Do you love your state?

[Robinrs]

I'm not a "state" person, I kind of break it down by city. I grew up in Brooklyn New York, LOOOOVED it...

that is until I had to PAY for it!! New York City is my favorite place in the world but it's very limiting financially for someone like me. Also, I would not raise my corny sweet son in that town for nothing in the world!

I moved to Atlanta, GA at the ripe old age of 31. Fooled by the MLK mystic, the black mecca mentality ... it was just a marketing ploy. The good ol' boy mentality is ALIVE AND WELL here and the higher you climb the corporate "pole" the more horrendous it becomes.

Never really lived anywhere else in the state, so I can't say anything about the rest of it. I DO love Savannah, but wouldn't live there, either, just love to visit.

I plan to retire in Florida...isn't that the law for ex NYers? We used to call it NY Grad School. I think there are more NY accents in Florida than there are in NY! I look forward to just VEGGING there, that's what I want to do.

 

[ilovepcot]

I have homes in 2 states...North Carolina and Florida. I ***LOVE*** NC!!! I have nothing I'd like to say at this time regarding FL.

 

[ilovepcot]

No, I don't love my state. I'm probably the only person out there who hates Florida. There are parts of the state I do like, especially the Keys, but for the most part I hate the whole state.

A lot of it is the weather; I hate the weather from about May to October. I don't understand the appeal of living in a place where it's uncomfortable to be outside for most of the year. I miss the cold weather and the snow, I feel like the only person who gets excited when it gets really cold in the winter.

No, I'm the other person. Understand totally!

 

[FireDancer]

No, I don't love my state. I'm probably the only person out there who hates Florida. There are parts of the state I do like, especially the Keys, but for the most part I hate the whole state.

A lot of it is the weather; I hate the weather from about May to October. I don't understand the appeal of living in a place where it's uncomfortable to be outside for most of the year. I miss the cold weather and the snow, I feel like the only person who gets excited when it gets really cold in the winter.

Unfortunately we're stuck here for now. I'm in school until the end of next year, and DH can't transfer out for another couple of years.

I didn't like living in FL (I was in Clearwater). I didn't hate it really but the cons overpowered the pros for me. While I do realize there are a lot who would disagree I've lived through Cleveland winters and Clearwater summers and I prefer the former.

 

[fortwildernessishome]

Can I move in with you? It sounds absolutely beautiful! That describes exactly the type of place I would like to live. Maybe the winters would do me in, but I would love to move to the North. I live in Louisiana, and I would gladly give it up. We are at the bottom of every good list and the top of every bad list. And did I mention the humidity? Maybe I don't appreciate some of the good things about my state and would miss them if I moved, but I am willing to give it a try!

Come on up!!!!

Yes, some winters can be long, but every year is different, some year lots of snow, other years not as much. However, my boys are big skiers so we "need" cold and snow. Although after three months of it, I was DONE with winter!!!!

 

[Andtototoo]

A lot of it is the weather; I hate the weather from about May to October. I don't understand the appeal of living in a place where it's uncomfortable to be outside for most of the year. I miss the cold weather and the snow, I feel like the only person who gets excited when it gets really cold in the winter.

You can trade with me. I hate the weather here from October to May. And yesterday it was so cold, I had on a winter coat and gloves. On May 3. I don't understand the appeal of living in a place where it's uncomfortable to be outside for most of the year. I miss warm weather and the beach.

So it's all about what type of weather works for you. You like cold and I like heat.

Hey, we must live in the same town! Luckily (ha ha) for us, my husband's career field will be entirely gone here in a year or two, so we'll get to sell our house at a loss and move to another state, where I'll try to start my career over for the third time. But maybe we'll get to leave the house more often than just to drive our kids to practices and sit alone on the bleachers.

We must live in the same town! I said to my dh the other day that it had been weeks since I'd had a conversation about anything other than work with anyone but him. And those weeks included going to church, volunteering at church and volunteering at the library. But my absolute favorite experience here? The time when my dd's best friend's mom explained that while my dd was always welcome to play at their house, their little girl could not come to our house to play because since she and I didn't grow up together that meant I was a stranger and could be a child molester. In that moment, I saw into the mindset here -- if you are a native, you are safe and good. If you are stranger, you are dangerous and bad. You are, therefore, someone unwanted at least and to be removed at best. It's a very parochial and IMO scary attitude.

