Why do you live where you do? Doesn't it suck?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Hehehe… don’t get testy.

I live in Los Angeles, and I have my entire life. I actually spent the first 20 years of my life dead in the heart of Hollywood. I LOVED it. I loved living in a city that I knew thousands and even millions of other people would love to live in, or at the very least, visit a whole lot. L.A. has always been famous, influential, and beloved. (Yes, I know there are dissenters to this view, but you can’t deny that it is widely held.)

I know that lots of people my not appreciate LA proper, but then we widen up to California in general. it’s fantastic. The 6th largest economy in world, a huge variety of strong, stable industries and businesses, tons of money, spectacular weather, extraordinary geographical variety (beach, mountain, desert, forest, subtropical, dry, wet, cool, hot, freezing, mild) and beauty, cultural diversity, amazing food - theres almost nothing you can’t have here. (I assume there must be stuff but none of it is occuring to me.)

I look at the rest of the country, and while I see some places that obviously have tremendous charm and are very appealing, I see vast swaths of the country that seem, to my LA sensibility, like places you only want to get the hell out of. Ugly towns in ugly locations with bad weather and horrible economies. Why the hell does anyone live there to begin with?

So, if you live somewhere that you think might seem to others like a yucky place to live…why do you choose to? And if your family is there so you have roots you don’t want to leave, why did THEY move there?

(I’m not going to offer any examples of places I’m thinking of cuz I don’t want to specifically offend. And trust me, there are places that suck hard in California, too. And I don’t understand why people pick them, either.)
So, enlighten me. Please.

2

I live in one of those towns you describe. Several reasons:

  • I don’t want to live in a city. My town is NEAR a city, so I can get there when I want to.

  • It’s cheap. I would be throwing away easily twice as much money to live in the same lifestyle elsewhere.

  • It’s quiet. I like quiet.

  • My hobbies are here.

Of course, I am the “odd one out” amongst my acquaintances. The local employers have a hard time holding on to younger workers because they get bored here. But for me, it works out well.

3

I’ve been wrestling with this for some time now. To put it bluntly, I hate where I live. I don’t know anybody here outside of work. The town doesn’t take kindly to outsiders, so even when I’ve tried to meet townspeople, I’ve been cut off or ignored or worse. It’s below freezing about six months of the year. Apparently, I am the only single person aged between 25 and 35 in the entire county, at least according to the dating sites I have frequented. The other day, a friend of mine asked me what I thought was the best thing about living here, and the only thing I could think of was “it’s about an hour-and-a-half drive to Toronto from here.” Yep, that bad. OK, and the rent is low.

I picked this place because I was living on the West Coast, and last year, my mom was diagnosed with cancer. I wanted to move closer to where my parents lived ¶, but, in my working field, there aren’t a lot of places to get work on short notice. When this job came up and I was accepted, I felt I had to take it, even though I wasn’t looking forward to living here. I’ve really tried to make a go of it, but it’s just not working out. Shame, as I like my job and I’m loath to leave it, but there’s no point living somewhere you just don’t like.

BTW, the place I moved away from on the West Coast was…LA :smiley:

4

I actually like where I live. I live in a suburb of greater Vancouver (British Columbia, Canada, obviously) and I think it’s just the perfect little suburb. It’s not a small town where everyone knows each other, but it’s not so big that I don’t bump into my friends when I venture outside. If the two (bigger) malls aren’t enough, a bus ride to downtown or the next suburb is just fine. Also, all my life I’ve lived here, I have never witnessed any panhandling. I see it a whole lot in the neighbouring suburbs though. I’m of the opinion that it’s mostly because we don’t have the skytrain (which is unfortunately going to change soon :frowning: ) I have everything I need here, and if I need something else, I have easy access to it.

With all that said, though, I still want to move to Ontario. Music journalism (something I’m thinking about doing) just isn’t big here in tiny little B.C.

5

Last time I checked, California isn’t too pretty either. Especially with wild fires that wipe out a couple million acres every couple years. Oh, and earthquakes too. Why the hell do you live there? The only downside to Chicago and its burbs is the weather, IMO.

6

Earthquakes. Wildfires. Mudslides. Rolling blackouts. Occasional race riots. A rather frightening murder rate. Truly insane traffic. Prices for ordinary consumer goods that are way higher than the national average. Taxes that would scare a Canadian.

