OT - Tell me where you live and your favorite and least favorite parts about the area

[warriorprincess]

I live in West Palm Beach, FL. I love it here. In the winter half of the year, our weather is almost always perfect, in the 70's and low 80's. In the summer, the ocean is nice and warm, there's plenty of kayaking, scuba, and other water sports. The Kravis Center has great broadway shows. There are full moon drumming nights on the beach. There are tons of things to do. My yard is a tropical paradise. But mostly, I love eternal summer. I never never never want to live in the cold weather.

The downside is having to board up for hurricanes. My DH is getting old enough that it takes a long time to put the shutters up, and it worries him to death.

And I get pretty sick of the rain towards the end of summer.

[psupam]

I live in Pittsburgh--grew up in central PA. I like having four seasons, and the cost of living here is reasonable. Healthcare is excellent. One thing I hate, in addition to the constant yakking about the Steelers, is the high number of overcast days, even in summer. The endless gray skies can really get me down.

[Paine]

I live in Southern California. The best part of living here is that all of my family live here and it's important to me to be within driving distance from family. I also love the weather here--it is beautiful all year and the cultural resources are wonderful. I hate the traffic, the crowds, the taxes and the cost of living here.

[bfit]

Someone asked me about my likes and dislikes in Hawaii. I liked that it was warm all the time, there were interesting things to do and places to go, lush vegetation, and not many barriers to outdoor exercise. On the other hand, the tropical climate came with high humidity, mold, mildew, bugs, and some very rainy days when it just poured. It is also expensive to live there.

[annette]

Originally Posted by kat999

I live in southwestern Ohio. My favorite thing here is that I live in a historical/urban area with lots of walkable access to restaurants, a free downtown bus, and yet I'm also within 30 minutes of wooded trails and a great local parks system. Our weather is also pretty fantastic from about March to November: lots of blue sky days and warmth, and it only gets "too" hot (for me) in late July/early August. Even on gray days during spring, summer, and fall, it's still usually warm enough to get outside.

My least favorite thing is the winter, though. This week it's been abruptly brutal, as it is many places in the U.S. Tons of snow, sleet, freezing cold temps, and I'm already not a winter person. Fortunately today it's dazzlingly sunny, so the snow does look pretty, but everything is shut down.

I will say that I appreciate the very low cost of living in my area. Many mid-size cities in Ohio offer amenities rivaling bigger cities yet the rents and mortgages are so, so much cheaper. We're able to afford a pretty huge home in a trendy area that was about 15% of what it would have cost in a bigger city.

Not too far from you! I live north of Cincinnati but south of Dayton. You're spot on about the cost of living in this area. I think being somewhat out of the Cincinnati area it might even be a bit better.

The humidity in the summer really gets to me now as I get older. In late July and August if there's anything to be done outside I do it in the early morning.

[Lori_Michigan]

Skip Michigan -- our 3 days of nice weather in the summer doesn't make the 8 months of winter worth it!

[cttx31]

I've been in Texas for 30 years. The winters are great (well except for the past few days of record cold!) but the summers are very very hot. But we still have a nice vegetable garden by starting things early. I love taking walks when it's 50 or 60 out, but in the summer there's no good time to walk. In the evening it's still in the 90's, and in the morning it may be about 72 but with the humidity that's still uncomfortable.

(Off topic) Izzy, I had to comment when you said you live in DeKalb county, IL. I'm in Texas now but have pretty deep roots near you. My mom's parents (Eriksson) farmed in Sandwich and Somonauk, and my mom's mom's parents (Arvidsons) were there before that. My mom's father came to that area from Sweden in 1927. One of my grandma's sisters married a Stahl and I remember about 1976 going to a big party for the 100 year anniversary of the family farm. Both of my parents graduated from NIU. Most of my family is still in northern Illinois.

[LindaL]

I’m about 45 minutes south of Warrior Princess in Florida. I haven’t lived in a cold climate since 1996 (I grew up in St. Louis and hate cold weather). I like winter in Florida, but the summers really get to me now. The incessant heat, not being able to open windows, the hurricanes that make you second guess your life choices... My kids are both out of the house, so there’s nothing really keeping us here except my job. I’m a teacher and don’t feel like having to take yet another test to be able to teach somewhere else. I fully realize that’s a flimsy excuse, but at the moment I don’t have the energy to really explore other possibilities. If we found a place we loved, I’d do what I had to do. I really love North Carolina and Arizona, but don’t know if I would want to live there.

Real estate is expensive here and I don’t love that it’s a “car to house” city where you never see people walking anywhere. The beach is nice, but we don’t go very often. DH and I love to hike and there are no mountains here, so that’s a bummer. It is very mellow here, and that can be a really nice thing.

[bzar]

Originally Posted by bfit

Someone asked me about my likes and dislikes in Hawaii. I liked that it was warm all the time, there were interesting things to do and places to go, lush vegetation, and not many barriers to outdoor exercise. On the other hand, the tropical climate came with high humidity, mold, mildew, bugs, and some very rainy days when it just poured. It is also expensive to live there.

true. how long did you live here?

The air is clean here except for the occasional volcano "vog." although i was born in Ohio, (parents born and raised here in Hawaii), i lived a majority of my life here.

it is expensive to live here, but with the right strategy, it's possible to get good paying jobs to offset the high cost of real estate.

Gilad lives here, but i have yet to take a class from him! how's that for a "positive" factor?

there are no snakes or rabies. the downside is that if you're bringing a pet into the state, they need to be quarantined.

there's many other negatives, as with anything.

[Izzy]

Originally Posted by cttx31

I've been in Texas for 30 years. The winters are great (well except for the past few days of record cold!) but the summers are very very hot. But we still have a nice vegetable garden by starting things early. I love taking walks when it's 50 or 60 out, but in the summer there's no good time to walk. In the evening it's still in the 90's, and in the morning it may be about 72 but with the humidity that's still uncomfortable.

(Off topic) Izzy, I had to comment when you said you live in DeKalb county, IL. I'm in Texas now but have pretty deep roots near you. My mom's parents (Eriksson) farmed in Sandwich and Somonauk, and my mom's mom's parents (Arvidsons) were there before that. My mom's father came to that area from Sweden in 1927. One of my grandma's sisters married a Stahl and I remember about 1976 going to a big party for the 100 year anniversary of the family farm. Both of my parents graduated from NIU. Most of my family is still in northern Illinois.

I am just north of NIU in Sycamore. I moved here 4 years ago. Originally from California but we moved to the north shore suburbs of Chicago where my mom grew up. When I got married I moved west to St Charles area then further west to Sycamore. Two of my kids are in Chicago and my closest sibling is in Indiana. All my other siblings went back west to California and Arizona. I love the small towns in this area. Sandwich is very popular.