# Where would you absolutely, positively never want to live? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 19, 2022, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-you-absolutely-positively-never-want-to-live/971836 "2022-09-19T16:14:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2022, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-you-absolutely-positively-never-want-to-live/971836/21 "2022-09-19T17:19:59Z")
I love where I live (but that isn’t the question here) I could be relatively happy a lot of places. I would absolutely never live in Florida (possible exception for the Keys, but I’ve never been and can’t be sure). Other places I would never want to live The Middle East Texas Eastern Kentucky Oklahoma Mississippi Indiana ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2022, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-you-absolutely-positively-never-want-to-live/971836/22 "2022-09-19T17:31:01Z")
Maybe I got the name wrong. I was thinking about that creepy planet in _A Wrinkle in Time._ ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2022, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-you-absolutely-positively-never-want-to-live/971836/23 "2022-09-19T17:34:38Z")
Nope, a quick Googling shows that is the name of the planet IT lives on. I forgot that bit not having read the book in decades. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2022, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-you-absolutely-positively-never-want-to-live/971836/24 "2022-09-19T17:35:55Z")
The gulf coast. It’s a humid hell. In July, I was at a convention in New Orleans a few years ago. I almost died just standing outside waiting for the shuttle bus. 😳 ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2022, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-you-absolutely-positively-never-want-to-live/971836/25 "2022-09-19T17:36:17Z")
O.k. bad memory. I haven’t read the book in decades either. So, forget Camazotz and think of that creepy planet with the kids bouncing their balls in synchronized time. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2022, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-you-absolutely-positively-never-want-to-live/971836/26 "2022-09-19T17:37:55Z")
I’ve lived a lot of places. Florida near the beach in a big city is good. Anywhere snowy, gloomy, or rural is not. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2022, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-you-absolutely-positively-never-want-to-live/971836/27 "2022-09-19T17:48:26Z")
I could do at least 6 months on a cruise ship, especially in a balcony room. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2022, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-you-absolutely-positively-never-want-to-live/971836/28 "2022-09-19T17:56:37Z")
Anywhere in the southern U.S. Especially Florida. (I _hate_ Florida, and am perplexed at why so many Ohioans want to move there.) I lived in Maryland on an intermittent basis for three years. I absolutely, positively, never want to live there. I have visited Singapore twice. I absolutely, positively, never want to live there. I will never live in a retirement community, planned community, or a neighborhood with an HOA. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2022, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-you-absolutely-positively-never-want-to-live/971836/29 "2022-09-19T17:58:40Z")
Virginia I was born in northern VA and lived there til I was 16. The best way to sum it up is quite, polite prejudice and intolerance- a muffin basket with a note saying “You’re not welcome here.” ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2022, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-you-absolutely-positively-never-want-to-live/971836/30 "2022-09-19T18:01:39Z")
Not to drag politics into it…but I wouldn’t want to live any place where religion dicates law, whether that’s overseas or in conservative-run communities in North America. I’ll just live out my atheist heathen days on my own terms, thanks. Also, I grew up in Ottawa and both of my parents will, I presume, pass away there, but I won’t ever live there again. Just too boring and stiff. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2022, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-you-absolutely-positively-never-want-to-live/971836/31 "2022-09-19T18:03:24Z")
New Orleans. Might be fun for a day or two, but I suspect its like a dirtier, humid Vegas. And I get the whole concept of “Sea Level”. Not a good idea to live below it. It’s just Math, People! ---
**Author:** ![Chad\_Sudan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chad_sudan/32/4509_2.png) [@Chad\_Sudan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_Sudan)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2022, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-you-absolutely-positively-never-want-to-live/971836/32 "2022-09-19T18:06:58Z")
Flat, rural, right-wing, bitterly cold in winter, one of the least desirable states for travelers, and the state with the most skewed male/female ratio… I get the feeling I would not last too long in **North Dakota**. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2022, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-you-absolutely-positively-never-want-to-live/971836/33 "2022-09-19T18:22:20Z")
I cross off certain places on the basis of lack of gardening opportunities. So that essentially rules out high desert (icy cold in winter, windy and of course dry) and near the Arctic Circle. Las Vegas and environs is the least appealing major metro area (Chicago and adjoining cities are a close second), but I would absolutely never want to live in an apartment in any big city, even if you gave me a $20 million condo with sweeping views and an obeisant staff who’d undoubtedly be scamming for tips every second. Top state to avoid: California. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2022, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-you-absolutely-positively-never-want-to-live/971836/34 "2022-09-19T18:34:13Z")
As I continue to enjoy frequent hot flashes, my housing fantasies creep ever poleward. ---
