# Love/Hate relationship with where you live **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 1, 2019, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-hate-relationship-with-where-you-live/842839 "2019-11-01T09:57:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-hate-relationship-with-where-you-live/842839/1 "2019-11-01T09:57:59Z")
Ever feel that way about your town? What do you love about where you live, and what about that place makes you want to naw your own face off just to escape? In Boise, the scenery is (imho) beautiful, the people are mostly nice, it’s pretty safe and not a bad place for families. It seems to have a decent social/entertainment/music scene and what seems to be a small but stable alt community What I hate, while there is a liberal (within context you commies;)) streak, the overall is conservative and not the good kind of conservative, I mean the political kind of conservative. And it growing worse. And I fucking hate it with a hate that is…words fail me here. The past couple of years I’ve seen a migration out of the area of the exact people we need and a pretty big influx of the very sort we need fewer of and it’s starting to stifle my town. Boise and by extension idaho is coming more and more under the influence of the trumpists reversing a slow but steady trend of liberalization over the course of my lifetime ---
**Author:** ![steatopygia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steatopygia/32/3132_2.png) [@steatopygia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steatopygia)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-hate-relationship-with-where-you-live/842839/2 "2019-11-01T10:04:45Z")
> [@DorkVader](#): > > Ever feel that way about your town? > > What do you love about where you live, and what about that place makes you want to naw your own face off just to escape? > > In Boise, the scenery is (imho) beautiful, the people are mostly nice, it’s pretty safe and not a bad place for families. It seems to have a decent social/entertainment/music scene and what seems to be a small but stable alt community > > What I hate, while there is a liberal (within context you commies;)) streak, the overall is conservative and not the good kind of conservative, I mean the political kind of conservative. And it growing worse. And I fucking hate it with a hate that is…words fail me here. The past couple of years I’ve seen a migration out of the area of the exact people we need and a pretty big influx of the very sort we need fewer of and it’s starting to stifle my town. Boise and by extension idaho is coming more and more under the influence of the trumpists reversing a slow but steady trend of liberalization over the course of my lifetime Sheeyit. You want to see blind republican loyalty, you come on up to my part of Idaho. Aside from that, the main problem I have with where I live is the long and cloudy winters. I am ready to move. OTOH, summers here are perfect. Sunny for weeks with no humidity. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-hate-relationship-with-where-you-live/842839/3 "2019-11-01T10:16:06Z")
I’ve been there, the ex has family in Old Town/Newport. Eastern Idaho is probably even worse, but Boise! Boise was alway a (mostly) shining beacon of hope and enlightenment in my eyes and it’s changing right in front of me and not for the better. ---
**Author:** ![steatopygia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steatopygia/32/3132_2.png) [@steatopygia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steatopygia)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-hate-relationship-with-where-you-live/842839/4 "2019-11-01T10:28:08Z")
> [@DorkVader](#): > > I’ve been there, the ex has family in Old Town/Newport. Eastern Idaho is probably even worse, but Boise! Boise was alway a (mostly) shining beacon of hope and enlightenment in my eyes and it’s changing right in front of me and not for the better. I was under the impression that Boise was getting better. Supposedly becoming something of low cost silicon valley? ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-hate-relationship-with-where-you-live/842839/5 "2019-11-01T12:10:03Z")
It will filter up there eventually. Most of the folks I’ve moved into the Treasure Valley the past couple of years have been openly trumpist and openly racist if coming from the east coast. Lotta liberals and more open minded folks moving away. Some for jobs quite a few because of the ploitical climate. I said a small but stable alt community. They’re there and open about it, but I’ve seen much less of them lately. Music scene is starting to seem less varied with a larger emphasis on country and less on other music. I have to laugh in a way. This week I moved a couple in from socal, which has become a failing welfare state full of illegal aliens hell bent on rape pillage and plunder while sucking the system dry of benefits at the expense of good hardworking American white people. The guy didn’t blatently say it, but mexican people Are Not Okay. I didn’t have the heart to tell him he moved right into the middle of the most latin part of the area complete with mexican mafia and gangwars. please please please purplhorseshoes, come up here. We NEED you! ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-hate-relationship-with-where-you-live/842839/6 "2019-11-01T13:10:00Z")
