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I have been giving a lot of thought to this:
Where do you live, do you love it, and why? AND, why do you live there? (Weather, family, friends, you are from there, job relocation, school location...you name it!)
What makes you like or dislike a place?
What do you like about yours? Dislike? Where would you like to live? Are you happy where you are?
DH and I are thinking about moving... Ideally we want to live somewhere liberal and warm. Ideally, a mountain town... that is affordable (we shoot for the stars!)
It is difficult for us to live around any family because they move alot (military and other reasons...) so the sky is the limit.
Our work can transfer almost anywhere...
What do you love about where you are?
We're currently in Gladstone, QLD Australia and we HATE it. It's right on the coast on the southern edge of the Great Barrier Reef so it should be a lovely place, but it's not. Our little community of Tannum Sands has a nice beach but that's about it.
Gladstone is an industrial town - it's the main port city to ship out all the exports of the mining boom Australia is currently in. As a result, it is heavily industrial and despite money pouring into the town, nothing is being down to make it a nice place to live. There are virtually no restaurants, hardly any shops, and virtually nothing to do. Prices are also exorbitantly expensive because people have to live here for the mining work so the rental prices and food prices are outlandishly high, even for Australia.
DH is a civil engineer and wanted infrastructure experience, hence why his company moved us up here, but we've been here for 3 months and are over it already. We are looking to move back to Brisbane in May, just a month before our first baby is due!
We loved living in Brisbane and were there for more than a year before coming up here. Brisbane is a lovely city with all the amenities of a big city (pop: 1 million) but without any of the major hassles of a big city. Most communities are like small towns within themselves with lovely main streets filled with shops, cafes, and restaurants, not to mention parks everywhere and beautiful walking trails following the curvy Brisbane River. The CBD of Brisbane is gorgeous and there are lots of opportunities for cultural experiences. There are always festivals or markets going on somewhere and they are always a great way to spend a weekend morning. Prices in Brisbane are relatively reasonable as well; it is also a major travel hub for Australia so travelling to other places both in and out of Australia is fairly easy.
The weather in Brisbane is also ideal - summertime highs usually in the upper 20s (mid-80s F) and wintertime highs are usually in the low 20s (mid-70s F). We love the gorgeous beaches of the nearby Gold Coast and hiking in the mountains of the hinterland just west of Brisbane is also a favourite activity of ours.
I can't rave enough about Brisbane and really hope we'll get back there soon! We want to leave Australia sometime in the next year though - either to the UK to be close to DH's family, or to the US to be close to my family. DH's company is based in the UK and has just recently expanded into Canada (Montreal, which would be AMAZING!) so we're hoping for one of those, but if not, we'll look for a new job for him somewhere in the US and figure out where we want to live there. So many decisions...
ETA: Hello looooooooooong reply! They never look that long when I'm typing them out! Sorry.... verbosity is definitely a downfall of mine!
I live in Southern Illinois. I'm originally from Northern Illinois, and I can't personally stand it down here! I am waiting for FI to finish school, and then we are moving, either into St. Louis or close to it.
I actually moved down here to take a job. I would love to live in Chicago, and I would really love to move to New Orleans, but taking the bar exam in Louisiana gives me fits 
We actually talked about Portland too, so after he's done with school, that may be an option!
We live in a suburb of Pittsburgh. I love the city, hate the suburb we live in. It's a depressed area known for drugs and violence. It's not an appropriate place for me to be raising my daughter. SO and I both went to high school here and I never wanted to come back -- ever. But we inherited this house when there was a death in his family, and living here without a rent or house payment has been helping us immensely, so, for the time being, we're staying. We're moving before my daughter goes into the school system, because I do NOT want her going to school here. There are some wonderful neighborhoods about 30 minutes north and east of us. I would love to live in either of those places!
Moving out-of-state isn't an option. Moving away from Pittsburgh isn't, either. I'll never get SO to move away from his family (all here in the 'burbs), and my daughter's father also lives in this state. If I could move anywhere, I'd probably head back east toward Philadelphia, or south -- I've visited North Carolina a few times and LOVE it there.
