Do you like where you live?

[D_Peanu Reeves]

Since there are so many people from around the world on this site, I just wanted to know if you like where you live? Why or why not? If not, where would you like to live and why?

As for me, I love where I live. I love outdoor activities. I love to hike, backpack, fish, snow ski, water jet ski, no crowds, no lines, no traffic jams, change of seasons and most of all, the ability to run around in the mountains naked. ha ha. Just kidding.

 

[nudeyorker]

I love Honolulu, I have the house of my dreams, I like the lifestyle and the climate.
I still like NYC, but I can only take it in small doses these days. Guess I'm tired of all the hoop-la! Can't stand it in the winter.

 

[Getting9]

If I didn't live in Durban, South Africa (The warmest place to be during our winter months) then I would live in Sydney, Australia (or Brisbane). But I am happy here now.

 

[HiddenLacey]

Haha! So funny I was just talking to a member about Montana and telling them that is where I always wanted to live. I saw pictures when I was 21 and I've always wanted to live there. For the same reasons you just listed. Right now I'm not very happy with where I live though I'm about an hour from a large city. I much prefer the mountains and the wilderness to the city. I'm surrounded by nature, just not the mountains.

 

[DaveyR]

I've recently moved back to the North East of England after 20 years away, the last 5 of which were abroad.

I absolutely love being back. My absence has made me really appreciate England and in particular this region. This is a vibrant modern area. People here are warm, friendly, honest and down to earth. Much more so than anywhere else I have lived.

 

[Mem]

I love south Florida. I live only 3 miles from the beach. I sometimes go out in the evening and take a ride along the beach and it is beautiful.

I'm going to start looking this year for something within walking distance to the beach. I may have to find a smaller place, but that would be fine. Right now I have no outdoor space, so if I don't find anything near the beach I want to find something with a balcony or patio area.

I'm only about 100 miles from Key Largo so I plan to take a day trip out there soon.

 

[clav2]

I used to love Sydney, but it's gotten too busy in the last 10 years or so, and the transport infrastructure is crumbling under the weight of the increased population. Lately I'm eying off Canberra or the Hunter as an alternative, but if I could choose anywhere, it'd be Villefranche sur Mer, above Cap Ferrat on the Cote d'Azur for me. Great food, relaxed lifestyle, lovely climate and scenery...what more could you ask?

 

[Bob Ross]

Yes, but I wish I could take advantage of what the area has to offer more (beaches, fishing, etc.). I have no money to do such things yet all I do is work...Somethings wrong here

 

[vince]

...but if I could choose anywhere, it'd be Villefranche sur Mer, above Cap Ferrat on the Cote d'Azur for me. Great food, relaxed lifestyle, lovely climate and scenery...what more could you ask?

I'm there in 12 days for a week! I agree it's a lovely place. I also get very relaxed on the Amalfi coast.

I am happy where I live, Turkey and where I call home, Vancouver. Both are physically beautiful and have many outdoor recreational things to do, great food and great people. One is ancient and vibrant and dynamic and the other is young and fresh and cool. I am lucky to have a foot in both places.

 

[Remington]

I have a love/hate relationship with Arizona (Scottsdale). I love the weather in the fall, winter, and spring months. Along with the desert terrain. Although I can't stand the summer heat (~120 degrees), and the people that live here.

It's bittersweet.

 

[deleted3782]

Ugh. Like others here, I have a real love/hate relationship with my home town. I have roots here, its a cheap and easy place to live. The climate, the landscape, and the proximity to mountains/coast/cities are all good.

However...I fantasize about living somewhere like...Sydney, or Barcelona, or Vancouver, or San Diego, or Buenos Aires where the scene is different and I could reinvent myself. Reinvention is hard to do when you're at home.

On the other hand...I know from past experiences that when I do move somewhere far away, I quickly become nostalgic about where I live now and I appreciate it for the reasons I mentioned in the first paragraph. Around and around. I've always been that way and I know I always will. Sigh.

 

[nudeyorker]

^ I learned a long time ago. No matter where you go, there you are, you can reinvent yourself anywhere if you do it the honest way.

 

[IntoxicatingToxin]

I really truly love Kansas City. I've traveled to many states, and lived in many as well, and of all the places I've been to in the US, this is the place I'd love living the most.

 

[deleted3782]

^ I learned a long time ago. No matter where you go, there you are, you can reinvent yourself anywhere if you do it the honest way.

I think habits, your reputation, expectations of others, and your past can often work against reinvention. They cut both ways..open doors and close doors.

 

[D_Gunther Snotpole]

I think habits, your reputation, expectations of others, and your past can often work against reinvention.

Yes, it's hard to break the momentum of tendency, and others may think you're becoming phony.
That said, you can change, even in your own home town. It's just harder.

 

[nudeyorker]

I think habits, your reputation, expectations of others, and your past can often work against reinvention. They cut both ways..open doors and close doors.

Yes I completely agree with you about the expectations of others but we are also just as culpable in our actions to reinforce those perceptions and expectations sometimes.
Believe me I've had more boarding passes cross my palm in an effort to go someplace to find out who I really am without the convention and the attitudes of people I grew up with. Luckily for me I had to go back home to find the answers of why I wanted to leave in the first place... the journey and the patina of world travel and experience had little to do with it; I was finally comfortable being who I am and found the voice to express it without apology or the need to explain why.
I don't know if the running helps find that voice but in retrospect it does not; I just was not comfortable being honest with myself and looked for an an excuse to avoid it for years.

 

[Dave NoCal]

The medium-sized city near which we live is pretty pleasant and the surrounding area is really beautiful. We moved here eight years ago and overall it has worked out well. However, it seems that as we get older it becomes more challenging to make friends (defined as those we can hang out with for no particular purposeful reason). Also, I am generally tired of the U.S. culture.
Dave

 

[nudeyorker]

The medium-sized city near which we live is pretty pleasant and the surrounding area is really beautiful. We moved here eight years ago and overall it has worked out well. However, it seems that as we get older it becomes more challenging to make friends (defined as those we can hang out with for no particular purposeful reason). Also, I am generally tired of the U.S. culture.
Dave

We have been feeling the same about socializing in NY, I have old friends in Honolulu that are as comfortable as your favorite sweater but I think the issue with finding new friends now is it's more difficult to make new friends in the late summer of life because you don't have the memories and experiences of spring and early summer to share.
If you make it to Hawaii please call; the culture is nothing like the mainland.
Me ke aloha
Kohana Kahuna

 

[Mickactual]

No.
I despise New Jersey, it's general demographic, and the long cold winters.
I'm in very close proximity to NYC, and that's largely what keeps me here. But my relationship with New York is also becoming less symbiotic with the passing of time.
If I had a say in it, I'd live in the L.A. area.

 

[Mickactual]

Believe me I've had more boarding passes cross my palm in an effort to go someplace to find out who I really am without the convention and the attitudes of people I grew up with. Luckily for me I had to go back home to find the answers of why I wanted to leave in the first place... the journey and the patina of world travel and experience had little to do with it; I was finally comfortable being who I am and found the voice to express it without apology or the need to explain why.

In other words, Your real name is Dorothy Gale...