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I live in the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis. I somewhat like it. I love my life here but think I could love my life just as well and possibly better in another city. Its a good place to be but not the end all be all.
Pros are the 4 seasons. The insane amount of leisure sports leagues to keep people like me happy. We have some world class amenities like the Zoo, The Muny Theater, Missouri History Museum and St. Louis Art Museum all very close and fun. Good but leaning towards excellent health care with Barnes Jewish hospital and Washington University being the staple. MetroLink is okay but useful for me. Bike infrastructure is lagging but within the next 5 years will more than likely be a totally different story. I love the eclectic array of neighborhoods that keeps the city interesting along with the homey type people to match. Definitely a unique sense of place that I love. Cost of living is reasonable and is below average for this type of city.
Cons are living in a stagnant city with talks and plans to move the area forward but nothing aggressive has been put in motion to see the population growth. There is always a feeling of the city could be much better than it is. Murder City branding has gotten old. Same talk, same story 50 years later. Too many suburbs are getting old and stale with the people to match. Hyper segregated with many municipalities are over 90% one race. We wont talk about conservative state policies that impact life in our city.
I am looking to relocate within the next few years to a larger city with a more liberated and driven population. St. Louis isn't all bad or all good just like any other place but I am thinking its time for a change.
Generally happy. Moved here because husband missed being near his family.
We live in suburb near good medical, stores and 2 favorite restaurants nearby.
Nice neighbors, quiet neighborhood, home appreciated 50% in the 3.5 years we've been here.
Pros: Crime is fairly low in our area. It's a good location to drive to Blue Ridge Mountains and Parkway (a gem!) and beaches aren't too far (we left Florida so beaches aren't that important to us). Husband likes it's not cold much but I like colder weather. This is the biggest city we've ever lived in and it's nice having museums and big events close by but not TOO close.
Cons: I'm an artist and my work fits more in northern galleries, Florida galleries are less southern than NC and I did very well there, not so in Charlotte but things have started to improve lately. Trying to think of more negatives and really can't except that if left to me I'd live farther north for cooler weather and art scene more my style.
The house itself? No. The landlords are the worst slumlords I ever dealt with. Granted, they're the only slumlords I ever dealt with.
The metro and state? Absolutely! I love it here!
Pros: 4 seasons. Lakes everywhere. Forests. Farmlands. All nearby. I can head up north in a few hours and be on the shore of the largest freshwater lake
Cons: Lots of smoke from Canada this summer. Also, the cities have gone downhill the last few years with rising crime and generally sketchiness. But, I feel its getting better.
Last edited by Pincho-toot; 08-02-2023 at 03:00 PM..
We live in Ashland, Oregon and are mostly happy. It's a nice town with decent amenities and nearby Medford has very good medical facilities and doctors.
My wish is to be closer to the ocean. On a map, it looks like we are but the drive through the Siskiyou Mountains makes it an almost three-hour drive, so it's not really a day trip.
Other than my beach complaints, Ashland is very nice if you like small-town life (which we do) and has a lovely downtown area; here for the duration.
Atlanta, GA (northern suburbs) - Half and half (leaning towards unhappy)...
Yep ^^ my thoughts with northern suburbs of ATL as well, except I loved the weather and the outdoor rec and the asian food. I just knew it wasn't my place to settle down, though I enjoyed my 2 years there quite a bit.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ainsley1999
I’m not unhappy, I’m more bored. (hence posting online) Not necessarily because where we live now is boring, but because i am craving for new experiences and I don’t like sameness, no matter how great the sameness is. (Only with places and cities.) im off to Santa Barbara to see whales and dolphins next week then im taking off to re-visit Grand Canyon, im determined to show my daughter the world outside the U.S and her comfort zone. She’s also not the type of kids who can just live in the suburbs and be content. Good for anyone who can do it, but we can’t.
That's funny, I'm in the exact opposite frame! I found myself full of experience and adventure after big metros, but anxious and overstimulated. I wanted somewhere more serene and nature filled - more of a blank slate. I found myself to be more adventurous trying things in my local area and more anxious and FOMOish when travelling somewhere far away. I wanted to travel internally and discover all the facets of living fully within the world right around me and pick up some hobbies rather than travelling externally. Also I wanted to have a deeper social network that comes from a smaller area and staying put.
And for that, Taos is great, I really like it so far!
It seriously feels like a foreign country in this area or an alternate history of the US west, there's nowhere else quite like it. I really like the people here and the openness to experience. There's a lot of poverty around, it's economically pretty quiet, and it's kind of the middle of nowhere, but that's not the worst: For one thing it's very anti - materialistic, people don't chase luxury endlessly. Also it feels like I'm on the front end of a piece of the US that's got all the ingredients to bloom except airports, interstates, railroads, and venture capitalists. With retirement and remote work that can now be realized though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ExNooYawk2
We live in Ashland, Oregon and are mostly happy. It's a nice town with decent amenities and nearby Medford has very good medical facilities and doctors.
My wish is to be closer to the ocean. On a map, it looks like we are but the drive through the Siskiyou Mountains makes it an almost three-hour drive, so it's not really a day trip.
Other than my beach complaints, Ashland is very nice if you like small-town life (which we do) and has a lovely downtown area; here for the duration.
