Why do you live where you do?

[zoebartlett]

The question in the title doesn''t sound quite right but it''s what I''m going with...

I love learning about other areas of this country and others, and I''m wondering what makes people live where they do. Is it for a particular job opportunity? Do you have family close by? Did you want to explore a new region (or country) and live in an unfamiliar place?

 

[akw94]

Hi Zoe,
I had my son while in college so after college, I planned to attend law school. I wanted to be near family while attending law school so I moved back to my hometown. I have lived here since then but look fwd to moving to warmer climate and trying somewhere new. I wouldn''t likely have moved back if it weren''t for having my son b/c I was never extremely fond of this area (I''m in the midwest) but I do like to live close to family.

 

[erica k]

i live in cambridge because my husband and i both go to grad school here. i would never have moved here otherwise (expensive everything, freezing winters, humid summers, terrible driving

). i''ve been here for 5 years now and am finally starting to enjoy new england (beautiful foliage, brisk autumns, local farms, fun accents, lobster, and antiquing). we love driving up and down the coast, especially the north shore and maine, and it''s nice to be ''near'' nyc after growing up on the west coast.

 

[somethingshiny]

I live in Central Illinois because I LOVE the snow! Dh and I have thought about moving to other areas of the country, but we could never miss out on snowmobiling, ice fishing, etc. I love seeing all the seasons. It gets plenty hot in the summer with temps past 100. And, in the winter, we get wind chills down to -40 regularly. (if the wind chill gets down to -60, school has to be cancelled.) We have great access to rivers, lakes, hiking, camping, hunting and fishing. We''re not terribly far from the big cities. Chicago is 2.5 hours away.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

I''ve lived in the Seattle area all my life and live here because it''s familiar, I love living near the water and mountains, and also because family is nearby. Family really isn''t a factor for me though as I rarely see my family and my husband''s side usually is too busy for us to see them. They play a small part for my kids, though, and seeing them every month is enough to keep us close by.

Right now I live near the city, but not in it. . . after age 12 I moved and grew up on one of the medium-size islands in the Puget Sound region, but moved off as soon as I was 18 because it never felt like home, like the last two cities DH and I have lived in (both right outside of Seattle). Ferry rides are not as quaint as they''d appear when required for ANY sort of social activity so I was pleased to move off when I did and haven''t looked back!

If my husband and I ever moved, it''d only be to another location near the water (We''ve considered B.C., California, and have dreamed of living in France). My parents'' house was waterfront and I was raised seeing the water every morning and need that view to feel alive. The crisp air and breeze are a necessary ingredient in my life and it''d feel claustrophobic not having an endless horizon to look out on!

 

[NYCsparkle]

I was born and raised in brooklyn...tried the quaint town with an ex and couldn''t handle the slow pace...lol...i love the city...love the change of seasons....love being accesible to look at some of the most beautiful diamonds on 5th

 

[basil]

I live here because of my job. I''m in a really good program in a competitive specialty, so I''m happy to be here. But I''m far from fiance and my family. Eventually, I''ll move back to New England. I have so much family there, and I want to be around to take advantage of my family when I have kids.


Ok..."take advantage" is the wrong wording. Ha! I want my kids to be able to hang out with their grandparents/great uncles/etc.

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

I moved from North to South in the Province of my birth, due to my husband's job. He relocated after University and I came 5 years later. My DH has had job offers all over the world, but has never taken one too far away from his family (his twin brother has a chronic illness). We almost moved to Copenhagen when I was 5 months pregnant, but my DH changed his mind after we had sold our house in preparation to move; that was stressful as we needed to find something suitable to move into in three weeks!! I had nightmares we were living on the street. In hindsight it was probably a good thing we didn't move, since I gave birth 4 weeks before my due date......

cheers--Sharon

 

[zoebartlett]

I have lived in New England all my life, except for two years when I was really little. I''m a homebody -- more than my FI is. He would love to live elsewhere for some time and experience another region. We both grew up in the same state and both sets of parents live here still.

My FI and I live where we do because of my job. It''s closer to my family than where we used to live, which was in another region of our state. We used to live on the seacoast (I had moved there for grad school and stayed for 3 years after that) and then I randomly applied for another teaching position. At the time, things with my FI were rocky -- we were only dating at the time, so I applied to a school closer to my parents (in case I needed to temporarily move home). It was in a great school district (right next to my hometown and in the same district). At the time, I was working in a less-desireable (sp?) district and wanted to move on from there anway.

