Where did you live before where you live now, and did you like it better

than your present hometown?

And where would you live if you could live anywhere you wanted, based on having visited that place?

I lived in northeast Texas before I moved to Mississippi. I like Texas better, and if I could, I would live in the mountains of North Carolina.

and live in Mississippi now. My home town in Georgia has changed beyond recognition, so I prefer to be here now. If I could live anywhere (assuming I had plenty of money!), I'd choose Hawaii. :-)

and I loved it. Hope to live there again someday. Scenery is gorgeous, I loved the four seasons instead of just summer and non summer here in Austin Texas. The outdoor recreation of the Wasatch area is incredible. Wish I were in the mountains today.

;-) Just kidding. :-)

I live in Germantown, MD now and I definitely prefer Maryland.


If I could live anywhere I wanted, it would be probably be San Diego

Town of Lewisboro, post office South Salem, hamlet of Vista. Three ways to describe the same place.

Milford, Delaware--first memories up to age 5 (preceded by Newark, DE)
Rochester, Minnesota--5 to 14
Monroe, North Carolina--14 to 21
(including four years of college in nearby Misenheimer, NC)
Bloomington, Indiana--21 to 22 (grad school)
Hollywood & northern Dade Co., Florida--23 to 28
NYC--28 to present with the following exceptions:
Germany for several months at age 33
temporary quarters in NJ for a few months upon return from Germany
Northern Westchester Co., NY, age 38-40
Stamford, CT, age 40-41

Now, in answer to the question asked, which I will apply to my move from Stamford back into NYC at the end of January, I can say I liked my apartment in Stamford much, much better, but I like living in NYC much, much better. It's a trade-off.

If I was single or married with no kids Atlanta is way better. Cheap housing and tons of places to go and party.

But, I have kids and the communities are better planned in Northern VA and the schools are incredible.

Now, if I could live anywhere I would probably want to live a year in Paris. I loved Paris. I use to speak french marginally well also.

Oh well, maybe one day, I have heard Boston is a nice city to live as well.

_

and no way would I move back there. I now live in Newton Co AR where there are more trees and less pollution.

I did spend 2 years of college in Rochester, NY before transferring back home.

I miss it because of the friends I have there, but my school sucked and I wasn't a fan of the seven-month winters. Lake-effect snow is a b**ch.

EDIT: spelling

Honest to god, I can't believe I'm saying this. All my adolescent & adult life I always said I would never leave Southern California. I love California; it'll always be my home state and Huntington Beach will always be my home town.

I've had several tremendous life-changing moments of great upheaval, but none was greater than when I decided that I needed to be with my soul mate more than I needed to stay in California.

We live in Southern Maryland and I wouldn't give up this home with my beloved for anything. I love it here in So. Maryland. I grew up on the beach, and will always love it and long to return. I can't explain, though, how wonderful it is to live where there are four clearly defined seasons; where trees change colors, flowers bloom, snow falls, and thunderstorms are frequent, powerful, and sneaky. Even the apprehension brought on by a hurricane last year, and the terror two years ago by the fatal La Plata F-5 tornado, thrilled me -- rather like earthquakes, which I actually miss.

I miss my Huntington Beach, California, desperately, but I am at home in Maryland.

Well, in order of places that I remember: Cherry Hill NJ, Jacksonville FL, Thunder Bay ON, Red Rock ON, Des Moines IA, Petersburgh VA, Colorado Springs CO, Augusta GA, Ansbach GE, Clarksville TN, and now here. I think I have spent my entire life thinking that somewhere else is better than where I am and I am probably right. Germany is really a cool place to live though.

I like it here better. Omaha was a nice city as far as cities- not too big, surprisingly a lot of cultural activities, museums, etc. (and really there are plenty of pockets of people who aren't Freepers), but there wasn't much outside of Omaha. At least here in CT, you have more access to New York or Boston or a variety of good universities (if I want to keep going academically or when my kids get older, so they'll never have to go too far). Plus, I'm on the edge of what's the more quiet Northeast part of the state, so if there's a need to escape for awhile into the world of nature, that's available too.

