Where You Grew Up

[NMAmy]

Well, the weirdest thing to me is that I now live about a mile from where I grew up. I couldn't wait to get out and now I'm right back where I started and I really like it.

Grew up in a suburb of Lansing, MI--it's gotten much more affluent in later years than it was when I was growing up. I drive past the homes of my childhood friends and they just look so tiny. Especially since a zillion housing developments have sprung up while I was gone.

I grew up in what was actually a very rural area but we were close to a good sized town. Two good-sized malls, concerts, a university were all nearby. Fairly diverse area--my parents' best friends were black and so I grew up without really realizing anything about differences due to the color of someone's skin.

When I married, my ex was in the military so I lived in Germany and southern New Mexico. When he got out, we decided to stay in New Mexico and moved to the northwest corner of the state. Talk about culture shock. Hardly any African-Americans but a huge Hispanic and Native American population. FOUR HOURS from the nearest big city. A tiny little mall. But the good part was how friendly the people were and how willing to help with just about anything. I grew to understand the culture and to love it. It was pretty hard to move away and a huge adjustment for both DH and my DD who had never lived in Michigan.

I do think that moving away for so long gave me a different outlook from a lot of people in Michigan. I'm more easygoing than most and less confrontational.

 

[tribus121]

I was a Army Brat and grewup in a small army town (15,000 ) in rural NB Canada ( I still live less than 5 miles away ) but unlike most of my friends we did not move . It was very hard to make lifelong friends as my intire neighbourhood changed twice during the 12 years that we lived on the army base . we did travel a lot during the summers visiting both large citys ( Toronto ) and Very small vilages in rural NS Canada and I like to visit both but you would not catch me living in a large city or a small rural village . I now have the best of both worlds I have a home on a 1 acre lot that i only paid $ 28.000 for but only a 5 min drive to town ( lots of fast food )and 20 mn to a small city that has a couple large malls and a booming socal life . as a adult i have visited LA, Boston ,NYC Orlando , Tampa ,and totaly injoyed them but the best part of all of my trips is coming back home ,

 

[Planogirl]

I was an Air Force brat and spent most of my younger years in Texas and Amsterdam, Holland. I consider them both my countries in fact.

I also lived a year each in Georgia and New Hampshire. We had economic hard times in Georgia among other problems so it wasn't a good experience. My mother and I lived in Albany while my father was overseas.

New Hampshire was much better for us. We all three lived in Manchester and it was so lovely there and COLD. I have fond memories of building snow forts and finding wild orchids in the spring.

Texas has been my home since I was in high school though and I don't think that will change.

 

[Alice28]

I grew up in San Jose, CA. Pretty racially diverse in the 70s, when I was in grade school. I don't remember as a child seeing people's race or color. They were just my friends or classmates.

I noticed it more in high school & college, where multiculturism was almost pushed down our throats. I found it weird, because I always felt like everyone belonged, but now everyone seemed to be segregating themselves. It was an odd time.

Like pearl posted about Naperville, IL, no one was really poor in San Jose. Poor meant you couldn't have every outfit made by Guess or Esprit. I went to a private middle school and the girls there were the snottiest breed I've ever seen. In the late 80s and early 90s I saw a LOT of my friend's parents get quite wealthy in the dot-com boom in Silicon Valley. And what I saw wasn't positive- money is great, but it turns some people into shallow forms of what they were before.

I moved to a suburb of Portland, OR after I got married. People are so much friendlier here. It isn't all about how has a BMW or a Lexus. It isn't about your $800,000 house. I mean, wow, we were able to buy a small but comfortable home here for $125K 9 years ago----we could not have bought a 1 bedroom condo for that in San Jose, even 9 years ago.

When I go back to San Jose to visit, I cannot stand it. I cannot stand the feeling of hurriedness, the feeling of you HAVE to have MORE, the crowdedness- seeing what used to be rolling, golden hillsides now cram-packed with townhouses.

I think what I learned growing up in the region I grew up in, is that there is no sense in trying to keep up with the Joneses....it is most important to have some strong core values, to have neighbors you can count on, and to feel comfortable in your own skin.

But I do miss living 30-40 minutes from the beach! (and 5.5 hours from DL )

 

[PlutosFriend]

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.

Oh you are sooo right about that! I grew up in North Saint Louis County also! Small world I got the heck out of there in 1991 and now live in a nicer part of the St. Louis metro area.

 

[momrek06]

Well I have covered allot of territory here in the good ole USA...

Born in Syracuse NY

Moved to Needham, MA @ age 6

Got married moved to Norwood, MA

DH got transferred lived in Cherry Hill, NJ, Sylvania Ohio, North Royalton, Ohio and finally ended up in (outside) Worcester, MA (on the CT line)!!!

YIKES !!! Looking at this my head is spinning!!!

