# Geography Survey: Where have you spent the most time in your life? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 22, 2005, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-survey-where-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-your-life/295744 "2005-03-22T17:57:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2005, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-survey-where-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-your-life/295744/1 "2005-03-22T17:57:42Z")
A simple question: What are the 10 cities/towns in which you’ve spent the most time in your life? This need not be limited strictly to the cities where you’ve lived. Maybe it’s a city in which you worked for a long time, or somewhere you visited regularly (vacation, hobby, family, etc.). Even if you’ve never felt you’ve gone many places, there still must be 10 cities/towns you’ve spent time in (even one crazy weekend) to fill out your list. Also, list the 5 countries you’ve spent the most time in, and for US Dopers, the 5 states you’ve spent the most time in as well. Cities 1. **San Diego, CA** (15 years residence, plus family visits) 2. **Berkeley, CA** (8 years residence, plus frequent visitor) 3. **Oakland, CA** (7+ years residence) 4. **Quito, Ecuador** (3 years residence, plus family visits) 5. **Nicasio, CA** (4+ years workplace) 6. **San Francisco, CA** (2 years workplace, plus frequent visitor) 7. **Escondido, CA** (attended church 3 times/week for 12 years, plus shopping, errands, etc.) 8. **Poway, CA** (attended school for 5 years) 9. **Norwich, UK** (8 month residence) 10. **Washington, D.C.** (3 month residence, plus tourist travel) States 1. **California** 2. **Illinois** 3. **Washington** 4. **Ohio** 5. **Massachusetts** Countries 1. **USA** 2. **Ecuador** 3. **England** 4. **Mexico** 5. **Italy** ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2005, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-survey-where-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-your-life/295744/2 "2005-03-22T18:34:00Z")
Cities 1. **Glen Burnie, MD** (16 years residence, plus family visits) 2. **Radnor, PA** (4 years college) 3. **New York, NY** (family visits) 4. **Pateley Bridge, UK** (2 years residence) 5. **Sterling, VA** (4+ years residence) 6. **Reston, VA** (2+ years residence, 6+ years workplace) 7. **Maywood, NJ** (family visits) 8. **Glenwood, NJ** (family visits) 9. **Pacific Grove, CA** (birth + several months) 10. That’s all I can think of! States 1. **Maryland** 2. **Pennsylvania** 3. **Virginia** 4. **New Jersey** 5. **New York** Countries 1. **USA** 2. **England** 3. **France** 4. **Italy** 5. **Ireland** ---
**Author:** ![the\_first\_supraliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f475e1/32.png) [@the\_first\_supraliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_first_supraliminal)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2005, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-survey-where-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-your-life/295744/3 "2005-03-22T18:45:41Z")
I’ve been right here the whole time, except for vacations. I can’t see that I’ve missed anything important. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2005, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-survey-where-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-your-life/295744/4 "2005-03-22T18:50:33Z")
1. Philadelphia, PA (27+ years, in two stints, one from 1961 to 1970, the other from 1987 to present) 2. Ambler, PA (workplace, 13+ years) 3 Santa Barbara, CA (6 years) 1. Dearborn, MI (6 years) 2. Madison, NJ (5 years) 6-7. San Diego, CA & Ames, IA (2 years each) 8-9. Tallahassee, FL & Oshkosh, WI (1 year each) 1. Washington, DC (1 summer, plus numerous visits – I’ve had family there since 1970) 2. Cape May, NJ (annual vacation since 1996, plus numerous day trips and weekend jaunts) **States** Pennsylvania California Michigan New Jersey Iowa **Countries** (other than U.S., and Canada, which I haven’t visited since I was a kid, no more than a week in any: U.S. Canada Italy Portugal Nassau ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2005, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-survey-where-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-your-life/295744/5 "2005-03-22T18:51:22Z")
