Why do you live where you live?

[davischevy]

The CL find thread is getting some "why I moved" activity, so I started this thread.

I was born here in the Ozark Mountains, but grew up living all over the Midwest.

I like a lot of the places I lived, especially the Rockies, but this is where I am comfortable.

I made my living in construction, and this was a tough place to survive until the last few years. I almost starved out a few times and thought about following the "booms: like my dad did, but that wasn't for me.

We have four distinct seasons here, are centrally located to everything, and life and government are relatively simple.

Why do you live where you live?

[mongocanfly]

born and raised right here..only live quarter mile from my old home..I couldn't imagine living anywhere else. ..I've visited a few places that run a close 2nd choice though...rockies and Alaska at top of the list..

[LockDoc]

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Wife and I were born and raised here. Moved away for 35 years and moved back after we retired. It was still home to us and both of our mothers were still living when we moved back. We have been retired for 20 years next Jan. 1st, and with 3 acres in the country, life is good.....

LockDoc

[flashed]

Its home ,have not found a place I like better yet .

[68bowtie]

I wonder often.

[GOPAPA]

We moved here to Idaho from western Oregon because the wife was wanting for a warmer dryer area for help with her illnesses... and me for less rain to enjoy my old car and truck daily driving.

[GIZZ]

Because this is where my family and friends are. I suppose I can find work anywhere and make new friends but I can't bring my whole family.

I thought about packing up and moving 6 years ago. Could have sold the house and lived comfortably down south. Somewhere you can go racing and ride your motorcycle most of the year. That may still happen someday.

[Deej-79]

Moved back here for my daughter. Still here for my son. If there's a chance I'll pack him up and move back west closer to my family.

[In The Ten Ring]

Born and raised in WV and parents live nearby, I am the last child and it was always expected I would stick around to take care of them, which I am doing more and more of as time goes on.

WV isn't paradise but it has a lot going for it.

1). Low violent crime. Drugs are bad and so are break-ins but my neighbors and I stay on top of this and I hope we've scared off the break-in ring that was working this area. (Seems like we have, at least for now, and we keep praying that's so).

2). Very pro-gun state. I would not live where my right to defend myself was denied.

3). Very pretty state, green and rural.

4). People are generally very friendly but that seems to be the norm for most of America---as long as you stay away from urban areas and especially large urban areas. I have found even Yankees to be very friendly as long as they don't live in a big city.

[Advanced Design]

Wife and I grew up here in the country. After college we lived away 13 years in NJ, PA, VA and near Chicago. We tired of the hassles, missed our families, wanted a rural setting to raise our children and we moved back home.

We like this area, the cost of living is very reasonable, people are friendly / helpful, crime is low (I don't carry a house key), and it is quiet.

[slomotion]

Retired here in '81 from the service, and decided to stay a while. "A while" hasn't expired yet.
It gets cold, and I do whine about that, but we just put another stick in the wood stove, or pull on a sweater.
It is beautiful up here and we don't get floods, or our home destroyed by tornadoes or hurricanes and loose everything dear to us.

[Indian113]

I Love Iowa, we have all 4 seasons sometimes in the SAME day! Just Kidding I wouldn't live here if it wasn't for my Mother in Law. She relies on my wife and until that changes we will stay here. In my travels around this beautiful country I found a area NW of San Antonio in The High Country I would like to live at.

[Keith Seymore]

Because picking cotton by hand is hot and dirty work.

My parents were part of a long line of poor farmers in the bootheel of Southeast Missouri. In the mid 1950's, as family members began trickling north looking for good jobs in the auto factories, mom and dad followed suit.

I am grateful for my middle-class upbringing but I often wonder why they didn't move to St. Louis or Kansas City (their are GM plants in those cities) instead of all the way up here to Flint Michigan.

K

[cooperhw]

Raised in southern California, but moved to the White Mountains of Arizona (6300' El.) and spent 25 years there. Met wife, married, and raised kids there. Moved to the desert of Phoenix about 12 years ago for better job opportunities, but kept our place on 6 acres in the mountains. That's where my heart is, here in the desert is where my azz is. It's all good. I do love the desert now, but can't wait (10 more years) till I can retire and move home.