I live about 40 minutes outside of Boston. My immediate family and most my maternal side is here and I just never left. I wanted to near my family when I had children. The weather is not the best, I hate winter and snow and freeeezing cold. I hate the cost of housing. =( I wouldnt be here if it werent for my family. We could have got twice the house for half the cost down south and cut years off our retirement plan.
I live on Lake Macqaurie, just south of Newcastle NSW Australia. I LOVE IT where we are. I grew up here. I love that we are 45 min to Newcastle, and while it was industrial it is becoming more tourist and having a total face change.
I LOVE that we are 1 hour north of Sydney. I commute to work, and for me its a great distance seeing as I HATE THAT CITY WITH A PASSION.
I think our area gives you a great lifestyle, because it has access to many different facilities and areas within NSW.
Although right now I am not liking the community I live in. it is becoming a low income housing area, because there are a lot of rentals in the area. People from Sydney unable to afford their holiday homes rent them out instead of selling. And the local High School has the worst rep in the area as well. I went to that school. and it is not even a shadow of the school I went to.
I want to stay on Lake Macquarie, but move to another area of it eventually.
I live in Indianapolis and I love it. Only thing I really don't like is the winters, and I wish it was closer to the beach!
Other than that, it's affordable, there's a lot to do, it's a very sports-heavy town which I love, the people are (mostly) nice, and it's close enough to Chicago, Cincinnati, Louisville, St. Louis that you can do fun weekend trips.
And it's especially awesome this week because of the Super Bowl! All the festivities started today and it is crazy. Makes me proud to be a Hoosier, they've done an AMAZING job here. I mean, seriously, there's an 800 ft long zipline running thru the streets of Indy!
I live in Gainesville, FL and I adore it. I've always been a Florida girl and living in the sunshine and warm weather is great. I originally moved here for school 6 years ago and stayed after graduation for a postbac position. It's such a great small town, perfect for young people because of the college and the great sense of community and safety. I will probably be moving away for graduate school in 6 mo and I will cry the whole way (even though I'm excited for new adventures!) because I love this place.
I live in a small town just outside of Harrisburg PA. We lived in both Philly and Pittsburgh, and where we're living now is our favorite. We've both settled down a lot, and wanted a quieter, small-town where we would feel comfortable raising our kids (and a great school system) but still close enough to a city to hit up restaurants and attractions. We moved here for a job, but my very favorite sister-in-law and two nieces live here as well, my MIL and FIL live about half an hour away, we're a quick 2 hour drive to see our friends in Philly and about the same to see my BIL/SIL/nephews in Annapolis.
Denver! I love it. I've lived all over, but spent the greatest chunk of time in Colorado. I'm a fan of the weather, which is usually mild. The scenery is beautiful. It's a pretty liberal place, people are generally warm and the lifestyle is very laid back/casual. Love it :)
I live just outside of Vancouver, BC, Canada. I really like it, although I have never lived anywhere else. I have traveled a lot though and am always happy to come home.
Things I love about it are that there are four distinct seasons (even if we do get made fun of for a lot of rain). That rain brings a lot of greenery; the coniferous forests around here are amazingly beautiful. I love the variety of activities. There are big city things like theatre, concerts, sporting events, clubbing, etc. but also so many outdoors activities. I love to snowshoe or snowboard the local mountains that take less than half an hour to get to, drive half an hour the other way and camp in what feels like total wilderness, or walk around the seawall next to the ocean/hang out on the beach in the summer. It's really awesome.
There are truly only two things I dislike about it. One is the traffic; when they built the highway infrastructure they were not expecting it to become a big city. There is not even a highway that goes through downtown and there is constantly construction to make up for it. With the combination of ocean and rivers meeting the ocean, there are a lot of bridges which equal some traffic nightmares. The other thing is the real estate prices, which are seriously ridiculous. You could get a mansion in another province for the price of a small condo in Vancouver and I'm completely serious. FI and I have pretty much come to terms with the fact that we may never own a detached home.
I am currently living in Tallahassee, Florida. I HATE this place and cannot wait for the day that I can move back to my home town. It's small, boring, and infested with college students. Don't get me wrong, I am still in grad school, but I feel like there are little drunk 18 year olds all over the place. It's juts not my scene.