1. Los Angeles, CA (34 years) 2. Oakland, CA (1 year) 3. El Cerrito, CA (1 year) 4. Isla Vista, CA (9 months) 5. Walnut Creek, CA (cumulutavely about 10 weeks) 6. Netanya, Israel (about 4 weeks) 7. New York City, NY (cumulatively about 4 weeks) 8. Chicago, IL (cumulatively about 4 weeks) 9. Jerusalem, Israel (a total of about 3 weeks) 10. London, England (a total of about 2 weeks) States: 1. CA (Obviously the vast majority of my life has been spent here) 2. NY 3. IL 4. NV 5. MD Countries: 1. USA 2. Israel 3. UK 4. Spain 5. Netherlands ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2005, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-survey-where-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-your-life/295744/6 "2005-03-22T19:27:39Z")
Cities 1. **Cleveland, OH** - Birthplace, 16 years 2. **South Euclid, OH** - 4 years 3. **Euclid, OH** - Current residence, 4 years 4. **Chicago, IL** - College, most of 6 years at IIT 5. **Minneapolis/St. Paul** - Working for Northwest Airlines, most of 3 years 6. **Isfahan, Iran** - Nearly 2 years 7. **Toronto, ON** - Visit at least 4-5 times per year 8. **Windsor, ON** - Visit at least 2-3 times per year 9. **Ann Arbor, MI** - Visited many times while dating my wife 10. **Columbus, OH** - 1-2 times per year, to visit family. States 1. **Ohio** 2. **Ontario** 3. **Illinois** 4. **Minnesota** 5. **Michigan** Countries 1. **USA** 2. **Canada** 3. **Iran** 4. **Greece** 5. **The Netherlands** ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2005, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-survey-where-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-your-life/295744/7 "2005-03-22T20:03:00Z")
**Cities** Myersville, MD (spent 11 years there for school) Frederick, MD (born there, lived there for 8 years or so, family still there) Frostburg, MD (four years college there) Germantown, MD (last four years here) Silver Spring, MD (had a job here for the last 7 of 8 years.) Ridgecrest, CA (lived a year there or so as a kid) Limerick Ireland (spent a sememster there in college) London (I’ve stayed here for about two weeks total) Cork Ireland (dated a woman from there for a couple of months see above, and been back) Sligo Ireland (I’ve a friend that I stayed with for a week plus) **States** Maryland, well duh California New York Virginia Texas ( think I lived here too for a couple of weeks) **Countires** USA Ireland UK Italy Holland ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2005, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-survey-where-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-your-life/295744/8 "2005-03-22T20:06:58Z")
1. Rotterdam, NY (lived there for 25 years) 2. Schenectady, NY (lived and worked there on and off for 30 years) 3. Southold, NY (my home town for 21 years) 4. Loudonville, NY (worked there for over 7 years) 5. Albany, NY (worked there for 7 years) 6. Adirondack, NY (vacationing there for 20 years – a week or so a year) 7. New York City (frequent visits) 8. Washington DC area (frequent visits – will probably surpass NYC soon) 9. Boston, MA (a few visits) 10. Munsonville, NH (visits to my aunt) States: 1. New York 2. Massachusetts 3. District of Columbia 4. New Hampshire 5. Maryland Countries: 1. US 2. Canada 3. Bahamas ---
**Author:** ![LindyHopper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@LindyHopper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LindyHopper)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2005, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-survey-where-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-your-life/295744/9 "2005-03-22T20:15:36Z")
Cities: 1. Tulsa, Oklahoma. 11 years, plus college vacations and family visits. 2. Missoula, Montana. 10 years this July. 3. Clayton, Missouri (suburb of St. Louis). 4 1/2 years (approximately). 4. Houston, Texas. 4 years. 5. Oberlin, Ohio. 4 years, minus college vacations. 6.-9. Cincinnati, Ohio; Panama City, Florida (actually Tyndall AFB); Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan; Kansas City, Missouri. The first 3 years (or so) of my life add up to these four; I don’t really know exactly how much time I spent in each. 6. Since I haven’t lived anywhere else, I’ll go with the city I’ve spent the most vacation time in. Hmm…it’s probably New York City. It probably adds up to about a month altogether. Although I’ve spent considerable time over the last 3 years or so in Whitefish, Montana (family has a vacation place up there). It’s kind of a toss-up. Whitefish probably wins, though. States: Well, it can be inferred from the above list, but: 1. Oklahoma 2. Montana 3. Missouri 4. Ohio 5. Texas Countries: 1. USA 2. Germany (it was West Germany at the time) 3. Mexico 4. Canada 5. Switzerland (or possibly Austria) ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_the_turtle/32/2926_2.png) [@Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_the_Turtle)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2005, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-survey-where-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-your-life/295744/10 "2005-03-22T20:48:03Z")