 

[Brendita]

Born & lived in Decatur, IL. till I was 14.
Chicago, IL.
Peoria, IL.
El Paso, TX.
Las Cruses, NM.
El Paso, TX.
Aloha, OR.
Beaverton, OR.
Hillsboro, OR.
Hoping to relocate soon South East.

All I can say is MidWest, SouthWest & Northwest
people are very different.
I will have to see how the SouthEast is.

 

[Alice28]

Born & lived in Decatur, IL. till I was 14.
Chicago, IL.
Peoria, IL.
El Paso, TX.
Las Cruses, NM.
El Paso, TX.
Aloha, OR.
Beaverton, OR.
Hillsboro, OR.
Hoping to relocate soon South East.

All I can say is MidWest, SouthWest & Northwest
people are very different.
I will have to see how the SouthEast is.

Hi Brendita from Oregon City!

 

[aunt kelly]

I grew up in a small town in Oklahoma. It was like growing up in Mayberry. Everyone knew everyone. Friendships spanned generations. My grandparents were friends with many of my friends' grandparents.

Of course everyone knew everyone else's buisness and that could be irritating. However, the good part was that most people really cared about each other and looked after each other. No one in my small town had ever heard the saying "It takes a village. . .," but that is how people lived.

If an older person's grass needed to be cut, it would get cut. If a parent was sick, another parent would offer to give the kids a ride to school. There was a real sense of community and we all took care of each other.

It was a great place to grow up. Now I live in a city and I miss that small town feeling.

 

[dementia412]

hmmm, okay born in Panama (ARMY brat), Louisiana, then New Mexico where we lived most of my life, Illinois when I was 15, then Georgia, back to NM, then to Ohio...

Small town, big for the area though... lots of crime (I think alot of stupid criminals get to new Mexico and stop running because they think they're out of the country). We were poor, and moved at least 13 times in the ten years we lived there... I went to three first grades. I've really wanted more stability for my kids, but seeing as I've lived in 5 places in the 7 and a half years here in Toledo.

those of you military folks who lived in NM, any of you live on Cannon AFB?

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

Grew up in the moneyed Deep South where racism was alive and well (unfortunately). Attended an all-white private school but hung out with the public school kids (I was such a rebel). I despised where I grew up because of the attitudes there about race, money and who your family was.

I moved to Orlando to attend college and LOVED it there - worked for Disney where every race, creed and sexual orientation is represented in the cast members.

I am back in my hometown raising my kids in (gasp) racially diverse public schools! I would love to move back to FL but my parents are elderly and in poor health so for now here we stay.

 

[AllyandJack]

I grew up in East Boston, MA. That's Eastie to anyone who lives near it.

I grew up in one of the projects. When I went to start school, they told my parents I'd be bussed 1.5 hours away from my home to a worse neighborhood. My parents enrolled me in the local Catholic school and my father ran the bingo for the school to get a discount on tuition because they wouldn't be able to afford to send me. When my Gramps died (I was 3), my Nana moved in to help with bills and babysitting (I was born very ill and had major surgery when I was 5 because they had to wait for my digestive system to develop before they could repair the problem, so she was a big help taking care of me). She pretty much raised me since both my parents worked full time.

For high school, I had enough of Catholic school. I was again told I'd be bussed 1.5 hours away to a terrible school. At the time, Eastie High (or Eastie School for The High as it's known) was pretty good. My mother grew up with the Headmaster and he pulled some strings and got me in. It was a rough place - kids throwing desks out of windows, setting them on fire, punching teachers....we had a teacher who couldn't take it and got taken out in a straight jacket and another teacher who hated her and made fun of her. They had a great honors program and managed to keep the 20 or so of us insulated from the "bad" part of the school.

I'd never go back. It's so much worse now. It's sad, but it's not really where I would live anyway (I'm not a city person), so I guess I'm not THAT disappointed.

 

[NMAmy]

those of you military folks who lived in NM, any of you live on Cannon AFB?

We were at White Sands Missile Range for about 5 years. I liked it eventually but at the beginning, it was WAY too isolated for me.

After my ex got out of the Army, we ended up in Farmington, NM and I was there for about 10 years. After living at WSMR, Farmington seemed enormous to me.

 

[Disneyfan63]

Hi,

I was born, grew up and still live in the New Jersey suburbs near Philadelphia: first Haddonfield, then Haddon Township and now Voorhees.

Jim

 

[TaraLee4]

i live in Valatie New York. it's about 35 minutes south of Albany.

very quiet town. my graduating class had 120 people in it. everyone knows everyone, and you probably went to school with one member of everyone's family.

i just moved back here after living in schenectady for 2 years. it's funny how much you insist you will leave and never come back, then end up back because you like it better!

 

[Hedy]

Well I have covered allot of territory here in the good ole USA...

Born in Syracuse NY

Moved to Needham, MA @ age 6

Got married moved to Norwood, MA

DH got transferred lived in Cherry Hill, NJ, Sylvania Ohio, North Royalton, Ohio and finally ended up in (outside) Worcester, MA (on the CT line)!!!

