My Observation......

So, I live just outside of Birmingham, AL. I moved here for a job. I wanted a job at an auto manufacturing plant and it's where I found one.

My sister-in-law was in town this week from DC. She made it clear that she would not live in AL. There is nothing to do here, we're all rednecks, and we have a lousy school system.

So, my observation after thinking about what she said is that living in a big city with lots of stuff to do would not make me a happier person. What makes my wife and I happy is that we have good friends here that we spend time with and just generally do life with. Life isn't about stuff it's about the people around you.

Agreed! your friends are you're base and the enrichment of your life expands from there.

I kinda did the same thing, I moved to Charleston to work in auto manufacturing. My wifes family is in Chicago, Mine is in Philly. When we have kids she's made it clear were moving within 4 hours of one set.

Disagree.

I'm now back living in the small college town where I received my degree from, Stillwater, OK. GO POKES!

It is the fastest growing, safest city in the state of OK. Tulsa and OKC are only an hour in either direction, and we don't have have the clean air issues of either of those bigger cities.

But there isn't a whole lot to do here, especially if you aren't a student any more. All the bars are either college kids or old people, few restaurants to choose from, most of the time if I need to find/buy/get work (not necessarily just the car) done alot of the times I have to get it done..................an hour away.

And the biggest drawback is jobs. Being in a college town the University is by far the largest employer. Their pay scale is TERRIBLE and it doesn't matter how qualified you are for a job, you aren't getting it if you don't know someone. I've seen numerous jobs at the University that require a PhD, starting pay? Less than I make as a Tech Writer with a Journalism degree.

I can't wait until I have enough experience under my belt to get a much better paying Tech Writing job in a bigger city.

Not Houston/L.A. huge. But at least as big as a Tulsa/Fayetteville.

Define "nothing to do." If by that you mean having stores that keep their doors unlocked during business hour as opposed to areas of DC that the store operator unlocks and lets customers in. A lower crime rate, etc... then I guess she's right about nothing to do. Ive heard that schools around Montgomery aren't bad. I live up the road from you outside of Huntsville and there are decent schools here. The colleges around here are pretty good, feeding rocket scientists to NASA (the space agency, not the racing association) and aeronautical engineers. I get the same thing when I visit family/friends in SoCal. They just don't seem to comprahend that this area has a higher education level than the area they live. True, less than 30 minutes away you can be in redneckville w/toothless hicks. As for nothing to do? Shopping isn't bad, wildlife parks with hunting/fishing, Barber Racetrack close to you along w/NASCAR at Talledega. Both of which have good museums, Nashville, Atlanta, Chatanooga, Gulf Shores/Mobile and Tunica are all within driving distance. As for me, I've had it with large cities and Huntsville is starting to get to big for me. Just can't move as this is where the job is. I'm an Army Civilian. (EDIT) Country drives can be very nice around here, expecially the covered bridge tour. And Tail of the Dragon is easily accessible.

Sounds to me that you married the right sister.

I agree, you married the right one.

I'd much rather live with the hicks in the boonies than in the 'exciting' towns where all the entertainment is manufactured for you. Or comes in the form of robberies etc. I have been to Atlanta, Miami, New York, Boston, all those 'happenin' towns.. I'll stay right here in the backwaters, thankyouverymuch.

\Nnext time she comes around and starts that, remind her 'Delta is ready when you are.'

minimac wrote: Sounds to me that you married the right sister.

My wife found that pretty funny.

I have to agree. I live in the Chicago area and traffic is worse and worse every day. I am thinking of retiring to a slower area someday, like Central Illinois - Peoria - Chillicothe - Peru - LaSalle.

Too much traffic, crime, and craziness........My wife has family in Northern Alabama and her similar age cousins will outlive me due to stress.

pete240z wrote: I have to agree. I live in the Chicago area and traffic is worse and worse every day. I am thinking of retiring to a slower area someday, like Central Illinois - Peoria - Chillicothe - Peru - LaSalle. Too much traffic, crime, and craziness........My wife has family in Northern Alabama and her similar age cousins will outlive me due to stress.

We have a lot of "you city folk" moving down our way. The fact you can buy a 2000sq-ft home for < $100k seems to have something to do with it. Just don't expect to find employment making more than about $10/hr.

Want to buy a house? Nice quiet neighborhood, about 1600sq-ft, 3 or 4-bedroom, large double-lot on corner, big garage + shed. I'd need about $80k for it.

Maybe it's a grass-is-greener effect...I live in "the boonies" and I absolutely hate feeling like I'm living in some sort of remote outpost. People schmeople, most of the people out here like relaxing and are otherwise boring as sin, gimme some damn manufactured entertainment! Eventually I'll move to a big city in Canada. I was thinking back to Toronto but as a car guy (more specifically a driving enthusiast ) Ontario has some very unappealing things about it nowadays

Maybe it's a grass-is-greener effect...I live in "the boonies" and I absolutely hate feeling like I'm living in some sort of remote outpost.

For some, maybe. I live in Ontario, and lived close to Toronto for years. We escaped to the sticks 20yrs ago, and it was the best thing we ever did. For some it may be about the people around you, but for us, its more about the people not around. We are fairly private people, and like our peace. We are currently looking for some (really) remote property for retirement.

I'm about an hour away from Toronto too. I lived there for four years in my twenties and don't miss it at all. Sure, it was exciting when I was young being part of such a huge, scary metropolis... but I just hate the anonymity of living in a big city. My town has a population of 65,000, with a university and a college. There's a really vibrant arts community, lots of theatre, live music, outdoor concerts all summer. Plenty of parks, rivers and lakes. Oh... and we're half an hour from Mosport :)

I think I've found a good compromise. I live about 35 miles from downtown Houston. The south side of the town I live in is pretty much a suburb of Houston. The north side is a bit "agrarian" (or "Deliverance," depending on your perspective).

