So why do you live there?

[katiemack Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close katiemack]

Years ago, when we were living in NY, on a cold wintry day, my husband went into work and found his friend sitting at his own desk muttering and apparently very unhappy.

When my DH asked him what was wrong, he responded, "Do you realize, if my father had just had the good sense to move to California instead of NY, I could be living in California right now?"

This amused my DH. His first thought was "well, you are an adult, why don't you move yourself to California?" Instead, the guy was sitting there, angry at his father.

This story was part of what fueled us to leave NY over 15 years ago....why wait for somebody else to blaze the trail for us?

We decided to move WEST....not south as so many NYer's do (to the Carolinas or Florida).

We have not regretted that decision.

Arizona offers so many wonderful things...the list is very long...and.....sure it is hard to find a good bagel, or be convinced that the play you are seeing is as good as any Broadway production, and the symphony while excellent in PHX, isn't the NY Philharmonic, nor is the AZ Opera the Met....but even so, we have found the culture, variety of ethnic restaurants and foods, the outdoor recreation and beautiful weather to have paid us back handsomely for taking that bold move out of NY.

And yes, all the family still lives back there....but if they ever decide that they too wish for something different....well, we are here to help them make that transition.

Why do you live where you live?

[Jya-Ning Silver Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close Jya-Ning]

Because when I apply, one of the graduate school that accept me is in Maryland. And after look at Ohio, Texas Austin, I just pick Maryland. And The rest is because of work. I found one in CA, so move there, after a while, found one back to DC, so move back to DC. Really has not think of when I want to stay for the rest of my life. No place is prefect. On the other hand, most place are very lovely.

One thing for sure, it will be someplace where a health care is convient.

Jya-Ning

[T/S Guy Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close T/S Guy]

Where in Arizona

Where in Arizona do you live. I lived in the Phoenix area for 10 years, now in Branson. I really like AZ., except for the summer. I may move back someday.

[Luanne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Luanne]

I live in California, I've always lived in California. Only distance is that now instead of living in southern California, where I grew up, I live in the San Francisco Bay area. I moved here for work. I was transferred in what was supposed to be a two, to three year rotation, and never moved back.

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

I think I read a study a while back that most people live within 50 miles of their birthplace. I would think family ties and friendships probably dictate the comfort level and we put up with the weather as that is what we know.

About 22 years ago I had the opportunity to relocate with my "career" within the NE region and I nearly went to Boston. I spent a lot of time up there with work and became enamored with that town. My younger sister was up there in college and it was very tempting....but I didn't go. Many places are so small compared to NYC.

Now I think a few years ahead. With the serious damage I've done to various parts of my body I do see myself leaving the northeast. Not yet, but not too far in the future either.

[JWC Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close JWC]

I am retired and we live in the Temecula Valley in Southern California. The reason we live here is very simple. We have lived here for 7 years and love it. We picked this area to retire after spending 10 years researching where we wanted to live after retiring.

I have lived in many different locations. I grew up in British Columbia Canada and lived in Victoria ( born there ), Vancouver, and the Windermere Valley. Other than Canada, I have lived where I wanted to at the time. I left Victoria by myself when I was 19 and moved to Los Angeles. After Los Angeles, I lived in Portland OR, and Phoenix AZ. After Phoenix, I was married in Mexico and we lived there for 4 years. We celebrated our 45th anniversary in August. From Mexico, we went to Vancouver Canada for 16 months while waiting for my wife to get her green card to move to the US. We then lived in San Diego, San Jose CA, Coral Springs FL., and Venezuela for 2 years. We then moved back to San Diego and lived there for several years. We also lived in the SF Bay area ( Los Gatos, Sunnyvale, and Livermore ) at the same time for 6 years before I retired.

Apart from where we live now, San Diego is our favorite city to live in followed by the San Jose area. We live just 60 miles from San Diego and often spend 2-3 nights there playing tourist.

We have spent a lot of time in many other areas around the country. Our favorite city by far to visit is New York City followed by San Diego. We have visited Vancouver, Victoria, Seattle, Calgary, and Toronto in the last 4 years. It was interesting to see them after several years. Seattle was our favorite.

There are many areas of California that we like very much and would never consider living anywhere else.

