Do you like where you live?

[bobeer]

Sort of a weird question but my wife and I have been trying to move out of VA for years but can't seem to find a place that fits our lifestyle, wants, or needs. So, I'm turning to you HBT... Where do you live and what do you like and/or dislike about it?

 

[Devin]

I grew up in the mountains of Colorado and loved it. Absolutely beautiful place. I still go there frequently. But, it is getting far too crowded for my tastes these days. Sure, you can still find some solitude very easily, but traveling from place to place up there, you can tell it is getting very crowded.

Now I live in the northern mountains of New Mexico. I love it down here. Most people think of New Mexico and think immediately of a dry, dusty desert. There is plenty of that in the state, but there are also some amazing mountains. The best part is that most people think that this is nothing but a desert - so they stay away. Not crowded down here at all.

 

[jmcquesten]

I also live in VA. I moved to Alaska for a year and came back to VA. I kick myself daily for it. 5 year plan has us heading back up there but with all our stuff this time. The one year thing was just that, a temporary one year opportunity, but it opened my eyes and now VA just seems...meh.

 

[Auger]

I live in central CT, lived in CT all my life.

Cons
-F'ing expensive. However, never having experienced anything else makes it easy to overlook. If I had moved here from Nebraska or something I might feel differently.
-the weather (subjective) hot humid summers, dark, cold, slushy winters.
There's probably more but those seem to be the major things people bitch about, politics notwithstanding.

Pros
-I think there's like 40 microbreweries within about 90 min driving from me
-I really enjoy having 4 distinct seasons through the year, screw that warm and sunny all year round (my fiancee from socal thinks I'm buts but whatever)
-Pretty decent to well-above-average education (if you have kids) as long as you're not in downtown Hartford, Bridgeport or New Haven
-reasonable drive and/or public transport to NYC and Boston, makes day/weekend trips a lot of fun
-plenty of rustic new england charm in the right areas
-Overall a good mix of areas for metro stuff and outdoorsy woods, camping, biking trails, etc

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Oklahoma City. Have lived here all my life but have traveled extensively.

Neither me nor my wife are chasing any corporate dreams so no reason to migrate to a larger city. We have all we need here. This city is stable, education is decent, taxes aren't crazy, income is decent. There are lots of cities with more to offer but visiting them is fine for us.

The only reason my wife wants to move is because of winter. She's from the tropics and just can't seem to adjust.

 

[bobeer]

I also live in VA. I moved to Alaska for a year and came back to VA. I kick myself daily for it. 5 year plan has us heading back up there but with all our stuff this time. The one year thing was just that, a temporary one year opportunity, but it opened my eyes and now VA just seems...meh.

Tell me about it. I'm from VA and once I moved to CA and then to FL I realized how meh VA is. Sure it's beautiful and there are lots of jobs here, and I'm totally taking that for granted, but we're looking for more of a culture and less of a rat race. People come here to work, mostly for the government or a govt contractor, and there's not much culture in that. Hence all the strip malls and chain restaurants. Plus, we can't afford to stay here. It's sad that NoVa is kicking out its native folks just because we don't want to work for the govt... Private companies don't pay enough to be able to live here.

 

[bobeer]

I grew up in the mountains of Colorado and loved it. Absolutely beautiful place. I still go there frequently. But, it is getting far too crowded for my tastes these days. Sure, you can still find some solitude very easily, but traveling from place to place up there, you can tell it is getting very crowded.

Now I live in the northern mountains of New Mexico. I love it down here. Most people think of New Mexico and think immediately of a dry, dusty desert. There is plenty of that in the state, but there are also some amazing mountains. The best part is that most people think that this is nothing but a desert - so they stay away. Not crowded down here at all.

CO is def in the runnings. My wife has been there a few times and loved it. She says I'd love it too but I'm scared it's too land locked for me. I think I've heard of at least 7 of our friends moving to CO withing the past year or 2 so I'm not surprised that it's getting crowded. NoVa has been crowded for years and it's only getting worse. They keep building and building, cramming more and more people in here...