[Rickysnickers]

I live here because, at the point in time, I have to. I really dislike CA. I was born here, but my family moved to MI when I was a baby, so I consider myself a Michigander from the country, small town Davison. They moved back here, San Diego area, in the late 70s. I didn't like it one bit when we got here, and still rally don't.

The political climate here sucks. The actual climate is nice, but that's about all it has going for it. It's extremely expensive here. And, if you want to meet some of the most narcissistic, self absorbed, and selfish people in the world, then by all means come to Southern CA.

After I retire, which could be as soon as next month, I want to move to Idaho or someplace similar. BTW, my wife is a native here and she even wants to move out! That's really saying something if she wants to go.

[B. W.]

It's beautiful here & a great place to raise kids. I love small town living. Life moves at a slower pace. Every morning I look out my kitchen window & I'm thankful to be here.

[snj8198]

Im in western WY now due to my wife's work and a work opportunity for myself. Otherwise I'd be back up being B.W.'s neighbor in NW MT.

[davischevy]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

Because picking Cotton by hand is hot and dirty work.

My parents were part of a long line of poor farmers in the bootheel of south east Missouri. In the mid 1950's, as family members began trickling north looking for good jobs in the auto factories, mom and dad followed suit.

I am grateful for my middle-class upbringing but I often wonder why they didn't move to St. Louis or Kansas City (their are GM plants in those cities) instead of all the way up here to Flint Michigan.

K

We lived in SW Michigan for a while in the mid sixties.

[el_fantasma]

Redwood City has a great climate and good job opportunities for my wife and me. Super expensive but we bought our house 30 years ago so we have low mortgage and property taxes. Also, everything is walking/biking distance and we can take Caltrain into the city. We also have a lot of ethnic diversity and everyone gets along.

[alsriv2]

After growing up in Maine, my Dads job moved us out to Arizona back in the "80's. Fell in love with the open skies and desert dry heat environment. After living in MD and doing the nasty commute in and around DC for years, we had found ourselves having enough of that nasty life, so I took a position in San Diego to be closer to Arizona. Talk about jumping from the frying pan into the fire!
After a couple short (long) years there, I finally found a position in Arizona, down in the SE region. Here I can enjoy the desert surroundings, go to Phoenix to visit family and enjoy a slower pace of life in general.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by Rickysnickers

but my family moved to MI when I was a baby, so I consider myself a Michigander from the country, small town Davison.

LOL! Davison?

My wife and I both graduated from Davison High School. My mom still lives there in the house I grew up in.

K

[Stocker]

After 9+ years with a traveling job, working in 10 states all over the country, I wound up here permanently -- by choice. Small unincorporated town in a remote area of far northern California. After nearly 42 years it feels like home -- 4 seasons, no smog, low crime rates, and close to mountains, rivers, lakes, & countless miles of trails. I'm from NW Oregon and this feels more like Oregon than many parts of Oregon.

[kcsa75]

I grew up about 100 miles west of Kansas City, in what I didn't think was a small town at the time. After bouncing around for a couple years after high school, I finished college and moved to Oklahoma. A couple years later, I was off to Florida.
My plan was to see the Daytona 500, Kennedy Space Center, Disney World, the Everglades and the keys, then move on. Thirteen years, a wife and three kids later, we decided it was time to come home.
I have a brother and sister in the Kansas City and my mother was getting to the point where she couldn't live alone any more. So we (wife is a KC native) decided it was time to come home.
As big cities go, Kansas City is a pretty good spot. Not too big. Not too small. People are generally friendly and there's plenty of good restaurants, pro sports and other things to do. I like the outdoors, so most weekends are spent at nearby lakes.
Life is good.

[Black_Sheep]

Born and raised about 15 minutes north of St Paul, Minnesota and still live in the same general area. My primary reason for staying here is family. My folks still live in the area, so do my adult children and their kids. I would be willing to relocate to someplace warmer when I retire but my folks, kids and grandkids are here so that probably won't happen.

[shp4man]

I grew up in a little Arizona mining town called Bisbee. Like some of the other California guys on here, I'm getting tired of the traffic and goofy politics here in San Diego. Would like to move back to AZ or maybe New Mexico.
But, our kids and grandkids are here, so not getting out just yet.
My little shack is worth almost a half million bucks, so there's that.