What's Good Or Bad About Where You Live?

Lee

Lee

Senior Member
Location
Chatham, Ontario
No need to say where you live, unless you want to.

What I like is living on the very edge of the city, yet having amenities steps away. I can walk to Walmart and Superstore, yet almost feel like I am in the country with farmers fields and horses in the pasture directly behind.

What I do not like is the lack of Costco and a Fabric land.

Might move someday.
 

When we moved here, the city limits sign said "population 13,000." Now it's closer to 70,000. Lots of refugees from Cali. That's not my favorite thing. But the shopping and dining opportunities are better. And it's still Texas. And my daughter and grandkids live here, and that's a real plus.
 
I like living in the country..although on the edge of a small market town so with facitlities nearby , and only 20 miles from the centre of London.....

What I don't like is that there's very little if any entertainment here so London is the nearest city for theatres etc... traffic congestion into London makes it a nightmare to go there unless travelling by train, and then travel across the capital by tube which can potentially make a 20 mile trip 2 hours...or more
 

I live in a shabby but comfortable 1940s apartment complex in an old city neighborhood.

The complex is within walking distance of all of the essential shops and services rents are reasonable and the neighborhood is quite safe for people that blend in and mind their own business.

If I can't catch a ride to the cemetery I'll probably move to a smaller senior-friendly apartment at some point.
 
I've lived in the same neighborhood where I grew up,my childhood home is 3 blocks away.I've lived in co op apt complex for over 30 yrs
There are local shops I can easily walk to,if I need to go to Target or movie theatre,the bus stop is down the street
What I don't like is not having any family here. I have a group of close friends who are my 'buffalo family' which is great.My brother is my closest relative he lives in CT has a house in NH would like to see him&his family more often than once/yr.
 
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I grew up in Massachusetts. Everything , there, is "historic". In my hometown, there is an inn, the "new" addition was built in 1758. Well, they kicked me out of Mass,. and Pennsylvania lost out, and got me. I live in a bedroom community. There's nothing historic about it. It's not a big city. I don't think we have had any good murders. I miss not having an interesting place to come from. My hometown is where people come to sleep. Oh,..... yeah. I miss coming from a cool place.
 
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My village was founded in 1765 and if you look at old maps, you'll see that it has changed very little. Until the 1950's it was fairly self contained with church, school, shops, pub etc..
Now everything has gone, and in a way, that's the worst thing. Oh, and the internet is as slow as a dead snail.
The best thing is the quiet and the peaceful farm surroundings. It's also quite easy to get
other places.
 
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Lee said:
No need to say where you live, unless you want to.

What I like is living on the very edge of the city, yet having amenities steps away. I can walk to Walmart and Superstore, yet almost feel like I am in the country with farmers fields and horses in the pasture directly behind.

What I do not like is the lack of Costco and a Fabric land.

Might move someday.
Click to expand...

Taking the topic you mentioned as only one example- this area is known as a "food desert." I have to pick between spending $4 for the bus to go to/from a grocery store, or walking approx. a mile in each direction to an expensive convenience store that doesn't sell any "real" food anyway. I do the latter often, although there's just so much Jack's pizza and canned ravioli a person can stand.
 
I love my multicultural city and neighbourhood. We don't have to go far to get to a Costco when necessary. Libraries, restaurants, grocery shopping are close by. It is a former suburb of Toronto, but a city in its own right. There is a city hall that holds celebrations, so we don't have to go all the way downtown to Toronto City Hall for festivities such as New Year's Eve, Canada Day, etc. though we do have to go downtown to go to events such as Caribana in the summer.

.. and, Jason Momoa is here filming 'SEE' until July! It's a good place for celebrity spotting.
 
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Forgot to mention that as of most of the uk except new towns built after the war... everything in the UK is historic... but here where I live it's even more so, for example my tiny nearby church has been in constant use since the 4th century AD although some parts rebuilt in the 6 AD then again in the 11th century after the Norman invasion , when there was barely even any homes near it... ... the gravestones although now unreadable , still stand (well almost upright) in the grounds, and lie side by side with the much more recent late villagers..... ..another tiny country church nearby is been in constant exisitence since the 11th century, and only recently has had some reconstruction...
 
JaniceM said:
Taking the topic you mentioned as only one example- this area is known as a "food desert." I have to pick between spending $4 for the bus to go to/from a grocery store, or walking approx. a mile in each direction to an expensive convenience store that doesn't sell any "real" food anyway. I do the latter often, although there's just so much Jack's pizza and canned ravioli a person can stand.
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that's the way it is here.... one convenience store within walking distance with overpriced canned and processed food.... or a car drive 4 or 5 miles to the nearest larger town with supermarkets ...or bus trip which runs only every hour but the bus service stops after 5pm..
 
Love everything about where we live in Ohio except the weather. Just outside a major city. Quaint little town with great restaurants. Live on this golf course, daughter and grandkids and son in law behind us. Close to the high school, elementary schools, walk to Friday night games, walk to the tennis courts. 8 minute drive to major stores and restaurants.
 
