I hate snow. Really, REALLY hate it. Don’t let my feelings sour you on Alaska though, it’s beautiful and Heeee YUGE here, and so much wilderness, it’s the Grizzly Adams’ of the world’s paradise. There’s nothing wrong with the state though, my hatred is based upon my personal preferences.
I also hate the whole Grizz Adams thing. Most “true” Alaskans are of the whole hunting/fishing/snowmachining fanatical mindset. I hate that stuff. And now that my family has all (except for my son, who is planning on it next Spring) left the state, I’m all alone here as well. I’ve given it 40 (and a half) loooooooOoOOOng years. I’m beyond ready to go.
On the plus side, though we’re feeling pinches here and there, Alaska generally weathers recessions fairly well, I’ve rarely had trouble finding good jobs. The people are friendly, laid-back and fun. The environment, as I said above, is GORGEOUS and very much “last frontier”. And we still “don’t give a damn how they do it ‘outside’”.
Like many others, I reluctantly moved away because the economy was so miserable, but I’d be very happy to go back to metro Detroit if I thought that my family could get work. Royal Oak, Ferndale, the Grosse Pointes, Birmingham, West Bloomfield, and (a little further away but still worth mentioning) Ann Arbor have many good qualities that make up for the fact that inner city Detroit is mostly (though not completely!) a hellhole.
Life is easier and happier at the moment in my new hometown, but I will always love Detroit. It’s an area with an interesting, albeit painful history in my opinion and I do think the day will come when it finally gets its act together.
I saw this thread and thought "well I like where I live now (outside of Boston) but I could post about my 25 years in Tucson! Then I read the thread and saw it’s already been covered. The only good things about Tucson are 1) Mexican food, 2) 4th Ave and 3) hey, at least it’s not Phoenix.
Tampa Bay is certainly too hot & humid this time of year but at least you can go to the beach and take a walk without risking slipping & falling on an icy sidewalk and breaking your neck. I used to wonder if our old farmhouse would stand up to some of the blizzards we had in Ohio back in the day. The cycle is just reversed here…winter is the nice season. I compare the opposite months: August in St. Pete vs. Feb. up north…I still prefer the former.
Downsides to Tampa Bay are:
– high unemployment and lack of major corporate employers; there are a few but not enough
– the economy was based primarily on tourism & continued growth, which has slowed; the economy needs to be more diversified
– aftereffects of the 2004/2005 hurricane seasons…high homeowners insurance rates
– inadequate public transportation…no light rail, no bus rapid transit; highways were not built for the amount of growth that’s happened
– lots of riff-raff, unparented kids, scammers, sex offenders and beer-beggars (“Hard times, anything helps, God Bless” = “Give me money to go buy today’s beer”)
– the occasional Palmetto bug in my condo
It amazes me how desperate some people are to not leave the town they grew up in.
