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Ok I have been up north plenty of times. But since I have never actually lived there long term I thought I would just ask. Basically, it's a pretty popular thing to say for transplants who move down south or southerners who picked up stereotypes and like to pretend they know what it's like to live up north, about how they don't have to shovel snow and have their doors jammed and things like that in the cold season. Is that really all that much of a problem for you? Does it even happen all that much?
Since the term northerners is referring to a very broad area, tell us where you are actually from if you don't mind to give us a better picture. Even if where you live is geographically not the north but you still get a fair amount of snow like places up in Colorado, this question applies to you as well. And in case you haven't picked on it as there always seems to be some confusion in this forum for some reason, I am talking about north and south as in geographically, not census terms.
And another thing, what about driving in the snow? Is that really all that hard? For people who live around urban cities, do you find it easier to take public transportation when it snows?
Shoveling snow is a pain. Some areas you have to do a bit of it every morning. Where I grew up in NWPA it snowed overnight much of the time. Not much, only an inch or two, but enough you had to do a bit of shoveling.
Schools close for snow much more often now than historically. As far as driving goes, you just learned to do it.
I now live in SoMD and the idiocy one sees with a bit of snow is incredible. Mostly as it relates to speed.
I live in an apartment, so I don't have to shovel snow. Driving in snow is like driving a boat, break early and allow for momentum and everything will be fine.
By and large it's all pretty much stereotypes I find where people who moved to warmer climates talk about shoveling snow and freezing to death like it was a daily occurrence. Similar to the same stereotypes used for Southern locales having oppressive year-round heat/humidity.
Ok I have been up north plenty of times. But since I have never actually lived there long term I thought I would just ask. Basically, it's a pretty popular thing to say for transplants who move down south or southerners who picked up stereotypes and like to pretend they know what it's like to live up north, about how they don't have to shovel snow and have their doors jammed and things like that in the cold season. Is that really all that much of a problem for you? Does it even happen all that much?
Since the term northerners is referring to a very broad area, tell us where you are actually from if you don't mind to give us a better picture. Even if where you live is geographically not the north but you still get a fair amount of snow like places up in Colorado, this question applies to you as well. And in case you haven't picked on it as there always seems to be some confusion in this forum for some reason, I am talking about north and south as in geographically, not census terms.
And another thing, what about driving in the snow? Is that really all that hard? For people who live around urban cities, do you find it easier to take public transportation when it snows?
I used to shovel snow myself when I was growing up in Maryland. Eventually, you learn to take the easy way out by paying someone to clean the snow from your driveway, sidewalk and cars.
As for driving in snow, yeah that can be a little treacherous for a few days especially after it snows a great deal and the roads are not cleared sufficiently. You just have to slow down and drive more carefully. If you try to drive like you do during normal times, then you'll get into an accident. The main problem with snow in my area is it can cause the traffic to get really ugly - the beltway gets pretty bad. Fortunately, I've found ways to avoid most traffic during those times.
Overall though, it's not a big deal at all. On the contrary, snow is a lot of fun especially when you're still a kid or have kids of your own.
Last edited by BigCityDreamer; 11-03-2013 at 01:00 PM..
Snow in Montana is typically pretty easy to deal with. It's a very dry snow so a lot of people will use leaf blowers to clear driveways, walkways, sidewalks, etc. We don't typically get a lot at our house and my husband and I both have taller 4x4 vehicles so we don't even bother with our driveway.
Driving is simply slower in heavy snow. Icy roads make for longer stopping distances. When there's a lot of snow, the lanes also become narrower due to blows dumping snow on the side of the road or piling it up in the middle. Another major factor with snow driving is the blinding sun reflecting off the white snow.
Growing up in the Great Lakes region was different. That's some heavy, wet snow. We grew up in a house with a fairly large driveway. It was always my sister and I's responsibility to clear. That seemed like it took forever. I remember sometimes we'd have to do it twice a day.
We'd also get ice storms. I remember having a few inches of snow on the ground then freezing rain on top that sealed it in. You could actually walk on top of the snow. The freezing rain was the only thing that ever kept me off the road. My car was sealed shut with an inch of ice more than once. Luckily I grew up in a pedestrian friendly town so you were never stranded.
I grew up in MD outside of DC and I remember having to shovel the driveway and hating it. I remember a typical good school closing snow was round 2 to 5 inches. I remember a blizzard in 77, one in the early 80's and a couple back to back around 88. But those snows are rare. I sure don't miss the shoveling, especially since it was usually wet and heavy.
Now I live on the eastern shore of MD, near Ocean City, and we don't get much snow here. With the exception of 2009 and 2010 when we got hammered pretty good by over a foot on several different occasions. Then my wife shoveled my parents driveway. She had never seen snow and was having fun. HeHeHe!
If we get any at all over here it is usually just a dusting and is gone by the time I get up. If it's still snowing, why bother shoveling because everything here will be closed anyway! Besides it'll just melt soon anyway! Now if we get another one of those deep snows, which I really don't mind occasionally, I'm not shoveling. My 4X4 will make it by fine when I leave to go driving around. It's pretty around here with a complete covering of snow on the cornfields, marsh's and beaches. Not something we get to see too much so I like to go checking it out.
The door handles would freeze on my 1975 Impala. One winter, it seemed that every cold spell was preceded by freezing rain. I would have to pour hot water down the door to get inside. After I broke a door handle, I coated all of the moving parts with lithium grease when I replaced it.
I am old enough to have been through the horrible winters of 1976-1977 and 1977-1978. I even remember when it got down to 22 below zero in the winter of 1962-1963 (The neighbor drove us to school that day). That was the coldest winter in 100 years, but did not compare to 1976-1977, the coldest winter in recorded history.
I have gotten stuck in the snow more times than I care to remember. I have high-centered more than one car in my driveway, and gotten the tractor stuck a number of times. This requires a lot of shoveling, and as it has been pointed out, northeast Ohio snow is wet and heavy.
If you live among hills, as I do, you quickly learn that gravity is not your friend. Although a rear wheel drive car may be fine in flat Chicago, where they have a good reputation for clearing the roads, it would never be able to get out of my driveway. I just bought a 4wd Tacoma, because I am tired of fighting my driveway. Front wheel drive is just not enough.
While other posters may be having Fifty Shades of Grey fantasies, my fantasies are of waterboarding Mother Nature. And it's not just me; Ohio has gone from 24 electoral votes down to 18. People moved here because of the high-paying blue collar jobs, not the weather. Now that the jobs are gone, the people are moving to the South and West instead.
No and no....... Some have snow blowers/throwers, pay people to do it or do it themselves. Just give yourself more time, more distance and go slower when necessary when driving. Many areas in the North are more prepared in terms of snow removal as well. So, it isn't like the snow just accumulated on the road/street.
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