**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:** [September 19, 2022, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-you-absolutely-positively-never-want-to-live/971836/35 "2022-09-19T18:47:40Z")
I agree with nothing south of the Mason-Dixon. Too hot, too humid, too many idiots. As far as idiots go, it’s not restricted to that part of the country. The rural areas of most states are full of suspicion and small-town stupidity couched as “real America”. That small-mindedness is also found in a lot of European countries; perhaps it’s just the human condition. Much of Europe is xenophobic and racist, although they’re not all toting guns, which is a plus. No tropical countries, either. Hot, muggy, buggy, snaky, and torrential monsoons. Been there, never again. I’ll take cities any day over places I’ve lived and visited in the countryside. I live in a retirement community now. It’s much “older” than I had hoped, with a lot of people having some very debilitating problems. But we’re 75 and still mobile, so our turn may be coming and we’ll be ready for it. Moving here was as much a preventive measure as it was to be closer to kin. And selling our home when we did put a large pile of cash in our bank account. In short, the Midwest was never on my list of living locales, but it works for now, and there are a lot worse places to be. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2022, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-you-absolutely-positively-never-want-to-live/971836/36 "2022-09-19T18:53:25Z")
The only place I can really think of that I would never want to live is a car-dependent suburb. For the most part, my other requirements aren’t fixed - I can’t see living far from my kids and grandkids, but if they move to Oregon, I probably will too. I currently live in a single family house and have for over 30 years - but I expect to move to a co-op or condo at some point. Maybe even a retirement community - because from what I can see the constant death announcements are not restricted to those living in retirement communities. My mother doesn’t live in a retirement community and it seems that she used to go to a funeral every month ( not so much anymore because she has outlived most of her friends) ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2022, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-you-absolutely-positively-never-want-to-live/971836/37 "2022-09-19T19:11:36Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > I would _never_ want to live in a retirement community, especially not in Florida. My in-laws have been in their neighborhood for over 20 years, and I will admit, it’s not horrible, for all that it’s in Florida. Are you me? My in-laws have been in 55+ communities in Florida for the past 20 years. Some nicer, some not as nice; right now they’re in [one of the largest, cookie-cutter ones in the state](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2109153/) because it’s all we could afford when the need arose. I’m on record as saying that if the options are “live in a place like that” or “shoot me”, where do I go to buy a gun. All their friends are dead, or moved into nursing homes, or taken “back home” by adult kids. My sister-in-law refers to the area as God’s Waiting Room. People seem disheartened. IIRC, you’re mid-Atlantic, as am I. The weather isn’t great in the summer but it’s not brutal for all that long. The winters can be cold, but not that bad for that long. All in all, a good compromise, weather-wise. And there are people of all ages. (@peedin , it is technically south of the Mason Dixon line but barely counts as such, due to being DC metro area). > [@DocCathode](#): > > I was born in northern VA and lived there til I was 16. The best way to sum it up is quite, polite prejudice and intolerance- a muffin basket with a note saying “You’re not welcome here.” When did you move away? Things may well have changed a lot since you did. We’ve been here for 30+ years. Not there aren’t still some attitudes like that - you’ll find that anywhere - but in general it’s a fairly tolerant area. My street is the most mixed, racially and culturally, I’ve ever live on, and in one house that has had three sets of owners, two of the three sets could not have legally been married here a few decades ago. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2022, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-you-absolutely-positively-never-want-to-live/971836/38 "2022-09-19T19:17:52Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > I’m on record as saying that if the options are “live in a place like that” or “shoot me”, where do I go to buy a gun. All their friends are dead, or moved into nursing homes, or taken “back home” by adult kids. My sister-in-law refers to the area as God’s Waiting Room. People seem disheartened. I saw a little bit of this series called “Some Kind of Heaven”, about The Villages in Florida. Let’s just say they did not put a good face on the whole retirement community thing. That and what I saw myself, firsthand, when my own parents moved into one in CA, pretty much seals the deal for me. > **[Some Kind of Heaven (2020) ⭐ 7.2 | Documentary](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11358166/)** > > 1h 21m ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2022, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-you-absolutely-positively-never-want-to-live/971836/39 "2022-09-19T19:19:06Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > I saw a little bit of this series called “Some Kind of Heaven”, about The Villages in Florida I have never been able to see King’s Point (the movie, not the development); I’d bet Some Kind of Heaven tells a similar story. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2022, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-you-absolutely-positively-never-want-to-live/971836/40 "2022-09-19T19:21:00Z")
We moved to a suburb of Philadelphia in 1990 or so. I do miss greatly the museums of DC. IIRC the Smitsonian Museum of Naturall history has a lifesize mammoth and a living coral reef. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-you-absolutely-positively-never-want-to-live/971836.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-you-absolutely-positively-never-want-to-live/971836.md?page=3)