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26 years ago I moved to Reno because I had a job offer from the state. I had never been to the state and interviewed by phone. I absolutely love it here!! It has a mild 4 seasons, 45 minutes from Lake Tahoe and the mountains. I have lived in 5 states and 10 cities. It has tons of both outside and inside recreation. The cons is that it has doubled in size in 26 years so the traffic is worse, we have homeless and our crime rate has increased. All to be expected with the increase in population.
I wouldn't necessarily pin the homeless situation just on the 'increase in population'. It's an escalating issue all over the country, but especially the West. It's gotten much much worse over the course of the last 15 years even in places without significant population changes.
I don't put much stock in "Best places to --" polls because different people have different ideas as far as what is a good place to live. So, this post is just to get an idea of how people who actually live in a place feel/think about that place.
So, for anyone who wants to chime in --
Where do you live -- and are you: Very Happy, Mostly Happy, Mostly Unhappy, Very Unhappy, or 'Half and Half'? If you want to offer any explanation for your answer, please do so -- but please remember that these are all nothing but opinions, and that what one person finds to be a definite plus, someone else might consider that to be a definite minus.
I will start:
Door County, Wisconsin -- Very Happy
Beautiful scenery, four seasons climate, many walking trails, mostly affluent rural community, and clean (virtually no trash or graffiti)
Next?
I live not far from there.
Content at the moment. Sometimes not so much. I'm used to drastic life changes once in a while so places tend to get stale more quickly for me.
Agreed on the positives for the most part.
That "mostly affluent rural" thing bugs me. I like that not every other property has its own personal junk yard like... other places I've lived, but it does make it awkwardly pricey at times. It's an issue all along those eastern Wisconsin counties.
One big negative would be the cultural disconnect. It can be so very different at times compared to almost any other place in America I've been to. Not necessarily in a bad way. It can be bland.
I'm also pretty sure I'd rather live somewhere much further from a place like Chicago than this next time around. Chicago is a neat city as long as I don't have to live within a 12 hour drive of it.
Four seasons seems a stretch being in WI. Winters have to be long, Spring and Fall relatively short.
To clarify, I was speaking only of Door County, where I live, because I am unfamiliar with other parts of Wisconsin. Also, I know three years is not enough time to truly judge (we moved here from the Denver area in 2020), but compared to Denver, Door County is most definitely four seasons. However, that being said, the time from late March to mid-May is very strange in that the flowers start showing buds in late March, but it still is quite cold until early May until the cherry trees bloom, and trees are not in full foliage until mid-May, either. Also, winter can have a slow start when the ground doesn't stay white until starting in mid-to-late December, and the first complete melt can be as early as late February. So, in short, my experience for the past three years has been:
Mid-May to Early June: Peak Spring
Mid-June to Mid-September: Summer
Mid-September to about October 1: Transition to Fall
Early October until sometime in the first week of November: Peak Fall
November to mid-December: Transition to Winter
Late December through February: Winter
March to Mid-May: Late Winter/Early Spring
As you can see, it pretty much follows the astronomical calendar.
Btw, I have kept a "weather diary" since moving here, and the coldest daytime temperature where I live in that time was 5 degrees. Yes, that is cold, but when I lived in northeastern Ohio, it was often below zero.
Also, just fyi, we don't get very much snow -- so far, I think the most we have had in three years has been only about 10" of accumulation, but it is icy. It will snow and then the snow will freeze. (I do admit that I would actually like it if we had more snow.)
To clarify, I was speaking only of Door County, where I live, because I am unfamiliar with other parts of Wisconsin. Also, I know three years is not enough time to truly judge (we moved here from the Denver area in 2020), but compared to Denver, Door County is most definitely four seasons. However, that being said, the time from late March to mid-May is very strange in that the flowers start showing buds in late March, but it still is quite cold until early May until the cherry trees bloom, and trees are not in full foliage until mid-May, either. Also, winter can have a slow start when the ground doesn't stay white until starting in mid-to-late December, and the first complete melt can be as early as late February. So, in short, my experience for the past three years has been:
Mid-May to Early June: Peak Spring
Mid-June to Mid-September: Summer
Mid-September to about October 1: Transition to Fall
Early October until sometime in the first week of November: Peak Fall
November to mid-December: Transition to Winter
Late December through February: Winter
March to Mid-May: Late Winter/Early Spring
As you can see, it pretty much follows the astronomical calendar.
Btw, I have kept a "weather diary" since moving here, and the coldest daytime temperature where I live in that time was 5 degrees. Yes, that is cold, but when I lived in northeastern Ohio, it was often below zero.
Also, just fyi, we don't get very much snow -- so far, I think the most we have had in three years has been only about 10" of accumulation, but it is icy. It will snow and then the snow will freeze. (I do admit that I would actually like it if we had more snow.)
It's four seasons, but summers are shorter and cooler than what people in the sunbelt are used to.
I do love temps in the 70's in July and August. We've seen 80's several times, but not every day, and I'm not certain it's even been 90 here at my place at all this summer.
Down south where I'm originally from, that's springlike weather.
Daytime highs below zero are indeed uncommon along Lake Michigan. Most of the winter it's in the 20's-30's. Some days won't get out of the teens, but it's certainly not weeks on end or even days usually.
Pros- Great weather, everything I want is within twenty minutes and I can do the ski/surf thing in one day. Even when it gets to 95 in the day, temps always cools down at night. People here are happy, reasonably grounded with a touch of sophistication and it's pretty diverse. It doesn't have the ethnic enclaves that a lot of eastern cities have, but there are neighborhoods. The area is spectacular imo. Vegas is a stone's throw away as well. Any type of food you want is here
I am always unhappy in NE Texas as the long, dog days of summer hit, but I remind myself of the mild winters and glorious springs to get through August. Overall I am happy here. But I could be happy any number of places, because happiness is a choice in my opinion.
I am always unhappy in NE Texas as the long, dog days of summer hit, but I remind myself of the mild winters and glorious springs to get through August. Overall I am happy here. But I could be happy any number of places, because happiness is a choice in my opinion.
'Happiness' or just settling?...
There may not be a utopia for everyone,so sometimes just have to take the good with the bad...hopefully the good outweighs the bad though.
Danville VA. Nope. Only reason why I'm here is for my class. Gotta stick it out for 3 months max then hopefully back up north or even out west. Can't stand the south.
Danville VA. Nope. Only reason why I'm here is for my class. Gotta stick it out for 3 months max then hopefully back up north or even out west. Can't stand the south.
I enjoyed my time in VA...of course if you're college age you're probably going to want something more diverse.
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