Pros
- Privacy , houses widely spaced
- plenty of country trails to walk, ride, snowmobile, ATV or horseback on
- plenty of forest with trees ( great for wood stove & woodworking )
- location, rural living yet close enough to many towns & cities for shopping etc.,
- neighbours and friends are friendly but not in your face friendly since they also appreciate their privacy
- medical centre is fabulous , hospital not too far
- cannabis is legal and I can grow my own
- services are great ( mail delivery, road maintenance etc.,
- in-laws are not too close
- pets have plenty of room to roam
- can burn our own leaves and paper garbage
- many neighbours with horses, donkeys, goats
- freedom to do what we want without being bothered

Cons
- when the snow melts our basement gets a bit damp
( it doesn’t leak but gets musty )
- it’s a two story home so might not be suitable for when we get older
 
Houston, Texas - Love the winters because there are none. Traffic - there is way too much of it. Population - one of the most diverse in the county.
Economy - Very strong for the working people. Area - Parks galore, national parks - rodeos - lakes - the Gulf of Mexico - hunting, fishing, tons of outdoor sports activities for young folks, restaurant everywhere and most important, everyone says "Hello".
 
Having been in several areas over the last (almost) two years with travel nursing, I'll make a table (there an engineer gene in my family somewhere =P)
CitySeattleLexingtonGrand RapidsHoustonSouth Georgia (home)
ProsBest Coffee in the WorldGreat consignment shopping (cast-offs of the moneyed/ horsey set)
Beautiful farms		Gorgeous Summers

Autumn foliage		Gas is cheapSmall town, people care about each other
ConsParking is a nightmareExpensiveSnowTrafficRegressing vs progressing

I guess of all the places I've lived, I've enjoyed Michigan the most for the natural beauty and nice people. But I can't hack snow so it will not be a home base.
 
Where we live now, is very, very close to the foothills going into the Rockies. Very little diversity, with only a few ethnic restaurants. Demographics here, like where we use to live before in Colorado, mostly white, like 97%. However, we have met some very, very nice blacks here. The city has 82,000 people, compared to 931,000 where we use to live. We have to drive to the other end of town to go to big-box stores, like Best Buy and Macy's.

There is still plenty of farmland and a few ranches in the area. We both love that. Up the freeway from us is a livestock auction, of which we been to a number of times. Love looking at the livestock they are auctioning off. There are elk and many rabbits in the area. Two nice lakes for boating, skiing and fishing.

IOW, we should have never left Colorado in 2007! Neither North Carolina, Florida the Gulf or Eastern Coast was our "cup of tea". We love mountains and mountain wildlife.
 
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Forgot to mention....one con about my town of Chatham is there is no lake nearby, just the Thames River which is little more than a big ditch. I like watching people doing water things.
 
A few years ago, there was a website that doesn't seem to be there anymore- I thought it was called Find My Spot or something like that, but it's not what comes up when I type it in.
You could answer your preferences on a wide variety of topics, and the site would tell you which locations were best-suited to your needs and preferences. I wish it was still on the web!!
 
Lee said:
Forgot to mention....one con about my town of Chatham is there is no lake nearby, just the Thames River which is little more than a big ditch. I like watching people doing water things.
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that is so funny because we have a Chatham here in the county of Kent, 40 miles the other side off London from where I am..and of course the main river through London is the Thames.. :giggle: but Chatham itself does have the river Medway too...


here where I live North of London , we have lots of lakes, rivers, streams and nature reserves... which is why we own a boat ... :D
 
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CinnamonSugar said:
Having been in several areas over the last (almost) two years with travel nursing, I'll make a table (there an engineer gene in my family somewhere =P)
CitySeattleLexingtonGrand RapidsHoustonSouth Georgia (home)
ProsBest Coffee in the WorldGreat consignment shopping (cast-offs of the moneyed/ horsey set)
Beautiful farms		Gorgeous Summers

Autumn foliage		Gas is cheapSmall town, people care about each other
ConsParking is a nightmareExpensiveSnowTrafficRegressing vs progressing

I guess of all the places I've lived, I've enjoyed Michigan the most for the natural beauty and nice people. But I can't hack snow so it will not be a home base.
Click to expand...

I am also from south GA; I was born in Nashville, about 25 miles north of Valdosta. Have lived in Texas most of my adult life.
 
We built this house in 1994 in a sleepy suburb of Houston. It has grown substantially since we've been here but has not lost the small-town feel. It's nice to be close enough to a metro area to have all the benefits (medical center, great restaurants, fabulous shopping, etc.), while still in a friendly community. Cost of living is reasonable compared to many parts of the country. So I suppose it's mostly good.

Negatives are the heat, humidity and hurricane season. Also owning a vehicle is a necessity; everything is spread out and definitely not within walking distance.
 
hollydolly said:
that is so funny because we have a Chatham here in the county of Kent, 40 miles the other side off London from where I am..and of course the main river through London is the Thames.. :giggle: but Chatham itself does have the river Medway too...


here where I live North of London , we have lots of lakes, rivers, streams and nature reserves... which is why we own a boat ... :D
Click to expand...

But, your boat is stationary now, right? It's all decorated and nice, but do you ever take it cruising?
 
ClassicRockr said:
But, your boat is stationary now, right? It's all decorated and nice, but do you ever take it cruising?
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of course we do... it's moored at the marina, , it never goes out in winter... , but it's a big boat at 70 feet long so it's a lot harder to handle on the narrow rivers around here and having to to release the locks is hard work ( I'm sure you haven't a clue to what I refer) , so we don't take it out as much as we used to , preferring instead to take the very much smaller rented motorboat out...

Anyway let's not take Lee's thread off topic about boats....
 

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