Would you rather live somewhere else?
I grew up in Los Angeles, but I do vastly prefer living in New York. But I would love to live in Europe, either Paris or Italy for a year. Then come back to NY.
Do you want to live elsewhere?
Would you rather live somewhere else?
I grew up in Los Angeles, but I do vastly prefer living in New York. But I would love to live in Europe, either Paris or Italy for a year. Then come back to NY.
Do you want to live elsewhere?
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21616 posts
No, I really dislike Minnesota - it's SO cold. But we're really torn on moving away from here because while I wouldn't say the cost of living is "cheap", it's more affordable than the other places we would want to live. Once I graduate, we could afford a pretty comfortable life here, but if we moved back to NY, we'd be just making ends meet.
I would love to live somewhere that is warmer year round - but I don't think I could ever move somewhere without friends/family. It's the reason I moved back to MN - I love living near my family.
pineapple / 12566 posts
We live in Vienna, and while it isn't my first choice of cities, it is consistently ranked best city in the world to live in. Quality of life here is incredible and it is a fabulous place to live with young children. I feel like this is a good place to be for this period of our lives, but we definitely won't stay forever. If money were no object and quality of life were comparable, I would live in Paris.
coconut / 8430 posts
I love the PNW but I occasionally have dreams of moving south to sunnier and warmer weather. I do think its a good balance between reasonable COL and a big city with temperate weather. I also occasionally wish we lived closer to my family or somewhere completely different like Italy or France! If we were crazy rich, I would live part of the year here (spring/summer and a few weeks in the winter for ski season) and then the rest of fall/winter somewhere like San Francisco/LA.
bananas / 9227 posts
No, not at all. It took me sometime to say that, but it finally all makes sense now. It has a lot to do with DD's age, our surroundings, and her preschool/daycare. We live in Sweden and it's very family friendly. We'd be making a lot more money if we moved to my hometown (SoCal), but quality time > money.
GOLD / wonderful coffee bean / 18478 posts
Yes, I love it. The winter is too long and it's crazy expensive, but I love it most of the time. I have lived in Europe and several other states, but NY is still my fave.
kiwi / 566 posts
I am happy living here (midwest). We have considered living other places, but I don't think we ever really would, especially not with our daugher. This area has great schools, fairly low COL, and is fairly near our families (2 hours from my in-laws and 5 hours from my parents) without being too close.I lived in a flat in London for a month and it was a fun experiencce but taught me I would never want to live in a city permanently. I need some land to run around on: I can't wait to move into a farmhouse!
clementine / 995 posts
I don't like it here (DC metro area) because the cost of living is high, and it is too far away from our family and friends. I would love to move back to North Carolina.
grapefruit / 4817 posts
I really dislike where I live. I'm from Florida, and have never lived anywhere else, but other than the fact that my family is here and my deep love for the water, it really has no redeeming qualities. I'd move somewhere else in a heartbeat, but my husband looooves it here.
pomelo / 5720 posts
We like where we live, just north of Boston. We would love to move back to NH someday, where we are both originally from.
nectarine / 2465 posts
Yes and no - CT has a lot to offer, however it is so expensive here (taxes), and of course freezing 6 months out of the year. I would love to move to NC, but I don't know if it will ever be possible with our jobs.
hostess / papaya / 10219 posts
Yes and no. There are a lot of great things about Houston. It's got lots of cultural things to do and a great cost of living. Super shopping and some of the best restaurants in the country. There's pretty good weather (although too hot in the summer!) Most of our friends and family are here. We've got great schools where we are zoned, and we're very convenient to everything. But it's a massive city with tons of traffic and it isn't pretty. No mountains. I miss mountains.
apricot / 378 posts
@travellingbee: I could have written this exactly. There's zero scenery and that's what I miss about my home town compared to Houston.
hostess / papaya / 10219 posts
@MrsYellowJacket: I guess you can't have everything! If it was beautiful too, everyone would flock here and it would be a lot more expensive!
grapefruit / 4187 posts
I love the philly suburb where I live and it took a lot to finally get us here so I'm grateful! I've always wanted to live somewhere with nice weather though, but usually those places are a lot more expensive (if there are jobs around) so I'm happy where I am.
cantaloupe / 6164 posts
I love where we are now, but the COL is so high! We're one of the biggest military installations in the U.S./world, so it has driven housing costs and population through the roof. I love the beach and people here though.
We're moving about an hour and a half away, and I think it will be ideal. Still close to our parents, but the COL is much cheaper. I'm trading the beach for mountains and rivers, and I'm okay with that!
