Anybody NOT like where they currently live?

[General Malaise 22,046]

Bit of an offshoot on this thread, where I found myself boasting like a peacock about my current state, Oregon.  Funny thing is, 20 year old me would have boasted just as much about my home state of Texas.  

Very much enjoyed the back and forth in that thread and cool to see people that are proud of where they live (or, in some cases, cool to see guys discuss where they'd prefer to live vs where they live now).

But I'm curious, how many of you DO NOT like your current home state/city?  What do you not like about it and where would you prefer to live?  Do you plan on changing this in the future or are you resigned to the fact that you might be stuck where you live (perhaps it's family or a job that is keeping your rooted in place).

 

[Dan Lambskin 11,733]

I don’t think I’ll ever leave Michigan, but I wouldn’t mind a bigger house in a nicer neighborhood 

 

[wikkidpissah 12,230]

I'm a high-desert guy, trapped east by caring for peeps much longer than i thought i'd have to. Moved away from Boston in the 70s - didnt like humidity, bugs or shoveling ten inches of paaaahtly cloudy off the driveway. High desert rid me of that and gained me much more - vistas, most importantly. Visible horizons keep one humble, the scale of a life in perspective. Back east where it's all land rescued from trees, either nature, population or both crowd the soul and bring out the buggish side of human nature. Don't like that or them and cannot wait to be rescued.

[El Floppo 21,892]

I may be reaching my limit soon. 30 years, NYC has gone through a lot of changes good and bad. but starting to feel the pinch and feel like the young-20s demographic isn't something I'm enjoying being around much... especially given my neighborhood is a bar/club zone for them- even boozy brunches now. puking and general low-level self-involved childish idiocy pretty much every night. I'd almost rather trade in the fear of getting jumped by junkies times for this- at least then I could be diligent about safety and was without all the rest of the bs.

[Tecumseh 1,241]

Pretty burned out on Atlanta. Too much traffic, too many people. Once my kid is off to college in a year or so, we'll be hitting the road to travel, and then buy a place on the beach.

[Chemical X 4,863]

I don't hate the Raleigh area, but I wouldn't say I like it.  Think I am passing thru to something different.

[Slapdash 14,410]

I live in Charlotte.  The cost of living/compensation ratio is fantastic and allowed us to save a ton of money for retirement in our 20s.  We are a couple of hours from both of our families.  Tons of sports to go to here and nearby.

The downside is the weather is completely awful during the summer/adjacent months (less so than where I grew-up).  Pretty much a cultural wasteland, unless we are talking about the proliferation of microbreweries.  Very jealous of the West Coast guys on the downsides, but hasn't been worth the tradeoffs so far. 

[General Malaise 22,046]

5 minutes ago, wikkidpissah said:

I'm a high-desert guy, trapped east by caring for peeps much longer than i thought i'd have to. Moved away from Boston in the 70s - didnt like humidity, bugs or shoveling ten inches of paaaahtly cloudy off the driveway. High desert rid me of that and gained me much more - vistas, most importantly. Visible horizons keep one humble, the scale of a life in perspective. Back east where it's all land rescued from trees, either nature, population or both crowd the soul and bring out the buggish side of human nature. Don't like that or them and cannot wait to be rescued.

I think you're the closest thing this board has to a true poet.

[KCitons 3,824]

[General Malaise 22,046]

2 minutes ago, Tecumseh said:

Pretty burned out on Atlanta. Too much traffic, too many people. Once my kid is off to college in a year or so, we'll be hitting the road to travel, and then buy a place on the beach.

Yeah, I can only imagine what you deal with in Atlanta in this regard.  I complain about it in Portland and it's 10x worse in Seattle.  But I've heard Atlanta is about as bad it gets for congestion.  Yuck.  

Would you stay in Georgia?

[General Malaise 22,046]

6 minutes ago, El Floppo said:

I may be reaching my limit soon. 30 years, NYC has gone through a lot of changes good and bad. but starting to feel the pinch and feel like the young-20s demographic isn't something I'm enjoying being around much... especially given my neighborhood is a bar/club zone for them- even boozy brunches now. puking and general low-level self-involved childish idiocy pretty much every night. I'd almost rather trade in the fear of getting jumped by junkies times for this- at least then I could be diligent about safety and was without all the rest of the bs.

