Hellobee Boards

I Live in PA.

LIKES: having four seasons, family and friends are here. I know the area. I love all our parks and nature activities to do here. love having 4 seasons.
DISLIKES: wish there was more culture and more family/kid things to do. the winters could be long.

@MrsStar: wow! New Zealand! My husband and I really want to travel there some day although we probably need to save A LOT of money for that. I bet it's an awesome place to live

I live in MI - my family is here and it's where I grew up, but I just moved back 3 years ago.

Likes: summer, living by the water, having all four seasons, cost of living is reasonable, fresh fruit/produce in the summer, close to family, wineries, good family owned restaurants

Dislike: long winters!, cold weather, state taxes, fips that vacation here, no big cities close (2 hr + drive), did I mention the long winter?

I live in DE
Likes: Our families are here, close to the beach, small towns, not too hectic, doesn't take long to get from one area in Delaware to another
Dislikes: Small towns also equal not as many activities, not a good variety of stores

@Mrs. Pen: I love hearing from people that came here and loved it! I'm sure I just take it all for granted haha. My plan is to save up and take a road trip through the whole country since I haven't been out of the North Island!

@derevival: Definitely try to visit! It really is an awesome place to live. Where I am currently I'm 40 minutes from the beach and about 2 hours from snow. People are pretty cool here too (but I'm biased)

Massachusetts heayah!

Likes: 4 seasons, education, culture, history, family friendliness, size of city, job opportunities, relatively close to family (3-7 hrs drive)

Dislikes: cost of living. That's it!

DISLIKES: lack of four seasons, cost of living, and no public transportation.

I'm happy with almost everything else. Excellent school systems, very convenient to all major stores, plenty of free parking, nice running and hiking trails, good food places, perfect for families, lots of parks, near the beach and mountains, good companies located here, close to family, etc.

@Mrs. Pen: yeaa i really can't complain! it does suck when it's 90 degrees in january though... it never feels like the holidays here, and we just got our first bit of rain all season last week. we're going through a drought and water shortage this year!

Vienna, Austria

Like: Vienna is consistently rated #1 city in the world to live in, and we do enjoy an excellent quality of life here (nice apartments, it is safe, excellent public transit, great healthcare, low cost and good quality schools). It is also very international with about 40% of the population being foreign. We also have the luxury of living in the middle of Europe so most of the rest of Europe can be accessed in well under 3 hours by plane.

Dislike: smoking! For all the good, Austria is the only EU country that has not banned smoking indoors. High taxes - but high quality of life has to be paid for somehow.

CT

I love that it is sandwiched between so many great cities, NYC & Boston to name my favorites!! I love the history and the diversity of housing. I also love being only 45 minutes away from the shore! Granted, it's the CT shore, but hey, I'll take it. Finally, the seasons. Fall in New England is magical.

I don't love the cost of living or the summer humidity. My poor hair.

@SugarplumsMom: yes, my experience in Switzerland was largely the same...but let's not forget, we're not natives, so we do look at it through that lens.

I live in the Northeast now, and it's fine. The biggest reason why we moved back was because I did not want my son growing up with blinders on, which is what happens to a lot of people that grow up without diversity.

Massachusetts

Like: seasons, job opportunities, activities for LOs, lots of great friends
Dislike: cold winters, hustle/bustle all the time, traffic, taxes

Likes: Four seasons!!!!, cost of living, great schools, safe neighborhoods, variety of food, close to big cities like Toronto & NYC

Dislike: wish it had more ethnic diversity in our neighborhood. Although the area in general is diverse.

South Florida.

Like:
- Warm summery weather all year round. I HATE the cold, and I do not miss seasons at all! LOL
- Lots of culture/diversity
- Lots of things to do (beach, cultural activities, plays, restaurants, etc.)
- Close proximity to tourist attractions (3 hours to Disney, Kennedy Space Center, Universal, etc. and cheap for FL residents)

Cons:
- Super far from our family. 14hr drive to mine and probably a 24-30 hour drive to DH's.
- Traffic is so horrible all the time, especially in "snowbird season" (roughly October-May). It takes forever to get anywhere.
- People are generally so rude and obnoxious here. This is probably my #1 hate.
- Everyone here is from NY/NJ and no offense to you NY/NJ people, but the reeeeally strong accent grates on me like none other. (I also grew up in the South, so that might be it).
- Cost of living is very high
- Small houses/neighborhoods (unless you have major $$$)

North Dallas/Texas

Like: plenty of places to eat and plenty of things to do, plenty of job opportunities

Dislike: Traffic. I know it's not as bad as LA or NY, but I was born and raised in OK so traffic for me is going 45mph on the highway. Not at a standstill or moving 1 mile in 2 hours. OMG!!!!

College town in Virginia

So much love: four seasons, the mountains, the ease of driving to so many different places in a day's drive, farmer's markets and access to healthy-humanely grown meats, proximity to big cities, close to family. My town is small, yet has cosmopolitan offerings. Lots of interesting and intelligent people around. I should work for the chamber of commerce.

Dislikes: it's a popular place to live, so the job market is really tough here, and it's expensive. It's hard to fully enjoy all of the above when your bank account is not flush!

I live in a suburb of Toronto.

Pros:
- Overall nice neighbourhood to live in, was voted like 10th best place to live in Canada or something.
- Only about 50 minutes from downtown Toronto, and only minutes from the country.
- We have a mall, movie theatres, restaurants... everything is close by.
- Lots of very lovely parks to walk in.

Cons:
- While there is an older part of town, most of the place is new builds with no character.
- Getting more expensive to live in. I feel sorry for anyone trying to rent here, and you can get a much bigger/nicer house if you go just a little out of town.

Seattle:

Likes: SOOO beautiful, being close to water, mild summers, lots of job opportunities for certain industries, lots to do.

Dislikes: Traffic, cost of living, length of rainy winters, tough to make friends being new, not really our "scene" in a lot of ways, very far from both our families.

Though it's really pretty here and has been a good experience, especially from a career perspective, I don't think it feels like home to either of us, and we'll probably move on in a couple years when the time is right.

MA

Likes: 4 seasons, close to beach, lots to do/activities, easy access to other states- NH, VT, ME, CT, education
Dislikes: far from my family, crazy cost of living ugh!!, cold winters