I don't think I'd ever want to move out of Virginia. The people in central and southern VA are friendly (NOVA is a place all its own), and the weather is perfect--we get all 4 seasons! The beach, mountains, city and country are all within driving distance. And, sweet tea.
grapefruit / 4085 posts
Yes, I love living in NY. If I had it my way, I'd still be in the city but I love our proximity to it while also having our own home and green space in the burbs.
grapefruit / 4066 posts
Yes and no (north of Boston). Cons are: snow! winter, high cost of living, lots of traffic. Pros: love the different seasons, especially summer and fall, love being near ocean, lots of activities to do, love being close to lots of states, lots of job opportunities. I would eventually love to move to north Carolina though.
watermelon / 14467 posts
@photojane: Agreed! NOVA is so, so expensive and while I would love to move back to my original hometown (Alexandria), I could never go because it's so expensive and our quality of life would be lower.
I like my city, but it's expensive for our area. I want to move to a suburb where the COL would be cheaper.
GOLD / watermelon / 14076 posts
For the most part. Great cost of living, food, weather (I hate snow). But the traffic sucks. I also feel like for political reasons I'd be better suited in the Northeast. I'm often embarrassed by our elected officials and feel like I don't really fit in in that sense.
squash / 13208 posts
@avivoca: We lived in Cameron Station for a few years and it was awesome - BUT that was before kids - I wouldn't want to live there now
I currently live in PA and love it here
eggplant / 11716 posts
Another yes and no here. I really love my town/neighborhood right now as a young family--there is so much to do for families, and so many mom groups and play groups.
But....it's expensive. And raising kids is expensive. And unless you are wildly rich, you have to do it in smaller spaces. And my husband's work life here is more stressful. I'm almost ashamed to admit the dollar amount, but I feel like I can't see us raising older kids here unless we were making 500k a year or more, which is what it would take to get a 3 bedroom with parking. And that's depressing at times.
Plus, the public schools aren't great, so then you have to figure out charter (lottery to get in, so no control there) or private. And private would be even more $$.
We discuss moving all the time--but sometimes I worry I would feel isolated as a mom out in the suburbs--like, once we had our own back yard, would we ever leave the house? Would I start looking forward to walking around at Target among strangers for socialization? Would I ever meet mom friends? All of that kind of scares me, haha.
So, love-hate relationship over here.
blogger / watermelon / 14218 posts
Love where we live (suburbs of Boston)! The cost of living around here is high but the opportunities in the city make up for it, for us. Love having four seasons and great public school systems. I lived elsewhere for one summer of my entire life and hated it... I would stay here forever if we can
cantaloupe / 6164 posts
@Anagram: ha! I do love Target, but not for that reason. I have always lived in the suburbs, and I think it's only isolating if you want it to be. There are just as many mom/play groups, activities, etc. You just have to drive there!
cantaloupe / 6164 posts
@avivoca: the rest of Virginia doesn't include NOVA as part of the state--it's part of DC!
eggplant / 11716 posts
@photojane: That's good to hear! My only reference to suburban moms are my old teacher friends in Texas, and there none of them have mom groups (unless their pre-baby friends happened to have babies at the same time) or play dates. These are all working moms though, which I would be, and that probably plays a part.
Like now, I come home from work and if the weather is nice, LO and I head out to the park where I am liable to run into 1-2 moms I already know, so we can talk while the kids run around. I really like that! I feel like I still get some socialization in my day (I am with kids all day at work, and don't get much "adult time" here).
Annnnd....I live in a town where it's totally acceptable to bring your baby to most pubs/bars so we can have Mommy Happy Hours without side eye from other people, and that's kind of priceless to me.
But I guess in the suburbs, where people have bigger houses, people can just host these things at their houses, right?
I think it would probably be fine, but since I've only been a mom in an urban area, I'm kind of afraid of the unknown, haha
wonderful cherry / 21504 posts
I love where we are but we probably won't stay right here long term- we live in Boston and will just need more space at some point. Plus schools are all over the place. But I love meeting up at parks, meeting new friends in our neighborhood, being able to walk everywhere. I love late spring, summer, and fall.
I hated this winter. Some snow is fun, 100 inches is Crazy talk. And cost of living, especially housing, is nuts.
I think we will stay in the area, just move to a suburb in the next several years, which makes me nervous for the same reasons as @Anagram: But we already have friends who have made the move and they are happy!
wonderful cherry / 21504 posts
@Anagram: you are saying all the same things I think about the suburbs!
pea / 18 posts
I love where we live. It's a small town in VT (so 4 seasons, beautiful outdoors, and lots of recreating right out our backdoor.) Our downtown has pretty much everything you need (movie theaters, good restaurants, lots of independent shops, a great library...) We also have family here which is great and the school system is good too. The only thing I would change would be to have more diversity here. I miss that from when we lived in Bklyn.
pineapple / 12793 posts
If I could move my family and the ocean here I'd never want to leave.