Can't imagine living in NYC.  Probably because I've never been there.

Sounds hectic to me.

[General Malaise 22,046]

4 minutes ago, Chemical X said:

I don't hate the Raleigh area, but I wouldn't say I like it.  Think I am passing thru to something different.

What happened to Italy?  You were living the dream!

[Chemical X 4,863]

1 minute ago, General Malaise said:

What happened to Italy?  You were living the dream!

Delayed

[El Floppo 21,892]

4 minutes ago, General Malaise said:

Can't imagine living in NYC.  Probably because I've never been there.

Sounds hectic to me.

sweet jeebus... I forget this absolutely insane point.

fwiw- it's as easy to live here as it's ever been, which is why its become so popular for the yutes. used to be punishment for the kind of lack of diligent/respectful behavior I see to frequently these days. now it's like sorrority row with brahs and bras- the type of people the city used to chew up and spit out within a year. and there's a lot of good parts to that lack of chewing/spitting in terms of life/property safety... especially since my kids are growing up here. but it's tiring seeing my tween act more responsibly than the dopes around us.

[mr roboto 7,622]

Minnesota. Twin Cities. Love the state, the people are generally great too. My neighborhood is awesome. Pool parties, BBQs, schools are great, tons of parks, lakes, bike paths. Great golf courses. Lots of friends and family here too.

Phenomenal job market, lots of different places to live (city, burbs, farmland 25 miles from downtown)  

May-Oct is awesome. 

Winters are BRUTAL. But if they weren’t the area would be twice as big and would loose a lot of what I love about it. 

If it weren’t for family I’d be happy living in any mid-sized metro in the Midwest/Southeast. 

[Tecumseh 1,241]

10 minutes ago, General Malaise said:

Yeah, I can only imagine what you deal with in Atlanta in this regard.  I complain about it in Portland and it's 10x worse in Seattle.  But I've heard Atlanta is about as bad it gets for congestion.  Yuck.  

Would you stay in Georgia?

At this point, no. The only thing I'd consider is maybe having a cabin in the mountains that we could rent out, but there are better places for that. 

Fortunately with my job, I can pick up 13 week contracts basically anywhere in the country (and make more than I make here), so my wife and I are going to bounce around for a year or two and see all the places we want to see. Hopefully we'll be able to bank a decent amount of cash in the process, then move down to a quiet little section of the panhandle that we love. I really, really need to live on the beach.

[General Malaise 22,046]

16 minutes ago, KCitons said:

Well?  Where you at?

[General Malaise 22,046]

6 minutes ago, El Floppo said:

sweet jeebus... I forget this absolutely insane point.

fwiw- it's as easy to live here as it's ever been, which is why its become so popular for the yutes. used to be punishment for the kind of lack of diligent/respectful behavior I see to frequently these days. now it's like sorrority row with brahs and bras- the type of people the city used to chew up and spit out within a year. and there's a lot of good parts to that lack of chewing/spitting in terms of life/property safety... especially since my kids are growing up here. but it's tiring seeing my tween act more responsibly than the dopes around us.

How do they afford to live there?  

[Scoresman 6,026]

I love the SF Bay Area and in terms of geography and weather I feel its the best in the nation, but the realization that my wife and I will likely never be able to own a home here is having us looking at moving.  We absolutely love Portland and if my current job ever had an opening there we would probably move in a heartbeat.  Rain doesn't bother us at all and we're used to homeless people, being from SF.  But there's also the fact that a lot of people in Portland hate California transplants.  

[zamboni 3,439]

32 minutes ago, El Floppo said:

I may be reaching my limit soon. 30 years, NYC has gone through a lot of changes good and bad. but starting to feel the pinch and feel like the young-20s demographic isn't something I'm enjoying being around much... especially given my neighborhood is a bar/club zone for them- even boozy brunches now. puking and general low-level self-involved childish idiocy pretty much every night. I'd almost rather trade in the fear of getting jumped by junkies times for this- at least then I could be diligent about safety and was without all the rest of the bs.