Cities 1. Glen Burnie, MD 18 yrs + 7 yrs (born there - hey **Misnomer** , what are the odds?) 2. College Park, MD (5 yrs) 3. Abingdon, MD 4 yrs 4. Lancaster, CA 8 yrs (to present) All I’ve lived in, so frequent/extended visits: 6. Las Vegas, NV 7. Marietta, GA 8. DFW, TX 9. Washngton DC 10 LA, CA States: 1. MD 2. CA 3. NV 4. GA 5. TX Only countries I’ve been to: 1. Canada 2. Panama 3. Peru ---
**Author:** ![Driver8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2005, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-survey-where-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-your-life/295744/11 "2005-03-22T21:32:23Z")
Cape Town, WC, South Africa (24 years) Pompano Beach, FL, USA (6 months and counting) Deerfield Beach, FL, USA (4 months) ---
**Author:** ![SandyHook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SandyHook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandyHook)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2005, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-survey-where-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-your-life/295744/12 "2005-03-22T22:20:17Z")
Cities Green River, WY - 17 years Wheelersburg, OH - 7 years Carson City, NV - 7 years Laramie, WY - 4 years Portsmouth, Oh area - 3 years Washington, DC - 1 year Pittsburg, PA - 1 year Waverly, OH - 1 year Athens, OH - 1 year And a whole butt-load of other places for short times. States Wyoming Ohio NV And most of the rest for a few weeks or so. Countries US Canada Mexico Vietnam Australia Chile Spain France Italy Greece ---
**Author:** ![rivulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rivulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rivulus)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2005, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-survey-where-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-your-life/295744/13 "2005-03-22T23:05:41Z")
Cities: 1. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan – 17 years. 2. St. Louis, Missouri – 8 years. 3. Boulder, Colorado – 4 1/2 years. 4. Provo, Utah – 3 years. 5. Cedar City, Utah – 1 year. 6. Waterville Valley, New Hampshire – 1 year. 7. Plymouth, New Hampshire – 1 year. 8. Bristol, New Hampshire – 1 year. 9. Fort Collins, Colorado – 1 year. 10. Siegburg, Germany – 6 months. States/Provinces: 1. Saskatchewan 2. Missouri 3. Colorado 4. Utah 5. New Hampshire Countries: 1. Canada 2. United States 3. Germany 4. Ecuador/Galapagos 5. Italy/Greece/Austria/Spain (1-2 weeks each) ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2005, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-survey-where-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-your-life/295744/14 "2005-03-22T23:15:16Z")
Cities 1. Houston, TX 2. Austin, TX 3. Berkeley, CA 4. Tokyo, Japan 5. Kobe (Koto-en), Japan 6. Salt Lake City, UT 7. Evanston, Il 8. Boulder, CO 9. Galveston, TX 10. Santa Fe, NM States 1. Texas 2. California 3. Colorado 4. Utah 5. Hawaii (if you count time spent there before it was a state) Countries 1. USA 2. Japan 3. Canada 4. Mexico 5. Jamaica ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2005, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-survey-where-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-your-life/295744/15 "2005-03-22T23:52:02Z")
Cities 1. Chillicothe, Ohio (11 years + many visits home) 2. State College, Pennsylvania (8 years) 3. Seattle, Washington (6 years and counting) 4. Syracuse, New York (6 years in early childhood) 5. Springfield, Ohio (4 years, college) 6. Paris, France (7 months) 7. Aberystwyth, Wales (3 months) 8. New Castle, Pennsylvania (many family visits) 9. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (many family vacations) 10. Columbus, Ohio (closest city to my small hometown; many visits) States 1. Ohio 2. Pennsylvania 3. Washington 4. New York 5. South Carolina Countries 1. USA 2. France 3. UK 4. Germany 5. Canada ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-survey-where-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-your-life/295744/16 "2005-03-23T01:13:40Z")
