Do you live where you want to?

[Tobin S.]

If not, what's keeping you there?

I've been all over America and a good portion of Canada. Even though I envy some aspects of other countries, I've never really wanted to live anywhere but the U.S. But there are areas of this country that I like better than where I currently live in Dayton, Ohio.

Being a trucker is a big influence that shapes my view of where a cool place to live would be. I'm not a long haul driver. I prefer to be home every day. I loathe the winter here in Ohio and any other northern state. Snow and ice are my enemies and I cannot defeat them, but they can sure as hell defeat me and any other driver who might be in the way should my truck jack-knife. The best I can hope to do is co-exist with the winter weather.

So, for that reason I think some place like San Antonio, Texas would be a good place to live. Or maybe El Paso, TX, or Las Cruces, NM or Phoenix AZ. I've also entertained thoughts of moving to the small border towns of Corpus Christi, TX and Laredo, TX. I've been to all of those places during every season and I'll take that heat over a northern winter.

If I weren't a trucker, I think I'd like to live in one of the larger cities in the Pacific northwest. But I've been driving trucks for 13 years now and I may be getting a little long in the tooth to be voluntarily making a career change. Good jobs still appear to be in short supply, too.

What's keeping me here? For a long time it's been the people I know here, mainly my family. I also have a good job here, too, by trucking standards, and that is difficult to give up even when it's January. Changes are occurring, however, and it's possible that one day soon I'll be writing to you guys about my adventures in Texas. I hear they could use a some liberals down that way. For now I have plans to move up the road about 30 miles to the town where my employer is located. We'll see how it goes.

[mnhtnbb]

1. I love living in Chapel Hill, NC. I grew up in northern NJ

moved to Southern California (north San Diego County in 1965) in high school, lived in various parts of Los Angeles--Santa Monica, the San Fernando Valley--for almost 20 years. Moved to Missouri (St. Joseph) to raise kids and then Lincoln, Nebraska when that didn't work out, and when that also didn't work out we finally moved to Chapel Hill in 2000.

We could retire anywhere, but we are rebuilding on the lot here where our house burned down in 2007.
Chapel Hill is the perfect college town: progressive, lots of interesting people, small but
cosmopolitan. Only 25 minutes to the Raleigh/Durham airport (you can fly direct to London--if the volcano isn't spewing ash!). Our youngest son has in-state tuition at one of the top public
universities in the country: UNC-Chapel Hill. Our oldest son works in his chosen field--IT support--
in the Research Triangle and is able to afford living in his own townhouse (although he has been through two previous layoffs, but so far, has survived this recession).

I couldn't ask for a better place to live. I love Chapel Hill.

On edit: And no, you couldn't pay me to move back to California.

[Tobin S.]

3. I hear you about California

I've seen want ads out in the L.A. area for local truckers and they were starting out at $30 an hour. Sounds good until you actually spend some time driving out there and also find out what the cost of living is. $30 an hour isn't enough for me to do drive out there. There are parts of the state that aren't as stressful to drive in, but you are still going to pay through the nose for housing.

[Tikki]

14. WOW...we love living in California for the past 30 + years...

Our utility bills are minuscule and we are minutes away from tons of things to do.
A two bedroom condo along the beach can be had for under $200,000 nowadays
and the freeways are a breeze to maneuver around. We :)Oil Free Beaches and the weather :). (the smiles in this sentence are the verbs)

But, like you said: NO WAY 4 U and we would not a neighbor who didn't want to be here
anymore than you would want a neighbor who spent all their time pining away for another place.


The Tikkis

[Tobin S.]

15. Freeways are not a breeze to maneuver around in L.A., especially in a 65 foot rig

Unless you are driving there at 3am.

I know $30 an hour isn't gonna cut it on a $200,000 mortgage unless you get a 100 year loan or something.

[mnhtnbb]

40. Yeah, but you're lucky if the ocean water is 60 degrees in the summer

and you take your life in your hands to swim in the ocean with all the sewage being dumped in Santa Monica Bay. The public schools are a disaster and Ronnie Reagan started one of the best university
systems in the country on the long decline. Oh, and a 4 bedroom ranch house built in the 60's on
the San Andreas fault with a 20 minute drive to work in San Francisco will cost $2.2 million.

