown. Living downtown is exhausting. The nonstop hustle and bustle is NOT for me. Chicago is a great city, but very expensive and windy COLD. The taxes will eat up all of your money very quickly. Politicians are the most corrupt in the US. The crime has risen dramatically. I got divorced and moved to New Buffalo, Michigan because my sister lives there and I needed a calm place to reside. Well, Michigan is beautiful and peaceful. I had a very laid back life there for a couple of years. Decent people, low to no crime, and very low cost of living and low taxes. Nice neighborhoods. Great restaurants and shopping. Log cabin lodges are the best in MI! There are gorgeous beach towns scattered throughout the state. I guess it is fair to say that I enjoyed living there the most, even the winters.
But, I left to take a job at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL, which was a huge disaster. The crime in JAX is insane! I feared for my life every single day. My job wasn't that great, pay wasn't good, and I don't like the FL healthcare system. My car had been broken into as well as my townhome. That was when I decided to move. So, I moved to Orlando, but soon found that it was not that much better than JAX. I lived in Lake Mary, which is close to crime infested Sanford and crime infested Altamonte Springs. So, I was living in the middle of all the crime action. Downtown Orlando is a joke! Honestly, I think FL is not as great as most tourists think it is.
I'm currently living in Orland Park, IL, which is a very nice suburb of Chicago. I am mainly here because of my boyfriend and his business is located here. I have a great job at the hospital and I've made some nice friends. Everything is nice here except for the high taxes and cost of living. Housing is not affordable by any means. But, it is close enough for me to drive to Michigan and enjoy what that state has to offer. I have decided that when the time is right, I will move back to Michigan for good. See, it took a long time for me to realize which place suits me the best. And, that goes for most people. You just have to be patient and true to what you want for your lifestyle and try to make it happen. For me, I love the calmness of Michigan. The people are wonderful. The summers are so lovely, like a painting. And, the cost of living is low enough where you can live very comfortably in a beautiful spacious home. I will be back there soon! Thank you all for listening and good luck with finding the place that fits!
Last edited by Count David; 11-29-2014 at 07:13 PM..
Reason: fixed formatting/paragraphs
Hi everyone. Glad to see I'm not the only one with this problem! Anyway, I have lived in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Florida, and Hawaii. Usually, I feel like an idiot when I tell people that I don't like any of these places all that much, except for Michigan. People judge me on that one! Especially, my boyfriend's mother. She thinks I'm nuts. I can assure all of you that I'm perfectly sane. Here is my story. I grew up in Indiana, which I became very bored with. I felt like my opportunities were limited there. So, I packed up my suitcases and moved to Hawaii to study nursing at the tender age of 20 with the financial help of my father. Bless his soul. I lived on the magical island of Oahu. But, the magic was gone by the end of the first year. I realized I had made a huge mistake, but I was stuck and had to finish school. I lived in a dumpy one bedroom apartment with drug dealers all over the place. It was scary. I don't know how I managed to study considering all the noise and loud music coming from their units. Homeless people were everywhere! I was constantly harassed by them. No decent men to date at all! The good ones were either tourists or Navy guys from Honolulu. But, those were just meaningless flings. I made some friends at the University, but there is no nightlife in Hawaii, so partying was out of the question. The only things to do for fun are nature walks, beach, and more nature walks. Anyway, I cried a lot while I lived there. I had island fever, you know, ISOLATION fever. I didn't think I would make it to graduation, but my father would be devastated, so I stayed. I was miserable and lonely.
Two weeks after graduation, I moved to Chicago, which is close to where I grew up in Northwest Indiana. I liked it at first and that is when I met my ex-husband and we lived downtown. Living downtown is exhausting. The nonstop hustle and bustle is NOT for me. Chicago is a great city, but very expensive and windy COLD. The taxes will eat up all of your money very quickly. Politicians are the most corrupt in the US. The crime has risen dramatically. I got divorced and moved to New Buffalo, Michigan because my sister lives there and I needed a calm place to reside. Well, Michigan is beautiful and peaceful. I had a very laid back life there for a couple of years. Decent people, low to no crime, and very low cost of living and low taxes. Nice neighborhoods. Great restaurants and shopping. Log cabin lodges are the best in MI! There are gorgeous beach towns scattered throughout the state. I guess it is fair to say that I enjoyed living there the most, even the winters.
But, I left to take a job at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL, which was a huge disaster. The crime in JAX is insane! I feared for my life every single day. My job wasn't that great, pay wasn't good, and I don't like the FL healthcare system. My car had been broken into as well as my townhome. That was when I decided to move. So, I moved to Orlando, but soon found that it was not that much better than JAX. I lived in Lake Mary, which is close to crime infested Sanford and crime infested Altamonte Springs. So, I was living in the middle of all the crime action. Downtown Orlando is a joke! Honestly, I think FL is not as great as most tourists think it is.
I'm currently living in Orland Park, IL, which is a very nice suburb of Chicago. I am mainly here because of my boyfriend and his business is located here. I have a great job at the hospital and I've made some nice friends. Everything is nice here except for the high taxes and cost of living. Housing is not affordable by any means. But, it is close enough for me to drive to Michigan and enjoy what that state has to offer. I have decided that when the time is right, I will move back to Michigan for good. See, it took a long time for me to realize which place suits me the best. And, that goes for most people. You just have to be patient and true to what you want for your lifestyle and try to make it happen. For me, I love the calmness of Michigan. The people are wonderful. The summers are so lovely, like a painting. And, the cost of living is low enough where you can live very comfortably in a beautiful spacious home. I will be back there soon! Thank you all for listening and good luck with finding the place that fits!
I went to New Buffalo a few years ago during a vacation. Talk about a laid back/chill place. One of the good things about that area is that you are back in NW IN/Chicagoland in a matter of minutes.
Looks like somewhere around the southern tip of Lake Michigan is where you belong.
I wouldn't say I dislike Orlando, it's just not living up to my expectations. There's a lotta hype about Florida, but people don't really tell you the not-so-great stuff. All you hear about is "beaches and Disney" and after you do that a few times, you get bored and start to notice all the wrong things like:
1. It's way too humid.
2. It rains too much in the summer for my taste.
3. The drivers here are the absolute worst I've ever experienced.
4. Disney isn't that great in the first place.
5. Cocoa Beach (the closest one) isn't that great either.
6. The general vibe from the people seems fake to me (though that might be because most of the people here weren't born in Florida).
7. Sports aren't popular enough (coming from Dallas, just seems like there's less interest. Cowboys aren't doing well but the fans are still uber-supportive, no one here seems to care about football, and there are more Heat fans than Magic fans.)
8. I-4 is overcrowded.
9. I-Drive is overcrowded (and slightly overrated; I think there are better restaurants in other areas).
10. There are too many tollways.
It's got a lot of things that I like (great restaurants, decent downtown, other theme parks, close to Gulf beaches, smooth roads, etc.) but the bad cancels it out.
I don't want to be mean to your hometown or anything but I agree. When I went to Winter Park I was told that I would love it and how quaint and gorgeous it would be. I didn't feel that way at all. It's HOT in central Florida. The sun feels closer for some reason. Honestly, the traffic there was worse than most of what I've seen in Tysons (aka: the worst traffic congestion in the country). Not a fun time.
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