From Grants Pass to Yreka would have been my #1 choice without consideration of being near family. What an amazing piece of geography and flora, with good towns and fun people to be around! My inner botany nerd wanted to be in one of the most biodiverse and beautiful parts of the US. That being said, I think NM is actually a good fit because the endless exploration available from being essentially off the radar except for the few WOW spots. Landscape does stay the same, but each day provides a new set of beauty looking upwards with the clouds, storms, stars, sunsets...
Buffalo, New York (city neighborhood in North Buffalo)
Very Happy
Pros: Affordable, walkable, and bikeable city neighborhoods filled with primarily well maintained late 19th and early 20th century homes and walkable business strips; architectural legacy that draws architectural tourists worldwide; large swaths of the city are diverse in wealth and demographics, with friendly and respectful personal interactions, tolerance, and low crime; less class separation and snootiness than seen in other cities I've been in with less ostentatious wealth, few or no trust fund babies; relatively low cost of living with reasonable tax rates in the city associated with lower housing costs; known as "the city of good neighbors" it lives up to its reputation; city and metro that bursts alive in late spring through early winter with activities, festivals, etc; a strong local sense the city is undergoing a renaissance with a can-do and DIY attitude; strong neighborhood and community identification and involvement; one of the coolest summer locations in the US, due to influence of Great Lakes; 4 real seasons with real difference between them, including extended autumns and snowy winters; surrounded by natural beauty of the Great Lakes, Niagara river, multiple other creeks, rivers, lakes, and gorges; bigger city amenities like theater, music, and professional sports along with multiple colleges and Division 1 teams; four season sports, with nearby beaches and boating in the summers, and nearby ski resorts in the winters; literally on the border with Canada, and within an hour or two of Toronto and all it has to offer; local foods and dining, beyond the wings, even called out by National Geographic as among the best food cities in the world for local dining; easy and nonchalant acceptance of all races, genders, types, etc of people in the city; mostly excellent schools with multiple charter school and private school options available; many suburbs have working quaint village "Main Streets" that date back to the 19th century
Cons: Entrenched poverty in some areas of the city and Niagara Falls; sixty years of decline has left holes in some neighborhoods, particularly the city's East Side, that have yet to be refilled; diversity, openness, and inclusion of people in the city falls off the further one leaves the city limits; city fear/avoidance among many suburbanites; occasional old defeatist attitude of the decline years, particularly among suburbanites; lack of significant downtown retail; winters feel about 1 month too long; high property tax rates in suburbs
pros: good job market, good airport, reasonable COL given the jobs, swim/tennis communities, 1 hr to mountains, 4 hours to ocean. Good 4 season weather, moderate taxes
cons: traffic, lack of urban planning, even with newer developments, lack of parks/trails compared to northern cities
That's funny, I'm in the exact opposite frame! I found myself full of experience and adventure after big metros, but anxious and overstimulated. I wanted somewhere more serene and nature filled - more of a blank slate. I found myself to be more adventurous trying things in my local area and more anxious and FOMOish when travelling somewhere far away. I wanted to travel internally and discover all the facets of living fully within the world right around me and pick up some hobbies rather than travelling externally. Also I wanted to have a deeper social network that comes from a smaller area and staying put.
And for that, Taos is great, I really like it so far!
It seriously feels like a foreign country in this area or an alternate history of the US west, there's nowhere else quite like it. I really like the people here and the openness to experience. There's a lot of poverty around, it's economically pretty quiet, and it's kind of the middle of nowhere, but that's not the worst: For one thing it's very anti - materialistic, people don't chase luxury endlessly. Also it feels like I'm on the front end of a piece of the US that's got all the ingredients to bloom except airports, interstates, railroads, and venture capitalists. With retirement and remote work that can now be realized though.
...
I like the sound of Taos from your description. It seems like an exotic, unique place. (Don’t ask me why I know Julia Roberts owns a ranch there!)
In my case it’s really because we have a 14 yrs old teenage daughter, who’s NOT a homebody nor sedentary at all. She’s been like this even as a newborn. (true story, pediatricians said she tricked us into leaving the house.-I wonder if her wanderlust personality is related to the fact that I was constantly traveling and walked in the snow for hours for fun during my pregnancy.) She’s very at ease and comes alive in big cities (born in NYC, napped only 30 mins at home but slept through jackhammers and for 5 hrs when we were out as a five weeks old.) She’s like a little Jimi Hendrix “Have You Experienced?!”, on the go and curious, thirst of the world outside of manicured fancy little bubble. If she can be world-schooled she’s probably going to beg us to let her.
One day when my husband retires and daughter grows up, I’d love to live in somewhere in the South of France (somewhere like Camargue per Hemingway’s the Garden of Eden book.) or a little seaside village near the border of France and Italy.
Just googled Taos, you were right, it does look like a foreign country. Now I’m fascinated.
I am a 50+ year old vet in this city. I lived in Miami, Sarasota and Orlando as well. Pittsuburgh IMHO is turning into a mini Portland and that style. The downtown isn't a place you want to go anymore. It is declining still, but prices of homes are wildly high. I have 20 years in real estate and owned a restaurant before you pretend to know more. The city is going the way of San Francisco without those amazing views and great weather in comparison. I am moving to the country soon. I have a few more years left if I can survive as a white older male.
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