No thanks. Just wait until water shortages start. Or the next big one hits.

I'm glad you like where you are. I'm just an east coast girl; I never liked California--and it was
very different in '65 when we moved there--but I'm very happy where I am now.

[caitxrawks]

29. i'm in salisbury!

Cool beans :)

I was born in Mooresville. I've lived in NC my whole life.

[mnhtnbb]

42. Hey, neighbor!

:hi:

[abq e streeter]

2. Cruces is pretty nice, from the limited time I've spent there. Gets REAL hot, but not like Phoenix.

El Paso; I just wonder how much of the absolutely insane level of violence in Ciudad Juraez is spilling over, or is starting to. Phoenix? if you don't mind 100 degrees half the year...last time I had to unload a truck ( really just a large trailer with our PA system etc) in Phoenix, it was 107 ( mid-July) ...we were lucky, it was 113 the next day but we loaded up early when it was only in the upper 90's. Never been to San Antonio; heard lots of nice things about it. But I understand being hard to walk out on a good job; those are not always so easy to come by.Best wishes to you on whatever you decide.
I personally like living in New Mexico a lot; it's a beautiful state; Albuquerque itself has some drawbacks but I can think of a lot worse places to be. What keeps me here is the reasonably nice weather, and being somewhat established musically , having a lot of friends, and also just inertia. Hard to think of packing up and leaving at almost 59 years old, although if I were to find myself in a position of having to say "President Palin" I think I really would be on my way to Canada if they'd have me ( although I think the cold would be a shock to my system, even having grown up in Chicago). But for now, yeah, New Mexico is a nicer place to live than most other places in America that I've been to ( never been to the northwest and have long been curious about it; not sure I could take lots of gloomy rainy days though).

[Tobin S.]

5. Yeah, New Mexico is pretty

And you can find weather at both ends of the spectrum in the same state. I think I'd have a problem finding decent paying local work out that way. If I moved out there I might have to take an over-the-road job for a little while before I could find something good. But it would probably be worth it.

The last time I was in the Phoenix area I was working outside undecking piggy-back trucks in 109 degree weather with that blazing sun. I was out there for 3 hours and even though I drank a gallon of water and didn't once go to the bathroom I still became dehydrated. It was one of the more painful experiences in my life. My whole body was one big charlie horse. Back at the hotel room I drank another gallon of water before I urinated. I probably should have gone to the hospital, but I'm sometimes hard headed when it comes to such matters.

So I know about that heat out there and how it can be dangerous. I wouldn't be doing that kind of labor outdoors if I worked out that way. I learned my lesson there. I would strictly be a driver- no lumping or wrench turning.

[raccoon]

4. What's keeping me here? Relatives. Job. I'd rather live in a blue area,

but I'm in my 50's, and it would be hard nowadays, even for a young person, to get a job in an area where they don't know anyone.

Plus my relatives are within the state. If I were married, and both of us wanted to pick up and move to a blue area, that would be great. But I'm not.

[azmouse]

6. Yes.

I love the desert, the heat, the sunshine... if I could only make the Republicans here disappear it would be paradise.

[Blue-Jay]

7. I grew up near Dayton.

Springfield and Yellow Springs to be exact. No matter where I've ever lived, that area is always "home".

How about we get a beer when I visit my Mom this summer?

[Tobin S.]

10. Sure thing

Give me a holler when you know you will be coming to the area.

[Blue-Jay]

11. Cool. I'll bookmark this thread so I don't forget.

Because I forget stuff.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

8. Yes and sort of yes.

I love Florida. I've always loved Florida. Ever since I was a little kid I wanted to move to Florida, which is why I looked at only Florida colleges, and which is why I knew I was staying in Florida after I graduated.