I hadn''t actually planned on getting that position but I did. I had to leave the seacoast area after 5 years, but I knew that I was going to work in a great school. That made me happier. My FI and I eventually patched things up and he agreed to move to our new area so I could be closer to work. A few months later we bought our condo, and we got engaged a year and a half later.

We''d love to move back to the seacoast someday because it feels like ours, as corny as that sounds. We had both carved out our own lives there independent from our families. I have no plans to leave my job though because I really love my school. If my school were on the coast, we''d be there in a heartbeat.

 

[door knob solitaire]

Because we are morons. We can live anywhere we want. No 2 legged kids, no school, no time clock to punch. We should be staring at the pacific and sucking on a latte. Instead...well we are just morons.

DKS

We exist in a southern mid state...well if you can call it that.

 

[janinegirly]

where do you live door knob? hopefully people will say where they live before they explain the reasoning.

we live in NYC for the opportunity (jobs, convenience, access) and b/c DH owns here. Family is nearby. But we''ll probably move to the ''burbs soon..
i''ve lived in many different cities so to me everything is always changeable!

 

[Haven]

I started out living in Chicago because I was born here. I chose to stay here after college because I absolutely love "my" city, and FI and I are going to raise our family in the northern suburbs (north shore) because the schools are much better than Chicago Public Schools, our families live here, and we''ll stille be close enough to zip into the city at a moment''s notice. (I know, I know--nothing happens "at a moment''s notice" once you have kids!)

FI and I discussed moving to another state (or country) when I was in my last graduate program to become a teacher. We''ve traveled pretty widely within the continental U.S., but we''ve never found a place we love as much as Chicago, so we stayed.

I also can''t imagine raising children far away from our families. We''re really close, and after losing a close family member this summer I''ve realized how important they are.

This is a really interesting thread, I''ve enjoyed reading everyone''s posts.

 

[zoebartlett]

Date: 11/18/2007 8:01:28 PM
Author: NYCsparkle
I was born and raised in brooklyn...tried the quaint town with an ex and couldn''t handle the slow pace...lol...i love the city...love the change of seasons....love being accesible to look at some of the most beautiful diamonds on 5th

This will sound silly, but I''ve always been in awe at how people can live in a gigantic city like New York. I mean, where do you go food shopping? How do you live without a car? What''s it like to live in a huge apartment building? Is it safe? City life, esp. NYC, really intrigues me.

My sister''s husband grew up in Manhatten and he''s told me that it''s not exactly a different planet.

I guess I''m easy to impress.

He would get totally annoyed at crickets and deer and other things you''d find in the ''burbs. I''d get annoyed at the busy pace, the endless nightlife and noise that accompanies it, and other things found in the city.

 

[Clio]

We live in the DC area. We came here for my job (I''m a Fed), and initially I was worried because it''s crowded, expensive, and the traffic is horrible. All of that is true, but I love it. We have great schools (we''re in the Maryland suburbs), there are tons of cultural events, museums, etc, nice moderate climate, not too far from the mountains (important to me - I grew up in east Tennessee), lots of great career opportunities, and it''s just a nice place to live. I want to move into the District, but that will have to wait until the kids are done with school.

DC is also nearly midway between my parents in New Orleans and my husband''s parents in western Massachusetts. Plus, my sister recently moved to DC, so she''s nearby as well. Now we''re working on my SIL and her fiance to come down from Boston.

 

[Mara]

we live in Northern California, SF Bayarea...and it''s because I was born and raised here. my family is all here. Greg is from the East Coast and came here in 2000. he never planned to stay. welp 8 years later and he''s still here! but we are talking about moving. problem is that it''s very hard for me to think about leaving my family, however it is VERY expensive here, paralleled only by NYC. it''s very hard to get ahead here considering that cost of living is so high and salaries are nowhere near the same level of cost of living...it''s so tempting to think about moving elsewhere, making 80% of what we make here and yet cost of living would be like 30% here.

honestly i am kind of bitter that i was born and raised here because it makes it very hard to leave. typically people come here from other places. so where do people here go? to cheaper places because they want a better quality of life. but there is really nowhere else i''d *prefer* to live (well other than a tropical island)...because i really am a california girl at heart.

so it''s a tough call...family or a better future for us and our potential family of our own? chances are we will move, so we''ll see!!

