Where do you live and do you like living there?

[Reality]

These have been some great responses

I love hearing and learning about areas even if I do not plan to move there as so many places I have been in the past have changed over time and some I know nothing about.

I am hoping more people will add to this thread as I am sure others here are considering a move in the near or distant future who appreciate all of the details and comments people are sharing. Just remember to help keep the thread on topic by avoiding general chatting!

 

[Bigdog]

I have lived in many states. Grew up an Upstate NY where the Adirondacks were my backyard. Moved to the Berkshires in MA after college and then on to Boston. I loved all those places but for the past 19 years the wife and I are living in Northern CA about 70 miles west of San Fran. You can't beat the weather. You are about an hour away from the beach and mountains. A lot of people complain about the taxes but this is nothing compare to NY taxes or living in the northeast. In my mind CA taxes aren't that bad compare to the northeast and there is lots of things to do.

 

[Bigdog]

I have looked at Washington and Oregon, but the rain there would get old eventually. I have looked at the northeast, especially Vermont and more recently, New Hampshire, but the long non-stop winters would probably be tough to deal with not growing up in it. Don't get me wrong, I love cold weather and snow, but when you are surrounded by snow for weeks and months ...

Growing up in the Northeast, let me just say the winters can be long. It might start snowing in October and not stop until May. February is usually brutally cold and when most people start to go stir crazy from the winter. They even came up with a mental disorder for it call Seasonal Affect Disorder.

 

[Bigdog]

That's sweet as hell, Sam!!

I'm really excited for my late-30's/early-40's chapter of my life. We're already lining up the little one for schools on the East Coast. Brown would be a dream come true.

The colleges out there are great and it is just not the Ivy League schools. There are a lot of small liberal arts schools in the northeast that are just as good as the Ivy League ones. Williams, Amherst, Middlebury, MIT, Tufts, Brandeis, Babson, Bowdoin, Vassar, Hobart, St. Lawrence are just to name a few. Unfortunately they are expensive but most have great financial aid packages.

 

[Trouty]

The colleges out there are great and it is just not the Ivy League schools. There are a lot of small liberal arts schools in the northeast that are just as good as the Ivy League ones. Williams, Amherst, Middlebury, MIT, Tufts, Brandeis, Babson, Bowdoin, Vassar, Hobart, St. Lawrence are just to name a few. Unfortunately they are expensive but most have great financial aid packages.

One of my best friend's wife works at Sarah Lawarence. He is going to Columbia and she was an ESL teacher at UCLA. A big story for our circle as he started at Santa Monica CC, Dog, and now he's doing big things, and she was able to transfer seemlessly to another great school.

I'd be all about my little one going to some of those schools listed, my man!

 

[Bigdog]

Sarah Lawrence is often confuse with St.Lawrence which are two entirely different colleges. St. Lawrence is a small liberal arts school located in upstate NY, about 20 mins from the Canadian border. Ottawa is the closest city. Sarah Lawrence is in the Bronx and I believe it is all girls school. There so many good colleges not only private but states schools as well.

 

[Trouty]

Sarah Lawrence is often confuse with St.Lawrence which are two entirely different colleges. St. Lawrence is a small liberal arts school located in upstate NY, about 20 mins from the Canadian border. Ottawa is the closest city. Sarah Lawrence is in the Bronx and I believe it is all girls school. There so many good colleges not only private but states schools as well.

Is Sarah Lawrence still all girls?

 

[Idgit]

Phoenix is a pretty great area to live in. Still relatively affordable, a fair amount of high-tech. Good weather much of the year, and, while the summers do definitely suck, you're still able to get outdoors a fair amount if you can handle the heat. Lots of great outdoor activity, including camping, canyoning, boating, skiing--all within a two hour drive. Just two hours from Mexico. Four from the Grand Canyon. LA and Vegas are quick flights away. Great Mexican food.

The Scottsdale area is a fairly big and fairly affluent shopping and lifestyle center. North and West of the Valley you can still find down-to-earth people and affordable ranch-style lifestyles. Because of the proximity of Sun City on the west side, you have good hospitals and good long-term retirement support. Politically, it's actually a very accepting culture, despite it's reputation. Public schools aren't great, but they're not awful. All-in-all, it's a very livable and affordable place, and a beautiful state.

 

[Trouty]

Phoenix is a pretty great area to live in. Still relatively affordable, a fair amount of high-tech. Good weather much of the year, and, while the summers do definitely suck, you're still able to get outdoors a fair amount if you can handle the heat. Lots of great outdoor activity, including camping, canyoning, boating, skiing--all within a two hour drive. Just two hours from Mexico. Four from the Grand Canyon. LA and Vegas are quick flights away. Great Mexican food.

The Scottsdale area is a fairly big and fairly affluent shopping and lifestyle center. North and West of the Valley you can still find down-to-earth people and affordable ranch-style lifestyles. Because of the proximity of Sun City on the west side, you have good hospitals and good long-term retirement support. Politically, it's actually a very accepting culture, despite it's reputation. Public schools aren't great, but they're not awful. All-in-all, it's a very livable and affordable place, and a beautiful state.