 

[DGibb]

I'm in the metro Detroit area, and I have lived here all my life (except for the two times I lived in Japan), but I have travelled extensively not only in the US, but globally.

Michigan is an absolutely gorgeous state, if a little flat. The trees turn to fire in the fall, and lush green in the spring. Nowhere in Michigan is more than 80 miles from a lake (not just the Great ones). Northern Michigan is always a gem. How many people have vacation homes within their home state? We tout ourselves as the Great Beer State, and it's true. We have Founders, Bell's, Shorts, Kuhnhenn, Dark Horse, and 150 other breweries dotted around with delicious offerings.

Does this mean I adore living here? Well, it's not too expensive, we are relatively protected from natural disasters, and the people in general are nice (don't believe the horror stories about Detroit, just don't be an idiot when you go there). On the other side, winter can be miserable -- not just snow, but we haven't seen the sun since Thanksgiving and don't plan on it making an appearance until mid-February as an early estimate.

My wife watches HGTV and sees houses in Hawaii for a (relatively) affordable price ($250k as opposed to the same size house for $600k in California - for reference, my 1,600sq ft house with a 1,000sq ft basement was $150k), and she pines for the tropical life. I would love to be in Hawaii, but then, who wouldn't?

I love Michigan, but the dreary winters drag me down. Great beer, though!

 

[Airplanedoc]

Illinois
Cons
Chicago runs the state.
Chicago has run the state into the ground
Taxes are increasing
The state is broke, yet still spending like crazy
State infrastructure is crumbling
State population is decreasing
A area politician ran with a campaign of "Illinois greatest export is not grain, its college educations"

 

[progmac]

Wherever you go, there you'll be. Anywhere I've lived, there's things I would change. I've lived for multi-year periods in mountain-town Colorado, Ohio (my current home and birth state), and overseas. I don't see myself living outside of the midwest again, it really is a nice place to live.

 

[bobeer]

I'm in the metro Detroit area, and I have lived here all my life (except for the two times I lived in Japan), but I have travelled extensively not only in the US, but globally.

Michigan is an absolutely gorgeous state, if a little flat. The trees turn to fire in the fall, and lush green in the spring. Nowhere in Michigan is more than 80 miles from a lake (not just the Great ones). Northern Michigan is always a gem. How many people have vacation homes within their home state? We tout ourselves as the Great Beer State, and it's true. We have Founders, Bell's, Shorts, Kuhnhenn, Dark Horse, and 150 other breweries dotted around with delicious offerings.

Does this mean I adore living here? Well, it's not too expensive, we are relatively protected from natural disasters, and the people in general are nice (don't believe the horror stories about Detroit, just don't be an idiot when you go there). On the other side, winter can be miserable -- not just snow, but we haven't seen the sun since Thanksgiving and don't plan on it making an appearance until mid-February as an early estimate.

My wife watches HGTV and sees houses in Hawaii for a (relatively) affordable price ($250k as opposed to the same size house for $600k in California - for reference, my 1,600sq ft house with a 1,000sq ft basement was $150k), and she pines for the tropical life. I would love to be in Hawaii, but then, who wouldn't?

I love Michigan, but the dreary winters drag me down. Great beer, though!

The lack of sun is another con about the northern east coast. They say from Nov-Feb you'll get 1 sunny day for every 5-7 gloomy days or even worse. While here in VA we get a similar lack of sun in the winter I think we get a little more sun than what I'm hearing is the case up north.

My wife also watches those HGTV shows... Hawaii would be cool but idk if I could live there full time. Most everything is imported there so it's pretty expensive and idk about being out in the middle of the ocean full time. I love the beach and coastal lifestyle but I also like living on a continent.
It's tough indeed. We love the ocean and mountains but also love palm trees and the 4 seasons. No place has all that let alone with a decent job market and education to boot.

 

[hunter_le five]

NB-TX. It's okay.

Pros: Lots of craft breweries around, plenty of great places nearby to ride the motorcycle. River tubing in the summer, some neat bars downtown. Lot of good restaurants within driving distance. Hill Country is beautiful. Right in between two major metropolitan areas. Lots of cool historical stuff in the area.

