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Just my thoughts, but I would expect that after being through the seasons twice you would starting settling. ... the wild card now being the crummy economy and the effects on employment. I'm sure the lack of employment would skew almost anyone's outlook on a new place.
Life is rarely about just a place - rather it's about relationships, connections and events that happen in a place. If those aren't happening for you here in a way you find satisfactory, the Triangle will never feel like "home."
I've also been here about 2.5yrs - so far I've gotten married to a girl I met here, been offered (and accepted) another job than the one that moved me here, met a great group of friends, gotten bored with the same restaurants/bars enough to try out of the way places... and even with all that Detroit is still home. I'm heading back to GPF this weekend for a wedding and it just feels like I'm heading home from vacation. It really doesn't matter how long you've been somewhere, what really matters is how comfortable you are with where you're at in life. I like it here, I like having a job (rust-belters know what I mean), I like the nightlife but even so it doesn't feel like home nor should it since I didn't grow up here. I'm content with the area and what it has to offer but after 2.5 yrs + some milestones, no - it doesn't feel like I've "settled" here.
Home is where the heart is. It doesn't matter about the weather or the employment or the color of the flowers or the affordable housing. You have to be at home with yourself before a place can feel like home. For some people that could take 6 hours and for others it could take 6 years.
Think about what it was and why you moved away from where you were before moving to the triangle and get in touch with that. At that point you'll be better able to understand you feelings and act accordingly.
I've read some opinions on how long it takes to "settle" into an area.
I truly wanted to give the Triangle a fair chance to feel like home, however after 2.5 years living here it does not.
How long has it taken you to feel like The Triangle is home for you?
And how much time should one give to "know" if it is right?
It may never become home for you but can easily be a great place to live for you. Home is usually associated with time and experiences and in 2 1/2 years compared to what you came from may not be a valid reference period. For us a lot depended on what you came for and was it reasonable and obtainable. If you are a retired transplant and you came here to enhance your retirement resources and you have done that great. This then becomes your retirement home and those finances become part of what creates your NEW home. It is your beginning base. Having family here makes a major difference. We became grandparents and are able to baby sit weekly. Thats a major step toward making it home. What about your house? Did you buy the house you wanted or the house you thought was appropriate? Had we downsized we would not have been as house happy as we are and would have missed our old house more etc etc etc. The Triangle is a geographic reference it is the experiences that will determine if it is home or not and that is true where ever you go or stay.
Didn't take long at all but I had been coming here for 25 years on business and I have moved around a bit. I agree with a previous poster: home is where your heart is and what you make of it.
I really don't know. We've been here 2 years and the first 6 months were really, really, hard, and I found myself "homesick" for Tampa, where we'd been for a mere 7 years. I'm "from" Richmond and my husband is "from" St. Louis but neither of us has lived at "home" since undergrad days. We loved Tampa b/c of the friends we made there and the friends our kids made. We're right now sitting at the beach for a week with friends from Tampa. We miss them enough to consider moving back if the opportunity arises.
That being said, we love it in NC because we've made new acquaintances and new friends. We have some great neighbors. The pace of life and genuine nature of our lifestyle and friends makes us love it here. If we didn't have that, we would still be aching to leave.
I would like to think that we will be here for good, but the fact is we never know what will happen. I think you will feel like this is "home" when you have friends that you truly enjoy being with. Otherwise, a place is just a place (we've lived in a half dozen cities in the past 15 years and only Tampa and Atlanta felt like "home" for this reason).
'Home' is where you have friends, people who care about you, place(s) to go, things that are familiar, people who recognize you, where you can make a living, and yes, some family too.
I've been here 8.5 years. I'm single, no kids, have no family here, a few friends and a few more acquaintances. It's 'home' as much as I can make anywhere feel like home--took me about 4 yrs to start feeling this area was 'home.'
alot depends on where your from. I've been down here 1 1/2 years. I'm almost there. I figure in about another year and a half. I should be well adjusted
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