How happy are you with where you live...

[Christien]

What I don't understand is you guys saying 4/10 and not moving. Life is short, far too short to spend your time miserable. I understand work commitments, but what kind of job is worth hating where you live?

[RWebb]

for Denver, add "Grady" to the Pro category

(but add air pollution & traffic to the Con category; also a sort of blah mid-western culture)

[tevake]

Been living in bliss here near the end of the road on Kauai N. shore for years. A waterman's paradise. Incredible nature place. Weather can be wet at times, Got to rest from the sun and surf once in a while.
9 out of 10, now that I'm into sports cars for fun. The tracks, drivers ed, autox's etc available on the mainland do call. Oh yea and the call of the open road!
Maybe now 8/10

Cheers Richard

PS no Porsche shop on island:-(

We live just inland from the small cove in the middle of this pic.


This photo of Haena is courtesy of TripAdvisor

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by Christien

What I don't understand is you guys saying 4/10 and not moving. Life is short, far too short to spend your time miserable. I understand work commitments, but what kind of job is worth hating where you live?

my children and grandchildren are here.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by Christien

What I don't understand is you guys saying 4/10 and not moving. Life is short, far too short to spend your time miserable. I understand work commitments, but what kind of job is worth hating where you live?

Cindy was born here, I arrived at age 4...so, "people connections". But, both of us getting more than tired of "blue Oregon" with the weird in Portland dominating the politics of the entire state. Indeed, Oregon is a "people's republic" now. That's going to get worse with the all left wing legislature in session and a left wing governor. So...maybe I can talk Cindy into moving someday.

I think it's pretty sad that in today's USA, people consider moving as political refugees, but there it is.
So much for Obama's administration uniting us. The political division in this country is huge now.

Also, it's a real PITA to move at our age...both officially "seniors". Plus, our home itself isn't that bad location wise. Semi rural on a road that doesn't really go anywhere. As likely to see traffic consisting of farm equipment as cars.

[exc911ence]

Originally Posted by Christien

What I don't understand is you guys saying 4/10 and not moving. Life is short, far too short to spend your time miserable. I understand work commitments, but what kind of job is worth hating where you live?

This.

I moved east for a government job with juicy benefits so I could enjoy a comfortable retirement... 6 years later, I'm desperate to leave. I've been joking about being in "Pension Jail" but the reality has hit that this is exactly what I'm living... just doing time until I'm released. That is a terrible situation to be in and a wasteful way for us to be living, which is why my wife and I are working very hard to find opportunities back home on Vancouver Island so we can be happier. When work becomes your life, it's time for a new life.

[rcooled]

I'd have to rate California's Monterey Bay Area (and Santa Cruz in particular) as a 9 1/2 outa 10. The climate is near perfect...not too hot in summer, not too chilly in winter. It's never humid, there are no mosquitoes and nary a drop of rain falls between May & October. The beach is a 10 minute bike ride away and there's a world-class surf break on the west side of town (Jack O'Neil, inventor of the wetsuit, lives here and the Beach Boys mention it in the lyrics of Surfin' USA). San Francisco is less than 2 hours north on the Pacific Coast Highway and Monterey (think Laguna Seca Raceway and Pebble Beach Concours) is only 45 min. to the south. Winter skiing and summer boating at Lake Tahoe is about a 4-hour drive, as is Yosemite Natn'l Park. The Napa Valley wine country is 3 hours north. There's a yacht harbor and a University of CA campus in town and abundant employment opportunities just over the hill in Silicon Valley. There's a vibrant music & arts scene as well, with national touring acts stopping to play one of several small clubs in between gigs in SF & LA. The Golden State Warriors have a development league team that plays here and the Redwood forests in the hills above town are great for hiking, fishing, mountain biking and camping.
The down-sides: Being a beach town, it gets busy with tourists in the summer months. Proximity to Silicon Valley and a shortage of buildable land help keep housing costs quite high for a small town. The generally left-leaning politics can get a bit old if it's not your thing and the occasional earthquake will shake things up a bit.

But all in all, it's simply a great place to live.

[speeder]

Now we're talking. ^^^

[jyl]

I see a pattern in the ratings.

[ckelly78z]

Originally Posted by exc911ence

This.

I moved east for a government job with juicy benefits so I could enjoy a comfortable retirement... 6 years later, I'm desperate to leave. I've been joking about being in "Pension Jail" but the reality has hit that this is exactly what I'm living... just doing time until I'm released. That is a terrible situation to be in and a wasteful way for us to be living, which is why my wife and I are working very hard to find opportunities back home on Vancouver Island so we can be happier. When work becomes your life, it's time for a new life.

Yea, basically the same here with pension jail, except that I have a decently high paying factory job with great benefits, 5 weeks of vacation, a 401K with matching funds, A N D a decent company pension from a top 100 company. I have been there 14 years and have major seniority on first shift, and only need another 14 years to retire at 62 Y/O.