YIKES !!! Looking at this my head is spinning!!!

I live in Westwood, MA. Grew up here. It's your standard town full of new money and hyperachievers. I hated it growing up, but returning after four years of college, being here did teach me a lot. It taught me who I am, and that no matter what, I always have my work ethic, and that money!=brains. It also taught me that you can be excellent, but not necessarily the star, which I've found is a lesson a lot of people my age never learned.

 

[rhanditresmom]

Interesting thread....

I was born in Kansas City, MO...moved to Lebanon MO, Rolla MO, then to Springhill, LA. At the age of 8, parents felt called to the mission field, so we up and moved to Macau, East Asia. My parents raised me in a color-blind home, I didn't know there were "differences" between races till I was probably 14! And I know that had to be tough down in Springhill, LA!!! Being in Asia was cool, as I was in the minority.

I think growing up overseas has made me a more well-rounded person. Instead of being exposed to one culture, I was exposed to many. I feel equally comfortable around Europeans, Asians, and Americans....although I sometimes feel a little left out around here. I don't always get all of the "in" jokes!

Because we moved so much, I have a hard time making friends. I am very social, however! And, right now, for the first time in my life, I have had a female friend for longer than 4 years! I think that is pretty cool!

 

[barkley]

i grew up in napa california. it was much smaller in back then (graduated in '79) not the massive number of housing developments and retail thats there now.

it was what i could best describe as a very 'passively racist' environment-not openly spoken of, but people did not readily rent to minorities, nor did you sell your home to a minority- 'out of respect for your neighbors'. as a result it was 90% white (the hispanic population lived 'up valley' and were'nt considered 'part of the community').

also very 'class structured' basicly there were the 'rich' and everyone else. and 'rich' did'nt mean you had more money-it was that you spent it such that everyone could see it-cars, house in the 'right' area of town, member of THE country club (silverado, heaven forbid it was the 'napa valley' one ).

church affiliation was a factor for teen 'grouping' to a certain extent-one of the christian churches in town was the 'popular church' and those kids hung out together (and sadly kind of looked down on people in the identical denomination church located in another part of town)-ALL the mormon kids hung out together (despite the location of their church), catholic kids (realy devout) and seventh day adventist pretty much stayed in their own private schools and did'nt interact with the public school kids.

very much 'peyton place'-everyone knew everyone else's buisness and there were allot of unsavory things going on (like the band teacher running off and marrying a student the day she turned 18 after having a 4 year 'secret' affair with her ). not much to do in town, too far to travel any place else-so allot of kids turned to alcohol and drugs for 'entertainment'.

seems like among my peers they either got out as soon as they could and raise their kids elsewhere, or they never left, never will. may sound callous but my take on it was that it was a very 'in bred' community.

 

[Diva of Dragons]

Duuuuude....I grew up in Huntington Beach, CA (Surf City, USA)! Very laid back and accepting of all people. Our high school was known for it's surf team and theater department.... oh, and excessive use of marijuana...Or was that just me??? LOL!!!! But really, it was so great in the 1960's-80's!! We didn't have a lot rules. I often feel odd in other parts of the country. I feel like I'm going to do something wrong because the culture or expectations can be soooo different. Not bad, just different.

It was the consumate beach town until the developers bought it up, tore it down and built a bunch of cookie-cutter stucco junk downtown. It has definitely lost it's character! I spend more time in Laguna Beach now. It still has it's artist colony charm. I hope it lasts!

 

[JunieJay]

I'm also a city girl, born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. Very few people had a car -- only the men who went somewhere outside of the city to work. I can remember when there were street cars in Baltimore, although that went away when I was probably 9 or 10. We had stores and movie theatres (and yes, bars) at our disposal, only a few blocks away. The homes were connected (called row houses in Baltimore, I think people call them town houses now). Attached to my home was a snow cone business. Snow cones businesses were huge in Baltimore. Everyone in Baltimore sat out on their marble steps (or stoop, as we called in in Baltimore) in the summer because no one had air conditioner. You knew your neighbors intimately, and if you got out of line it could easily have been the neighbor lady yanking you up and giving you the what for as it could have been your mother. You pretty much had 9 or 10 mothers watching you 24/7. It truly was a village. In that period of time (60s and 70s), most of the neighborhoods were divided by ethnic groups, you had your Italians in one neighborhood, next to that were the Irish, next to that were the Poles, and so on and so on. There were no busses to take kids to school, everyone walked. Finding a kid to play with at any time of the day or night was not difficult, as everyone had at least 3 kids, and most families had more than 5.

I still live in the city, but now I live in Washington, D.C., which is much different than Baltimore. Not much has changed in Baltimore over the years, its retained a lot of its charm. I'd move back there in a heartbeat if I could, but my husband's work is here in D.C.