Cons: Right in between two major metropolitan areas. Too crowded. Too many people. Rent is too damn high, and massive influx of people from Austin/San Antonio is driving it up. Living on the I-35 corridor sucks. Traffic sucks. City planning is a joke. No tall trees. Everything outside the Hill Country is a flat barren wasteland. Too many tourists, and the local economy is too dependent on them. Crime isn't high, but higher than I'm used to.

I miss living in the piney woods of East Texas, where I couldn't see or hear my neighbors.

If I had to live outside of TX, I'd move to Colorado. Love to visit.

 

[Airplanedoc]

 

[jrowland74]

Lexington, KY-
My wife and I are originally from Michigan. Although we still love visiting there often, we are both glad to have moved away. We still have 4 seasons, but in the winter months we are typically 10° or more warmer and don't have nearly as much snow.

It does snow, but usually the sun gets rid of it swiftly. We have the occasional ice storm, but still worth it to not deal with constant snow and lack of sunshine.

The craft brew industry is rapidly growing, and we are an easy drive from all of the distilleries on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. We are also home to Lexington Brewing and Distilling Co, which, as the name suggests, is the best of both worlds.

When we want to get out of town, we are close enough to a lot of great destinations for an easy weekend trip. The cost of living is decent (check bankrate.com to compare) and there is lots of beautiful scenery, with all of the horse farms and historic sites.

 

[bobeer]

Cons: Right in between two major metropolitan areas. Too crowded. Too many people. Rent is too damn high, and massive influx of people from Austin/San Antonio is driving it up. Living on the I-35 corridor sucks. Traffic sucks. City planning is a joke. Too many tourists, and the local economy is too dependent on them. Crime isn't high, but higher than I'm used to.

If I had to live outside of TX, I'd move to Colorado. Love to visit.

This sounds like where I live now... CO is defiantly in the running. Just need to go visit there a few times.

 

[SharonaZamboni]

Central MA. It's not gloomy here! There's snow, summer humidity, warm spring, and pretty autumn leaves. I like heat, so am convinced that July is really the only full month of HHH summer.

There's lots of hills, farms, and ponds/lakes. I live in a small town surrounded by rural areas. No HOAs or heavy traffic. Bigger mountains and ocean about 1 1/2 hour drive. Boston, Cape Cod and the islands, Vermont skiing, airports, etc. are 45 mins to 1 1/2 hour away.
We do call it Taxachusetts, though.

 

[jmcquesten]

Tell me about it. I'm from VA and once I moved to CA and then to FL I realized how meh VA is. Sure it's beautiful and there are lots of jobs here, and I'm totally taking that for granted, but we're looking for more of a culture and less of a rat race. People come here to work, mostly for the government or a govt contractor, and there's not much culture in that. Hence all the strip malls and chain restaurants. Plus, we can't afford to stay here. It's sad that NoVa is kicking out its native folks just because we don't want to work for the govt... Private companies don't pay enough to be able to live here.

I couldn't find work in NOVA doing what I do, so I'm geobacheloring temporarily. I had to take a job in VB but commute up to Winchester on the weekends because that's where my girl found work. Every minute of that 4 hour drive I ask myself why we came back here. VA is nice until you've been somewhere like AK and realize that people here are so caught up in the day-to-day, and they live a very busy, but yet boring life. I didn't really appreciate it up there until I came back. Now I want something different. I also used to think that being by the beach was great and couldn't imagine living any where else. I now realize how little that matters and that I don't have much time to enjoy it, even living 15 minutes from it (during the week). I would still enjoy a beach vacation, but living by the beach isn't the same as being there every day like I used to. Plus, it's just getting too crowded around here and I know Nova is even worse. If for some reason AK doesn't happen, Colorado and Montana are also on the list.