**1. Crofton, Maryland** - 14 years non-continuous residence **2. Melbourne, Australia** - 4 years residence **3. Ithaca, New York** - 4 years college **4. Severn, Maryland** - 3 years residence **5. Mount Airy, Maryland** - 5 years workplace **6. Reno, Nevada** - two and a half years residence (and counting) **7. Crownsville, Maryland** - 2 years residence **8. Baltimore, Maryland** - off and on residence and frequent visits for ten years **9. Quito, Ecuador** - several months over the last three years **10. New York, New York** - occasional visits for the last ten years (far less frequent since I moved to Reno). States **1. Maryland 2. New York 3. Nevada** Countries **1. USA 2. Australia 3. Ecuador** ---
**Author:** ![PigBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/97f17d/32.png) [@PigBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigBoy)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-survey-where-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-your-life/295744/17 "2005-03-23T01:15:23Z")
Cities 1. Beavercreek, Ohio (Dayton suburb- nearly 15 years minus college) 2. Burke, Virginia (5 years) 3. Mililani, Hawaii (2 years, 8 months) 4. Delaware, Ohio (cumulative about 2.5 years: off-and-on for 4 years of college) 5. Watchung, NJ (lots of visits) 6. Ocean City, NJ (nearly as many visits) 7. Malden, Mass. (not as many visits, but still a lot) 8. Tempe, Arizona (maybe 8 days?) 9. Cincinnati, Ohio (just guessing based on numerous short visits, as with the next two on the list) 10. Honolulu, Hawaii 11. Washington, DC States 1. Ohio 2. Virginia 3. Hawaii 4. New Jersey 5. Massachusetts Countries 1. USA 2. New Zealand 3. Canada 4. UK 5. Maybe Mexico… not sure ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-survey-where-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-your-life/295744/18 "2005-03-23T01:42:21Z")
Cities 1. Barrington Municipality, NS (I’m not going to break that up, it’s several small communities)–lived in the area most of my life. 2. Halifax, NS–Lived there for the last couple years 3. Yarmouth NS–Visited often 4. Berwick, NS–choir camp for nine years. 5. Copenhagen (I think that’s the name), Switzerland–Visited my aunt once 6. Bern, Switzerland–visited on same trip 7. Pubnico, NS (Again, several small communities not worth breaking up)–visited family & friends and drove through often 8. Sackville, NS–visited an aunt often 9. Shelburne, NS (Geesh, you can tell I haven’t done much travelling, can’t you?)–visited a bit 10. Isles de la Madeleine, PQ–French camp Countries (Well, isn’t this easy, only been to five) 1. Canada 2. Switzerland 3. Italy 4. France 5. Germany ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-survey-where-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-your-life/295744/19 "2005-03-23T02:26:55Z")
1. Newcastle, N.S.W., Australia – 37 years 2. Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire (as it was then), England – 7 years 3. Randwick (a suburb of Sydney), N.S.W., Australia – 6 years 4. Columbus, Ohio, U.S.A. – 5 years 5. Dee Why (another suburb of Sydney), N.S.W., Australia – 2 years 6. London, England – 9 months 7. Dublin, Ohio, U.S.A. – 3 months Those are all the places where I’ve really resided. 8. Washington, D.C., U.S.A. – probably a total of 2 months in bits and pieces. 9. Leicester, Leicestershire, England – probably a total of 1 to 2 months 10. Canberra, A.C.T., Australia – probably a total of 1 to 2 months Countries: 1. Australia – 45 years 2. United Kingdom – 8 years 3. U.S.A. – 5 years 4. Canada – a total of about a month 5. New Zealand – 1 week 6. Italy – 1 week I don’t really coiunt yself as a U.S. doper, but: States (of the U.S.) 1. Ohio – 5 years 2. D.C. (if that counts as a state) – 2 months 3. Illinois – 2 weeks 4. California – 2 weeks 5. Virginia – 2 weeks ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-survey-where-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-your-life/295744/20 "2005-03-23T02:28:46Z")
1. Tacoma, WA. 29 years, born and raised there. 2. Kent, WA. 15+ years and counting. 3. Oak Harbor, WA. Spent 2 years there while stationed at Whidbey Is. NAS. 4. San Diego, CA. Boot camp and B school then 1½ years on a sub tender. 5. Sun Valley, CA. My father got a hair up his butt and we move to California. Lasted 1 year. 6. Sumner, WA. Lived next to a meat packing plant for 7 months. P.U. 7. Renton, WA. Worked there for over 16 years. 8. Everett, WA. 4½ years, helped launch the 777 program. 9. Westport, WA. Worked on charter fishing boat for 2 summers. 10. North Chicago, IL. Navy A school. In the middle of winter. A very forgettable 3 months. States: 11. Washington 12. California 13. Oregon. Mostly driving between Washington and California. 14. Illinois. 15. Colorado. Spent a week there on vacation as a kid. Countries: 16. U.S.A. 17. Mexico 18. Canada. Lived next to it all these years and I been there twice. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-survey-where-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-your-life/295744.md?page=2)