Do You Love Your City?

[CuppaJoe]

If I could think of better place in the world, I would have already moved there. . .

LOL! Me, too. It is impossible to love my entire city, think Bonfires of the Vanities or Let the Great World Spin. But I'm totally in love with my neighborhood. My idea of travel is to visit other lovable hoods within the city or nearby burbs and islands.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Well, the climate is nicer. However Carbondale residents also woke up today to find that the lame duck legislature had voted in the largest income tax increase in state history.

So no

I could almost live with the tax increase but...

Not only are they raising taxes to avoid budget cuts, they're including a provision to let their spending continue to rise — year after year.

Goodbye, jobs - chicagotribune.com

 

[Sarah in SC]

I'll leave it Pat Conroy to explain it, from the Lords of Discipline:
"There is an old Charleston joke, someone asked an old Charleston woman why she never traveled anywhere and she replied 'Why should I travel, sir? I am already here' That's the way I feel about this city."

Although unlike Conroy's lady, I do love to travel, I will always call Charleston home.

 

[vicente solano]

To tell the truth, I don´t know if I like my town or not. I certainly don´t love it. Funnily I never thoght of wanting to live some place else. If I had to move I´d choose a walkable place with a high quality of living, less rainy, historical...

 

[freebird5825]

Well, the climate is nicer. However Carbondale residents also woke up today to find that the lame duck legislature had voted in the largest income tax increase in state history.

So no

We may not be far behind you in the Welfare [-]Empire[/-] State.
TG that my primary income sources are both state tax exempt [-]for now at least[/-].

New York Property Tax Increases Sought - WSJ.com

This could be the real catalyst for us to leave. Just gotta make sure the grass is greener and will remain so.

 

[aaronc879]

I live in Wisconsin. Ask me this question again in June

Seriously though, I do like my city overall. I like the low-ish population density and traffic. I like the very low crime compared to most other areas. I like that I can go to any restaurant or department store and every employee actually speaks english. Wow, what a concept. The city I actually live in has very little to do but there's a bigger city <15 miles away that has plenty of nightlife and other things that appeal to me. If it wasn't so damn cold for 7 months of the year then i'd have no reason to leave.

 

[HFWR]

Might very well stay in the Dallas area, but I don't love it...

A fair amount of stuff to do - professional sports teams, decent museum, tons o' restaurants, a couple of very good small music venues.

On the other hand, traffic is horrendous, as is Dallas city government. Hotter than blue blazes July-September. [-]Butt ugly[/-] Scenically challenged...

 

[hakuna matata]

As to the PNW, I like Portland and Seattle very much, but hate the traffic.

Then you should consider the Kitsap Penisula--where I live. I still commute to work in Seattle but live out here. Quiet little town, about 11,000 people but close enough to a big city when I want/need that. I live on 2 1/2 acres (also have 5 acres for sale-hint hint). It is a nice community here and if your avatar is what you enjoy, then you would love all the micro-breweries here.

I like the NW very much. I didn't think I would because of the rain, but to be perfectly honest it really isn't that big of deal. This area is a great place to live in my opinion.

 

[Orchidflower]

Pretty happy where I am now, but give me more time to really answer that one.
Hated Houston with a passion generally-speaking; DC was neither hot for nor hated; and did love big, 'ole dirty Chicago but the taxes are killing and the crime is too high.

 

[TromboneAl]

I love my little town: Moscow, Idaho. Outdoor recreation heaven.

Hey, wow. We stopped in Moscow, Idaho on a recent trip, and were very impressed. We said "What's a neat, sophisticated little town like this doing here in the middle of nowhere?"

We had coffee and used the Internet in a coffee shop that had a lot of big couches and several rooms -- I'm sure you know it.

No pictures, just this one about 30 miles south of Moscow:

 

[ERD50]

I could almost live with the tax increase but...

Not only are they raising taxes to avoid budget cuts, they're including a provision to let their spending continue to rise

— year after year.

