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- The weather: Blah during the winter, unbelievably hot and humid in the summer. There are a couple of nice week stretches in the fall and spring, though.
- The landscape: Flat, flat, and flat. Some green, but most of that has been destroyed by highways, buildings and concrete (and billboards)
- The size: 5+ million people in the greater area, too much for me
- The traffic: It could be worse, but is often horrible
- The demographics: I don't mind the diversity, but it is still Republican and Christian dominated city, neither of which describe me
Things I do like:
- The cost of living: Cheap, cheap, cheap
- The economy: We have some bumps in the road, but generally pretty strong
Where I'd like to move:
Seattle, Portland, Denver, Vancouver, San Francisco - I'd prefer 4 seasons, better (much) summer weather and a LOT more access to outdoor activities.
Plus, I'm a "pescetarian" (eat fish, but no meats), which is tough here, but would be better in the other locales, for the most part.
I live in Phoenix and dont like it: its too big for its own good, terrible air pollution in the summer, bad air, bad water, terrible summer heat, no jobs, horrendous schools, high crime, most people arent particularly hospitable (compared 2 the Midwest), traffic congestion and just a general 'vanilla' flavor. Phoenix is one of those places you either love or hate. I hate it.
Where I would like to live is more complicated. I have grown to dislike large cities (as I live now), but a mid-sized or small city in the Midwest would do just fine--at least if it is within maybe 1 1/2 hours from a major city. At this point would consider:
small cities: Madison WI, Dayton OH, Ann Arbor MI, Rockford IL, Fort Wayne IN, Grand Rapids MI
mid-sized cities (though they are 'borderline' major cities themselves by many standards): Indianapolis IN, Columbus OH, St. Louis, Milwaukee WI, Kansas City MO-KS, San Antonio TX, Tulsa OK, Omaha NB, Orlando FL
I live in Va right now and it awful here. VA lacks diversity, culture, too slow, people do not know how to drive. Everything overall is awful. I want to move back to NYC. Nothing compares to NYC.
Evidently you've never been to Northern VA near DC. Its almost as diverse, fast-moving, cultural and 'east coast' as you can get. I lived there briefly in 2004 and my experience must have been significantly different than yours.
I am dying to get out of Florida. I want to move back to NY and the 4 seasons. I want SNOW. I don't want endless SUN and SUMMER. If not to NY, then NJ, Pa., Ct., or ANYWHERE in NEW ENGLAND would be heaven for me.
I was scanning this thread and when I saw this I knew I had to reply. I totally understand what you mean because in my current location, we get WAY too much sun also and not enough rain and no snow. That's why there are so many bad allergies out here. Too dry in L.A. for me. Having said that, while I don't hate where I live, I eventually want to be able to move to a place with more defined seasons. Too many people have this idea that S. CA has the best weather or is paradise or some other ridiculous assertion which is not true. The amount of sunny days here in L.A. is just CONSTANT, day after day for months. But like I said, while I can understand and agree with your feelings, I don't hate where I live.
That sounds like an exaggeration. I can see that for maybe a good portion of Schenectady City schools, but not the Capital Region in general. Same with the crime, as the Northeast has the lowest crime rate of any region in the US and I believe that NY State is a middle of the road to lower end in terms of crime rate.
But that's what I was speaking of- I'm from Schenectady, so I was speaking of Schenectady schools- which are, actually, horrid (and actually, Albany high school is ranked one of the worst in the state)... there are better schools in the *capital district* (if you want that, you'll pay more in house cost).. but I'm from Schenectady, so that's where I was referring to when the question was asked
My city, Lexington, has the worst allergies in the US.
We have muddy, rainy, 33 degree winters, cold enough to freeze you to your soaked bones, but not enough for some pretty snow. We have summers that have daytime temperatures peaking over the 100s.
Our traffic moves slower than downtown Chicago at rush hour.
We lack diversity, except for Hispanics.
I'd move to Illinois, South Dakota, Minnesota, Michigan, Vermont, New Hampshire, maybe Idaho or something.
I certainly don't *hate* it here and could see myself retiring here when I'm 60+... but can and will be moving back to Chicago... though I could see myself in Chicago, Toronto, NYC, London... but that's about it... I fit in and enjoy life a lot better in cities like that.
All of it is considered Upstate, but there are sub regions. For instance, Syracuse is considered to be in Central NY. Same with Utica-Rome. Binghamton is considered to be in the Southern Tier. Buffalo and Rochester are in Western NY and so on.
The good thing about the definition of Upstate that I gave earlier is that it divides the state in half by population (approximately).
Live in SoCal primarily due to family and relatives. If I had the chance, and could get back in touch with old child-hood friends, I would GLADLY go back to my hometown in KY in a NY minute...
I have lived in Phoenix for 5 years and dont like it--the heat, bad schools, illegals everywhere, high pollution and very few jobs even in good times. Figuring out where is the most ideal place for me is even more difficult. I would consider Denver, the Chicago suburbs, SE Wisconsin, Dallas-Ft. Worth, the Indianapolis area, the Columbus OH area, Austin TX, Raleigh-Durham and the Washington DC area of Northern VA.
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(and actually, Albany high school is ranked one of the worst in the state)... there are better schools in the *capital district* (if you want that, you'll pay more in house cost).. but I'm from Schenectady, so that's where I was referring to when the question was asked 