I'm out in the suburbs, so I don't have the same perspective with the city as I used to, but agree overall.

Basically the NYC region is just too freaking expensive, but am tied up until my kids are in college. Am concerned about what living here just about my whole working life has already done to my retirement prospects. 

Edited July 15 by zamboni

[General Malaise 22,046]

7 minutes ago, Scoresman said:

I love the SF Bay Area and in terms of geography and weather I feel its the best in the nation, but the realization that my wife and I will likely never be able to own a home here is having us looking at moving.  We absolutely love Portland and if my current job ever had an opening there we would probably move in a heartbeat.  Rain doesn't bother us at all and we're used to homeless people, being from SF.  But there's also the fact that a lot of people in Portland hate California transplants.  

I don't think it's a fact.  You've driven our housing prices up, so that's nice!  There's a lot of transplants in Portland.  I think the hatred of Californians is way overblown.  IMO.  

[El Floppo 21,892]

23 minutes ago, General Malaise said:

How do they afford to live there?  

they move 4 of them into a 1 or 2BR apt, using their parents as financial guarantors. 

if we had to move, we couldn't afford to live anywhere close to where we've been living... partially because those kids are taking all the inventory meant for families (and because I don't make anywhere near enough to qualify us for them on my own, and don't have parents to act as guarantors).

[ridicule 147]

Illinois in general can kiss my ###. 

[identikit 1,165]

As soon as I retire, I'm out of Seattle.

 

The cost of living, the supreme idiots in charge, the traffic

 

I'll be off like a prom dress when that day arrives.

 

[guru_007 468]

Can't say if I really don't like it in Houston, but I'm definitely going to be retiring elsewhere.

I can rattle off a half dozen things about this place which are great.  I can then rattle off another half dozen things about this place which I can't stand.  Living here I suppose has just been a means to an end - retiring early, to wherever we want to live the rest of our life.  It will not be here though, and more than likely not Texas at all.  

 

 

[tonydead 4,857]

Just now, identikit said:

As soon as I retire, I'm out of Seattle.

 

The cost of living, the supreme idiots in charge, the traffic

 

I'll be off like a prom dress when that day arrives.

 

  Don't forget the dark drizzly rain 8 plus months of the year, and all the homeless.

[Steve Tasker 6,475]

I wouldn't say I hate Buffalo, but I wouldn't say I love it either. 

Economically, it's very depressed, and still a very segregated area.  Local government is full of bloat and corruption with little incentive to change (ex. Buffalo Billion).  Taxes are very high across the board - sales taxes, property taxes, income taxes.  The weather isn't as bad as the national perception, but I certainly wouldn't call it "good" weather.  The median age has to be significantly higher than other cities - everyone here is old, for lack of a better description.  Recent surge in development can be best described as lipstick on a pig (ex. Bak USA).  Buffalo people embrace a "blue collar" mentality and have some sort of weird defensive chip-on-the-shoulder, which gets to me sometimes.

It's not all bad, though.  My wife and I both have very good jobs for the Western New York area, and own a house that would be astronomically more expensive in other metros.  Most of both of our families are here.  Plenty of good schools, universities, and healthcare here.  We have 2 major sports teams and enough to do otherwise (arts, music, etc.) to keep me occupied.  The architecture here is beautiful, as is the Olmsted Park system, and both are jewels that deserve national recognition. 

Buffalo will always be "home", but I'm not necessarily married to the place permanently.  I don't see myself moving anytime soon, though.

[NutterButter 5,060]

I'm perfectly content with nj.  I hate winters in general bc of the shortened daylight and certainly bc of the cold.   Hoping a couple of warmer weather trips will help with that.   Cant say for certain whether a change in locale will make much of s difference.   Cali,Oregon,Washington and Colorado are all nice but each have their own drawbacks.  I'll probably just move wherever my kids wind up.  Nj would be nice for retirement if I snowbird somewhere warm.  

[Wingnut 2,699]

Just moved to the outskirts of Tampa last October and could not be happier. I only moved about 25 miles from where I was (more inland), but I've been wanting to move to Tampa for 10+ years.