Orlando, FL is where I grew up. I love Orlando even though it's a big city. I love that the beach is only an hour or so away and that there are always things to do when you have friends in town. Yes, the attractions and tourists can be very annoying at times but I can see myself raising my children somewhere in the Orlando area because all of my family and friends are there! Definitely not the mountain town you guys are looking for though! Good luck with your search for a new place to call home! :)
@MademoiselleL: Vancouver is my favorite place out of anywhere I have ever visited! I spent 2 days there after an Alaskan cruise and I fell in love. I hope to be able to go back one day!
We've just recently moved into our first home. It's in a suburb about 40km west of Sydney city, and in a fairly recently developed area, which I love. I'm not a fan of city-living, so being in the 'burbs is nice. We live at the top of a cul-de-sac, and it's a pretty quiet street - though I'm not a fan of ONE set of neighbours that live next door.
We have a supermarket just a couple of streets away, and a batch of nice restaurants in the next suburb over - so everything is a fairly short drive away.
Mr. Jaguar catches a bus directly to his work in the city, and I drive the car to work, about 20 minutes further west. It's a nice area. I love it here! Can't wait to raise a family here.
@theredhead: That's nice to hear :) I hope you make it back here one day. I would love to visit Florida - I've never been! I love Disneyland and would love to go to Disneyworld, but FI hates amusement parks :(
I live in Panama City, FL. It's ok. I grew up 10 minutes outside of Boston, so I would prefer a bigger, more liberal city that has more fine dining options. I'm moving in a year and a half (once my clerkship is over), so it's good to know it's only temporary. I'm hoping to move to Tampa or Miami, but that will depend on where SO gets a job.
ETA: Can't complain about the whether though. I wore a skirt and tank top to work today. 
TEXAS!! DUh, if you couldnt tell by my name :) But, I truly love it. I've lived in other states and there are a lot of lame things about Texas (BIG city..horrendous traffic) but everything is amazing. The weather is mostly hot but I love it. The food is literally to DIE for, that's probably why we are always on the fattest cities map lol. The entertainment is amazing. Concerts, rodeos, cook-offs, bars, clubs. There's so much to do here. Gallerias, The Alamo, malls. Amazing colleges and schools, hospitals (MD Anderson, etcccc) and doctors. I just <3 LOVE <3 Texas haha. I'm not even a native Texan.
Obviously, it's not Liberal...but I am definitely more Liberal than not so it's an adjustment dealing with certain people sometimes, but it's pretty awesome otherwise :)
I live in a small town just south of Ballarat in Country Victoria, Australia. Ballarat is the 4th largest city in Victoria, and is only a 90min drive from Melbourne where I grew up and were my family lives. We moved here for FI to go to uni.
Things I like about Ballarat are that there is pretty much no traffic. House prices are so cheap compared to Melbourne. We can get a beautiful 150 year old cottage with antique fixtures, 5 minutes from the CBD for about $300,000. You can't even get a one bedroom apartment in Melbourne for under $300,000. Ballarat has lots of nice cafes and a very arty feel to it. There are lots of gardens and the schools are pretty good. There is also 2 excellent universities in the city.
Things I don't like are that nothing is open late, so after 9pm there is really nothing to do. There aren't a great amount of shops either, so if you are after something in particular you have to go to Melbourne. The bus system could do with some new routes, you really need a car to get anywhere. Ballarat has 2 lower socioeconomic areas which have trouble with drugs and kids dropping out of school. Teen pregnancy is high here, and so is unemployment. There is a real brain drain from Ballarat to Melbourne, so sometimes I feel like I'm surrounded by idiots.
If I could live anywhere, it would probably be inner southeast Melbourne, where my family lives. Lots of shops and things to do, good public transport and the beach is close by. Only problem is the $500k it costs for a run down 2 bedroom unit. Sigh.
I live in the south and LOVE it. It's almost always warm, everyone is nice to everyone, and you never meet a stranger!
damn..I just wrote a big thing and weddingbee errored out! SUCK!