I love that here in MD. Our office is in the front corner room of the house, with two windows -- both filled with trees, big, big green trees, all ruffling in the breeze right now. I can't describe how wonderful to me is just this basic simple thing of being in trees.

to the Northern Cascades foothills (western slope). The Palouse was pretty dry and very close to the desert sagebrush country. Here it is green all the time and the weather is much more moderate. I will never live anywhere else.

around the Portland Oregon area. When we left there in 1992 the area was getting too Californicated. Couldn't afford to stay there. Here in Muskogee Oklahoma housing etc are much cheaper. Would rather be in an isolated area of Montana but need to be near our doctor. I will live out my life here.

I will never go back to that heat and humidity. Don't see how you can stand it in OK. Just my .02

OK, maybe too republican for some, but in every other way, awesome people. I've been to Muskogee. Nice little city. Reasonable driving distance to Tulsa and Oklahoma City for city stuff. Plus, any state with a university which kicks the crap out of the University of Texas Longhorns every year in football can't be all bad. GO SOONERS!!

for 15 years. I'm actually quite glad to be back in New England. If I could live anywhere, regardless of pocketbook, I'd love to live on the North Shore in Massachusetts. Somewhere around Gloucester or Rockport. It's my favorite area.

I spent most of my adult life in central Missouri. My wife and I currently live in Ocean City, MD. She is from Baltimore and we decided to move here (back home for her) about a year ago. She is happy to be here around her family. Although she loved Missouri Maryland is her home. I don't share the same love for this area that she does. It was culture shock for me even though I traveled extensively on business. I'm not sure I enjoy the tourist beach scene and the the locals vs. them attitude that prevails. There isn't any real feeling of community here and I miss the hills and hollers of Missouri. I am going to build a getaway cabin in rural MO and retreat back to the land of the Dogwood on occasion. For now I'll stare at the Atlantic but I fully intend to partially reside in the Ozarks. Missouri has it's problems but it truly is a beautiful state and by God we don't pronounce on as "owen" and water is not "wudder". I know, Ozarkians butcher the language too.

in Upstate SC. I grew up in the white marble steps of East Baltimore where I had to walk a mile to see a tree bigger around than my leg. Now I live on 10 wooded acres with a nice river a hours walk away. While I miss the good food & music and my old friends I would never trade my current lifestyle for my old one. Yes, the people around here mostly suck but outside of work I have as little to do with them as possible. Warmer weather, more open space and lots of critters do it for me.
If I were to move to another part of this country it would be the Apalachicola region of Florida. Low population density and the highest biodiversity in the US are a winning combination! It's a hardcore Red Zone but I could survive that if I lasted 22 years here.

There is a LOT more culture here. Then again, Springfield is in Ohio. ;)

I would most like to live on the lake (for Ohioans, "the lake" means Lake Erie) somewhere East of Cleveland.

I am now in Independence, KS. I am with my fiance. She is an American. We met in Germany. Eventually we will be back in Canada probably outside of Toronto or in Ottawa.

I live in central Tx now. I would never move back up north. I still love my Bears no matter what. Me and Mrs bearfan are here until the end.

in December. I'm a twelfth-generation Virginian; this is my home. Five of those generations were from Fairfax County, where I was born and raised. My family and friends are here. This is definitely my comfort zone. I like the amenities here, and the fact that my relatives are close by. As much as I love my state, living in South Central PA definitely has its advantages (and I'm speaking particularly in relation to life in NoVa - NOT the rest of the state.)

Here's what we liked about living in South Central PA:

1. People really know their neighbors. We USED to in NoVa, but not any longer. Most people here are transients who've moved here from someplace else and natives (like me) tend to be distrustful of outsiders.

2. Development is encroaching into central Pennsylvania but, for the most part, the public officials there are exercising much more common sense than our elected officials in NoVa ever have when it comes to dealing with developers -- and they're attempting to be careful about ceding too much power to them.

