We live here for several reasons. First, because it’s my hometown. When we moved away for a short time, I was homesick for the hills and trees and safety I felt in my little town. My whole family lives here, and I never get lost driving around town looking for a business.
Secondly, it’s cheap. My husband’s job comes with employee housing. The rent is low enough to be considered more of a symbolic gesture than an actual rent payment. We pay no water bill, and up until last year, we didn’t pay for heat, either.
Thirdly, my job presents more opprotunites here than I would get anywhere else. I work in a museum as a docent, which is just a five-dollar word for “tour guide.” But, because it’s a small museum, I get to work on cleaning and numbering artifacts as well as doing research. I’ve also helped design and build several exhibits . . . In short, I get to learn and do things a lowly docent would NEVER have the opprotunity to do in a larger museum. Should I ever leave this town, I could get a job doing almost anything in a big museum.
I graduated mid-year from college, so I couldn’t find any full-time teaching jobs. I subbed a bit but it was horrible in that area. I knew I could find sub jobs every day back home and I’d be able to help my mom maintain the ranch in exchange for a break in rent (ha, it was free). Suddenly, a job teaching art full time, rare as hen’s teeth, opened up and I got it. It was only supposed to be for a couple of years, till I could find a job teaching art somewhere further north. That was seven years ago and I’m finally going to get my credential in english lit, my second great love, so that I can snag a job somewhere else.
Because I fell in love with someone who was about to be stationed in Japan and the only way I could be with him was to move here and marry him. We’re supposed to be here till 2006, and then…I don’t know where. He wants to go to Kansas because he has family there, I want to go to California so I can finally pursue my career.
I go where my job sends me. As part of my international contract they can send me where they want. I am currently in a fantastic place. Small city, mountains nearby, loads of water in the form of fjords, decent weather in the summer. I have been here almost 2 years now and love it. I am going to be really sad to leave at the end of the summer when I am moving to the US.
My family moved here when Eaker AFB closed. My mother was a librarian there (non-enlisted civil service) and got transferred to Scott. I stay because O’Fallon is near enough to St. Louis to be convenient but far enough away to be relatively safe. I used to live in Arkansas. I don’t know if I can live there again.
I moved to Japan mainly because it was somewhere that I wanted to go, and, since I had changed my major in college from physics to history, I had no idea what to do after graduation.
The small town I ended up in was nice, but the only job available for foreigners besides teaching was opening a bar or restaurant, and to do that I’d have to marry a Japanese citizen. So I packed up and moved to the big city to work in overseas advertising.
El Hubbo was in the Air Force for 8 years. When he got out, both of our families were spread hither and yon. (That’s Hither, Texas and Yon, Oregon. Buh dump bump <cymbal crash>) We could pretty much live wherever we wanted. How to choose? We bought a book called Places Rated Almanac. It rates 354 metropolitan areas in the U.S. and Canada, in nine categories: Cost of Living, Transportation, Employment, Education, Weather, Arts & Entertainment, Health Care and Recreation. The book also teaches you how to weight these categories according to your own preferences.
We decided that location was most important to us. There were a few places we just didn’t want to live, no matter how high they ranked. We ended up visiting several recommended cities. Philadelphia, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati… Philly and B’more were a little too fast-paced for us. I loved Pittsburgh; we were there in the fall and it was gorgeous. Cincinnati was cool too. But our visit to Minneapolis-St. Paul – a few years ago in February – sealed the deal. We love snow, the landscape reminds us of where we grew up (as Army brats in Germany), our housing dollar bought a lot and the cost of living is relatively low compared to other cities their size.
Minneapolis-St. Paul, IIRC, is always in the top 10. But they are never the top 5. Weather.
KCSuze, I haven’t had a chance to read all the responses to this but yours caught my eye.
A few coincidences between us… My mom’s name is Suzanne, she lived in Leavenworth for a while (near KC) and she’s a former civil servant librarian. And we’re both military brats!
I’ve always lived where I live. Same patch o’ land since just after birth, nearly 40 years ago. Considered maybe moving a couple of years back, but it all seemed “bird in the hand worth two in the bush” to me. Besides, I’d want to stay in the same suburb.
Why am I still here? Can’t be bothered moving. Besides, a lot of my friends are here.
Hey! Don’t you be dissin’ Walden Pond! It’s just down the road from me!
With regard to do I live here because I have to or because I want to…well, 16 years ago it was emphatically because I had to. Now there is a little more “want to”, but all in all I’d rather be filthy rich, retired, and living somewhere where land is cheap. That ain’t here.
I’ve lived here nearly all my life and my family and friends are all here. Me and the hubby have jobs relatively close by and for the most part I’ve liked being 2 hours from the mountains in one direction and 3 hours to the beach in the other. Being close to DC is a tremendous bonus, as well.
However as of late we’ve felt the urge to get away from the extremely high cost of living, unbelievable traffic, rude and inconsiderate people, etc. of the metro area. The hubby has his heart set on the west, namely Albuquerque. If this horrible weather keeps up much longer he may get his wish.
I was born and raised here, and most of my family lives here or at least within the Pacific Northwest. I like the proximity to the mountains and living in an area that isn’t too crowded or polluted but yet isn’t out in the middle of nowhere. I’ve also got a decent job that I probably couldn’t get as easily elsewhere. The one thing I could do without here is the sizzling hot summers and the lack of rainfall during that time.
Moved here http://caribbean-connection.com/curacao/cover.jpg
from Canada in May 1960. The temperature in Canada was about -15 C when I left. The temperature in Curacao is always 27c to 32c
Any other stupid questions?
DC has a lot to offer. I don’t think I will be here for the rest of my life but for now it suits me well. Job, friends, culture and the ability to escape to the mountains or/and beach make the city especially attractive.
I was born here, and my immediate family is here. Ditto for hubby. (Although he was considering a move to DC before we started dating. And then he changed his mind … )
Hubby was born and raised here and I’ve spent most of my life here.
Frankly, I love it here. 45 minutes to Mt. Rainier, 1 1/2 hours to Pacific coast, 30 to 40 minutes from Seattle (I live in Puyallup and like it just fine); 20 minutes away from Puget Sound, numerous lakes and rivers all within reasonably short distance. Numerous places to hike, fish and camp. Good friends and family here. It’s green and there are a lot of trees here. Gorgeous views of Cascade and Olympic ranges.
.To all you non-Washingtonians-It rains all the time here, no really, it does! Don’t move here, m’kay? It just POURS and POURS and POURS here; and NONE of you know how to drive in the rain. I mean really, we all rust, we don’t tan; THAT’S how much it rains here.
Well, DC probably has more job opportunities for someone of my profession (economist) than anywhere else in the world. Also, my husband’s family is in the metro area.
Came to school in 1982, met my former wife, gradauted, got a job, married my former wife, she got a job, returned to graduate school, got a different job, bought a house, built a house, had a daughter, got another job, divorced former wife, got another job, met current SO, building new house, getting married in November. This is home now - I’m comfortable here, I like the climate, proximity to the beach and mountains, and my parents are only about 45 minutes away.