@shooting_star5711: I am from southern illinois and hate it there too. It really is not a good place IMO.
We live in Chicago and love it. I grew up an army brat and lived in Germany, Orgeon, and San Francisco. As an adult I have lived in Souther Illinois, Southern Indiana and Chicago. I love chicago, by far. I didnt realize how bad Souther Indiana was until I moved to Chicago. I just thought Souther INdiana was such a step up from Southern Illinois that I didnt realize until I moved north how much better it is here. Mainly due to weather. I much prefer cold weather. I do NOT like anything above 75 degrees...no joke. Chicago has so much to offer. amazing food, tons of stuff to do no matter what you like, so many diverse and friendly people and lots of job opportunities. We moved here to take an amazing job offer that I got. so glad we made the move!
The bad thign about chicago is how long it takes to get anywhere. My commute is an hour and that is the norm. I take public transportation though and it is super cheap and convenient. I can be productive during my commute by catching up on emails, talking with friends, reading or studying. Another bad thing is its crazy expensive here. Just to own a car and be registered and insured here is insane. DH drives to work because he works in the suburbs and it is so expensive. But he also makes a lot of money there.
Another great thing about chicago is how beautiful and fun the city is. Especially in spring/summer/fall. It does kinda dull down during the winter but its still a fun place!!!
I live in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and I LOVE it! I plan to stay in this area for quite awhile (unless work takes me to Des Moines, which I will have to make the sacrifice and go there). It's a smaller city, so we still have everything, and we are pretty close to a lot of the big cities (4 hours from Chicago, 5 hours from Minneapolis, 2 hours from Des Moines, 4 from St. Louis). We also have really good schools and the crime is pretty low, not to mention housing is really affordable. Plus we are a pretty liberal city, so that also is great in my book! :)
I forgot to add one thing I hate about Ballarat is the COLD. It is freezing here in winter, sometimes we even get a dusting of snow. (I can feel you northerners rolling your eyes. lol)
It is always about 5C (9F) colder here than in my home town, which is only good on days like today where it is 30C (86F) instead of 35C (95F).
I live in Chicago, but I'm originally from rural Illinois. I moved to the burbs for college and am now here permanently while I work on my grad school at the university I work for full time and my FI establishes himself a bit more in his field (marketing and communications for non-profit).
I LOOOOOVE Chicago. Everything is constantly in motion. There's always something to do, no matter what you are in to. I also love that you can get off on any L (subway) stop and see about 10 different cultures interact and live together. Same goes with food, art, music, etc. There really is something for everyone. And unlike most midwestern cities I've been to, this city is large enough that you could spend your life visiting new places or bars without stepping foot in the same one.
As for the weather, if you like to watch the seasons change, I really think this place is for you. Snow on Christmas, Spring around the corner, a gorgeous lake to swim in, and a ton of parks full of leafy trees... I'd hate to live in a one-climate zone. (although my weather related allergies wouldn't mind a break from drastic temperature changes)
Ok, things I dont like: Traffic, the smell of public transportation (which I actually am very grateful to), and the violence on the South Side.
If I wasn't living here, I think I'd move to another major city, probably Seattle or Portland.
I'm from Austin TX and I LOVE it! Its the music capital of the US which is my favorite part! I moved here for school after living in Fort Worth for most of my childhood, then went to NYC for my freshman year of college. My Bestie was going to school down here so I moved back and then stayed! It looks like FI is about to get a great job here as well so we will probably be staying for a while.
There isnt much bad besides the traffic and the overflow of students which can be annoying at times.
Though we love it here, FI and I would love to move to Colorado to live, its pretty much our dream! Maybe someday!
@Boston Bee: Oh one of my fave places to vacation! We love Panama City Beach! What I wouldn't do for some cheesecake from Calypso right now and a view of that beautiful beach!
I live in Portland, OR in the heart of the city in the Pearl District in a great condon and we love it!!! We have an amazing view of the Mountains and we absolutly love the buidling we live in and the Pearl District is a great part of the city with so many shops, clubs and resturants around to keep us interested. We actually meet in the city when I was in college. I am from Seattle and my FI was raised in Oregon so that is how we eneded up in Portland.