[philsfan Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close philsfan]

No snow. No snow. No snow. Very little rain. No snow. No snow shovels. No snow blowers. No snow tires (remember them). No freezing temperatures. No gloves. No boots. No snow. No pool covers. Swimming in October and hopefully November if the solar works like it's supposed to...and the best part...no snow.

[JWC Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close JWC]

No snow. No snow. No snow. Very little rain. No snow. No snow shovels. No snow blowers. No snow tires (remember them). No freezing temperatures. No gloves. No boots. No snow. No pool covers. Swimming in October and hopefully November if the solar works like it's supposed to...and the best part...no snow.

Is it safe to assume that you aren't a great fan of snow?

[RESORT2ME Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close RESORT2ME]

Yorktown near the Bay

The main reason: I didn’t know about Coastal Oregon or Southeast Washington.

Also, the Navy introduced us to this region long enough that we learned it has much to offer.

One bad thing; it is sooo far to the west coast and Hawaii... And it’s too many dollars and flight hours away from family to live there.

We don’t care for big city traffic and parking.

Want grass and not sand or gravel for our yard. I require rivers and lakes, forested hills, and love closeness with the sea. That makes a thumbs down for many areas.

If we’re to have snow and cold, I want it to go away soon after the awe. Of course.. the same with hot. Don’t need any. Caroll and I spent August in Michigan this year. It was hot and muggy here while we were away.

My parents maintained two homes for many years just to stay out of winter freeze and summer swelter. I don’t wish temperature extreems, but here I find it real tolerable with a heatpump.

After experiencing so many places … traveling in the military, we settled for this happy medium. A steady income with benefits played a large part. So much military in this region, the economy remains stablized. Also, with the personnel turnover, many homes were and are on the market.

The weather is great for 11 months of the year. Beautiful flowers, animals and birds. Even the people are decent, most of the time.

This is our ten-day forcast:

Oct 5 Today
Lots of sunshine. High 74F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph.

Oct 5 Tonight
Partly cloudy skies. Low 57F. Winds light and variable.

Oct 6 Tomorrow
Partly cloudy skies early. A few showers developing later in the day. High 71F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.

Oct 6 Tomorrow night
Cloudy with a few showers. Low 64F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.

Oct 7 Wednesday
Isolated thunderstorms. Highs in the low 80s and lows in the low 50s.

Oct 8 Thursday
Sunny. Highs in the low 70s and lows in the mid 50s.

Oct 9 Friday
Partly cloudy. Highs in the low 80s and lows in the low 60s.

Oct 10 Saturday
Showers possible. Highs in the mid 60s and lows in the mid 50s.

Oct 11 Sunday
Showers. Highs in the mid 60s and lows in the mid 50s.

Oct 12 Monday
Showers possible. Highs in the low 70s and lows in the low 50s.

Oct 13 Tuesday
Times of sun and clouds. Highs in the mid 60s and lows in the low 50s.

Oct 14 Wednesday
Partly cloudy. Highs in the mid 60s and lows in the mid 50s.

Robert

[Kay H Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Kay H]

We returned to our birthplace when my DH graduated from Graduate school because he was offered a partnership with his former boss. After 13 yrs he opened his own business in the same town and most of our families live there. In 1980, we moved about 25 miles away to a house on a lake, but both worked in hometown.

DH wants to retire to Vermont, but I hate cold weather and grandkids live near us. They are young for such a short time, I don't want to miss their milestones and growing activities.

I'm getting more sentimental in my old age.

[MargeS Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close MargeS]

Lived in WNY (Grand Island, NY) until 1994. Retired at 42 from a family business. HATE the "lake effect" cold and snow!! HATE IT. Winter seemed 8 months long; spring, summer, fall about 5 weeks each... stayed in WNY much longer than I wanted to; ailing parents, son I didn't want to separate from family, and on and on. Every year there were brand new reasons to keep me there. Finally one day I woke up and decided to do something for ME.

Had been looking half heartedly in south CA near friends, but a visit to central coastal FL convinced me, as I could move near the ocean and not have to jump back into a job!! Is it the absolute best, no, but I am happy here and have ample time to visit other places. I listen to the ocean from my front and backyard. I enjoy the weather year round. AND I get lots of wanted northern company!!... so no need to miss family and friends...