Why the hell DO you live in Los Angeles?

7

I came here for a holiday. I’ve been here for 8 years. Cherchez les femmes…

It sucks, so I’m leaving.

8

That’s just the stuff that makes the news, it’s not really our general experience of living.

The most obnoxious things about day to day life in LA are the traffic and…ummm… the traffic. I’m fortunate because I work at home and I can avoid it most of the time.

9

Unless you offer some examples, I think this is a very difficult question to answer. Because maybe you think a certain place sucks, but unless you actually live there, how can you know? I know that I, personally, would rather shoot myself than live in southern California. I’m sure it’s a lovely place, but I would go insane within a few months. On the other hand, you would probably hate rural Oregon. Some people might view it as terrible, what with the rain and the shitty economy and all, but I love it. I love the wide stretches of road between the houses; I love the quiet; I love being able to turn the music all the way up and not bother anyone else; I love being surrounded by the smell of pine trees. I even love the rain, because rain means the snow isn’t sticking and the ice is melting; rain means it’s not 105 degrees outside and air conditioning is never necessary. And our summers are absolutely gorgeous, if short. It’s all a matter of perspective.

10

I hate where I live, the Twin Cities. Beyond it its all farmland and country. I would much rather prefer living in a larger city. My chief complaint here is the weather. It seems like winter lasts 6 months and gets pretty cold. Just recently, I counted 9 days in a row where the sun did not come out. Nothing is more depressing then a week of grey, cold, gloomy weather. And winter has just started here. Its still going to get very very cold, with lots of more snow.
Summers are fine if not a bit too humid. 10000 lakes does that. That and mosquitos. Not too bad in the cities, but in the rural counties its like the plaques of the bible.
I would absolutely love to move out of here, much like my sister has. But I have too much here: family, friends, etc… Too much to move away from.

11

It occurs to me that my response was terse, and could easily be viewed as rude. I’m sorry.

A better response would be something like this…

I’ve visited L.A. twice. Admittedly, I did not burst into flames, nor did the ground crack open and swallow me up, nor was I inundated beneath a tidal wave of mud or anything.

I was not victimized by crime, nor did I see any race riots.

But the traffic was freakin’ horrendous, and I couldn’t believe the prices you people charge out there for a loaf of bread.

Then again, the country is beautiful. I understand the weather is nice all year, although I wasn’t there long enough to verify it. And the people were friendly. The ones I met, anyway. None of them tried to kill me, contrary to what we hear on the news.

Ultimately, I think it boils down to this: where I came from is HOME. Where YOU come from is NOT home… to me. I liked Southern Cal well enough, but I certainly wouldn’t want to live there. I suspect you might feel downright similarly about where I come from.

Human nature, really.

12

I don’t think I could ever live in Los Angeles. I need my change of seasons! The thought of a warm Christmas makes my skin crawl. Besides, I’m an east coast girl. I’m far too cynical for California anyway…

That having been said, I don’t particularly adore where I live now. I am here because we found a beautiful old house - but the town leaves a lot to be desired. A bit too provincial for my taste…but I’ll deal with it because I love my house!

13

Cheap housing.

Space is critical to my psychological wellbeing. In Texas, a school teacher and a grad student can comfortably afford a 1700 sq ft house on a lot with big old trees in a safe neighborhood in one of the best school districts in the state. We’ve got room for our books and a room set aside for gaming and a guest bedroom. I’ve got a yard with roses and bamboo and yucca and prickely pear. We put 10% down and pay under $900/month, insurance and taxes and all that included.If we lived on either coast there is no way we could have all this and the careers we want–teachcing and studying liberal arts.

Most of the other stuff you mentioned doesn’t really interest me. Strong industry? Bah, I’m a teacher to my fingertips and not particularly concerned with that. Geographic variety? That’s what vacations are for. Diversity? Students from 60 different nations attend my public high school. I have kids who lived in refugee camps seated next to kids who live in million dollar houses.

And lastly, my perception of California is that you are either in the crowded parts, which are very very crowded–which I cannot stand–or you are out in the farm parts, which are truly rual, which I also can’t stand. This may be incorrect, but regardless, there doesn’t seem to be much that I happen to want that California has to offer and don’t already have, and quite a bit that I can get here that I can’t get there.