I live in San Diego and I love it. I'm a California girl through and through; I adore the sunshine, warm weather, laid back atmosphere, and the scenic beauty. I love living right near the ocean. It's so therapeutic and just reminds me how I lucky I am to live in such a beautiful place. I love that I can be in the desert or the snow in two short hours.
DH and I are both California born and bred, but moved to San Diego four years ago from the LA area (where we went to college). We never want to go back there. It's nothing against LA; I still love LA but San Diego is so much nicer. Less traffic, people are more friendly, the air is clean, etc. We simply moved here because we wanted to get further away from the hustle and bustle, but still be in Southern California.
The one major bummer though is the cost of housing. We rent now and it's almost impossible to get a house as near to the beach as we are now.
I live in the North Bay (Northern California) smack dab in the middle of the beautiful wine country and I could not love it more. We have culture, food, wine, family atmosphere, nature....everything you could want.
While some might complain that it is expensive I happen to enjoy the benefits that a higher cost of living area provides.
I can say with complete honestly that there isn't a single thing I don't love about living here.
I live in Sonoma County, and adore it to pieces! The rolling hills, the redwoods (that you can ZIPLINE THROUGH), the oaks...! The coast is nearby. If you wanted to go to the snow you can drive for a few hours (but gosh, why would anyone?) The weather is great. Mild!
Wine, AMAZING food, close proximity to San Francisco if you need to go there. A great vibe. Lots of families. Liberal!
Plenty of great history. Lots of cool local things, including botanical gardens and a 400 acre African wildlife park (member of the AZA and owned and run by a very hardworking couple) that I work at and adore, lots of festivals, great music, plenty of cute little towns. LOTS of family businesses.
A lot of people know how special Sonoma County is, and I love that. People really make an effort to save our state parks, there's a huge market for eco-friendly stuff, and people have huge networks of friends, family, and business associates.
Cons? Not enough late-night dining. I love late night food. Also, cost of living is high, but I've never known anything else. I'd rather pay more to live somewhere I love than move to a state I hate because I can buy a house there. Oh, also, the town of Guerneville. I hate that place. Someone else can have them. Ugh. It's the weirdest town.
I can imagine very few places being better. My dream is to own a house in lovely Sebastopol, CA!
I am from St. Louis. I grew up about 10 minutes from downtown (in a suburb that is, unfortunately, quickly becoming unfit to live in because of the trash filtering out of North City). I would say that St. Louis is awesome, but it depends where you live. There are so many different places within the city. DH and I (he's from there too, he grew up in the city) want to move into the South City area when we return from the UK. South City is culturally diverse, full of old, historic rowhomes, has a giant farmer's market, is close to downtown and the amentities that provides and has lots of large parks to provide greenspace. Plus, south city is a younger, more urban crowd. Only downside is that we would have to send our kids to private schools because the St. Louis City public schools are some of the worst in the country. I would say that the highway system is pretty good. You can get almost anywhere in St. Louis county and city within 30 minutes.
As for weather, Um.... it's iffy. We have hot, hot summers and cold, cold winters. It can dump a foot of snow and be 80 degrees the next day and can be bright sunshine and pouring rain at the same time. We also get hail and tornadoes. St. Louis does have some great things to offer, Fox Theatre gets touring broadway shows, they just opened the new Peabody Opera House, Forest Park is giant and home to the St. Louis Science Center (which is free!) and the St Louis Zoo (which is one of the best zoos in the country and it's also free!), the City Museum is one of the coolest places I've ever seen (not actually a museum, it's a giant indoor scultural playground built by an artist in an old abandoned warehouse), we have good sports (Well.... good baseball, the football and hockey has been mighty iffy in recent years), good bars and nightlife, etc. I definitely appreciate it more now that I'm not there. I'll be happy to move home.
Move to CHICAGO!!!!! When we visited we fell in love with it! It's a big city with all the flavor of NYC but the friendliness of a small town. If we can take Chicago move it to the NE we would live there in a heartbeat!!!