 

[bobeer]

I couldn't find work in NOVA doing what I do, so I'm geobacheloring temporarily. I had to take a job in VB but commute up to Winchester on the weekends because that's where my girl found work. Every minute of that 4 hour drive I ask myself why we came back here. VA is nice until you've been somewhere like AK and realize that people here are so caught up in the day-to-day, and they live a very busy, but yet boring life. I didn't really appreciate it up there until I came back. Now I want something different. I also used to think that being by the beach was great and couldn't imagine living any where else. I now realize how little that matters and that I don't have much time to enjoy it, even living 15 minutes from it (during the week). I would still enjoy a beach vacation, but living by the beach isn't the same as being there every day like I used to. Plus, it's just getting too crowded around here and I know Nova is even worse. If for some reason AK doesn't happen, Colorado and Montana are also on the list.

It's true... when I lived in FL I lived 10 minutes away from several beaches and I hardly had time to go enjoy them. I'd park and watch the sunset every so often but getting in the water and having a "beach day" was pretty rare.
I have a friend that lived in AK for a while and he loved it. All his college roommates moved up there after school and they haven't left. I don't think the wife would dig AK though since she doesn't want to move to the northern east coast due to the long winters. Combine that with the lack of sun and it's a sure-fire 'nope.' Maybe we just have to travel more and see what we can do without. I tend to agree that living at the beach isn't as enjoyable as visiting. We love the mountains here in VA though and we go snowboarding in the winter so maybe that'll play into where we end up.
I hear Montana is pretty awesome too. Like CO, it's beautiful.

btw... "people here are so caught up in the day-to-day, and they live a very busy, but yet boring life." couldn't have said it better myself. This place sucks you in; and for no good reason too.

 

[kh54s10]

Rhode Island.
I love the area geographically. I also like three of the 4 seasons and tolerate winter.

But it is f'ing expensive to live here. They tax everything, the economy still sucks here and there is no job market whatsoever. Politically it is as far left as you can get....

Rhode Island ranks at the top of the list for anything bad and at the bottom of the list for anything good.

 

[jmcquesten]

It's true... when I lived in FL I lived 10 minutes away from several beaches and I hardly had time to go enjoy them. I'd park and watch the sunset every so often but getting in the water and having a "beach day" was pretty rare.
I have a friend that lived in AK for a while and he loved it. All his college roommates moved up there after school and they haven't left. I don't think the wife would dig AK though since she doesn't want to move to the northern east coast due to the long winters. Combine that with the lack of sun and it's a sure-fire 'nope.' Maybe we just have to travel more and see what we can do without. I tend to agree that living at the beach isn't as enjoyable as visiting. We love the mountains here in VA though and we go snowboarding in the winter so maybe that'll play into where we end up.
I hear Montana is pretty awesome too. Like CO, it's beautiful.

btw... "people here are so caught up in the day-to-day, and they live a very busy, but yet boring life." couldn't have said it better myself. This place sucks you in; and for no good reason too.

Yeah, a lot of people go up there and never come back. And, as far as the lack of sun, there's plenty in the summer. And in the winter, there's still sun, it's just not up for as long. Also, I was surprised that VB got more snow last winter than the town I lived in in Ak. I, like a lot of people, didn't know how the whole darkness thing worked up there, but it's not as extreme as people think. We actually flew down to Anchorage for sunlight in the middle of winter cause up in the arctic, we only had about 2 hours a day. The 6 weeks of sunlight was actually harder to deal with for me. And, I lived closer to the water there than I ever have in VA, it was just frozen for like 5 months. Again, that was up in the arctic, not down by Anchorage or further south.

 

[bobeer]

Rhode Island.
I love the area geographically. I also like three of the 4 seasons and tolerate winter.

But it is f'ing expensive to live here. They tax everything, the economy still sucks here and there is no job market whatsoever. Politically it is as far left as you can get....

Rhode Island ranks at the top of the list for anything bad and at the bottom of the list for anything good.

so RI is a crappy place to live? A co-worker of mine just moved back there and he loves it there. I was thinking about checking it out but with the lack of jobs that you're talking about I might have to pass...

 

[kh54s10]

so RI is a crappy place to live? A co-worker of mine just moved back there and he loves it there. I was thinking about checking it out but with the lack of jobs that you're talking about I might have to pass...

As I said the area is nice. But Rhode Island is:
48 RHODE ISLAND 7.4
49 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 7.6
49 MISSISSIPPI 7.6
51 GEORGIA 7.7

in unemployment rate. Manufacturing jobs have declined steadily for a couple of decades. That leaves low paying service jobs and leaching off the Gov't.