Just gotta pop in and say I love Madison, Wisconsin. Except yesterday when we got five inches of heavy snow just in time for Trick-or-Treaters. I’ve always said this place’d be close to perfect if the winters were shorter, but they seem to be lengthening (last winter just kept coming…). Come to think of it, all the negatives are related to the positives… College town: young culture, free classes/lectures/museums/concerts College town: drunk college kids, especially during home football games State capitol: vibrant culture, spirited public discourse State capitol: that spirited public discourse can tie up traffic during protests Northern town: change of seasons Northern town: they change for the worse ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-hate-relationship-with-where-you-live/842839/7 "2019-11-01T14:58:39Z")
I live in what is becoming more and more of a resort / seasonal city. There’s nothing I particularly like about Florida in to begin with, but I used to at least think if I’m stuck here, St Pete is about the best I can do. Now it’s overrun with high rises and there is no industry other than tourism so logic would dictate they are being filled with retirees,seasonal residents or tourists. That makes for a very shitty, overcrowded city from Sept. to March. Now that I’ve started thinking about all the things I hate here it’s putting me in a bad mood :mad: Something I love . . . um, it rarely gets cold here. Also . . … Nope, that’s it. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-hate-relationship-with-where-you-live/842839/8 "2019-11-01T15:12:37Z")
We moved to Portland, OR about eleven years ago. It’s a great place to live: tons of parks and lots of trees, mountain activities an hour away, coastal activities about the same. Great restaurants and entertainment, a wine country close by, craft beer makers by the dozen. Summer/fall weather is great; winter weather can be drizzly and gray, but I can deal with it. The local government makes me grind my teeth, though. Politics is way left here, of course, but the city/county government is archaic. It’s the only remaining commissioner-based government for a city this size in the US. This makes it non-representational, and nearly impossible to contact someone who can give you any information or address your complaints. They routinely put bonds on the ballot without any information as to where the money figures came from or specifics on how it will be spent. One of the latest was a $700 million bond that passed. After the fact, a reporter discovered that the figure was completely arbitrary, and there had been no financial rigor involved. And don’t get me started on the fucking drivers. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-hate-relationship-with-where-you-live/842839/9 "2019-11-01T15:39:43Z")
We lived in SCal for a long, long time. I used to love California, but it has betrayed me and my family. Too much traffic, too much smog, too much crime, too much traffic, and people, people, PEOPLE! We ended up hating it so much (did I mention the traffic?), we wound up in the middle of nowhere, in NE AZ. Now that’s a place we both love! No smog, no traffic, blue sky, no graffiti, and no traffic! Mr VOW finally got his observatory set up several years ago. He has his 14" reflector telescope, viewing in the cleanest skies in the Lower 48. This area has Dark Sky status, too! And we have a house with all the creature comforts that I need. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-hate-relationship-with-where-you-live/842839/10 "2019-11-01T15:56:10Z")
We live ~ 15 miles south of Breckenridge CO. Two acres about 1/4 mile from the top of the continental divide. On the other side of the valley, not more than 1 mile as the crow flies from our front deck, are two 14,000 foot peaks. After 27 years, it’s still breathtaking (in more ways than one). We love it. On the flip side, Breckenridge and all of Summit County is a HUGE tourist destination. Christmas week is crazy as are any holidays. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-hate-relationship-with-where-you-live/842839/11 "2019-11-01T15:56:12Z")
South Arkansas is, well…poor. Rural and poor. It’s sad how poor some of these people are. Their kids are pitiful. I had to quit volunteering at the schools. It just made me too sad. My little grandwrek started K this year. I’ve been to her classroom and school several times. The poverty seems to have gotten worse. Half of her class were ill-kempt to downright dirty. It’s terrible to see. Jobs are here. It just seems they don’t pay enough. And the amount of young Moms w/o a mate is staggering. Drugs are eating at the core of this place. The scenery is beautiful. Trees, trees and more trees. The weather is temperate. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-hate-relationship-with-where-you-live/842839/12 "2019-11-01T17:37:51Z")
