I lived in Putnam County (in Lake Carmel) but only for a year.
Almost none, except that the town I was born in (San Dimas, CA) figures prominently in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure so it’s fun to bust out that factoid once in a while.
My move wasn’t quite as dramatic as yours. We moved from Torrance to Culver City. Less than 20 miles, I’m sure.
I have that, too, with The Amityville Horror. However, I lived in the next town for the first five, then moved to CA. I feel more affinity for CA and where I live now than for where I was born
Where I was born? Like where the hospital was? Some but only because my grandmother lived there and I adored her and visited her as often as I could.
Where I was brought home from the hospital? Very little. I lived there only three years. I had many relatives there and visited there often but it was a pretty crappy place. My uncle’s restaurant was there though, so that gave it some extra appeal. I haven’t been since a year or two before the pandemic.
Los Angeles. None at all.
None. I left the city and the country of my birth when I was 2. I have been back and visited my grandparents who lived near where I was born, but never visited the city itself.
I still consider myself a Chicagoan, even tho I’ve lived in the burbs for longer than my 1st 18 years. Something about attending the Chicago public schools, getting around on the CTA, the local politics, etc. really had a lasting effect.
Ah, Elwood, Indiana. They still have KKK parades.
I haven’t been back.
I was born in Jerusalem. We moved away when I was 11 months old, so I don’t feel much of a personal affinity to it, but… it’s Jerusalem, you know? I have a totally illogical sense of pride in having been born there.
Born in the District of Columbia. No great affinity for the place, just some nostalgic feelings for my early years. Been moving north every 10-15 years until settling here in RI. Never grew deep roots anywhere.
I was born, grew up, studied, and now live, all in the same city - Cape Town, South Africa - and yes I do feel a strong affinity for the city. I don’t know if I’d say I’m proud to be a Capetonian but I’m certainly happy to be one. I do not, however, have any sympathy for the wackos who think we should secede from the rest of the country.
Albuquerque, N.M.? Pfft. They call it The Land of Entrapment for a reason. Last lived there when I was 7 thru 10, drove through it several years ago on a road trip from Corpus Christi, TX. to Portland, OR., realized I wasn’t missing a thing. Home will always be the Gulf Coast of SW Louisiana for me.
Not much. Verging on none. I was another one that moved frequently. I wasn’t even a toddler when we moved from my birthplace and we never lived in the same place consecutively for more than three years until I was into my tweens. I have bits of nostalgia from my various childhood haunts, but zero civic pride associated with any of it.
I do have something of an attachment to where I live now, but only to the general area, not to any of the several cities and towns in which I’ve lived in over the last few decades.
Pretty much all I know about San Dimas is that their high school football team RULES!
Born in DC. Lived in and around the city my whole life. You could say I have an affinity for it. I don’t always like living here, but it’s all I know.
As much as one can have an affinity for anyplace in New Jersey, I do. I’ve always been nostalgic to a fault.
I miss what I don’t have living in Florida for the past ~40 years. I miss snow (the beauty of freshly fallen snow, not driving on ice and slush). I miss the chill autumn days with colorful leaves and the waking greenery of spring. I miss being just a few miles from Philadelphia (you can’t get a good cheesesteak or hoagie down South and decent pizzas are few and far between). In fact, I even miss the Jersey, NYC and Philly accents—what many consider rough and grating, I consider music to my ears.
But, what I miss mostly is something I can’t get back even if I moved back to the South Jersey suburbs—a simpler time. A time when neighborhood kids played together outside without their faces buried in smartphones. A time when the egglady and milkman delivered dairy to your house; the Good Humor, Jack & Jill, and Mr. Softee trucks sold ice cream and pop-cycles on hot summer days for pocket change; the potato chip-man and pretzel-man brought big tins of crispy treats to your house; and best of all, the pizza-man sold pizza by the slice in front of your house.
But, we got gators, bobcats, coyotes, water moccasins, VW-sized waterbugs, wild boar and wild Karens (for your amusement) down here, so I can’t complain. Oh, and we do have nice beaches.
Being a Chicagoan is a deep part of my identity. I feel insulted when it is spoken of disparagingly which happens a LOT. Stormy, husky, brawling, indeed.
Long live Chicago. We’ll see how great the sunbelt cities are when the water runs dry, and we’re sitting up here on the Great Lakes.
We left Nashville, where I was born, before I turned two. I definitely have more affinity for it than where I grew up (Bristol TN, in the northeastern corner of the state).
Very little. I was born in a small town in Ohio and my parents moved a few years later. I’ve been back a couple times but I don’t really care about it. I’ve lived in the Detroit area most of the time since then, and feel a much stronger affinity to it.