 

[zoebartlett]

Mara, I know what you mean about being bitter because you were born and raised in the same area you live now. I think that''s why my FI would like to move away someday. NH is all he knows. My family lived in the south briefly (just two years, when I was 6-8 years old), but really, this is all I know too. My FI''s more bitter about it than I am. I''m really afraid of change. I like the idea of it but I''m too nervous to try it. Part of me thinks in a way that it would be easier if I were planning on being a stay at home mom (if we had kids) at the same time we moved. If we moved far away while I was teaching, I''d have to do a long distance job search. That scares me for some reason.

 

[diamondfan]

I was born and raised in Beverly Hills and lived there all of my life. When hubby bought a company in South Jersey and had to relocate to run it, I thought my life was over since I had never lived anywhere else and could not bear the thought of being away from my family (mother mostly) since she would not see my kids.

Ten years later, I am beyond happy here. We have an amazing life here and great friends, and I am so happy. But I did not want to come here at all and it all turned out well. It was hard to leave my family and come here and not know anyone...

 

[zoebartlett]

I do love my state for several reasons, and I can''t imagine being landlocked. We''re about 1.5-2 hours away from the White Mountains, an hour from the seacoast (ocean) and the lakes region, an hour from coastal Maine, and an hour from Boston. It has just about everything. Yes, it''s really cold here in the winter and the summers are humid. Boston traffic isn''t fun to deal with, if you''re down around that area. But other than that (and I know I must be overlooking other negatives), it''s a great place to live, so I can''t complain too much.

 

[diamondfan]

SDL, right now the trees are amazing here. Bright vivid reds, oranges and golds, just gorgeous, especially when the light is right. I love having seasons though bad ice and power outages and no school do not thrill me. I do love the warmth of a cozy fire and having hot cocoa and playing in light pretty snow with my kids and dog, but really do not need blizzards and ice storms and windchills and temps in the negative numbers. I also am not a huge fan of extreme boiling heat and humidity, thank god the beaches are not too far. I love that NY City is so accessible by train, and that Philly is a managable city with some great restaurants, culture, and shopping. Pretty much has it all for us...plus, great historic homes if you are looking!!!!

 

[Linda W]

I agree with what Mara said. DH and I were born and raised in California and both were born in San Francisco.

It is impossible to live here and try to get ahead. I feel so sorry for the young people who try to buy a house, unlike when we were younger and houses were more reasonable.

On the otherhand, where do we go that would be better?? I don''t know if I would like living in the snow and I can''t take the heat in the summertime.

I truly love California weather.

Linda

 

[Phoenix]

Date: 11/18/2007 8:45:06 PM
Author: door knob solitaire
Because we are morons. We can live anywhere we want. No 2 legged kids, no school, no time clock to punch. We should be staring at the pacific and sucking on a latte. Instead...well we are just morons.

DKS

We exist in a southern mid state...well if you can call it that.

. This is too funny!!

We'd definitely like to be close to the water (preferably the sea but a river would be nice too) but this would have to wait until we retire!

Both DH and I have lived in so many different countries both individually and together, primarily out of choice, ie. our jobs. We came to S'pore when I had a job offer here and he moved down from Hong Kong some 8 months later. We initially came to Asia individually because of our jobs: I had a job offer with my previous employer from the UK to go to HK and I jumped at the chance (had always always wanted to travel the world) and hubby because he speaks fluent Mandarin and want to be close to and be part of the growth in China. We'd been to S'pore for work several times and decided we'd like to live here, because "you live more like a human being" (hubby's favourite saying) compared to say HK where on average, yr apt would be about 600-800 sq ft (due to the astronomical prices of accomodation - rent or buy), though HK is fantastic if you're younger and into the party scene (a lot of people in HK, like we were, work very hard and play even harder).

We love S'pore, esp. our current home, because it's spacious (relatively speaking of course), cleaner, much safer than a lot of other places we've been too. The safety aspect is very important to me, eps being a female or at least that's how I feel. We're ok with the weather, not crazy abt the humidity but we accept it. Oh, and the low tax regime definitely helps. It is still a lot cheaper here compared to say the UK (the cost of living in London is beyond believable) but it is getting more and more expensive (accomodation here is now on par with London, I'd say; some places seem even more expensive. We're soooo glad we bought our place before everything doubles seemingly overnight, well over the course of a year or so). I do miss London, and miss being with my family as does my husband his, especially around Thanksgiving and Xmas, but hey, one has to make choices in life and we've certainly made ours.

