Where You Grew Up

[tigger_68]

I have found that often people are greatly influenced by where they grew up, so I thought it might be fun for us to talk about where we grew up and how the attitudes and behaviors of our area affected how we turned out.

In my case it was kind of an interesting combination of influences.

I grew up, and still live in, the Central Valley region of California.

Although it is now getting more urban it still remains a farming region.

Growing up it was greatly more so, we knew the growing seasons as well as we knew the regular calendar. The neighborhood I lived in was very Mayberryish in the sense of family and friends being close.

At the same time we have a very diverse population, with virtually every ethnic group represented in one way or another. So I never really thought of people in racial terms, there was never really any sort of segregation of society.

When I travel I often find it surprising that 1) People arent' as friendly as they are back home and 2) that people think so racially in terms of us and them.

How about the rest of you folks ?

 

[MidgeD79]

I have always lived in Monroe County Michigan. I moved from a rural town to the only city 4.5 years ago because we received a Habitat for Humanity home. The town i grew up in is predominatley white (98%). The few non-whites are biracial. The schools were integrated in the 60's and my graduating class (79) had maybe 8 non-white students. All of the staff were -and are_ white. That being said I never thought much about it growing up. It's just the way it was.. Nothing bad or racial was ever said. I've never had dinner with a black person, but that's only brcause i didn't know any. The town is very religious/democratic/farming/cliqueish. If you haven't lived there for more than 30 years your the new family. The nieghborhood I live in now is very different. We were the first white family on the whole street.. Habitat has since built 6 other homes, 5 of which are white families. The neigborhood is not happy with Habitat, and it boils over to us. The neighborhood is VERY inter-related. The language is different, work/school ethics are different, clothes, music, life experiences etc, etc..I would not have chosen this area to live on, BUT at least I have a house of my own

 

[Stacerita]

I grew up right where I live now. I have lived here my entire life and love it. I dont see myself moving.

Area is diverse, but not that much. Even though there are many cultures and races in my neighborhood, we are all alike in many ways. We all keep our yards kept up, our kids all go to the school on the corner, and we all shop in the same stores. It wasn't always like that though. My when my grandfather moved out here and brought the family, they were the first Mexican Americans in the area and were treated pretty bad. My mother was called the "n" word daily. Things have changed. Its quite a meliting pot now.

I great up here and this is where I learned to be open minded. I got my confidence while living here. I went from being a girl to being a woman while living here. This is the place that shaped the person I am today.

I dont quite live in the suburb, nor do I live in a city. Everything I need is here and I dont have to go that far to do what I want. I always joke about how my entire life could be lived in a few square miles. Heck, they are putting in a Bev Mo down the street, what more can I ask for?

Plus this area holds all my memories of growing up. I walk by the side walk where I tripped and got a scar on my knee. Also see the place I had my first kiss. I go by all the places I went to school. See my first apartment. Where I learned to drive. I remember that where the new housing track is used to be a drive in theater. And I love that.

Even though the area has changed over the years. Its still the same. The good things haven't changed.

 

[JoyG]

I have found that often people are greatly influenced by where they grew up, so I thought it might be fun for us to talk about where we grew up and how the attitudes and behaviors of our area affected how we turned out.

In my case it was kind of an interesting combination of influences.

I grew up, and still live in, the Central Valley region of California.

Although it is now getting more urban it still remains a farming region.

Growing up it was greatly more so, we knew the growing seasons as well as we knew the regular calendar. The neighborhood I lived in was very Mayberryish in the sense of family and friends being close.

At the same time we have a very diverse population, with virtually every ethnic group represented in one way or another. So I never really thought of people in racial terms, there was never really any sort of segregation of society.

When I travel I often find it surprising that 1) People arent' as friendly as they are back home and 2) that people think so racially in terms of us and them.

How about the rest of you folks ?

Interesting question.

I grew up in the Hamptons on Long Island. I thought summer people were really out of touch with reality and the average working joe. I spent every summer "doting" on them at my summer jobs in clothing shops on Main St. and babysitting their kids.

When I left I didn't want to go back for many years. It's just in recent years that I can go back without still feeling like the "help".

The lasting lesson I got from where I grew up is not to be impressed by wealth. Money just isn't that important to me; my family and helping others really take precedence.

Some of the wealthiest people I knew were also the most morally bankrupt.

This topic is interesting, b/c my dh grew up destitute in a third world country and today we have very different ideas of how important money is. It's usually the one area of conflict in our lives.