> [@DorkVader](#): > > Ever feel that way about your town?.. Man, this has been gnawing at me for years. I live in a very multicultural town - I remember a particular, specific incident a couple of years ago, when I was indulging in a sneaky samosa in the town centre, and walked past a Pakistani and a Pole, side by side on a park bench, chatting and laughing away in not-very-good English; and I truly thought to myself: _I fucking love this town_. And that sort of thing wasn’t unusual - I could tell you about a local (Indian) cricket team who decided that, for a cricket tea, they would feed the opposition (us) by cooking the most fabulous [kitcheri](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khichdi) - but also made a load of sandwiches, just in case some of us didn’t like Indian food. But this is a working class town that voted for brexit, voted in a right wing Conservative MP, and doesn’t seem to notice that, under local and national Conservative government, its infrastructure is falling apart. I used to have a joke that the definition of a French town of substance was that there was a location from which you could see three pharmacies; here there’s a point from which I can see three pawn shops (really). Every other shop seems to be empty. People seem louder now, and more _shouty_. Thursday, cycling through the carpark of my local store, two grown men were bellowing at each other about whose right of way it was, threatening each other. I didn’t even stop to look. This is the sort of thing that isn’t unusual now. It’s just turned into a nasty place to live. j ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-hate-relationship-with-where-you-live/842839/13 "2019-11-01T20:39:51Z")
> [@DorkVader](#): > > Ever feel that way about your town? > > What do you love about where you live, and what about that place makes you want to naw your own face off just to escape? > > In Boise, the scenery is (imho) beautiful, the people are mostly nice, it’s pretty safe and not a bad place for families. It seems to have a decent social/entertainment/music scene and what seems to be a small but stable alt community > > What I hate, while there is a liberal (within context you commies;)) streak, the overall is conservative and not the good kind of conservative, I mean the political kind of conservative. And it growing worse. And I fucking hate it with a hate that is…words fail me here. The past couple of years I’ve seen a migration out of the area of the exact people we need and a pretty big influx of the very sort we need fewer of and it’s starting to stifle my town. Boise and by extension idaho is coming more and more under the influence of the trumpists reversing a slow but steady trend of liberalization over the course of my lifetime You know, I haven’t noticed this. Would this be something you have to talk to people to notice? What I _have_ noticed, is that the city has decided to dismantle, like, _all_ of the roads around here. (I’m on the bench.) On the one hand I should be glad they’re actually doing infrastructure maintenance, on the other hand I have to drive through the back way of a church parking lot to get to my workplace. And when they do road construction here it takes _months_. Minimum. If you’re lucky. Seriously, this is getting out of control. And while yes, this is a pretty mild rant, I also only have a mild affection for the town (in part because that would require interacting with it), so I figure that balances my post out. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-hate-relationship-with-where-you-live/842839/14 "2019-11-01T23:16:10Z")
Los Angeles, need I say more? There is soooooo much going on that it really is an embarrassment of riches. There is immense physical beauty of nature all around. But you might just burn up in a fire while stuck in traffic during an earthquake. At least you’ll look good doing it. 😃 Some people see all of the negatives and hate it and leave. Others see all the positives and love it and stay. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2019, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-hate-relationship-with-where-you-live/842839/15 "2019-11-02T01:20:07Z")
My remote mountain county contains five incorporated towns (including California’s smallest) and a state prison. I’m in none of those. Pros up here are mostly economic - it’s pretty cheap. Pizza and dentist are nearby. Cons are mostly cultural - nearest Trader Joe’s and colleges are 90 minute drives away, the same as two state capitols. Any chopper flying overhead is looking for a fire or a fugitive. What’s to love? Forests and wildlife all around. What’s to hate? Speeding tourists along the Kit Carson Pass highway. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2019, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-hate-relationship-with-where-you-live/842839/16 "2019-11-02T02:14:34Z")
