Are you actually having "fun" living where you live? As a resident?

[Princessroja]

Very happy. I live in the Cleveland metro area and there is so much to do here for residents. It's a great place to raise kids. COL is low, which means we can afford to live a middle class life on what is a very low middle class income. Our county and city library systems keep ranking in the top 1-5 of library ratings, and the Metroparks system ranks similarly high in park ratings. There's sadly a lot of poverty here, but that also means a lot of resources available to lower income families like us.

Because Cleveland used to be much larger and much wealthier, there's a ridiculous amount of high-quality arts and museums here. Everything you want, it's here. Even the airport isn't too bad, and relatively low traffic and decent transit means everything is quickly accessible. It's not a flashy city or a famous one, and it often has a bad reputation, but IMO as a resident, it doesn't get much better than this.

[achtung baby]

“Fun” is relative. Depends on your stage in life, lifestyle and sometimes, disposable income.

For this stage of my life I’ve done two of the largest cities in the country, I had enormous, enormous “fun” when I was working in high end fashion and interior design in NYC, I’ve seen it all.-so in a way I’m having a different kind of fun raising my only child and having my husband working from home couldn’t have been the best lifestyle I could ask for, (thank you Covid) where we are living is very nice, safe and a bubble.-it’s never intended to be the forever home but it serves the purpose and is very aesthetically pleasing.-that alone is a major plus. We travel constantly and we are making the transition to Europe so I’m happy in where we are because the expectations are elsewhere, as I always want to explore the world. I’m always mentally ready to take off and go.

I’ve done living in a beach town.-fun but it gets boring after a while. My internal drive and the curiosity for life doesn’t allow me to just sit on the beach all day leisure around. Can’t do FL lifestyle. Sometimes it’s true “be careful what you wish for.” I thought sun, ocean and tropical were great, but I love big cities with civilizations even more.

Fun to me now is reading for hours, getting myself into the rabbit holes of researching for history/geography/culture topics. I’m setting up my own company, I’m re-studying art history, I can spend hours jumping between the Neoclassical architectures in both France and the U.S to socialism (big fan) to the Danish social system. For this kind of fun I can do it anywhere. (Not a big outdoor person so I don’t care if I can go ski or skate or surfing.)

Besides let’s face it, any transplant with no family baggage or traditional obligation (I’m Asian but I come from an extremely liberal, progressive family. My parents NEVER imposed any family obligation nor financial burden on us.) and with no financial struggle, is bound to have fun in any city they reside.

[DannyHobkins]

New Jersey here and there is a lot to do at all age brackets, all within a relatively short drive.
- Jersey Shore - beaches, boardwalks, nightlife, dining, whales/dolphins tours (many are being killed though)
- Atlantic City - Gambling, nightlife, beaches, boardwalk (don't recommend the beaches or boardwalk though)
- Poconos - Skiing, camping in summer, Casinos
- NYC - Even though I live 25 minutes from the City, haven't been there in years. Personally hate the City.
- Philadelphia - Good for Cheesesteaks, although I'm not a fan of the city itself.
- Hiking at the Delaware Water Gap or the Pine Barrens
- alot of other small towns to visit, and a ton of Revolutionary War history.
- NJ has a great restaurant scene, not many chain restaurants here.

Having the full spectrum of the 4 seasons, makes sure there is always new going on each part of the year.

Unfortunately the politics and taxes are awful, and a lot of Democrat corruption or it would be a great place to stay.