Why do you live where you live?

[mrs. magoo]

Because I live in the house I grew up in and all of my immediate family is in the area. If the kids all move to different parts of the country I will live here until I die but if the kids move to a central area we might sell and move to be closer to them but really I don't mind the winters and the house is paid for and is a great house despite being full of clutter. My cousin - who is really like a sister to me - lives in Scottsdale and I know that I can visit with her for extended stays when I retire so I will probably stay put here in Western NY.

 

[Stratman50th]

Born and raised in MD which in my opinion sucks! (Best view of MD was in my rear view mirror).
I had been working remote for about 3 years. The contract changed and allowed for me to work remote anywhere in the lower 48 so that was an opening for change,
My wife worked for a defense contractor who moved their MD offices to Boston. She was able to retire.
Where to go? Taxes were #1.
Weather was a close second.
It came down to Texas and Florida. Texas has a much wider variety of bad weather so we picked Florida.
Most of my family was from Florida so it was time to go home for good.
A separate but equally important reason was we have a lot of money invested in an RV and wanted it stored under cover. We found a development in central Florida that catered to Class A RVs. We built our house with an attached garage for the RV.

 

[TB'sWidow]

Born here hate it not in a position to move

 

[chickapin parterre]

Born here hate it not in a position to move

interesting.....lived in the wilderness of Joshua tree and never knew I hated it until the age of 12 when I moved to oregon....swore I would never move back to the forsaken desert...now I live in a desert far worst than Joshua tree

 

[georgina]

In 1985 I moved from my hometown/college town to Pittsburgh for a job. Lived there over 35 years. Last year we moved to be closer to oldest DD and her DH who were working on producing a grandchild (now 2 months old, see avatar pic!)

 

[NotUrsula]

I can repeat FlyGirl's reason nearly word for word, except that we would love to leave now that my MIL is gone and DH has obtained licensure in another state. Unfortunately, I carry the health insurance and I'm unlikely to get a job anywhere else at anywhere near my current pay at my age. Also, DD still has 3 years of high school.

 

[Caseheidi]

DH and I were born and raised in our metro area, though on the other side of town. We switched sides (about 15 miles west) because of his job. But mostly all our family is here, and taking care of many of them has kept us around. Lucky for us he has always had a good job, and we love our town and schools. DD would be terribly upset if we switch schools or states before she graduates. Also, I am the one who deals with everything for my aging mother (all our other parents have already passed) So until we are not needed there, we will remain here. We have dreamed of living in Florida for the winters, and staying in the PNW for the summers however.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

I moved here in 2008 because I had suddenly had the house I was renting sold out from under me, while at the same time I had to stop my career because my mental illness got so bad I couldn't do it anymore. I started receiving SSI, which isn't enough to live on your own. My aunt said, "come here. I'll make sure you're fine," and so I moved to New Jersey from Philly. Not my choice to leave the city at all, but I'm sort of glad now. Not that I wouldn't go back in a heartbeat, probably.

 

[Snowysmom]

We moved to where my DH was working at the time and we could afford a small house. We moved to a bigger house in the same town when the kids were teens. I stay in the area, moving to a nearby town soon, because it is where DH and I lived during our marriage and raising our kids. I will be close to my kids.

 

[CamMitch]

To be with my family and because I love my hometown.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

Good neighborhood, we found a house that suited our needs, that's pretty much it.

 

[pigletto]

Family. I was born and raised in the region, and almost all of our family is here. I’m one of six siblings and all but one live here, and my parents are 15 minutes away. We’re close. We are all vacationing together this weekend.

That being said our area saw a 50% increase in housing prices the last two years and we could cash out and live somewhere else mortgage free. I’m unlikely to leave if my young adult children settle here though.

 

[slo]

DH & I have lived in this town our whole life.
Due to us being only children, my DH never pursued looking for a job farther away - we want to be close to our parents. When our parents are no longer with us, and we are retired, we’ll probably follow our DD wherever she goes. She’s already said that she will not live here, she wants to live somewhere warmer, but not real warm all the time like Arizona. So, I do not think we’ll die in this lovely town.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

Moved 6 months ago due to a job transfer.

 

[DisneyHardin]

I live in the closest big city to the small town where I grew up. I moved here because this is where DH already lived before we got married, but also it was a big pay raise to teach in this district that where I had been teaching.

 

[VandVsmama]

Good cost of living, good job market, good schools

 

[Alicefan]

As much as I despise the beach, I grew up here and worked hard to build a clientele so now I'm stuck here. My dad was Navy so I've lived by a beach all my life and it doesn't impress me in the least. I'd give anything to be in a cooler mountain climate.

 

[OrangeBirdGirl]

Because both our immediate families are within 45 minutes of us. We didn't want our vacations to be trips back to visit family.

 

[ratherbeshiny]

I found all of the replies really interesting, so diverse!

I live here because to us, it is the greatest city in the world. We decided to leave a couple of years ago in an attempt to be responsible (family, finances) and the moment we could, came straight back.

 

[disneyfam]

Two-fold for me. You can't get me to move back to my hometown and because I work for Penn State and my kids are enjoying 75% off tuition.

I do love it here in Happy Valley but SO looking forward to moving to warmer weather. I only have 2.3 years to be "vested" which means I am guaranteed to buy into PSU benefits after "retirement" and kids are guaranteed the discount until the age of 26. I'll only be 55 when I hit vesting so I could, if I wanted to, "retire" from PSU and work elsewhere. Then when I'd be ready to truly retire I can buy into medical, dental, etc at current employee cost.

And nothing (well OK a Disney trip) beats a football weekend here