Goodbye, jobs - chicagotribune.com

The other bad thing about this is they are raising corporate rates too. It's easy to say that does not affect me, but in the long run it is going to be very bad for Illinois. Fewer jobs means fewer people and businesses paying taxes.

Downward spiral. Damn it.

-ERD50

 

[noworkethic]

I have lived several places, but the two I like best, at least in this country, are Seattle, where I grew up, and San Diego, where I live now, retired. It seems that my tastes in this regard are similar to the OP's.

 

[Westernskies]

Pretty happy where I am now, but give me more time to really answer that one.
Hated Houston with a passion generally-speaking; DC was neither hot for nor hated; and did love big, 'ole dirty Chicago but the taxes are killing and the crime is too high.

and vice-versa.

 

[CuppaJoe]

I live in Wisconsin. .... The city I actually live in has very little to do but there's a bigger city <15 miles away that has plenty of nightlife and other things that appeal to me....

Local option?

 

[Keim]

Hey, wow. We stopped in Moscow, Idaho on a recent trip, and were very impressed. We said "What's a neat, sophisticated little town like this doing here in the middle of nowhere?"

We had coffee and used the Internet in a coffee shop that had a lot of big couches and several rooms -- I'm sure you know it.

No pictures, just this one about 30 miles south of Moscow:

Nice picture of the Lewiston Grade, T-Al. I love the look on peoples faces the first time they see the grade. It's a 3000' drop that comes out of nowhere! I drive it twice a week to go to work.

The presence of two large universities in the area has a LOT to do with that sophisticated vibe you noted. Makes the town a lot of fun.

I strongly suspect you had coffee at One World Cafe. That is about a 5 minute walk from my house. What brought you to the area? Bike trip on the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes, perhaps?

 

[RonBoyd]

Hey, wow. We stopped in Moscow, Idaho on a recent trip, and were very impressed. We said "What's a neat, sophisticated little town like this doing here in the middle of nowhere?"

I had similar experiences; in Fort Benton, Montana last Spring (This was, among other things, the end of the line for Steamships going up the Missouri River from St. Louis.) And the year before in Silver City, New Mexico. It is a wonderful experience to go into a town and feel like you have come "home."

In those first moments, in those two towns, if asked, I would have moved there without second thoughts.

 

[Keim]

I grew up in Havre, near Fort Benton. It was a nice little town then. I hear it is even nicer now. They spruced it up for the Lewis and Clark bicentennial. So much history there.

 

[GregLee]

My wife and I are quite happy here in Waimanalo (means "good water"), a sleepy little village on the east shore of Oahu whose residents mostly work in Honolulu, I suppose, if they are not retired like us, or involved in the nursery trade or horse stables here locally.

 

[Purron]

My wife and I are quite happy here in Waimanalo (means "good water"), a sleepy little village on the east shore of Oahu whose residents mostly work in Honolulu, I suppose, if they are not retired like us, or involved in the nursery trade or horse stables here locally.

I've never met anyone who is unhappy is the great state of Hawaii. Better keep this to youself - it's not such a big place. If we all pile in there you'll run out of room pronto

 

[DeborahB]

I love where I live now. A lovely but rather busy suburb of Washington DC. The cost of living is too high to ER where I live now. I also love a beach town in North Carolina where I bought a beachfront condo back in 2003 with the plan to live there when I retire in 2014. That beach town is on a island only 2 miles long. Completely quiet in the off-season. Even on the 4th of July weekend, the sandy beach in front of my condo had a "crowd" of 7 persons! Yet this island is only a 10 minute drive from a larger town which offers a lot of history, vibrant night life, awesome restaurants, universities, boutiques, cafes, great bookstores, running, walking, and kayaking clubs, etc. So when I want to see people I drive for 10 minutes, when I want solitude I just return to my home at the beach. I am perfectly content when I am there.

The beach town sounds perfect - that's what I miss in the midwest...

 

[DeborahB]

I moved to the midwest from the northeast. I didn't realize how different the culture would be. I've been here 24 years and still don't feel bonded to it.