I also miss France sometimes (where our family lived for about 6months prior to moving to the UK) and especially french food but we make up for it by travelling there when we can.

We absolutely ADORE Melbourne, Australia however and we've bought a place there by the river intended for our retirement. We love Melbourne's natural beauty, the arts, the sports and of course the wines and foods. Our plan is to spend spring, summer and autumn there and espace the winter to go to a warmer climate (maybe a beach house in Vietnam or Thailand, we'll see).

Looooveee beautiful New Zealand, it is absolutely magnificient! I'd definitely recommend all of you to visit, at least once. It is really out of this world. Shame abt the weather though - too cold for me!

I realise I've written more than what you've asked for, sorry!! I have to say honestly though I've LOVED every country I've lived in. I've alway made the best of what's there and see all the beauties that a place has to offer and they always seem to outweigh the negatives.

 

[Selkie]

I blame it on DH.

Just like Mara''s Greg, I moved to California (the Los Angeles/Long Beach area) from Cape Cod for work in 2000, never intending to stay more than a year or two. A year later, I was dating DH seriously, and the job was still enjoyable so I committed to another year. But honestly, it still does not feel like home, and I don''t think it ever will. Knowing we''ll never be able to afford anything more than maybe a bland condo in a hopefully-not-too-sketchy area depresses me, as does the thought of dealing with LA/OC traffic for the REST OF MY CAREER. Luckily we live in a rent-controlled apartment that''s huge for the rent we pay, and is in a decent neighborhood, so at least we can save some money and be reasonably comfortable doing so.

If I had my choice, we''d live near my family somewhere in northeastern Mass, Seacoast NH or southern Maine. Our plan now is to stay here for 3 or 4 more years, save up enough for a downpayment on a house, and then get the he** out of Dodge.

 

[butterfly 17]

I''ve live in NY since I was 3 1/2 y.o. I grew up in Brooklyn and met my husband and started our family there.

When we decided to buy a home, we moved to Staten Island as we wanted something close to family, friends and our jobs.

I always considered SI my lucky borough. It''s where I took my road test and my RN license.

 

[luckystar112]

I live in Houston, TX strictly for my FI and no other reason. I moved here when I was 18 because it was the first opportunity presented to me (a friends was moving here) and I didn''t realize what a good thing I had in Maine!! To be quite honest, I hate it here (seriously. everything about it.) and wonder why ANYONE would want to live here. If I had to guess, I''d say that people move here for the low cost of living and the high job prospects. Seems like no one you meet was actually born here. The traffic...the humidity ALL year long...the crime. It''s just ridiculous. I was born and raised in New England and I am just not used to being SCARED all the time! It''s the fattest city--and I believe I read somewhere that we have some of the worst air quality in the country too. O, and my body is literally REJECTING this place. I break out in rashes every summer because of the humidity.
Plus I HATE flying and it would be really nice to take a vacation that didn''t involve flying to see our families for once.

Anyway, FI and I plan on getting out of here ASAP. Our "deal" is to move after I graduate college...and I mean RIGHT after. I don''t plan on even looking for a job down here after I get my degree. And if by some fluke I ended up pregnant before graduating college, I''ll be out of here even quicker (with or without FI. lol. He can meet me up there). I absolutely do NOT plan on raising children here. No. Freaking. Way. Nothing depresses me more than the thought of my children not having the same childhood that I did, with all family within an arms length. I can''t deprive my children of that.

Right now, FI works for a small business, but he''s been trying to find a job working for a larger company that will let him transfer in the future. This has NOT been easy because he is very limited in what he can do, and he has virtually NO experience in what he WANTS to do....but at least he''s been trying. We figure that would be the smoothest transition, if he could just transfer with a company.

 

[larussel03]

I''m currently in Ann Arbor Michigan, but am from the north shore of MA originally, about 20 mins north of Boston. Until I was 25 I''d never left MA, I went to college in Amherst, MA then lived in Boston for a couple years with my fiance. Then he got into grad school here in MI and we moved. I was so nervous to move to MI (I admit, I was snotty - I was like "what is there possibly to do in MI???"). But a little over a year later, I''m really happy here. We made a lot of great friends and I love the cold weather (obv, I''m from the NE!). I''m looking forward to leaving MI and moving back to the Boston area in a few years, but I''m enjoying our time here!

 

[larussel03]

Date: 11/18/2007 10:23:55 PM
Author: SanDiegoLady

Well, I was born a mid-West girl, raised most of my life in the Seattle area and then married and moved to SoCa (where I fell in love with the area) and then back to the mid-West..