**Dork** I am 100% interested in ID as a possible long term perch. I’m starting a little casual window shopping… > [@Chefguy](#): > > We moved to Portland, OR about eleven years ago. > > […] > > And don’t get me started on the fucking drivers. We have a house up by Salem that we bought 12 years ago. We’ve lived there off and on. I will definitely chime in to say that Portland has not handled recent growth well at all. And don’t get me started on the fucking traffic. Currently we’re in the Bay Area. Really expensive. Really crowded. Horrid traffic. I don’t like the climate. On the plus side, we’ve found a really good school for my son, and my daughter and I have access to specialized healthcare. There are pluses and minuses with everywhere, of course. In the long term, I’d like a cooler climate, actual seasons a plus, natural beauty, and a lot fewer people. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2019, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-hate-relationship-with-where-you-live/842839/17 "2019-11-02T04:59:19Z")
Good grief, Sunny, I read Salem as Salmon and was a little confuzzled ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2019, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-hate-relationship-with-where-you-live/842839/18 "2019-11-02T05:11:39Z")
Ok, lets do this again, and not have to worry about the edit window. Specialized health care, what sort if it’s not personal to ask in this setting. What else are you looking for? What are the must haves, the would likes, the prefer nots and the hard pass items? What sort of work, or would this be a retirement move? Most likely, no matter what, you will want to move to the Treasure Valley. Mountain Home is a little boring ho hum airforce town about 40 minutes drive east of Boise. BoiseMeridianNampaCaldwell is the I84 corridor and yeah, they’ve all sorta grown into each other a bit just like I typed it. The surrounding communities are Middleton, Kuna, Star, Eagle, Hidden Springs, a little further out are Marsing and Melba and at the far west end (about 40 minutes drive) are Fruitland Payette and Weiser and Ontario just across the river in Oregon. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2019, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-hate-relationship-with-where-you-live/842839/19 "2019-11-02T05:15:52Z")
Begbert, it may be that I’m a bit biased in my view because I deal with these folks all day, sometimes for multiple days. It might just be that I happen to get all the liberal minded folks as they leave and conservative racists as they come in. Doesn’t mean that’s what’s really happening, just what I think based on that and what I observe going on around me ---
**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:** [November 2, 2019, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-hate-relationship-with-where-you-live/842839/20 "2019-11-02T05:23:02Z")
I’ve lived in suburban Chicago (and worked in the Loop) for the past 30 years. Likes: - Access to cultural and recreational things. We have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to theater, concerts, museums, and sports (even if, in any given year, most of the local teams are mediocre-to-bad). - Being within a 30-minute drive of two major airports, that are hubs for three different airlines (United, American, and Southwest) means that, if I have to fly, I’m pretty much assured that I can get a nonstop flight. - For a big city (I grew up in a much smaller city), the people are, by and large, very friendly. - Lots of job opportunities in my career field (advertising/marketing). - Four seasons, including actual cold, snowy weather. Dislikes: - The traffic. I know that some places do have it worse (like LA and suburban DC), but compared to how it was when I moved here, the traffic is heavy for more of the day. Unless you’re driving early Sunday morning, or late Sunday night, the roads are full. - The roads are, by and large, terrible, despite the fact that it seems like every other road is always under construction. I’m not sure if it’s the effect of harsh winter weather, cheap construction techniques, or the raw amount of traffic, but the roads don’t last, and during the warmer months, it can seem like you’re driving through an endless series of construction zones. - The state of Illinois is broke, and the city of Chicago is broke, after several decades of kicking the can down the road when it came to worrying about how bills were going to be paid. There’s now no more road to kick the can any further, and the governments seem to lack the ability to do anything to fix the problem. - Summer weather here has gotten noticeably more humid, and stormier, over the past 5-10 years. It’s often just miserable outside, and I spend far too much of my summer time taking refuge in air conditioning. - Not much in the way of “natural beauty” here. Yes, the lake is pretty, and we have some nice forest preserves, but Chicago is flat as a board, and you have to get well out of the area to get to any sort of attractive scenery. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-hate-relationship-with-where-you-live/842839.md?page=2)