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I like some green, but some areas of the country just seem overgrown to me. Not good for people with allergies, like my family. My grandfather had to move to dry areas out west for asthma and allergies. I picked the "live in green area, would like to see more brown" option.
I think what throws the OP off is the overcast skies make it look "less" lush in the Pacific NW but trust me, you can't get any greener or lush than that area
I think what throws the OP off is the overcast skies make it look "less" lush in the Pacific NW but trust me, you can't get any greener or lush than that area
Location: Pittsburgh (via Chicago, via Pittsburgh)
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I lived and worked in Palm Springs CA for 3 months. That was the perfect amount of time. By month 3 I was ready to see the greenery of the East again. It's a different kind of beauty though. The desert and it's mountains have their own stunning beauty. It probably just depends where you grow up and what you are used to.
Montana is a high elevation desert. With the exception of a small sliver of the state, it's brown. Almost all the time. It finally started raining here in Helena last week but up until then we had the driest six weeks on record. We had a red flag warning at the beginning of June. Canyon Ferry Lake is the lake just outside of town and you couldn't put a boat on it up until last weekend. Literally. The boat launches were way too low. It was 30+ feet low. I still won't put my boat on the water because levels are still very low for all the random hazards in the lake.
We're moving back to the Midwest next week and I thought I'd miss the mountains but when we went on a house hunting trip a few weeks ago I didn't even notice the lack of mountains because I was so excited to see green grass and deciduous trees. I've enjoyed my time out West but I'm an Easterner at heart. A big portion of that can be attributed to the greenery.
Edited to add: The wide open spaces are great when you're out sightseeing. Not so great when you can walk out on your back deck and see 15,000+ houses and all their junk. I'm so excited that our new property has mature maple trees that block out any neighbors and provide shade and habitat for critters.
Here in Western Washington I am surrounded by all the greenery I could ever hope for.
Note however that vast areas of Eastern Washington are arid, some areas even dry enough to count as true desert. Someday I'd like to move out that way. Not because I want to get away from the greenery and the water, I'm sure I'll miss it, but I am very attracted by the true 4 season climate, the greatly reduced rainfall and the slower pace of life on that side of the state.
No, parts of it are. 2/3rds of Oregon and Washington are parched and brown like the rest of the West.
There are other areas of the West that are green outside of the coastal areas, mainly in Idaho which has the most forests of the inland western states. There are areas north of Boise that are green... in the McCall area and north Idaho is as green as it gets with inland temperate rainforests, but you have to deal with snow in the winter.
I grew up in the Midwest, but lived in Las Cruces, NM for over our years for grad school and work. For the first year or so after living there, I missed the green grass and fields I'd grown up living around.
As I started spending more and more time outdoors in the desert climate, I found more to appreciate in it and those things worked as satisfactory substitutes for the green grass I had loved. I took up running and hiking and experienced both activities as being enjoyable in the desert.
Also, sometimes mother nature can find ways to surprise you. In the summer of 2006, the area received abundant amounts of rain, turning the mountains and desert greener than many residents could remember ever seeing them. There's a lot to see in desert climates if you give it a chance.
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