Wow and now I'm curious, where do you live (general area if you don't want to say?)

I live in the upper midwest.

 

[IdesOmarch]

I will when I get there (Florida) current state, not so much, too boring, no ocean.

 

[Bilberry]

I'm in between moves, as I'm not an official resident yet, from Illinois to Florida. I can get used to the warm, sunny weather of Florida. The people are wonderful here also.

 

[samshane]

Love NH - where I was raised, and I love WA state - where I am now.

Mainly because WA reminds me of NH. I've lived in NY, FL, and CT along the way. I think we'll stay here at least til we retire.

 

[PatriciaH]

I loved NYC where I grew up but it was too expensive (and pretty dirty) there and moved to MD (really liked it) for college and then MA when I met DH. I loved it but then grew sick of the winters and high home prices and we moved to FL.

We loved our town (Celebration) and being 5 minutes from WDW. We loved the weather most of the year (we like the heat.) We made many great friends. It was the job situation there that stunk. We were always contract, temp, on and off benefits, etc. It was very hard to find a good paying/steady/professional position. We took close to a $30k a year pay cut when we moved there and got way behind. We moved because we though DH's company in MA was being bought out and sold so we figured it was a good time to make a move. We had no debt, lots of savings and 2 PT jobs we could do while looking for better ones. We never got ahead. DH got offered a really great job back in MA last year. We did not want to take it and move but we had to for the benefits. It was like we had no choice. We had both applied to countless jobs in FL but the economy had really turned bad at that point.

I love the town we are in (we had always talked about living here when we were in MA before) but I HATE the winter. This was our 1st winter in 6 years and I was miserable. I don't mind snow until January maybe-for the holidays-after that- please no more! The weather has been awful since November. It is still high 50's during the day and high 30's at night. Lots of dark days and gray, gray, gray. I have also been searching for some PT work to get out of the house more and there is not much out there. I am going stir crazy.

So...I don't know. The town we live in is great and I like a lot about MA but my heart is just not in it. I miss our place in FL. I miss my parents. I miss our friends and WDW. We take one day at a time but I am already dreading winter!

I would also like to try CA (I always wanted to live there and love San Diego) or Europe!

 

[L&Lfan]

I love New Jersey where I've lived for 22 years, but my favorite states where I've lived are South Carolina and Massachusetts.

 

[*Fantasia*]

I can't say that I don't like Michigan, however, I can't say that I do either. I like Michigan during summer and fall. Winter is too long here and it can get brutal freezing cold.

I want to move somewhere where it's not too cold during winter, and not too humid and burning hot during summer.

I like California, but it's too far away from Michigan, from my family. I like Florida, but it can get very very hot during summer. I was thinking maybe in the Tennessee area or northern Georgia this way I'm not too far from Disney!
I also want to move somewhere where there are things to do during winter.

 

[lakelandgal70]

I plan to retire in Florida...isn't that the law for ex NYers? We used to call it NY Grad School. I think there are more NY accents in Florida than there are in NY! I look forward to just VEGGING there, that's what I want to do.

This is soooo true. I love hearing the NY accent down here. My Aunt has been here for over 30yrs and still has hers.

 

[natenapril]

Just moved to Michigan about 6 weeks ago and I have to say after several military moves this is my LEAST favorite. Counting down until we can leave and since we recently got here that's not a good idea

 

[daughtersrus]

Although our town was listed on Money Magazines list of Best Places to live, I'm not thrilled at all with the State of IL. I have no problems with our community, but the state is a different story.

 

[Minnesota!]

Most of the time I love my state. It's very pretty...most times. I think the only time I am not enamored with it is Feb/early March. By that time, the cold, the snow, the DIRTY snow...it's about done me in. But then comes late March, into April (and now May) when it slowly warms up, my tulips bloom, the trees bud....and I remember why year after year I stick out the winters.

