OT: Where do you live, and what are the pros and cons of living there?
Folks,
As I stare out my window at the muted void of gray overcast hanging above Dexter, Michigan, I can't help but wish, even a little, that I lived somewhere that was dependably sunny and warm all year round. We've considered Texas, particularly the Dallas area, but then again the muggy heat can be suffocating, and don't even get me started on the bugs.
But there's no way to know for sure what it's really like to live somewhere without hearing from someone whose done it. It's a slow day and I'm curious to hear from others about where you live and if you like it.
I've always considered southeast Michigan to be a bit boring. It's not exactly a travel destination, but it's a decent place to live and work. The weather sucks, except for when it's terrific (fall time, anyone?). Having lived here my whole life, it's hard not to look at other places in the US and think it must be awesome to live there (other than Ohio. Ohio sucks and always has and always will).
If ppl are moving from SF to GR it's because they're from there originally & want the lower COL + help watching the kids from the Grandparents!
I'm an AA native who's been in the Bay Area for 30 years & NO ONE who's not originally FROM Michigan has moved there from here in all that time.
April 16th, 2019 at 10:38 AM ^
Ooo...I grew up near GR but never considering going back. If more "weirdos" are there now, I will definitely consider it. Too much of the "frozen chosen" there for me back in the day and not enough creativity.
Thanks for the heads up!
DC area.
Pros: you get all four seasons. Winter isn't bad, spring and fall you can be outdoors the whole time. Summer used to annoy me but I've gotten used to it. There are a ton of Michigan people (UM in particular). Lots of jobs. Tons of free stuff to do. Good, cheap ethnic food, especially Asian and Central American varieties, in the burbs. Also lots of good fancy food, but I rarely waste my money on that. Easy to get to a lot of cool cities and fun outdoor things within 3-4 hours (though Michigan and plenty of other places beat it in the outdoors category).
Cons: cost of living is high--mainly the housing. Traffic sucks. If your work involves policy or politics, now is a fairly uh toxic period. DC lacks the gritty character that I like about a lot of other places.
Metro dc here too. You've pretty much nailed it, but one more con: people here are assholes. It was a major culture shock for me moving here. Midwestern hospitality is a real thing and you don't notice it til it's gone
Good point.
Not even the midwest but the south. I grew up in Northern VA, moved to Richmond for college and moved back in 2013. I think because it's so transient, people don't really know each other like they do in other towns. Black hole towns where people go and never leave are friendlier because there are so many friendly faces.
Also the diversity...it is very diverse, but the diversity doesn't necessarily mix all the time if that makes sense. white with white, black with black, latin with latin, and various Asian heritages with their respective cultures.
And the salaries are exceptionally high, and the number of smart people here is insane. You can barely survive if you don't make $50k and have at least 1 degree. But it's all people care about...what do you do..who do you know...how important are you?
All that said it's a great place to live except for the traffic and home prices that were mentioned. You can nitpick anywhere, but being in and around the area for nearly 40 years, I don't know if there's another city that offers what DC does.
Dayton Oh
Pros: None...my work and family are here if I have to list something
Cons: it’s deep in OSU territory, and they will never let a UM fan forget it. The lack of anything worth seeing or doing that isn’t at least an hour away is an ever present reality. The winters are too cold and the summers are too hot, meanwhile there is a grand total of 72 hours of Spring and Autumn combined.
One other positive......gotta love the air force museum. I go every time I drive through
Columbus,OH
nothing else needed
MeToo
Michigan...beautiful most of the year but high taxes and limited opportunities for young people
High taxes?
Limited opportunities for young people?
April 14th, 2019 at 10:54 PM ^
Beautiful most of the year?
April 14th, 2019 at 11:15 PM ^
Michigan?
Well, I am about 40 minutes SE of Dexter in the relatively non-descript reaches of southern Romulus, just south of Metro Airport. The pro might be relatively convenient access to I-275, I-94 and I-75. The con is that Romulus - because of the airport - is more a loose confederation of neighborhoods without much commercial development, and you end up doing much of your shopping in places like Belleville, Taylor, Allen Park and Woodhaven.
April 14th, 2019 at 11:29 PM ^
Spent 2 years in Romulus. Only one sort-of grocery store in the “downtown” area anyway. I didn’t spend a time in Romulus that was for gas or a restaurant.
Denver by way of CSU in Ft Collins
Pros - Weather, things to do all year around, economy, lots of Michigan people here if you get homesick, beer, central hub for transportation.
Cons - Becoming hipster mecca, housing is outrageous if you don’t make a decent income, no lakes for water sports, can’t have a bonfire because of fire restrictions.
April 14th, 2019 at 10:58 PM ^
Looking at properties in Boulder this very coming weekend. Intend to rent out for a few years til I'm ready to move there from the Bay Area, the only place that makes Boulder housing seem kinda reasonable.
