So I am in Tucson for my mom’s 60th birthday–got in yesterday, leave Sunday. I grew up here. I spent the first 25 years of my life here. And I genuinely enjoy visiting. Mostly for the people I visit and the Mexican food. But I could never live here again. There are no trees! No grass! No flowers! Everything is flat (except the mountains, of course–and I do enjoy those) and brown. It’s too hot half of the year and it gets no real winter (real=snow). For these reasons I would never be happy living here again.
Did you move away from where you grew up, and could you ever move back?
I’ve been living in Phoenix for the last 7 years, moved here after living in Tucson for 15.
These days, whenever I visit family in Tucson, the place looks like a lush paradise. When I go out east, I get overwhelmed by the greenery. It’s almost too much.
I love the Main Line, and am glad I grew up there, but yes, I could never live there. For one thing, I don’t know anyone there anymore, and too many bittersweet memories.
(I agree with you about Tucson, by the way–I spent a week there, and the lack of grass and trees, and all the hippies, drove me mad)
Just to prove that every opinion has the opposite, I spent pretty much all the time in my life not living in Michigan wishing that I lived in Michigan. And I lived in some pretty nice places.
Right now I live in a very fun liberal county in the central Rocky Mountains. A ski area destination vacation place. Off of my deck just on the other side of my valley are snow covered 14,000 foot mountains. The view is breathtaking.
I grew up in Fredonia NY and most places in New York are at least a 6 out of 13 in places where I’d like to live, while Florida maxes out at 7. Rochester NY would be at least a 5. Ithaca would be an 11 out of 13, and could only be higher if it were closer to a big city for seeing bands and/or cultural events.
Never been to Tucson, but Albuquerque to me would be a 4.5, but it would lose points due to being in an ugly, hot, desert, not because of it’s “flatness except for the mountains”. I wouldn’t mind so much living in a flat place as long as I am surrounded by mountains.
My only reservation about moving back to Upstate NY is in too small of a small town, there is only one set of available friends and if you don’t like them there’s nowhere to turn to locally. Which is why Fredonia would be the smallest-sized community I’d consider moving to – it’s not so small that you can know everyone (and thus be in everyone’s business.)
i do miss the lakes, though.