What makes it work for me is that I live, work, shop, and go to church all within about 5 miles, so I don't spend two hours a day commuting. If I want to go into town, I can. If I don't want to, I don't have to.

The only problem with my plan is that Houston is moving this way, and quickly.

I always found this funny. I grew up on the southern End of Ocean City NJ. A resort Island along the atlantic just south of Atlantic City. While pretty quiet during the winter, summer was just a mash of people, cars, and resort activities mixed in with the everpresent casino industry 10 miles up the beach.

The kids from the trendier and more expensive northern end of the island used to claim the end I grew up in was "the sticks" and there was nothing to do.. and they were right. Unless you enjoyed going to the beach or spending your time on the water, it was pretty dead down at our end.. but it was also quieter in the summer and you could always find parking.

Today I live very close to Atlantic City International Airport here in Egg Harbor Township, surprisingly I rarely hear a plane even though the runway is only two miles away (the do not face towards me) and I hear all the time how there is nothing to do here in Atlantic City Besides gamble.. and for the most part that is true. While getting better (we are evolving to face the threat of casinos in Philly, NY, and Del) if you want culture, Philly is an hour away and NYC about an hour and a half.

However, because of the industries that grew up around the cainos to support them, ANYTHING I need for my car is within 5 minutes of my place

She is from DC and she says you have a lousy school system???

Or is she from some suburb of DC?

I used to live in northern delaware and while its no major city, a mass migration of people working in the philly region now inhabit the area. The roads, schools, businesses, etc couldn't keep up with all the new people moving in. Let alone the horrible attitudes of the people themselves. Now I live about a 45 minutes west of my old house on the PA-MD border. Not much around but the people are much friendlier, the scenery is calmer, and traffic is three cars on the road. I love it. I can't stand driving in delaware anymore, I can feel my blood pressure go up as I cross the state line

Nitroracer wrote: I used to live in northern delaware and while its no major city, a mass migration of people working in the philly region now inhabit the area. The roads, schools, businesses, etc couldn't keep up with all the new people moving in. Let alone the horrible attitudes of the people themselves. Now I live about a 45 minutes west of my old house on the PA-MD border. Not much around but the people are much friendlier, the scenery is calmer, and traffic is three cars on the road. I love it. I can't stand driving in delaware anymore, I can feel my blood pressure go up as I cross the state line

Are you anywhere near Carroll County? It looked pretty in the Post's travel section recently. I will get out of D.C. eventually, and have been looking at Pa/Md. There are a few good public schools here in the city, all west of Conn. Ave. The rest are E36 M3. For the most part, summer essays are ill grammatically composed, of how said hood-rat robbed a busboy for his weekly wages. Expensive Catholic education is popular for those than can, or even cannnot, afford it. Otherwise, spend close to a mil on a house and live in MoCo.

i live in kelowna bc, a smaller city that is rediculasly overpriced. i think that we are in the top 10 most expensive places to live in the world. it is hard to find great deals on cars, but other than that this really is the best place on earth.

Also, Kelowna is the least affordable housing market in Canada and 13th in the world. It is classified as "Severely Unaffordable".[2] Because of the Okanagan's climate and vineyard-filled scenery, it has been compared to California. wikipedia.

There is a lot to be said about peace and quiet. I moved 85 miles north of NYC when I got married 6 years ago and couldn't be happier. I still go into the city five days a week for work and love being there but my wife would never have been happy. I also like the privacy that living on a somewhat rural dead end offers and knowing that if I leave my door unlocked my tv will still be here when I get home. I could never have a house, sizable garage and yard living in NYC.

After spending 20+ years in the Navy, travelling around the world, I've found that usually when folks say "there's nothing to do here" what they usually mean is "it's not like what I'm used to, or it doesn't live up to my (inflated?) expectations".

I come from a small town in northeastern Pa. and I always thought as a kid there wasn't much to do or you had to drive for at least an hour to find something to do. Well, you still might have to do that driving, but at least nowadays, I know that I don't have enough free time to do some of the many things I would like to do when I'm home for a visit. I can't get to see or participate in as many of the activities, at anytime of the year, without a lot of planning and time juggling. Nearly everyplace has plenty of activities...if you are open to experiences.

My favorite characteristic about Gainesville is how compact it is. Well, for a small town, at least. I like that if I'm bored at eleven at night I can drive/ride my bike up to campus, and just walk around or read. It has a nice atmosphere with few cars. There's a good variety of restaurants, cafes, book stores, etc.. to keep myself interested in. Anywhere in town that I would want to be, I feel safe to walk around alone at any time of day.

Granted, I don't have the money or need to work on a car right now. I don't want to mess with a yard or any of that nonsense at this stage of my life, either. Living in an apartment means I have pretty much no house maintenance.

Nearly everyplace has plenty of activities...if you are open to experiences.

My thought exactly.

jwdmotorsports wrote:

minimac wrote: Sounds to me that you married the right sister.

My wife found that pretty funny.

'Don't say it!' 'Don't say it!' 'Don't say it!' 'Don't say it!' 'Don't say it!' 'Don't say it!' 'Don't say it!' 'Don't say it!'

Oh, so she got it then?

'Oh, GOD, I said it. I'm an idiot.'

Sorry, it was there. I'm sure she's smarter than I am.