Good luck man. Yeah Denver/Boulder isn't in the same stratosphere for housing costs as say SF, NYC or SoCal but we're not far behind either. I've often thought about moving back to Grand Rapids just for the sqft of a house alone.
Toronto, downtownish.
Pros: very walkable, lots of good food, lots to do. I tend to get bored in the suburbs.
Cons: real estate prices, traffic. God help you if you try to drive out of town after roughly 3 PM on a week day.
The 407 has to be the most expensive piece or road I have ever driven on, but it usually moves well :-)
I drive on it a handful of times a year--I'm not at all close to it.
They've also had a bunch of billing problems, although that seems to have gotten better.
I half expected to get a free drive after using it this summer, but nope, they got my plates and sent me the bill international mail.
they have no mechanism for collecting on it so you don't have to pay it and they can't mark your credit.
Not like the overdue Ann Arbor parking tickets they billed my Dad for back in the day?
April 14th, 2019 at 11:59 PM ^
How much do they charge for it now?
Alas, won’t help you leave town. It remains astonishing that a city without a DC/NYC/Chicago level light rail system will chain itself to the Gardiner, 427, and DVP the way it has for decades.
401 is a fun drive when it’s moving, though.
We moved to Edwards, Colorado, from Chicago, 22 years ago. We ski in the winter, hike and bike in the summer and travel during the off seasons. As healthy and active retirees there is nowhere we would rather live. Bring lots of money.
Nice try NSA. Not this time.
The Triad of NC.
aka Greensboro High Point Winston-Salem.
Pros. Reminds me a lot of my days in GR without the snow. Smaller metro area growing at the right pace, like GR.
And my son lives 30 minutes away with his Mom.
Cons. It’s not home home (Montague MI) nor is Ann Arbor. And it’s a 9 hr. drive for a M athletic event.
Lived in Whitehall 2 years. I love that area! Trying to get back there. Some of the best people I call friends are there.
God willing ... ?
I’ll be back in The ‘Gue by end of 2019.
Triad NC as well.
I like it-- (pro) best place I've ever seen to raise a family.
Con--they grow up fast.
I grew up in Indianapolis but I’ve lived in Orange County, CA for a little over 7 years now. I’ve been bouncing around; Anaheim, Costa Mesa, and now Aliso Viejo.
Pros: perfect weather year round, always something going on not too far away, good looking women everywhere, great food from every ethnicity nearby
Cons: traffic sucks, even on weekends occasionally, cost of living
San Diego. Downtown.
Pros: Infinite variety of interesting things to stimulate mind and body. Solid infrastructure. Low property taxes. Year-round fresh food supply. Great employment options. Very safe urban environment. Year round sailing. Lots of UM grads. And yes, perfect weather that borders on boring.
Cons: Cost of housing, gasoline, state income tax, airfares, entertainment. Epicenter of homeless problem. Peak traffic periods. Tourist gluts. Distances from family/friends. People who complain about it.
Been thinking of moving to Bankers Hill. Which neighborhood around Balboa Park would you consider the most desirable to live (with a commute to the La Jolla/UTC area)?
Desire largely depends on your requirements. Short commute times a must? COL? Older/younger neighborhoods? Proximity to nightlife and/or conveniences? Etc, etc.
I wouldn't call it the epicenter of the homeless problem. I'm pretty sure Seattle, SF, and LA have you beat there. The traffic is now nearly a 24/7 problem. Being downtown has saved you from the nightmare of commuter traffic which is absolutely soul crushing. Every. Fucking. Day. I started counting up the hours of my life I was wasting each week commuting from Poway to Kearny Mesa and said: "fuck this".
I will agree with you on the pros though. There's never a shortage of things to do in that town and it has, hands down, the best mexican food in the US. Things are changing around there though and not necessarily for the better. As a former 40 year resident of San Diego, I really miss my beloved sleepy surfer town and loathe what its become.
Just got back from a trip to SD and was pleasantly surprised by the traffic. Obviously, I wasn't going to a job so I'm wasn't having to deal with it in the same way. With that said, I thought Seattle traffic was infinitely worse.
Traffic in S.D. has gotten much worse the 5-10 years, but probably still better than other cities in California. Glad to hear you were pleasantly surprised. I feel like the driving here has gotten a little to aggressive by about 5 to 10 percent of those on the road. I live in narrow valley in East County about 19 miles east of downtown, and commute to downtown. It gets hot there in the summer, but the winter is mild and this year, with the rain, the hills are all green and beautiful. With my oldest just moving to Seattle for a great job opportunity. We contemplate a possible eventual retirement move to Lake Tahoe or south of Reno Nevada in a golf course development, (much shorter flight to Seattle, nearly same amount of sunshine as San Diego) and are up here this week looking. Tahoe has Bay Area influence prices, but is certainly beautiful We would be trading hot summers for colder winters and no state income tax, & shorter trip to Seattle. Not sure yet about the pros and cons of such of move. Any insights would be welcome.
