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I've seen an ocean maybe 40 or 50 times in my life, and normally after a minute or two of looking out and taking it in - I'm over it and get on with my day.
I grew up on the Delmarva Peninsula and couldn't drive 40 minutes in 3 of 4 directions without hitting the Atlantic Ocean, the Delaware Bay or the Chesapeake Bay. After lving in coastal Virginia and Boston, in my late 20s, I moved to KC. While a surprisingly under-appreciated city, I only lasted there 16 months before taking the first opportunity to move back near a coastline (Houston - about an hour from the Gulf of Mexico). Some of us have salt water in our veins; others do not.
Great lakes are very good substitution for the Ocean. But you really miss the smell and feel of salt air.
But When I was living in Missouri I really felt land locked and Isolated. Sure it has a few rivers but the Mississippi and Missouri are not really suited for recreation. Add in very few access points to these rivers ands you really start feeling land locked. The lack of any beautiful topography didn't help either.
But when I was living in Pittsburgh, and Charleston, WV, because the rivers were huge recreational resources you did not feel so trapped. Both cities were also surrounded by some awesome geography.
Do you ever feel trapped because you're not close to an ocean? That's my major gripe/fear of the midwest. The fact that it almost suffocates me. How do you do it?
I can't imagine not living at least a few hours drive from an ocean, hearing and seeing the waves crash on the sand. Its freedom.
Do you ever feel trapped because you live in a place that is so expensive? Seriously, when I see that in California $500,000 will buy me a tiny little box of a ranch style house in an okay neighborhood when the same house would be way less than $100,000 here, I feel like I am the one who is much more fortunate. What good is the ocean if you have to work all of the time to afford to live near it? What about the traffic there and how much time and gas is wasted sitting in it? There's something to be said for having your time to do what you want, instead of sitting at a standstill on some congested freeway. Everything in life is a tradeoff. SoCal is nice in its way, but I would never, ever want to live there. The ocean hardly makes it worth it.
I can't imagine not having a low cost of living, not being able to stay home and raise my kids, and not having time to stop and smell the roses. It's freedom.
Last edited by canudigit; 04-25-2011 at 11:12 AM..
Location: Pittsburgh (via Chicago, via Pittsburgh)
3,887 posts, read 5,519,793 times
Reputation: 3107
Pittsburgh isnt technically considered the midwest, but you have to drive a good 7-8 hours minimum to get to an ocean. no, i dont feel trapped.
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