3. There are plenty of green spaces in South Central PA. In Northern Virginia, there are very few places (outside of parks) to go to where there's ample woodlands and fields. (And, there's less pollution, too.)

4. The rush hours in Northern Virginia last three or four hours. In southern Pennsylvania, my husband got to work in 15 minutes. In NoVa, it takes him over an hour.

5. The price of housing is much more reasonable in South Central PA. A home costing $500,000 here (with all the "bells and whistles") can be purchased in, say, Mechanicsburg, for almost half that.

6. Pennsylvania takes its preservation of historical sites and treasures more seriously than Northern VA does. You will never, EVER see a subdivision abutting Gettysburg Battlefield.

7. South Central PA is a very family-oriented area. There is an abundance of family activities (e.g., City Island, Harrisburg Senators "farm team", Hershey Park, putt-putt golf courses), and people there are thoroughly involved in their children's extracurricular activities, such as high school football. (Get this: All the parents know each other and each other's kids.) And, in Harrisburg, young people are moving into the city and renovating older homes and revitalizing neighborhoods. So, there's a nice mix there.

Our realtor in PA mentioned to us before we moved that he had another client who was from (get this - Hawaii) looking for homes in the Mechanicsburg area. When he incredulously asked his client why, if he was from Hawaii he wanted to moved to Pennsylvania, this gentleman responded, "This is a great place to raise a family."

And, indeed - it IS.

8. Penn DOT really knows how to get snow and ice off of roads. Take a lesson, VDOT! ;)

9. The sense of pride Pennsylvanians have in their state, their honesty and their sense of humor about themselves.

10. Shipoke (the historical district in Harrisburg). Like Georgetown or "The Fan" in Richmond, but without the high prices.

Now, here's what I DIDN'T like about living in South Central PA:

1. It's too damn cold in the winter.

2. There are too damn many Republicans.

3. The people my husband and I nicknamed "Rebel wannabes" drove us crazy with their perceptions of what they thought Southerners were like (we spend all of our time in church, we're bigots, we're all into NASCAR and country music, and every Southerner flies a Confederate flag).

4. The nearest upscale mall is an hour and half on the Turnpike in King of Prussia, outside of Philly.

5. The segregation of minorities between the East and West Shores.

6. Sixth Street in Harrisburg - an area desperately in need of revitalization. It's almost like the worst neighborhoods in D.C. thirty-five years ago.

7. Not enough good-paying jobs (i.e., non-minimum wage positions).

8. There's no Virginia ham (but plenty of Kuntzler's meat products). ;)

Living "up north" was definitely a learning experience for us and, over all, very pleasant.

But, to quote John Denver, "hey, it's good to be back home again . . ."

:bounce:

and now I live in the Middle East. I love it here. I live close to Dubai, which is just amazing. I liked the history, trees, springs, food, and beaches in Florida. Here, there is a fascinating mix of exotic people and so many things I've never encountered before. I want to stay for a long time.

My ultimate dream, though, is to spend several years here, then move to France for a while, then somewhere in South America. Then I want to live in Arkansas. My husband thinks I'm nuts, but I want to live in Arkansas some day.

No comparison, I prefer Miami by at least the same margin I prefer Kerry to Bush.

My jackass job consulting the Nevada sportsbooks keeps me in hellhole Las Vegas with obscene golf green fees, increasingly intolerable traffic and charming 115 degree summers.

I'll take 90 and drippy to furnace 115 any day, any lifetime. And those dependable late afternoon South Florida showers aren't exactly replicated out here.

Plus my swashbuckling 'Canes and their metallic house of horrors Orange Bowl are there, not here. I want to go home!!!!!

Last 25 years in Alberta, Saskatchewan, BC.
Mostly in rural settings, last 2 years in what is probably a lot of people's dream. A mountain valley, a trout steam, riding horseback along mountain trails, heaven on earth you say.

But there's not a lot to do, I was turning into a vegetable. Now back in the big city of Toronto, the house I grew up in, in fact. But I travel the province daily, the best of both worlds.