The main thing I miss is the ability to easily go to the beach, or mountains - I mean for the day, not after a 10 hour drive. Especially, I miss the ocean. I don't know what I was thinking... Just that Boston had gotten too intense for me.

I also find people are way too polite here - they don't say what they think, they say what they think they should say. It's weird for me. I got used to it - like, when people asked me how I was doing, I was supposed to say "great, how about you?". Even if I was recovering from bronchitis or cancer... the answer is that you're great, or fine, or whatever. It's not supposed to be the real answer.

OTOH it's much cheaper to live here, and the salaries were not that much lower. So I was able to retire. But I miss my friends and family - on both coasts, mostly - and the ocean. I was unprepared for that.

I can't leave now - SO's mother is our responsibility and she's here.

I think for me and for many others, where our roots and families are have a lot to do with it. I grew up in a (cold) beach culture. I had no idea.

I've travelled extensively and found places I thought I'd like to live in, but really have only lived in 3 cities. Strange.

Sorry if this is a rant!

 

[vicente solano]

I moved to the midwest from the northeast. I didn't realize how different the culture would be. I've been here 24 years and still don't feel bonded to it.

The main thing I miss is the ability to easily go to the beach, or mountains - I mean for the day, not after a 10 hour drive. Especially, I miss the ocean. I don't know what I was thinking... Just that Boston had gotten too intense for me.

I also find people are way too polite here - they don't say what they think, they say what they think they should say. It's weird for me. I got used to it - like, when people asked me how I was doing, I was supposed to say "great, how about you?". Even if I was recovering from bronchitis or cancer... the answer is that you're great, or fine, or whatever. It's not supposed to be the real answer.

OTOH it's much cheaper to live here, and the salaries were not that much lower. So I was able to retire. But I miss my friends and family - on both coasts, mostly - and the ocean. I was unprepared for that.

I can't leave now - SO's mother is our responsibility and she's here.

I think for me and for many others, where our roots and families are have a lot to do with it. I grew up in a (cold) beach culture. I had no idea.

I've travelled extensively and found places I thought I'd like to live in, but really have only lived in 3 cities. Strange.

Sorry if this is a rant!

Don´t apologize. Being unhappy about where you live, and not being able to leave it due to family responsabilities is not a sin. And I am sure you are not the only one in that situation.
But you´ve mentioned having lived there 24 years......You can´t have been unhappy all those many years....

Well, maybe "unhappy" is too strong a word, but you get my drift....

Couldn´t you have moved out earlier?

 

[DeborahB]

Don´t apologize. Being unhappy about where you live, and not being able to leave it due to family responsabilities is not a sin. And I am sure you are not the only one in that situation.
But you´ve mentioned having lived there 24 years......You can´t have been unhappy all those many years....

Well, maybe "unhappy" is too strong a word, but you get my drift....

Couldn´t you have moved out earlier?

Thanks!

The problem was, I owned a house, and had a SO - while I could have sold the house, I couldn't move the SO.

 

[rescueme]

I've never met anyone who is unhappy is the great state of Hawaii. Better keep this to youself - it's not such a big place. If we all pile in there you'll run out of room pronto

Plus it may sink with all those extra people on it! ...

 

[Sarah in SC]

Thinker, my DH had a few opportunities early in his career (unlike me, he's always worked in corporate cultures) to move for a promotion. We know that once you turn those down, you don't get any more. And we were okay with that.

I'm glad that it worked out for us to live where we wanted and just let the jobs be whatever they were, but I made it clear to him when we were dating those first 4 years that I'd never leave Charleston permanently. Born in the sight of water and all that.

When I worked for Habitat, there were some retired "big guns" on our board who lived on Kiawah, which is the fancy resort for retired Yankee executives near here, and was shocked by their stories of moving 8-10 times during the course of their career (one lady said that they moved 21 times) to accept promotions within their corporations.

I hope when SO's mom passes that you can move closer to the ocean. Or that she will let you move her with you.