We live in a small city in Upstate NY. It actually took us close to 3 years to make the decision to finally settle down here and not move back to NYC. :( For us we both want to be near one of our families. There were many factors that played into our city the biggest one being where do we want to raise our family? The funny thing about our city is so many people move away after college but when they start a famly they end up moving back. It's known as the city of "friendly neighbors" and when I came here for college that's the first thing I noticed so much of the people are so nice!
There's REALLY good food here rivaling NYC really. The winters can get a bit long but I love that there is all four seasons and the summer is usually absolutely perfect. And I have a really fantastic job.
And ultimately the reason that tipped the scales is when my BIL passed away. My ILs have 3 sons, the oldest of which is in the AF and you can't rely on him to be near his parents in their old age, BIL#2 who passed away and my husband. My husband and BIL #2 were the two left here after BIL's passing we found out my ILs were planning on moving back here from the South in a few years. We didn't want them to be all alone here without any of their kids so ultimately we decided since my mom will have my two brothers and my ILS no one. We decided to stay here.
Things I wish our city had? Malaysian food, more Japanese variety, more ethnic food, fresh live seafood/fish. Better Asian markets. If we got those I would be 100% content. :)
Thank you all so much for sharing. It is really cool to hear everyone's feelings about where they live. People seem to love Chicago! Chicago is on my list. DH is starting a program that only is in three parts of the US... Chicago is one of them :) So is Colorado, and New Mexico...
I live in Wisconsin. I can't say I am thrilled with it. The winters are the hardest I have experienced, and I lived in the Rockies! DH grew up next to Glacier Park! But the winters here, with the wind chill -20 or worse, it just makes for misery. We are both mountain people and we want to get back to those roots. We love being outside, and it is difficult in Wisconsin. Too hot, or too cold. We like Madison alright though aside from the weather. A lot of people are from here, and I prefer always a place where people move to. I am not really from here, although I am originally from the state. It is a tiny bit All-American here for me, but at least that comes with a really good University, good schools. I think I would like it better if we lived somewhere I could walk around- but currently we at least are next to nature. That is important to me.
It is expensive here! Not Wisconsin in general, but specifically Madison. I know Chicago and Co would be expensive too- but the outdoor recreation or all of the thing to do in CHicago and opportunity there would make it worth it to me... and honestly, my sister lives in CO Springs and pays less than we would here for something similar. She pays $1200 for a 3 bed 2.5 bath in a nice new part of town where she can also walk to things plus a fenced yard. I would be looking at $1500 in an ideal part of town here in Madison for something similar- or more!...
Anyway, it is great to here from all of you, thank you for sharing!
@regberadaisy: Oh my gosh! That is totally on my list! Chicago has a really good program for DH! And it is only 2-3 hours from where we are! Would make for easier moving...
We live in Chicago and we both love it! I couldn't imagine another city ever being home for us. It's just enough of a big city while still having lots of great tight-knit communities within it. Also, rent prices and what you get are a lot better than east coast cities like NYC and DC, so we're able to have certain amenities (and hopefully buy a condo soon) that we would have to go without in a bigger city.
I have heard the winters are bitter cold but I doubt worse than where you have lived prior? And the shopping, the food, the culture! Based on what I've seen on House Hunters though housing is pretty $$$$. :(
@regberadaisy: they are indeed - but I think spring, summer, and fall make up for it!
@cbee: How awesome that your work can go with you!
I live in a suburb of So Cal. I'm about an hour from LA and 2 hours from San Diego. FI is living at his parents' house and I am living at my parents' house- we're searching for a new home right now. The problem with the large city/suburb we live in is that there are awesome areas and awful ones. We are trying to find a home a few blocks away from my parents' home. The area is safe, has awesome schools, and is still devloping. It's a great place to raise a family and the lot sizes are pretty large. Depending on the street, property taxes AND HOA dues can be really high! So we have to be wary about that. We are not able to move as we are tied to our jobs. Good luck in your search!!
I live in South-central PA In general I love it here except in the winters. I HATE the cold, snow and ice and sometimes winters in PA are close to 5 months long! But I can't move now - I have tenure!
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