[barndweller Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close barndweller]

We live where we do mainly because we are native Northern Californians. Hubby is 5th generation and I go back 4 and although we have traveled all over the country and discovered many, many beautiful places, we feel we could never fit comfortably into the culture of anyplace other than California. Here we do not have to join a church or a golf club or conform to a particular political philosophy to "belong". Californians seem more tolerant of diversity than other locations with temperate climates. That may be a stereotypical view and totally mistaken but it did factor into our decision to stay here. When we looked for a place to settle into retirement we wanted out of the Bay Area where the traffic, crime and noise had increased over time. We chose a small town in the Sierra Mountains, a 3 hour drive from the coast and about 2 hours from our grandchildren. Of course, 2 of our kids have since moved long distances away in pursuit of jobs and their own desires for a piece of the American Dream Pie. We have stopped chasing the almighty dollar and have settled for peace & quiet. We have a decent library, a really good regional theater, a nice ski resort, and a couple of golf courses that welcome duffers like us. There are no fast food chains or shopping malls in our little town. We have 1 stop sign. At night it is pitch black with no street lights and the quiet is deafening to those accustomed to the background noise of suburbia. We know all our neighbors who gladly lend each other tools or a helping hand when needed. We rarely lock our doors. We don't even mind the snow now that we no longer have to brave the road to go to work. If the housing bubble hadn't priced us out of the market, we would have chosen Santa Barbara or San Luis Obispo for the perfect gardening climate but we could not afford the cost of a home in those locations at the time. So instead we spend our time checking off the items on our bucket list while we are still healthy and able to travel. Life is good!

[JWC Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close JWC]

We live where we do mainly because we are native Northern Californians. Hubby is 5th generation and I go back 4 and although we have traveled all over the country and discovered many, many beautiful places, we feel we could never fit comfortably into the culture of anyplace other than California. Here we do not have to join a church or a golf club or conform to a particular political philosophy to "belong". Californians seem more tolerant of diversity than other locations with temperate climates. That may be a stereotypical view and totally mistaken but it did factor into our decision to stay here.

My wife and I agree with you 100%. One of the things that we love about the San Francisco Bay area is the diversity and tolerance. We lived there in the 70's and again from 1997-2006. I had my own business as a computer software consultant until I retired. The SF Bay area is the only place I would work because of the ambiance. We are not natives of California but have lived here most of our adult life. We will only live in California because of many factors. Some people refer to a California lifestyle, whatever that is. To me the California lifestyle is that you can live your own lifestyle and not worry about having to fit in.

I am curious where in the Sierras you are. We have been through the Sierra's area from top to bottom several times. There are so many really nice places there. Unfortunately we are warm weather folks so even the thought of having snow would not be nice.

[barndweller Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close barndweller]

John,
We live in a tiny town on Hwy 108, population 2400, soaring to 5000 in the summer. It's about 2 hours to Yosemite Valley, 2 hours to Livermore (where we lived for 25 years), and 2 hours to Sacto. In fact it's about 2 hours to most anywhere from here. We are right at the snow line so it's damn cold in the winter but the other seasons are very temperate. We spend 5 or 6 weeks in our timeshares down your way in Feb. & March. Most people comment on the decided lack of places to shop. Since shopping isn't one of my hobbies, it doesn't bother me. The big drawback for me is the challenges of gardening and keeping the wild critters at bay. We had a bear visit our garbage can last night. And the deer have obviously read the signs posted for hunting season and decided to camp at my place until the hunters have gone home.

[pittle Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close pittle]

Another Arizona Vote

I grew up in NE Arkansas and when we graduated from college and got married, we moved to Kansas. Topeka was a great place to raise a family. We took early retirement and moved to our condo at the Lake of the Ozarks, in Missouri. After 5 years, we decided that we preferred more "city life" and sold the condo and moved to the Phoenix area where our youngest son had lived for the past 15 years - think grandkids. Last year we bought a house on a large lot with xeriscaping (gravel instead of grass) and my husband loves it - he mowed 5 acres of grass for 25 years and does not miss that or shoveling snow one bit. The little patch of grass in the front yard can be mowed with an electric mower in a few minutes.

The winters are especially nice in AZ. The pool is great in the summer.