14

I’ve lived in CA for five years now. One earthquake, no rolling blackouts, no race riots, I haven’t been murdered, and the prices are no worse than where I lived before (Summit County Utah). As for the wildfires…well, wildfires happen all over the western United States every year.

As for the traffic…eh, you get used to it.

I didn’t think I’d like living in California. I hated Northern California. But since I’ve moved down here to SoCal, I love it. I don’t think I could ever leave. I was thinking of going to Utah for Thanksgiving then realized it was snowing all week and like 25*. Ugh, I can’t imagine living like that…again. Of course, during the summer I’m stuck with an overnight low of 90 degrees, and I wish I were dead…but that’s something I’m willing to accept.

15

I live in San Diego, America’s Finest City. Do I win anything?

16

I live in New Jersey, right outside Philadelphia, because…my parents live here, and I’m not 18, so I can’t move out yet.

Yes, it does suck, and I do hate it.

17

I live in Toronto and I’ve lived in San Jose within the past year, they both suck for different reasons. In NoCal everything is far away, San Jose is very boring if your single, you have to pay tolls for the highways/bridges and traffic is awful, and they drive too slow over there.

In Toronto, its too cold. My family moved from England to Canada and I live just outside of it, because my dad thought the country was cleaner and it wasnt as cloudy. And we’ve stayed, although one sister moved to Antibes. I like it here overall, I wish it was warmer though because I hate cold weather.

18

I’m undecided. I grew up in one of the largest cities in New England. Whether or not it’s the second or third largest is still up for debate but it doesn’t really matter. Anyway, I hate the city. I like quite and space and trees and water and cleanliness. On the other hand, I like to have a reliable public transportation system and everything I need within walking distance so I don’t have to waste half my yearly pay on car payments and insurance.
I like where I live now (the town, not the neighborhood) because Mr. Congo and his family are here. I hate my job and having to drive 20 minutes to get to it every day, I hate living in a condo, I hate my next door neighboor. Then again, it’s quiet (except on reserve weekends, I live in old Air Force base housing). I have a large yard that I don’t really have to share because I live on a corner. The crime rate is low.
I guess it really does depend. I’d give anything to leave Massachusetts. I don’t like winter but I don’t like high heat either. I think Hawaii would be good for me but I can’t stand to imagine Christmas without snow and I’ve heard it’s pretty boring to live there. I’d move just about anywhere and working in customer service, I can find a job anywhere. The problem is leaving our families. We both dearly love our families and I don’t think either of us could stand leaving them behind. Then again, if Mr. Congo could find a good job working for something other than Public television, and we could afford to buy a real house, I’d go.
Sorry for the babbling but you asked a question I think about a lot.

19

According to the Economist Group, I live in the third most livable city in the world. I think the study is full of crap – how could they rate Melbourne over Perth? :wink: – but there you go.

What do I like about living here in Perth, Western Australia?

– Awesome weather. It’s 26C here today (79F) and the sky is blue. It’s still spring.

– The city. At 1.4 million, it’s big enough to have a nightlife (although you have to know where to go), but small enough to feel like home.

– The beach. The city lies along maybe 30 km of clean, sandy, uncrowded beaches. It’s free to park anywhere along the beach.

– The economy. Western Australia has low unemployment and the highest growth of any Australian state.

– The state. This is the biggest state in Australia. We’re bigger than all of Western Europe; we’re three times bigger than Texas. There’s two World Heritage listed sites in this enormous and diverse landscape. And there’s only 2 million people living here–no crowds!

– The people. I like Australians, particularly Western Australians. We’re a diverse bunch – more than a quarter of Western Australians were born overseas – but generally this is a friendly, laidback and harmonious community.

I could do on, but you get the idea. I won’t live in Perth all my life – I expect to spend years living away – but I’ll always return. This is home.

–

Incidentally, I couldn’t live in LA. I couldn’t live where I can’t walk anywhere without people harrassing me for spare change, there’s garbage in the street, graffiti everywhere and homeless people on the street.

California is very beautiful, however.

20

I moved from a small town in the middle of nowhere to a (relatively) large city. I live here because I like the uni here more than the other option in NZ.

I’m not too sure where I actually like it down here, or have just gotten used to it. Yes, it does suck sometimes - it just sucks less than my home town.