Are you PHX, Idgit? I thought you were SF? Do you identify more PHX?





Your hockey team sucks

 

[Idgit]

Are you PHX, Idgit? I thought you were SF? Do you identify more PHX?

Your hockey team sucks

Born and raised in AZ.

Most people don't up and move to the Bay Area if they don't have a great job lined up. I could rhapsodize about life here, because it's an amazing place to live, but it's too expensive to do it if you haven't been in the market already for a decade or two.

 

[Trouty]

Born and raised in AZ.

Most people don't up and move to the Bay Area if they don't have a great job lined up. I could rhapsodize about life here, because it's an amazing place to live, but it's too expensive to do it if you haven't been in the market already for a decade or two.

Interesting, Idgit. Thanks for sharing a piece of your upbringing (AZ).

 

[Bigdog]

Is Sarah Lawrence still all girls?

I think it is but don't quote me on it. Rhode Island is a great state to live. Not far from Boston which is a great city.

 

[Trouty]

I think it is but don't quote me on it. Rhode Island is a great state to live. Not far from Boston which is a great city.

Woot, Big Dog!

And I definitely hear ya on all those Lib Art schools. Depending on what career path the little guy chooses, I would never shy away from them.

 

[Sarge]

I have lived in many states. Grew up an Upstate NY where the Adirondacks were my backyard. Moved to the Berkshires in MA after college and then on to Boston. I loved all those places but for the past 19 years the wife and I are living in Northern CA about 70 miles west of San Fran. You can't beat the weather. You are about an hour away from the beach and mountains. A lot of people complain about the taxes but this is nothing compare to NY taxes or living in the northeast. In my mind CA taxes aren't that bad compare to the northeast and there is lots of things to do.

Where in upstate NY did you grow up? I live in Utica and have a cabin in the Adirondacks and wouldn't change it for anything. Taxes, as you mention, are BRUTAL though..

 

[BigStar]

Boardwalk is still the Boardwalk..........Thrashers Fries and Dumsers' Ice Cream...... at night it can be rough but aesthetically they have cleaned up a lot of the downtown shacks......the beach itself is pristine from the Boardwalk to 145th St but uptown is still more affluent, classier......downtown is more Pennsyltucky and Dundalk but that is fun too

I went to school at Georgetown in the 80s/90s and loved the city.......it was a little rough outside of the Mall and NW.....loved the bars on M St and Wisconsin Ave.......I went back recently and saw nothing but cranes and condos....good thing that it is cleaning up but it is expensive and crowded......city life is not for me anymore

Pennslytucky That is pretty good, stealin it! Yeah, the time you were in DC was the height of the crime wave but Georgetown and M ST/Wisconsin Ave was/are considered as "safe havens" but a lot of the city has cleaned up too; even parts of SE are okay nowadays. They still won't allow for a Metro subway to be built there (Georgetown) for that reason. You ain't no dummy obviously if you graduated from there; respect! My sister is headed your way (139th ST) today with her girlfriends for vacation; so more of us tourists comin to flood your town.

 

[Denim Chicken]

Loved growing up on the Outer Banks of NC (Hatteras Village) with the great beaches, surfing, fishing, etc.
But Hatteras Island is very remote. Would not want to live there year-round at this stage.

I live in Chesapeake, VA which is right across the border. About an hour from Kill Devil Hills. It's nice here. Less than 30 minutes to the beach (Virginia Beach), 15 minutes to downtown Norfolk if you want a little city experience and you can be in Appalachians in about three and a half hours.

 

[DFWJC]

I live in Chesapeake, VA which is right across the border. About an hour from Kill Devil Hills. It's nice here. Less than 30 minutes to the beach (Virginia Beach), 15 minutes to downtown Norfolk if you want a little city experience and you can be in Appalachians in about three and a half hours.

When I go back to visit family/friends at OBX, I fly into that Norfolk Airport and then make the drive south.
Small world

 

[Bigdog]

Where in upstate NY did you grow up? I live in Utica and have a cabin in the Adirondacks and wouldn't change it for anything. Taxes, as you mention, are BRUTAL though..

I grew up in a small town called Gloversville but out in the country. The Adirondack State Park was 3 miles from my house but I could access it thru the woods. My town is about 30 minutes west of Saratoga. About 45 minutes east of Utica. I actually dated a girls who was from Rome, NY

 

[Sarge]

I grew up in a small town called Gloversville but out in the country. The Adirondack State Park was 3 miles from my house but I could access it thru the woods. My town is about 30 minutes west of Saratoga. About 45 minutes east of Utica. I actually dated a girls who was from Rome, NY

Yep, I know exactly where Gloversville is. My cabin is on/in White Lake about 10-12 miles south of Old Forge in the Adirondacks. Love it up there, year round beauty.

 

[BigStar]

Is Sarah Lawrence still all girls?

Not anymore, Jordan Peele from Key and Peele went there. I remember Michael Key giving him grief about it in one of their intros.