I always wanted to live right downtown

[cleveramerican]

right down at the corner of First and Main
Across from the town common, the war memorial and town hall.

I have spent my entire life in the neighborhoods on the edge of town.
I have always wanted to live right in the center of town, just to know what it feels like.


Anybody care to share a story about what it feels like to live right downtown in any town USA?

[Captain Hilts]

1. It can be great. I lived at Dupont Circle, DC. BUT it can be like living in the middle of a cocktail

party that you cannot leave.

In the summer it was great, because the city comes alive at around 9:30pm and everybody's out and about well after midnight.

[mike_c]

2. it's NOISY, and often pretty gritty....

Full disclosure-- I've never lived in the center of urban areas because I despise them, for the most part, but I've visited numerous friends who do over the years. The most lasting impressions are heat, noise, dirty urban air that makes everything gritty, run down old apartment buildings, and having to check the building doors before exiting to make sure it's safe in the alley, parking lot, or whatever.

Give me a small town or rural setting any day.

Come to think of it, I actually DO live smack dab in the center of Blue Lake, California, about three doors down from the Volunteer Fire Dept and town hall. But this is a tiny rural "town" with no through traffic at all and only a few hundred residents. There isn't any "main street" per se. No commercial district at all. It was once just a railroad stop, but the railroad has been gone for many decades.

THAT'S my idea of town living!

[City of Mills]

3. Loved it

After a separation, I moved into the center of my city (something I always wanted to try) and it was terrific - I could walk anywhere easily; I only worked 2 blocks away. Anything I needed, I could obtain on foot, so the convenience and gas savings were big plusses. Overall it was quieter than I imagined it would be, though sometimes it got a bit lively after 10pm (lots of bars and local bands around). Drawbacks? Hmmm, what else...well, air quality wasn't terrific; I lived in an old mill, just outside my windows was a canal...whenever they would drain the canal it would smell horrible with all the drying mud and whatnot...outside the bars it was a bit grungy, with broken glass and often times vomit on the street...lots of transient trash although the city did a good job of keeping the downtown clean...

Eventually I moved back out to the fringe of the city because I wanted to be closer to the woods, as I'm a big hiker and runner.

[jobycom]

4. It's great. You'll be able to post to DU from the city instead of a suburb!

:)

[Cant trust em]

5. It's great...if you like cities.

I get a lot of buzz from all of the people surrounding me and the energy it creates. I love living in the city.

[proteus_lives]

6. Interesting. I'm actually moving right downtown in a few weeks.

It's an old building on main street.

It's a good feeling. The buildings are old and have feeling. The apartments aren't cookie-cutter, there are festivals, nice shops and a farmer's market. My new place is right over one of the oldest pubs in the city. I'm very excited about it.

[femmocrat]

7. I've lived in cities, small towns, suburbia, and now the country.

Of all of them I prefer the country. I could never live in a city again. For one thing, you are never alone. There is no solitude. There are endless people everywhere! And all that traffic, the sirens, graffiti and concrete.... awful. I definitely prefer the green fields, trees and wildlife to that!
The countryside is just coming back to life now after a hard winter. It's really a miracle to see the flowers and trees in bloom. We have pheasants and wild turkeys in our back yard and peepers singing outside our windows. It's glorious.

[rockymountaindem]

8. I lived in downtown Toronto and currently live in "midtown" Boston

Living in d-town Toronto was one of the best experiences of my life. Of course I was living in dorms at the time, so it wasn't really the typical experience of city life. I didn't eat out much because my meals were on the meal plan, etc. However, the ease of access to everywhere I wanted to go, the ability to live by just walking around, and things like that were great. I still love that city; it's great.

Living in midtown Boston is also a blast. My building is very nice despite its advanced age, and while my home is kind of small it's just big enough for one person. Much like Toronto, I like the ease of getting where I need to go on foot or by public transit. Since I have to be more self reliant here than I was in undergrad, I've come to know the ins and outs of Boston much better than I did in Toronto, and lately I would have to say Beantown has surpassed Toronto on the list of places I love (sorry Canada). It's a little more quiet here than in the high-rise portion of town, which is fine with me. My street is about as quaint as you can get in a major city, and I love it.

[caitxrawks]

9. i live slightly off-center in my town :)

Everything's in walking distance, I mean. It's nice, my daughter and I walk uptown when the weather is nice. There's a bunch of shops and restaurants and random sculptures.