Summer is perfect - hot, humid, makes us remember that THIS is what we wanted in February And fall is wonderful....beautiful weather, the trees are gorgeous...

And there is something magical about those first few snowfalls each year.

Our schools are great, people are extremely friendly (and I hope Andtototoo isn't from here...because all the transplants I know have said the exact opposite...about how incredibly welcoming MN are to them). The only people we don't like are cheese heads (kidding kidding kidding...)...

There is amazing natural beauty here...the North Shore is 2nd only to WDW as my fave vacation destination, the northern part of MN is one of kind...

And you can't beat the cultural activities and shopping! Plus dining is pretty top notch, too!

All that being said, my goal is to retire, have a cabin on a lake up north from May - November and then a condo on a beach in either Monterey, CA or the Keys...

 

[ChiCat]

I don't know if I would live in any other part of IL but I love Chicago. I know I definitely would not live in the burbs. It's expensive to live in the Chicago burbs and when I talk to people that live there they rarely go to the city, maybe once or twice a year. Unless I could only work in the city of Chicago then maybe, but no I would just live in the city. Yeah I don't get the burbs at all. I know a lot of folks love the burbs so I don't mean the above to be offensive, just personally it would never work for me.

I have also lived in MI, IN, and FL. I HATED Florida, and would never live there again. I would love to give NYC a shot (if it wasn't so expensive).

I get that winter can be a pain in the rear but I love having four seasons.

 

[luvflorida]

I'd have to say that every state I've lived in turned out to be perfect for that particular stage of my life.

Maryland: I grew up in Maryland and loved it. I loved being close enough to take day trips to Washington DC, Ocean City, Baltimore and other places in VA, PA, and NJ. To this day, one of my favorite places ever, is the Washington National Zoo.

Maine: My family is originally from Maine, and I grew up spending all my summers there, so I always had it in my mind that Maine was where I wanted to raise my own kids. So, for 35+ years my husband and I lived and raised our family in Southern Maine.

I love the state of Maine. It is a beautiful state with breathtaking scenery and a wild, rocky coastline like no other place. It is a very safe state to raise a family. Our kids grew up enjoying beautiful summer days at the beach and loving cold, snowy winters. For that phase of our lives, it was perfect and we loved living in Maine.

Arizona: My husband and I are now in our mid-fifties and we are no longer so fond of the very cold, snowy winters. We have relocated to Arizona, and we love it here! Arizona and Maine could not possibly be any more different from each other. We are still amazed at the awesome amount of sunshine and beautiful temps here. We have come to love the numerous mountain ranges that surround us and we really like living within a 7 or 8 hour drive to LA, San Diego and Las Vegas.

On top of all that, we are near all three of our kids and our two grandkids. You just can't beat that! We are now building our retirement home in Southern Arizona, so this is probably where we'll always be. We will continue to visit Maine (and Maine will always be "home" to our family) and to travel, but we couldn't be happier living in sunny Arizona!

We were just discussing this the other day, and my husband and I are both content with where we are in life, in so many ways...what could be better than that!

 

[SpecialK]

I don't know if I would live in any other part of IL but I love Chicago. I know I definitely would not live in the burbs. It's expensive to live in the Chicago burbs and when I talk to people that live there they rarely go to the city, maybe once or twice a year. Unless I could only work in the city of Chicago then maybe, but no I would just live in the city. Yeah I don't get the burbs at all. I know a lot of folks love the burbs so I don't mean the above to be offensive, just personally it would never work for me.

I have also lived in MI, IN, and FL. I HATED Florida, and would never live there again. I would love to give NYC a shot (if it wasn't so expensive).

I get that winter can be a pain in the rear but I love having four seasons.

I grew up in Chicago and now live in the burbs. It's actually much less expensive living out of the city, especially when your job is also in the burbs. Municpal services are better, infrastructure is in better shape, schools are better.

That said, when we retire, Illinois is not even on the list.

 

[Anjelica]

I live in Illinois - nuff said.....