Parts of downtown SD are very depressing. It’s definitely no skid row or Tenderloin, but at some point there’s no value in comparing the level of despair.
I’d also like to hear your insight on where to find good Mexican food. I’ve been pretty disappointed in most places I’ve tried, and have yet to find anything that can compare in taste and price to Mexico.
April 14th, 2019 at 10:34 PM ^
Not knowing any better and being the first time I was in "the City", I walked from a midday meeting on 8th Street north and got to Turk Street before going WTF did I get myself into???
April 14th, 2019 at 10:25 PM ^
I lived in SD for nearly 11 years from 2001 through 2011. I lived in 4S Ranch / Santaluz, so north of Poway, and worked in Clairemont Mesa near the I-15 and 52 interchange. Traffic was rarely what I consider to be bad. And I hate being in heavy traffic with a passion. It was about a 15 to 20 minute drive to and from work. Maybe things changed since 2011 but it was fine while I lived there. Hands down still the best place I've lived and I do miss it, especially being able to drive to Las Vegas.
I live in Durham, NC now and really enjoy it. It is much cheaper than SD. We live in a 3300 sf house. We could never do that in SD. The weather is hot and humid in the summer. Count on 90F and up from June through early September. Winters don't compare at all with SD (what does?!) and we do have a few snow days every year but it's nothing egregious. All in all it's a great place to live. The people are nice. It's a 12 hour drive back to Michigan. Not too bad. Lots of jobs. Growing. It's the south but it's not redneck at all. Progressive. Lots of northeast influence.
April 14th, 2019 at 11:37 PM ^
After experiencing traffic in LA, SF, and Chicago, my reverse commute in SD is a breeze. The sleepy surfer town is a thing of the past, unless you go down to Baja. Sad in a way, similar to other great locations in this thread where "discovery" eventually ruins the vibe.
April 14th, 2019 at 11:37 PM ^
double post
Boston
Pros: Decent sized "metropolitan" city with solid amenities. Nice job market with a lot of diversity. Decent infrastructure (though starting to get overwhelmed). Getting more diverse in terms of residents and viewpoints.
Cons: Stupid housing market (admittedly cheaper than NYC and SF, which I've experienced). Weather can be rough. Not quite a "big" city in the way it wants to be thought of. Still pretty homogenous. Obnoxious sports fans.
I grew up half of my life in Stuart, Florida and plan on ending up there or Jupiter FL at least by the time I retire.
The pros; They are coastal towns with a smaller town feel. People are nice and its not too busy most of the year except when the snowbirds come down for winter. Lots of things to do around there whether you want to do outdoor activities or if you want a nightlife its there as well. Beautiful areas with lots of water everywhere. You can choose to have a farm there or live behind a gated community Stuart/Palm City seem to have everything you could ask for. The cost of living isn’t bad either and your only a 20 minute drive to West Palm Beach and then the cities of ft Lauderdale and Miami are right after. They also have great schools there that rank high for the state and have low crime. The fishing and scuba diving there is amazing.
The cons is that it can get more packed in the winter with everyone from up north coming down and that’s about it.
I have a nice career in Bridgman and live in St. Joseph Michigan now however and I do really like the area besides Benton Harbor which is pretty run down. There could be more things to do here expecially in the winter but for the most part its a nice little bubble town with great brewery’s and beaches the school systems between Lakeshore and St. Joseph are also ranked pretty high as well.
April 15th, 2019 at 12:00 AM ^
So how do you rate the massage parlors in Jupiter, Pro or Con???
/asking for an NFL owner
I was born in Ann Arbor, left for 30 years and am back. I lived in Farmington Hills and Milford, MI before moving back.
I enjoyed my 20's and 30's in metro Detroit, Milford was a great place to raise kids.
I have a place north of Manistee on Lake Michigan that I try to spend much of my summer.
As much as I love Michigan I would ideally live to have a month or two in Scottsdale or Sedona in Feb/March.
I have travelled quite a bit and can't imagine living in California, Arizona, Texas, Florida year round. Austin is a cool place as long as you don't have to drive anywhere and don't mind spending summer inside - same for much of Arizona and Florida. California has some great weather but high cost of living and difficulty in getting around.
If I had to choose one place year round it might be Nashville, Boulder/Denver, Sedona, AZ, Santa Fe NM - if not considering jobs/working..
My ideal would be Ann Arbor Sept - Dec; Sedona Jan - April - Northern Michigan May - Aug.
So I have 2 of three but just need that wealthy relative or lottery winning ticket for the trifecta.
I'd go for the snowbird deal. I love Michigan for about 8 months of the year and Sedona is an amazing place. I would have a lot of fun there in my jeep too.