Of course, I went to college in North/Central Florida, and now I'm living in South Florida, because I moved down to be with my wife. South Florida is very developed, and it's hard to get out of the urban jungle and into nature, which is what attracted me to Florida in the first place. Still, you do have access to the Everglades and the Keys, both of which are incredible. And South Florida does give you very few nights below the freezing mark, whereas you have a handful of those in North Florida.

So if I had my choice, I'd rather be in North Florida than South Florida, but I'm by no means unhappy living in South Florida. In the end, it wouldn't matter if I was in Miami, Key West, Pensacola, Jacksonville or wherever...as long as it has a "FL" after the city name, I'm content.

[soleft]

9. God's Square Mile On the Jersey Shore

I try to ignore the God part.

[KamaAina]

38. How about "Goddess' 2.62 Square Kilometers"?

:hi:

[Brickbat]

12. Yes, and we're very happy. We thought about retiring to here, but we found a way to live and work

here. It took a little bit of luck and some hard work.

ETA: I've never lived where I didn't want to.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

13. I've been in the Chicago area my whole life. More & more I ask myself 'why?'

50 years is a lot of snow shoveled and time wasted in gridlock traffic.

[Walk away]

16. I would love to live in Switzerland but they don't really want ...

Americans there. You have to be independently wealthy or marry a Swiss citizen and even then it isn't easy.

[WinkyDink]

27. My exact same answer. Lucerne, for me. ( Monaco doesn't want me, either.)

[Broken_Hero]

17. Nope I sure don't,

the reason, because of my wife's work, and her family.

[dropkickpa]

18. Yep, I love it here

People are always surprised when i tell them I love living in Pittburgh. And not the burbs, the city.

[Courtesy Flush]

19. Paradise isn't measured in palm trees.

I have no quarrel with people moving to places that they like, but remember, you have no guarantee of happiness in "paradise." Make peace with yourself before moving to greener pastures.

[rurallib]

20. I'd move to Canada in a minute were it not for family, Eh.

[Arugula Latte]

21. Yep. We chose to move to Portland, Oregon.

It was a process of elimination. I NEED to be on a coast for psychological reasons (need access to an ocean -- I hate being landlocked). I grew up mostly in California, in the Bay Area, which was amazing (if a little too dessert-ish for my taste), but it's too expensive to live where I'd like there. I've spent lots of time in Colorado and realize I can't deal with landlocked/high-altitude/dehydrating/harsh climate areas like the Rockies. I've lived in the Midwest as a child -- don't really want to do it again. I lived in Washington, DC, which was exciting, but it's too flat and humid for me. I love New England but it's too cold (I'm a wimp). Don't want to live in the South at all -- 'nuff said. Oregon has mountains (you can see them from sea level, which I love), amazing forests, the ocean, the high desert, and Portland is a fantastic, livable city and the people are great. Yeah, it rains, but I love the oxygen and the way the air smells like freshness and trees, and I love the green.

[fizzgig]

22. i'm colorado born and raised and portland is one of the few places i'd voluntarily move

it's been three or four years since i've visited and i miss it.

[blue_onyx]

23. Yes, I'm very happy here in MI

[surrealAmerican]

24. This town is a pretty nice place.

Sometimes I think I'd like to have a bit of land around me, a place to grow a garden, etc., but there are a whole lot of conveniences to living in a good size town that I'd miss.

[blueamy66]

25. No.

Want to live in Hawaii.

Money is the issue.

[Dulcinea]

26. Not really.

I don't mind Atlanta, but I want to live near water. My next move will be to someplace with a beach, or back to my native western PA so I can have a boat I can use every day.

[GoCubsGo]

28. The longer I am here, the more I hate it.

I'm still here because I haven't sold my house or found a job elsewhere.

[caitxrawks]

30. i'm an atheist in the bible belt.

I was born and raised in North Carolina, and we still live here.


If I had it my way, we'd move to my husband's home country of Costa Rica.

You know, they're considered a very Catholic, conservative country...but yet they just elected their first female president?


Hmmmmmmmmmmm...

[cwydro]

31. yes, but I am about to lose it unless we get very lucky..