My house and barns are on 10 acres here, and are 4 years from being paid off and not a bad place to live in this area. I have a 20 year old, a 19 year old, and a 14 year old still at home right now, so absolute minimum for doing anything is 4.5 years from now when my 14 y/o graduates high school.

I can't just go moving on a whim and hope that there is a job for me, so I will wait until I retire and don't need to work and have expendable investment income and try to move to an area that doesn't have alot of growth or development.

[Baz]

Richard and rcooled.....VERY VERY VERY NICE!

[tevake]

Thanks Baz! Hawaii is cool, Santa Cruz is very very cooooool! Burrr. Nice though.

Cheers Richard

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by jyl

I see a pattern in the ratings.

curious.

[Aggie93]

Moved to Pittsburgh 4 years ago (from Dallas) and it has beat expectations. I admit expectations were low.

I think I would give it 7. But, 4 years ago it would have been 3-4.

Pros
Summers (not used to being able to be outside for over 20 minutes without soaking your shirt).
Smaller town feel, big city amenities.
Traffic is not bad (I don't have to go through a tunnel).
Weekend trips abound. Toronto 5 hours, DC 4.5 hours, Philly 5 hours, NYC 6 hours, Chicago 8-9.
Outdoor activities (we are starting to get into whitewater kayaking)
A future pro (I hope), several tracks within 5 hours for track time.

Cons
Winters (not horrible, but not great)
Steelers fans.
Restaurants and food in general.
No family here
Rain and overcast a lot.
My wife will have to change careers once the companies restructuring is complete. No property & casualty insurance companies in Pittsburgh (she is an actuary).

My youngest daughter will graduate in six years. I doubt we will be here much after that. I doubt we'll head back to Texas either. I've been thinking about NC. I like the idea of being close to mountains and the beach. I don't think I would like living with the crowds and expense of CA.

[Tim Hancock]

I have about 9 acres (5 of which is a runway) in flat NW Ohio farmland. I would not trade it for anything and hope to live here the rest of my life.... It is my home and it is paid for. I can and sometimes do travel to the mountains, oceans etc, but my favorite use of vacation time is to stay home and play in my heated/air conditioned shop (my wife does not share views in regard to vacation time).

That said, I would be equally happy in other parts of the country so long as I had my grass runway, no neighbors to beotch, my shooting range, 4 seasons and my well equipped shop to spend my free time working on projects.

At 46, I could NEVER live in a subdivision or the city ever again. I enjoy my freedom to do what I want on my property.

I lived in a city during my college years, but going to clubs every night and wasting my life partying is not what I enjoy anymore as an adult. I will take my wife's nightly home cooked meals any day over blowing my hard earned dollars at swanky over priced restaurants (once again my wife may disagree somewhat).

I guess I should be thankful that I will never need to worry about moving my 46 years of collected treasures across the country in search of a different climate or view out my shop window.

[95avblm3]

Opposite FL coast from Baz here. I'd give it a 9/10. I'm typing this from my family room watching the sunset over Tampa Bay right now. It is about 68 outside and the sun is getting low in the sky. Yes, it gets hot and humid in the summer, but a half hour gets you to the Gulf beaches where there is a consistent seabreeze that makes the humidity tolerable and the bugs go away. It would be a 10/10 except that we are a day's travel from pretty much any snow skiing (I'm a native of FL but can't water ski to save myself... snow skiing, no prob) and the threat of tropical weather systems from June to November.

Oh, and no state income tax.

[recycled sixtie]

What I understand from some folks on this forum is that the reason they live where they do is because of money. Either they are still working and waiting until retirement before moving or possibly like us not moving but travelling to warmer climates for holidays or breaks from the cold weather.....

Another reason is living close to relatives.

[recycled sixtie]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

8 the good thing about living here is almost any place you visit is a treat. The Spain thread has me thinking about selling the real estate and Porsches and moving on in a few years.

My sister and bro in law in the UK asked me about moving to Spain about 15 years ago - they used to have a house in Spain as a holiday retreat. I suggested that their UK home was central(1 hour drive from London) and that they could travel anywhere from there. Since then they have done a lot of travelling and are still in the same location in the Uk.

As an aside don't take for granted that property laws are universal. Just because you bought a house in Spain does not mean it is exempt from somebody else claiming you don't own all of it.Add to that the high youth unemployment rate. If you don't speak Spanish you are at a disadvantage. As a simulation been to Mexico lately?

[rcooled]

Originally Posted by tevake

Santa Cruz is very very cooooool! Burrr

Tough to beat the tropical climate in Hawaii...that's for sure. Looks like you have a stellar set-up there.

BTW...it was 74*F here 2 days ago.

[fintstone]

There is more to consider than relative climate, etc. Living a few miles from a beautiful beach in a tiny, ghetto apartment is likely not as desireable as a large house on a rural 10 acres to some. It would be an easier decision if finances/cost of living/employment were equal everywhere.