 

[antmaril]

I live in Michigan. I live 10 miles from where I grew up. Have never lived anywhere else.

 

[Laurajean1014]

I was born and raised in New York. I now live 50 miles north in Connecticut (very similar to NY). Looking to move south in 10 years.

 

[binny]

Well Im an odd mix of places.

I was born here in Southern Idaho, moved to ( are you ready for this??) Prince Albert Saskatewan, Thompson Manitoba, Red Deer Alberta, Vancouver BC, Seattle area, Spokane Washington, Coeur D Alene Idaho, then back to Spokane for Jr High and High School.


Some small towns, some big cities I guess Ive taken a little of all of them and just sort of formed my own ideas.

 

[tigger_68]

Some fun input here guys, lets keep it going

 

[ilovepcot]

Interesting question.
The lasting lesson I got from where I grew up is not to be impressed by wealth. Money just isn't that important to me; my family and helping others really take precedence.

Some of the wealthiest people I knew were also the most morally bankrupt.

Seems as though you were seeing and hearing (whether intentional or not) some valuable lifelong lessons along the way while growing up. Bet it's made you a strong person, a good wife and wonderful mom.

 

[MUFFYCAT]

Born and raised in Queens, New York.

trains and buses were 2 blocks away. teenagaers didn't have cars until they started working and bought their own.

I lived on a dead-end block where there were tons of kids outside all the time.
majority of the kids were Irish, Italian & German.
I remember asking my mother why we had to be English & Polish!

Teenage years were great. the were bars on evey corner.
and i admit from 17-21 that we're most of us lived on Wednesday- Saturdays.


we survived the Son of Sam and the blackout in 77.


my mom still lives in the same house.

 

[EEYOREMAMA]

I would have to agree with this concept. "You can take the girl out of the city, but you can't take the city out of the girl."

I was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. Lived on Long Island and worked in NYC. I moved to a very rural part of Florida where I live now.

Every fiber of my being is still NY and city life. Street smarts were ingrained into me and a way of carrying myself and interacting with people. This is such a foreign concept to my children and children that I come in contact with.

You are, your early life lessons, conscious or unconscious. We are so programmed (whether that's a good or bad thing) when we are young, and that influences who we become. You can adapt, but I don't think you can fundamentally change who you are down deep.

I am a street-wise city princess living in a hick-one-horse-town. I am happy to have both extremes in my life. Where I've been and where I am, it's a wonderful ride and I wouldn't change it.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

I was born and raised in Houston and live just outside of it now.

Like the OP, I grew up in a racially and economically diverse city, so I don't see color, or money when I meet someone.

When I moved away to Destin, it was a different story. There were the "haves" and the "have nots" and very few "in betweens". IMO, it was not racially diverse at all. I felt like I was living in some strange, albeit beautiful (by a scenery standpoint), bubble.

I have to admit, when I'd come home to Houston to visit, it was like culture shock. I always had to re-adjust a little bit, so I can see how being raised in one place, can have an impact on how you look at another place.

 

[J.C.&ALI'SMOM]

I'm just the opposite of most of you. I was born, raised, and now live in the same very small town. It is a rural area that has been built on coal and the mining industry. Just recently (the last 5 years) we have seen quite a resurgence and interest in building the economy and the town. We have started to turn into a college town. There is the Appalachian School of Law and the School of Pharmacy, under the umbrella of the University of Appalachia. The entire town is in the process of being demolished and soon rebuilt on the other side of the river in a flood prevention project.

It is an interesting way to grow up. The area is almost all caucasian which was a big disadvantage but it has improved considerably. There were very few restaurants and activities when I was in high school. The theater closed when I was in 9th grade. Everyone knows everyone. My parents took us many places to expose us to history, culture, etc. The funny thing is that I wouldn't change. I am comfortable here. All those other things that people think they need that we don't have (malls, restaurants, bars, etc.) just make it fun to go out and do stuff on the weekend. That is why we love to travel!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

where we grew up and how the attitudes and behaviors of our area affected how we turned out

Grew up in North County in St. Louis MO, now live in DFW Texas.
Lots of racism, drugs, crime, poor, . All of my schools are gone. Places where we shopped are gone.
It is like my past is erased. It is weird.

I was born in Detroit MI...6 mile for those of you from Detroit. Very racist area there...very, very, full of crime, drugs, and the poor. My parents left Detroit when I was young. But we would go back to visit.

I discovered when I left for college I did not have to live in the "hood". I didn't want to be around the drugs, crime and violence so I moved out with DH (then BF).

