What exactly do people mean when they say a place is "good for a vacation, but not to live in?" (high crime, hotel)

[Julian Alexander]

I'm looking to get out of the sticks. I've had my eye on a few cities. But for each of these cities I find people saying "It's good for a vacation, but I wouldn't want to live there."

But what do people actually mean when they say this? Do they mean the city is too expensive? Do they mean it's full of tourists? Do they mean there isn't much in the city that isn't just a tourist attraction?

[elnina]

They probably meant all or some what you listed above.
However, every opinion is subjective and every situation different. You need to form your own opinion.
Climate, cost of living, work prospects, even landscape is something what people consider when they look for a new place to move.

[citylove101]

I don’t think it’s the tourist thing. Most people in cities live in non-touristy neighborhoods.

But beyond that, what a person means by calling somewhere OK to visit, but not live in is really personal and could mean a lot of things, like the city is too expensive (San Jose), too isolated (Honolulu), too hot (Las Vegas), too cold (Chicago), too prone to natural disaster (New Orleans), too liberal (San Francisco), too conservative (Oklahoma City), too much crime (Detroit), too black (Philadelphia), too white (Portland), too Latin (Miami), too intense (New York), too boring (Indianapolis), and on and on. Everybody’s got something they just can’t deal with in a city. Worry about what ticks you off cause it’s guaranteed that someone else will love the place you hate.

[arr430]

I suppose, what they mean by it depends on the place they are talking about. Jerusalem? New Orleans? Kodiak? Cancun? Lhasa? Branson? Venice? Tahiti? Antarctica? Each one has its own downsive as a place to live.

[missionhill]

The version I used to hear was about New York in particular: Nice place to visit but I wouldn’t want to live there.

Meaning so much to see and do on a visit but having to live there with all the crowds, hustle and bustle? No thanks!

[P Larsen]

They may also mean that they don't care for the climate or year-round weather there, but that there are times when it could be pleasant to visit.

[Heel82]

Staying in a downtown hotel to see touristy things is a far cry from dealing with housing, trafffic, schools, job market, etc.

[BigCityDreamer]

Originally Posted by Julian Alexander

Do they mean the city is too expensive?

Usually, yes.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

You could ask them.


I suspect that it means there are nice tourist things to do but once you have seen the tourist things, the place has a lot of negatives. It might be high crime, high cost of living, bad weather, rude inhabitants, dirty air, or some sort of danger.

[FL_Expert]

Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke

You could ask them.


I suspect that it means there are nice tourist things to do but once you have seen the tourist things, the place has a lot of negatives. It might be high crime, high cost of living, bad weather, rude inhabitants, dirty air, or some sort of danger.

I think this is spot on. Adding to it, high taxes, bad schools, limited shopping/dining, etc could be more reasons you wouldn’t want to live somewhere that’s otherwise good to visit.

For me, a few places that might be good to visit but not live at would include:
Key West, FL
Portsmouth, NH
Jackson, WY
New Orleans
Savannah, GA
St. Augustine, FL
Breckinridge, CO
Vail, CO