# Do you have a hometown? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 19, 2014, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-hometown/684111 "2014-03-19T20:25:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21825_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-hometown/684111/1 "2014-03-19T20:25:01Z")
I was just looking at my FB profile and there’s a blank where they ask for hometown. I was born in San Diego, grew up in the suburbs of Baltimore, left home at 19 when I joined the Navy, and I’ve lived a variety of places since then. My folks moved from my childhood home about 6 years after I left. I now live about 87 miles from where I grew up and just over 100 miles from my mom. I don’t consider either place my hometown. The place where I grew up is just one of the crowded neighborhoods of row houses occupied by strangers. I never lived in the house my folks bought. I don’t think if either place with the sentimental longing for the old homestead. Do you have a place you think of as “home” even though you no longer live there? ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-hometown/684111/2 "2014-03-19T20:28:25Z")
There’s a place I lived for ten years, and came back to to visit my parents for ten more years. I have that on Facebook as my hometown, though it’s not where I was born and I may never go there again. ---
**Author:** ![simply\_cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@simply\_cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simply_cats)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-hometown/684111/3 "2014-03-19T20:29:27Z")
I was just thinking of this recently, because of Facebook. I really don’t consider any place I’ve lived my “hometown,” so I steadfastly refuse to choose one for Facebook 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-hometown/684111/4 "2014-03-19T20:32:30Z")
Yes, and fortunately, I live less than an hour away from it. I grew up in a neighborhood a few miles south of Alexandria, Virginia called Hollin Hills. We moved into the neighborhood when I was 6, and my parents didn’t move out until after I was in college. I may have been born on the other side of the country, but living from age 6 to age 18 in one place pretty much defines it as the place you grew up, as the place you’re from. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-hometown/684111/5 "2014-03-19T20:32:50Z")
Yes, my old neighborhood in the Bronx, though I haven’t lived there for 45 years, since I moved away to college. My mother still lives there, though (in the house she was born in and I grew up in), and I go back to visit several times a year. The neighborhood still looks very much the same, although it’s gone from being Irish/Italian to Puerto Rican/Dominican/Chinese/Korean/West Indian/Pakistani/You-Name-It. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-hometown/684111/6 "2014-03-19T20:33:34Z")
No. It might be because we never lived “in town.” We were in the country. Or maybe it’s because I really just don’t tend to get attached to areas. I dunno. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-hometown/684111/7 "2014-03-19T20:37:04Z")
My story is similar. I was born on an army base in a town where my dad was stationed, as it turns out, in preparation for WWII. We moved from base to base until I was three or so and then settled for a few years where my parents were from before the army years. We moved to a nearby town for a couple years and then returned there for my grammar school years. We moved again for my high school years. The I came to Nashville for college and have been here ever since. It’s hard to label any one of those places as my “hometown.” So I tend to go with Nashville. The only other logical choice would be the place where I went to grammar school unless you count “going home” as visiting my parents in the place where I went to high school. They were there the rest of their lives. ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-hometown/684111/8 "2014-03-19T20:41:17Z")
I moved to the town I grew up in when I was 7. My mother has lived in the same house for 50 years so that is home town to me. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-hometown/684111/9 "2014-03-19T20:45:51Z")
Yes. I still live there, on the other side of town. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-hometown/684111/10 "2014-03-19T20:48:12Z")
Yup, and I’m living here now. I don’t meet many people nowadays who truly consider themselves from somewhere, regardless of if they have a hometown or not. Seems like most people wander about or have never really felt settled in an area. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-hometown/684111/11 "2014-03-19T20:56:48Z")
I grew up during grades K-6 in Latham, NY, so that’s mine. I was born in a different country, was an infant while my family moved to San Francisco, then Evanston IL; and then my JHS and HS years were in Connecticut. We moved to San Francisco after that and I’ve been in or near SF ever since. So, I picked Latham. ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-hometown/684111/12 "2014-03-19T21:03:22Z")
Military brat. We always moved every couple of years. No home town. My parents were originally from adjacent small towns, and there are still some distant relatives there, so that’s as close as I might get. Haven’t been there in many years. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-hometown/684111/13 "2014-03-19T21:26:48Z")
I lived in the same house for K-12, so even though I haven’t lived there in 45 years, I consider it my hometown. As regards Facebook, though, the less information I post the better, so I just leave that and education blank. My dogs, however, have Chihuahua, Mexico as their hometown on their pages because they are, as you can guess, chihuahuas. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-hometown/684111/14 "2014-03-19T21:45:12Z")
Yes, though, interestingly, I only effectively lived there for 8 years. I consider Green Bay to be my home town, despite: - I was born in San Jose, CA (but only lived there for 3 months) - I then lived in suburban Chicago until my 10th birthday, when we moved to Green Bay - I spent 98% of my time from ages 18-24 in Madison, attending the University of Wisconsin, and earning my bachelors and masters degrees - I’ve lived back in suburban Chicago since I left Madison, 25 years ago It undoubtedly helps Green Bay’s case that my parents and sister still live up there, and I still go back several times a year to visit. It also helps that I’m a Packer fan, with season tickets. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-hometown/684111/15 "2014-03-19T21:51:13Z")
Yep and I bought my house here. I’m a total homer. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-hometown/684111/16 "2014-03-19T21:56:26Z")
We live four miles from the hospital where my wife was born, and she has lived in this area ever since. ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-hometown/684111/17 "2014-03-19T22:01:11Z")
My mother, sister and both my living brothers still live in the hometown. Well, next to oldest brother lives in a town twelve miles away but still close. Dad and my younger brother are deceased but buried there, so I can say they lived and died there. Anywho, yes I do have a hometown. I believe it’s in my fb profile. I refer to it often as Ye Olde Hometowne. ---
**Author:** ![tonyfop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/85f322/32.png) [@tonyfop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonyfop)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-hometown/684111/18 "2014-03-19T22:06:49Z")
My parents still live in the house I grew up in. I am now 44. They have lived in that house since 1961. That place is listed as my hometown on Facebook. When my parents are gone, I will never go back there, but it will always be my home. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-hometown/684111/19 "2014-03-19T22:37:58Z")
I lived at least a dozen different places in our part of town, three times on the same street. The bulk of my teenage years was spent waaay out in the country but my childhood and adulthood was spent in my East TN hometown, until we moved here to FL. I still know every nook and cranny of the area, if not the interstate. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-hometown/684111/20 "2014-03-19T23:02:51Z")
I have a town I consider my hometown, but it isn’t the town I was born and raised in. So there are situations like mine. For a lot of us, getting out of a bad town we are born into and getting into a good town makes the new town feel like home. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-hometown/684111.md?page=2)