Make sure you have a good job lined up before considering a move here.

 

[jmcquesten]

so RI is a crappy place to live? A co-worker of mine just moved back there and he loves it there. I was thinking about checking it out but with the lack of jobs that you're talking about I might have to pass...

Rhode Island IS a crappy place to live. Stay away from there,especially if you're not happy in NOVA. My family is from there and I lived there for 4 years when growing up. I occasionally go back to visit extended family and am thankful that we got out when we did. Yes, Providence is cool to visit, as is Newport, but don't live there.

 

[todd_k]

I live in VA and will be moving back to the northeast next year (hopefully). I was only supposed to be here for a few months and then I was headed to Chicago. We had put stuff into storage for a 2 week vacation in between our VA move out and our drive to Chicago but something fell through and we ended up back in VA. 10 years later, I'm looking to get out of here. We've decided on southern New Hampshire.

 

[DrunkleJon]

I actually kinda like it here in VA. And I am in the middle of the worst part of it too. Though I must admit that if I could find a place that has all 4 seasons, and can be within a days drive of a beach and mountains for summer and winter enjoyment and me still be able to work and live comfortably I would be there in a minute. I could trade away all of the A-holes on the roads here though.

 

[TheLiquidBakery]

I've been living in the 7 cities area my whole life and its ok. I've been to small towns where there is NOTHING and I've been to big cities. The small towns are too boring for me and not promising where as the cities tend to have more opportunity and stability. I vacationed in Denver in 2013 for the GABF and loved the city; lots of craft breweries downtown. I really like how there is world class skiing a few hours away and tons of mountains to hike, bike etc. The GF and I really enjoyed ourselves out there. I am banking on moving out there within the next 5 years and attending grad school. CO all the way!

 

[Hello]

Where I live suited my needs and wants under different circumstances. I am away from most nightlife, though there are improvements, and there are 99% families in my entire subdivision. I think it'll eventually suit me again, but for now it kind of doesn't. I don't hate it or anything, it is just something that I didn't need to think about when I moved here.

 

[Black]

well, although I do understand you don't plan on leaving the US, i'll put my 2 cents in anyway.

Quebec is overtaxed, badly run, socialist (most of the time) and we get -45 celcius winters with 6-10 feet of snow. However : free healthcare, almost free education, and legal drinking age is 18. I love the place geographically, and we get very hot summers (lots of days over 35 celcius) we have mountains, lakes for fishing, beaches, etc.

and we got taxes. all of them. all the taxes you could ever think of in your worst nightmare as a US citizen, we already got 'em.


Cheers !

 

[bobeer]

well, although I do understand you don't plan on leaving the US, i'll put my 2 cents in anyway.

Quebec is overtaxed, badly run, socialist (most of the time) and we get -45 celcius winters with 6-10 feet of snow. However : free healthcare, almost free education, and legal drinking age is 18. I love the place geographically, and we get very hot summers (lots of days over 35 celcius) we have mountains, lakes for fishing, beaches, etc.

and we got taxes. all of them. all the taxes you could ever think of in your worst nightmare as a US citizen, we already got 'em.


Cheers !

Oh Canada. I wouldn't mind higher taxes if it meant free school and health care. I've never been to Canada but I wouldn't mind checking it out. I love hockey so I might fit right in!

 

[bobeer]

Though I must admit that if I could find a place that has all 4 seasons, and can be within a days drive of a beach and mountains for summer and winter enjoyment and me still be able to work and live comfortably I would be there in a minute. I could trade away all of the A-holes on the roads here though.

This is what I'm looking for haha. I don't think it exists...
VA beach is 4 hours, Bethany, Rehobeth and Ocean City are all 3 hours away with no traffic. Sure they're crowded as hell but if you leave at midnight and wake up at the crack of dawn you can get a good spot on the beach.
Ski liberty and White Tail are all pretty close too for winter skiing and snowboarding. Ski Liberty is actually just an hour away from me.

Those are the cool things about this area. Everything else I could do without.