Moved to Florida Michigan back in 1994, best move I ever made. Hated Michigan.

Edited July 15 by Wingnut

[James Daulton 8,493]

Live in a western suburb of Baltimore in a nice little town.  Was a great place to raise our kids, schools were good, close to Baltimore/DC/NYC, etc but it's stale for me now.  I really want to live on the water near Annapolis but the wife will have none of it.  If I can't convince her we'll pick up a vacation place down the shore in a year or two but for now I'm a bit frustrated. 

[MAC_32 7,626]

I can't think of much Cleveland does not have that I would get elsewhere. Mountains are really it.  Probably why my ideal 2nd home sometime decades from now is out west.  Just about anything else you would want outdoors is within an hour of wherever you decide to live.  Cost of living is dirt cheap. Food's great, wide variety too.  If anything the craft beer industry has flooded.  Professional sports are a way of life. Like many MW cities, people are great.  Downtown is night and day what it was 10-20 years ago.  Traffic is mostly avoidable and what of it there is pales in comparison to most cities. What else do people hate about where they live?

Only real con is obvious - winter.  And I'd rather deal with January and February here when I don't have much free time anyway then get more out of May-August when I have more free time. Like most MW cities, Fall is outstanding here and unlike most MW cities it isn't often that Summer gets unbearable. 

[Eephus 16,310]

I love SF and will probably die here after being run over by a tech bro on an electric scooter.  But there's more to dislike here with each passing year.  We're blessed to be largely insulated from the high cost of living which has exacerbated divisions between the haves and have nots and turned the city into a perpetual construction site.  I've had this discussion with Mrs. Eephus a hundred times; if you don't like change, don't choose to live in a city.  Residents have limited influence on what kind of change results.  All in all, it's better to live someplace where there is investment and growth than a city that's slowly dying.

[DA RAIDERS 3,080]

i love where i am in socal. that being said, i'd love to move to the mountains and really want to have 5+ acres of land.*

 

*i pretty much hate people now a days.   

[KCitons 3,824]

1 hour ago, General Malaise said:

Well?  Where you at?

Omaha, Nebraska.

[sublimeone 860]

1 hour ago, ridicule said:

Illinois in general can kiss my ###. 

I left 2.5 years ago... haven't regretted it for a moment.

[Ilov80s 20,102]

I’m quite happy with SE Michigan 

[Steve Tasker 6,475]

45 minutes ago, MAC_32 said:

I can't think of much Cleveland does not have that I would get elsewhere. Mountains are really it.  Probably why my ideal 2nd home sometime decades from now is out west.  Just about anything else you would want outdoors is within an hour of wherever you decide to live.  Cost of living is dirt cheap. Food's great, wide variety too.  If anything the craft beer industry has flooded.  Professional sports are a way of life. Like many MW cities, people are great.  Downtown is night and day what it was 10-20 years ago.  Traffic is mostly avoidable and what of it there is pales in comparison to most cities. What else do people hate about where they live?

Only real con is obvious - winter.  And I'd rather deal with January and February here when I don't have much free time anyway then get more out of May-August when I have more free time. Like most MW cities, Fall is outstanding here and unlike most MW cities it isn't often that Summer gets unbearable. 

I feel like you can cut and paste this for most Rust Belt cities and have a similar writeup.  Detroit, Cleveland, and Buffalo have always felt like brother/sister cities of varying sizes.  Can probably throw in Rochester, NY and some other Rust Belt OH/MI cities that I've never been to (Akron? Toledo? etc) as well.

[bucksoh 349]

Love where I currently live northwest ohio.  But have a couple of horrible neighbors.  Looking to move or build just to get away from them.

[moleculo 6,530]

2 hours ago, Slapdash said:

I live in Charlotte.  The cost of living/compensation ratio is fantastic and allowed us to save a ton of money for retirement in our 20s.  We are a couple of hours from both of our families.  Tons of sports to go to here and nearby.