Now we are in Texas and I love it. Missouri was just not my cup of tea. It is all about WHAT HIGH SCHOOL DID YOU GO TO??? Bleech....glad to be rid of that.

 

[pearlieq]

I grew up in Naperville, IL the hotbed of crass suburban consumption and narrow-mindedness.

I never knew until I got to college that I hadn't really been poor when I grew up. Poor in Naperville meant no BMW, no vacations to Maui, and no Ivy League tuition. All these years I felt like a charity case when in reality I always had a roof, a full belly, and all kinds of extras.

Naperville is the town for people who come into money but haven't yet learned how to act. It is the capital of the nouveau riche. The stomping ground of the SUV-stroller pushing, Escalade driving, foul-mouthed, ignorant, quietly bigoted, ultra martyr soccer mom.

I wound up with both an internalizing of and an intense loathing of those values. I still can't hang out in Naperville for more than about half an hour. Just running into a native teenager--acrylic-nailed, salon highlighted, and poured into $150 jeans, clicking her Lexus locked while yacking away on her Razr--is enough to give me the shakes!

Wow. Didn't realize I was harboring quite so much vitrol. I do know that I consciously chose to make my home in an economically and racially diverse area where people still see bowling as fun family entertainment and not kitchy slumming.

 

[JoyG]

Seems as though you were seeing and hearing (whether intentional or not) some valuable lifelong lessons along the way while growing up. Bet it's made you a strong person, a good wife and wonderful mom.

What a nice thing to say. Thank you!

 

[JanDave]

I grew up in Dearborn, MI, on the east side of town, in the 50s and 60s -- home of Henry Ford/Ford Motor and long term Mayor Hubbard, a self-acknowledged racist. Dearborn was/is a large city -- 4 high schools, there were 700 in my graduating class. The east side of Dearborn was comprised mostly of Italians, Poles, and Germans. Being of Italian heritage, I had a large "family" in Dearborn. The predominant religion, at that time, was Roman Catholicism. There were no blacks in Dearborn. There was an ethnic minoritiy of Middle Eastern people in a section of Dearborn, most were from Lebanon and Syria. They were 3rd and 4th generation Americans. Since I moved out of Dearborn in the early 70s, Dearborn has become the home of the largest group of Middle Eastern persons outside of the Middle East.

Being an east side Dearbornite, we were labeled the "factory rats" as the Ford Rouge complex was on our side of town. The rich kids lived on the west side. However, I felt "rich" with family, friends, and experiences of living as a "factory rat".

I have many fond memories of growing up in Dearborn. My first official job, when I was 16, was at a hospital in the inner city of Detroit. What an eye opener for me!

I loved growing up in Dearborn, but glad I have experienced many things in life that I may not have had an opportunity to do so had I stayed in Dearborn.

Jan

 

[robinb]

I was raised a Navy Brat, so I lived all over. I lived in Florida (I was born at Cape Canaveral in '61), Rhode Island, San Francisco, Chicago (my mom's family lived there), Florida (Pensicola), Chicago (again), Massachusetts (Carver -- near Plymouth and South Weymouth) and finally back in Chicago after my father died. I am a very social person, but it takes me a long time to make real friends.

 

[PenskeSth1]

I grew up in Kersey, Pa and if you sneezed you would miss it! (A great little country town). I loved this little town and miss it very much (the only downfall was everyone new everyones business). It has grown up some since I have been gone. They actually have a couple traffic lights now!

We live outside of Lakeland, Fl. now and it sure is alot busier. I just cannot get use to the fast pace, I could NEVER live in a big city and DH and I plan on moving to a little town again some day.

 

[Steamboat Marti]

Interesting question.

I grew up in the Hamptons on Long Island. I thought summer people were really out of touch with reality and the average working joe. I spent every summer "doting" on them at my summer jobs in clothing shops on Main St. and babysitting their kids.

When I left I didn't want to go back for many years. It's just in recent years that I can go back without still feeling like the "help".

The lasting lesson I got from where I grew up is not to be impressed by wealth. Money just isn't that important to me; my family and helping others really take precedence.

Some of the wealthiest people I knew were also the most morally bankrupt.

This topic is interesting, b/c my dh grew up destitute in a third world country and today we have very different ideas of how important money is. It's usually the one area of conflict in our lives.

I know exactly what you are talking about -- I grew up in Northport on the North Shore of LI and now live upstate. Money isn't everything (it also doesn't suck!) and if you took away my family, there isn't anything worthwhile left.