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One huge negative about California summers is that you'll almost never get a night warm enough to be out at 2am in a t shirt and shorts and be comfortable. A light jacket is almost always required at night in LA during summer. Obviously other parts of the country can't do that for 3/4 seasons, but in Florida you can almost 4/4, but at least we get 1/4 seasons where you can comfortably hang out outside after sunset.
And in the Great Lakes! That's one thing that I don't know that I could live without, that first week in the spring where everything seems to turn overnight from winter dead to springy bright green and buds pop out on previously bare trees. I am literally getting goosebumps sitting here typing this in anticipation of it. For me, this is the closest thing to a God given miracle I have witnessed (Well, okay, when our kids were born, but it's a close second), and it never fails to fill me with awe, gratitude, and a sense of joy and well being. Every place has its perks, but I could never again live somewhere where this does not occur in the springtime. It is magical.
I have to add that our autumns are just about perfect as well, and our summers, while hot and muggy at times, are also wonderful. To each their own, but I love where I live!
Here in places like Miami, Southern California there is no spring "catharsis" like there is in the midwest and east coast because we don't hate our winter so much. I do however love to see fall colors and spring colors. I try to vacation, come spring time, in Kyoto for cherry blossom festival with the shrines, hills, lake and of course the blossoms. And in the fall I go to the Alps, I love spending falls in Veytaux, with the mountains, the lake, and the colors. I also love snow, but to ski on it and not have to deal with it in everyday life. I have had to drive in snow, and it sucks.
But different strokes for different blokes, I could never deal in a prolonged way with the cold like you can. I love vacationing to it though. This February I will go to my place in Geneva for some skiing.
OP meant cold winters. That's what people complain about...and is why the warm areas of the country are experiencing so much population gain.
That's why the nation boomed in the South first, or why it really boomed before A/C and jobs. Oh wait, no it didn't.
People largely move for economic reasons. The whole climate thing is almost exclusively related to retirees or people with the financial means to move without worrying about economic conditions. And most of the warm-climate growth is still overwhelmingly related to natural growth and international migration rather than domestic from colder climates.
And in the Great Lakes! That's one thing that I don't know that I could live without, that first week in the spring where everything seems to turn overnight from winter dead to springy bright green and buds pop out on previously bare trees. I am literally getting goosebumps sitting here typing this in anticipation of it. For me, this is the closest thing to a God given miracle I have witnessed (Well, okay, when our kids were born, but it's a close second), and it never fails to fill me with awe, gratitude, and a sense of joy and well being. Every place has its perks, but I could never again live somewhere where this does not occur in the springtime. It is magical.
I have to add that our autumns are just about perfect as well, and our summers, while hot and muggy at times, are also wonderful. To each their own, but I love where I live!
That's why the nation boomed in the South first, or why it really boomed before A/C and jobs. Oh wait, no it didn't.
The South had some of the largest cities back in the 1700s and 1800s. Charleston, Baltimore, New Orleans were all at one time, top 5 biggest cities of all time. Starting after the civil war, the Industrial revolution left the South behind. Back then, factories needed reliable resources which came from the mines of the Appalachians and rivers/Great Lakes were used to transport them to key cities.
The US market today is more white collar, less reliable on a fixed location for a job. Most people are voting with their feet now, and moving to warmer climates. Just within the last several years, Florida overtook NYS as the third largest state in the USA.
The US market today is more white collar, less reliable on a fixed location for a job. Most people are voting with their feet now, and moving to warmer climates. Just within the last several years, Florida overtook NYS as the third largest state in the USA.
Yup. Anyone who thinks otherwise should just take a look at what the popular upcoming cities are these days, or read City-Data for a while. It's almost always warm weather places.
The South had some of the largest cities back in the 1700s and 1800s. Charleston, Baltimore, New Orleans were all at one time, top 5 biggest cities of all time. Starting after the civil war, the Industrial revolution left the South behind. Back then, factories needed reliable resources which came from the mines of the Appalachians and rivers/Great Lakes were used to transport them to key cities.
The US market today is more white collar, less reliable on a fixed location for a job. Most people are voting with their feet now, and moving to warmer climates. Just within the last several years, Florida overtook NYS as the third largest state in the USA.
Most of the South still gets cold in the Winter though. Baltimore has pretty much the same climate as Philly. Places like Charleston and Atlanta still freeze. It's 36 in Atlanta right now. I used to think I could move to North Carolina to escape the cold-but now I realize it's still cold there in the Winter, it just doesn't snow. Which IMO takes the fun out of Winter. What's the point of it being cold without any chance for snow?
I would agree with others that most people move for economic reasons. Charlotte, NC is probably more similar temperature-wise to Philly than it is to Florida.
The only places with year round warm weather are in Florida, California, Hawaii, PR, AZ and Texas. Not sure about NM. So this question could really be asked of the majority of Americans.
Most of the South still gets cold in the Winter though. Baltimore has pretty much the same climate as Philly. Places like Charleston and Atlanta still freeze. It's 36 in Atlanta right now. I used to think I could move to North Carolina to escape the cold-but now I realize it's still cold there in the Winter, it just doesn't snow. Which IMO takes the fun out of Winter. What's the point of it being cold without any chance for snow?
I would agree with others that most people move for economic reasons. Charlotte, NC is probably more similar temperature-wise to Philly than it is to Florida.
The only places with year round warm weather are in Florida, California, Hawaii, PR, AZ and Texas. Not sure about NM. So this question could really be asked of the majority of Americans.
Exactly. A couple of years ago, DH and I drove to Florida in February to visit my in-laws. We stopped for the night in Marietta, GA and it was 23 degrees when we got up in the morning and the grass looked just as brown and the trees just as bare as here in Michigan. Now, I realize that spring will come sooner in GA and they get almost no snow, but their summer is also much longer and hotter and they have way more pollen to irritate allergies, so again, it's all a trade off. I would not trade April-November in Michigan for any climate, so I'm thinking that the obvious answer, as for so many others, is to just be a snowbird in a few years and get the best of both worlds. We already have a condo at the beach in SC, we just have to be able to retire so that we can use it more than 1-2 weeks out of the year.
Most of the South still gets cold in the Winter though. Baltimore has pretty much the same climate as Philly. Places like Charleston and Atlanta still freeze. It's 36 in Atlanta right now. I used to think I could move to North Carolina to escape the cold-but now I realize it's still cold there in the Winter, it just doesn't snow. Which IMO takes the fun out of Winter. What's the point of it being cold without any chance for snow?
I would agree with others that most people move for economic reasons. Charlotte, NC is probably more similar temperature-wise to Philly than it is to Florida.
The only places with year round warm weather are in Florida, California, Hawaii, PR, AZ and Texas. Not sure about NM. So this question could really be asked of the majority of Americans.
I'm not sure if anyone would move to North Carolina to completely escape the cold weather. You might move there for a less intense and shorter winter though. Charlotte, on average, is about 11-12 degrees warmer than Philadelphia in January, February and March. That's a significant difference.
While the South has its cold days, a long and relentless winter with several days of snowfall is extremely rare. It can be dispiriting when you look at your 10 day forecast and see 19, 12, 21, 22, 8, 10, 11, 4, etc. as daily highs. That's basically what last February was.
I hate, hate, hate hot weather. Anyone besides me looking forward to this weekend's snowfall on the I95 corridor?
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