The wildlife will die, the islands will die, jobs will be gone, no tourists, no fishing, no shrimp fleet, no sweet tropical breeze, no scenic waterfront bars, no kayaking, no swimming, no snorkeling, no diving, no boating, no throwing coconuts for dogs, no looking for manatees or little green herons or iguanas or roseate spoonbills or great white herons or snowy egrets or bald eagles or ospreys...God help the Keys..

I just posted this on Facebook and my heart is breaking. The oil spill is probably in the Loop Current and will bring it down here. The Keys are too sensitive and will not withstand the pollution.

[mnhtnbb]

41. It is so sad. So sad.

:cry:

[femmocrat]

32. I think I would like to live at the beach.

I know I would get tired of it though. I would miss all the greenery that we have here.

[Kat45]

33. I like living in the Boston area for many reasons, but I hate the cold and snow.

So every winter, I grouse about the weather and comment that I should have moved to California (the part that's always a good temperature). Victoria, BC sounds like a nice place to live too. Sometimes I wish I was rich so I could spend winters in one of those climates and the rest of the year where I am now.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

34. yes.

[Lindsey]

37. I moved to CA 22 years ago and love it. There's so much to do

here - great beaches, great ski resorts,mountains,for the most part progressive thinkers, and always, always something to do. And oh yea, IMO CA is an incredibly beautiful state.

[Roon]

35. I live where I want to

Best public transportation in the country,Denver. (sometimes SaltLake City is the best and we are second in the country)I live in a hopping neighborhood that people pay good rent and mortgages for for dirt cheap. And I caregive for my Grandparents. For the time being, I love it here.

[Bennyboy]

36. I love where I live...

Grass Valley CA. In the pines, above the smog and fog,. Great community. Great radio station, lots of arts happenings music etc..

[KamaAina]

39. Not quite.

Farther up in the Bay Area would do it. I was just in Berkeley Friday night, and it was like a whole new world, even though I only had to ride our local transit and BART to get there.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

44. How does it measure up to HI? nt

[KamaAina]

45. Somewhat more going on

there is acces to SF/Berkeley for special occasions (2 1/2-hr. trip not gonna happen for grins :( ). But it STILL has not stopped raining. :grr:

[av8rdave]

43. Nope.

[NNadir]

46. It's shocking for a Long Island boy to say, but New Jersey is like heaven to me.

I would never dream of going any where else, even if we now have a pyschotic Repuke vandalizing Governor. I figure he's a short termer. Everybody, and I do mean everybody, is learning to despise the guy fast.

But New Jersey, for its access, its history, its beautiful preserved forests, the fine young people here, its beaches, it's um, heaven.

My wife cried when we left California for New Jersey, but if they were to triple my salary to go back (and they won't), I wouldn't do it.

[Blue_In_AK]

47. Absolutely.

I wouldn't live anywhere else. I love Alaska. I could do without some of our politicians, of course, but the beauty here and the wonderful, friendly people entirely make up for that.

[Blue_In_AK]

48. I spent my early childhood in that area.

I was born in Wilmington and lived on a farm between Wilmington and Xenia until I was seven. Then we lived in Kettering, I think. I was pretty young, but I remember our address was 33 Spinning Road. I think it's pretty funny I can remember that 56 years later.

[WCGreen]

49. I live in Ohio now...

I would rather live in some of the places I have visited over the years.

Salem Oregon comes to mind. I spent a summer there in the late 70's. I loved it.

[Kali]

50. yes

still want to travel, but this is where my heart and roots are.

[proteus_lives]

51. Yes. I'm a Hoosier-boy at heart.

I love Indiana.

I've lived all over the U.S., traveled to different countries but I'm always drawn back home.

I love my state, the history, my family is here and I love my town.

I love be close to the bones of my people.

[Initech]

52. I am going to work toward getting out of where I live in the next couple years.

I live in Orange County, CA and there's other parts of the country I would far rather live in. I want to get out and experience life in other cities.

[Phentex]

53. No. I need a cooler climate. But until my spouse is gone...

I'm here. I tease him about retiring to the woods of Maine or North Dakota but that would torture him.