The downside is the weather is completely awful during the summer/adjacent months (less so than where I grew-up).  Pretty much a cultural wasteland, unless we are talking about the proliferation of microbreweries.  Very jealous of the West Coast guys on the downsides, but hasn't been worth the tradeoffs so far. 

I wouldn't live in Charlotte if I had a do-over.  There aren't the jobs here in my industry (product design/engineering) that you would have in Raleigh, Silicon Valley, Boston, Denver, etc.  Charlotte itself is nice because it's close to a lot of cool stuff, but it's not cool itself.  I'd rather be somewhere more interesting.   That being said, we probably aren't going anywhere anytime soon.  My kids are middle-school aged, my wife has her real-estate career moving, my career is finally progressing, we probably aren't pulling up roots for at least 10 more years.

[Foosball God 2,504]

Northern Virginia area has a lot to offer but it is just a place to make some money before retiring somewhere else.  It won't be hard to move when the time is right.

[Foosball God 2,504]

47 minutes ago, Ilov80s said:

I’m quite happy with SE Michigan 

It sucks.  Mid/Northern Michigan is great though.  The only thing I miss about SE Michigan is family and a decent coney.

[Slapdash 14,410]

20 minutes ago, moleculo said:

I wouldn't live in Charlotte if I had a do-over.  There aren't the jobs here in my industry (product design/engineering) that you would have in Raleigh, Silicon Valley, Boston, Denver, etc.  Charlotte itself is nice because it's close to a lot of cool stuff, but it's not cool itself.  I'd rather be somewhere more interesting.   That being said, we probably aren't going anywhere anytime soon.  My kids are middle-school aged, my wife has her real-estate career moving, my career is finally progressing, we probably aren't pulling up roots for at least 10 more years.

Dunno if I would do a do-over here either, but my industry runs the city so its a bit different.  Just wish the city had more going on during my 20s.

[WDIK2 485]

I wouldn't put my home state on a top 25 list.  I don't hate it, it's just that I think many other places are better.

Then there is the small town issues.  There are for sure some positives and I love my friends and family, but damn, try being a single 50 year old in a small town.  My daughter goes to school out of state and may live out of state full-time after this year of college.  Would be a good time for me to move.

[Al Czervik 188]

1 hour ago, Ilov80s said:

I’m quite happy with SE Michigan 

This past winter really did me in.  Last kid has two more years of high school.  We are close to finding a place with a much shorter winter.

[Ilov80s 20,102]

1 minute ago, Al Czervik said:

This past winter really did me in.  Last kid has two more years of high school.  We are close to finding a place with a much shorter winter.

Yeah, winter is a pain in the ### for sure. But I am also a teacher so every time it's a snowstorm, I get a day off work. 

[Andy Dufresne 7,734]

The weather in MN is pretty great June-October. But then that's road construction season. And boy, is this year a doozy. I think every interstate, county road, street, and sidewalk is under repair from MSP to Duluth/Rochester/Mankato/St. Cloud. It's nearly intolerable.

The winters are 7 months of misery.

And I'm too conservative for the liberals and too liberal for the conservatives.

I can't wait to move. Or at least be gone Nov-May.

[Ilov80s 20,102]

7 minutes ago, Andy Dufresne said:

The weather in MN is pretty great June-October. But then that's road construction season. And boy, is this year a doozy. I think every interstate, county road, street, and sidewalk is under repair from MSP to Duluth/Rochester/Mankato/St. Cloud. It's nearly intolerable.

The winters are 7 months of misery.

And I'm too conservative for the liberals and too liberal for the conservatives.

I can't wait to move. Or at least be gone Nov-May.

Nice, where are you headed to?

[AcerFC 3,735]

[Andy Dufresne 7,734]

1 minute ago, Ilov80s said:

Nice, where are you headed to?

The target is probably somewhere in Arizona. We're not east coasters at all. Florida is too humid. Texas is too Texas.

[Ilov80s 20,102]

3 minutes ago, Andy Dufresne said:

The target is probably somewhere in Arizona. We're not east coasters at all. Florida is too humid. Texas is too Texas.

That is going to be a big climate jump from Minnesota! The idea of never shoveling snow again doesn't sound bad at all. 

Edited July 15 by Ilov80s