I moved to SoCa during my divorce to work in law enforcement and finalize my divorce. Instead, the first part of my plan didn''t work out.. actually.. neither did well.. but.. what''s done is done. I still love SoCa because its lovely most of the time.

I guess I didn''t quite answer directly. I live where I do because I was afraid of where I was.

Now, almost seven years later.. I am happily remarried to a fabulous man... and while he still has several years to do with the department, I hope not to live here forever. We''ve both wanted to own a historic old home and quite frankly won''t locate one within reason, on the West Coast.

I miss having seasons (though.. I could do without a WHOLE winter with snow). I love Autumn and miss the colored leaves of the Pacific Northwest. I do miss the mountains and SOMETIMES the rain. lol It would be nice to be able to actually AFFORD to live here. lol

SDL, you''d love my parents'' house. They bought it a couple years ago in MA and it was built in the late 1700''s. It actually was an orphanage. They love it so much, and keep discovering new things all the time. For example, there is one exposed fireplace, but they recently learned that there are 2 others that were walled up that they can uncover when they decide to get to it. It still needs work, but my parents love fixer-upper''s so it''s great for them!

 

[TravelingGal]

I have traveled enough to know that home is where I want to live. I was raised in a beach town in socal and I LOVE it here. There isn''t anywhere else I''d rather live. It helps that I don''t deal with L.A. traffic (crucial to enjoying life here) and we have a great circle of friends all nearby. The weather is fab, and companies always want salesfolks based in socal, so job opportunities abound.

The only bummer...home prices...but we are saving and will be able to afford in the next couple of years. I think the quality of life for our kids will be good here as well, but I fully admit that other places might be better. My heart is here though.

 

[Elmorton]

We just moved to the Quad Cities (IA) and I think it''s a move that will stick for awhile... when we first started dating, it seemed like the world wasn''t big enough - we wanted to go ANYWHERE but the midwest. But, in both of our jobs, connections are everything, so our first job opportunities were very close to our hometowns in Central IL. When DH was offered a job in the Quad-Cities area, we knew it was a move we wanted to make, and as we think start to think about kids, it makes sense to stay here. I can''t imagine moving halfway across the country away from my parents (I''m an only child and very close with mom and dad). I love the QCA because it''s decently big (pop 350,000), and other than Ann Taylor, there''s nothing I''m missing in terms of shopping/restaurants/etc. It''s an hour away from Iowa City, 3 from Chicago, 3 from my family. I also love being by the Mississippi (haaate driving on the bridges, but I''m getting over it), love the culture/arts scene, and, the coolest part, the QC is very close to the area that my family settled more than 150 years ago. Also, I now live about 45 mins away from my grandparents whom I love dearly but only see about 4 times a year. I''m so excited to be able to spend more time with them. Anyway, it just feels like home and I think that''s why we feel so happy.

 

[eks6426]

I live in north central Indiana. As a child I moved 13 times before age 11. I was born in Scottsdale Arizona and was living in upstate NY right before moving to Indiana. My parents moved to Indiana because it was cheap after my dad lost his job in upstate NY. My parents are from Illinois. I would rather live in a warmer, beach oriented climate like San Diego or Ft. Lauderdale BUT family is important. My parents are still here. My first husband's parents are here (my son's grandparents.) Both parents are very involved in my son's life which is extremely helpful. I dream of moving, but realistically know I probably won't until my son has graduated high school...8 more years.

And it is indeed relatively cheap to live here. My 3 bedroom 1 1/2 bath house with character in a nice, old neighborhood near city-center cost me just over $100,000 5 years ago. Everytime I look at moving to those nice, warm, beach places I have sticker shock!

 

[mimzy]

i''m in MI, about fifteen minutes south of detroit. i live here because of school, my FF and most of my family is here. i love it here because i couldn''t do without all four seasons, you''re never far from water (i''m currently about 100 feet from the detroit river), it''s fairly cheap, and there are things to do if you don''t mind doing a little research. traffic isn''t bad in the suburbs and the city is close enough that getting there is no problem (i go to school there).

i love the convenience of the suburbs, the close proximity of the city (both ann arbor and detroit) and the option to drive three hours and be at a campground on a great lake shore. we plan on moving for a few years just to try something new. we were thinking madison, wi or maybe milwaukee. (again, need water and all four season!)