The standard of living is wonderful, I can walk anywhere I need to go. The park on our street is amazing with an ice rink, soccer fields, a pool with a huge water slide, splash pond, play ground, dog park. There are tons of little ones around so I know my kids will have boat loads of playmates.
Schools are great, universal healthcare, one year mat leave....amazing!
But....
My family isn't here and it makes it harder to do everything on my own. DH's parents aren't involved and his siblings are too busy with their own kids and grandkids to ever help. DH often has after hours business meetings so I solo a lot. I actually had to schedule half an hour with him the other day so that I could take a bath by myself. And that's all the "me" time I've had in four months. if my mom was here I know that'd be different.
wonderful kiwi / 23653 posts
I live in the suburbs in NY. It's just expensive, and I don't like winter!
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
Yes and no. On the yes side, it's where I was raised, it's incredibly diverse, there are so many opportunities for advancement.
On the no side, the crime, the violence, the guns.
persimmon / 1233 posts
Yes, I like Austin a lot. That said, it's too hot in the summer, it doesn't have natural beauty (at least no beach or mountains), it's not very walkable, and it's in Texas and there are some aspects of the culture/politics that don't sit well with me (guns, etc.).
As far as locations go, I think I'm better suited to NYC where we just moved from (minus the cold), but ultimately we're happier to be close to friends and family here than to be in the greatest city on earth but without our nearest and dearest.
pineapple / 12802 posts
For the most part I like where we live. The only thing I wish, is that the weather were nicer. We get SO much wind and it is truly terrible.
pomegranate / 3983 posts
I have mixed feelings but lean towards no. On the plus side there's so much culture, things to do, diversity and most importantly- our friends and family from afar love coming here so we get lots of visitors. But I really dislike the long winter, the cost of living and the "live to work" mentality (and none of our close friends/family actually live locally so it's hard to raise kids solo).
cantaloupe / 6171 posts
If you'd asked me this 2 months ago, I would have said I can't wait to move out of NYC when I finish grad school, but we recently moved neighborhoods and I am so much happier where we are now! It's crazy, it's only a 2 miles but such a difference. More (esp kid-friendly) restaurants abd coffee shops within walking distance, and we're right near Central Park--so much fun to explore w lo!
Eta I still don't want to be here for the log run though, and we won't be-- I'll be going on the academic job market and have no control over where we'll live, basically. I grew up in a Midwestern college town and would love to raise a family in a similar place-- good public schools, more green space (our dogs need a yard someday!), but still walkable and a diverse community... Hoping for something like that!
pomegranate / 3244 posts
I like where I live at the moment (Salt Lake City). It is strangely diverse, lots of outdoor activities, weather is nice, and my family is close, so I can't complain However, thinking longer-term, my husband and I plan to stay here the next 5 years or so, and then think about moving back closer to where he is from...which is Ecuador. So far away, ha! I lived there for 4 years, and I really do miss it, and I think that we could have a very comfortable life there. So I will spend the next 5 years here thinking about how, exactly, we can pull that off
pomelo / 5678 posts
I live in a really good place. It is safe, has outstanding schools, and is very very very family friendly, progressive, and somewhat diverse. It is also insanely beautiful and a very outdoor city. Good research medical University, great hospitals. Constantly ranked top 5 best places to live in US. Lots of opportunity. However, the weather. Oh, the weather. It is a wonderful place if you can handle the weather! Coldest place on earth! And then the wettest, and then the hottest. And then the coldest. I have a great affinity for it here, the skies are the best and the lakes are beautiful and I love the hills. Every few years we get to live abroad for a month, that will have to satiate me. I have lived many places, so it is nice to feel like I finally have a home.
I would consider moving somewhere warmer, but I always hope to stay near my kids. So, I kind of like feeling like I have a home base for them.
pomelo / 5257 posts
@travellingbee: Yes, exactly. There are a lot of things I love about Houston, and TBH I never expected to enjoy living here so much. But there are certain things I miss, like pretty scenery. And especially pretty fall scenery and the changing leaves and...yeah. We took a road trip this weekend a few hours away, and I was like, "Wow, look -- beautiful hills and trees everywhere!" haha. I do not really miss the cold though!
@lawbee11: And yes, this too. Don't even get me started on what they did this week...
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