Has anyone moved to a town that turned out to be terrible-tell us your stories
Mar 26th, 2002, 06:22 PM
#62
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PAtricia-
Denver is one of the most overrated cities in america. WHich is not to say its awful - most cities in the US are worse. Its just that I thought it would be so nice before I lived there, and it wasn't. IT felt like Ft Lauderdale somewhat near the mountains. A lot of its my own fault - I had expected someplace special like DC, NYC, San Francisco, Boston, etc., and it was just a lot of strip malls, subdivisions and office parks. But judged in those terms its better than most.
Denver is one of the most overrated cities in america. WHich is not to say its awful - most cities in the US are worse. Its just that I thought it would be so nice before I lived there, and it wasn't. IT felt like Ft Lauderdale somewhat near the mountains. A lot of its my own fault - I had expected someplace special like DC, NYC, San Francisco, Boston, etc., and it was just a lot of strip malls, subdivisions and office parks. But judged in those terms its better than most.
Mar 26th, 2002, 07:41 PM
#64
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In 1975 my new husband & I moved from Edmonton (provincial capital) to Thompson, a nickel-mining town in northern Manotoba (north of the 55th parallel), which was a man's town and a company town in every sense of the word. Muskeg country, no theater(live), no live music, one movie house(Western movies only), a library smaller than a classroom - and 9 months of winter! Fortunately, my marriage turned out to be very short-lived and I was able to return home.
Mar 26th, 2002, 07:43 PM
#65
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LEBANON NH
Pamela: Oh, I'm very sorry, I forgot that a
waspy college and a HOSPITAL are the epitome of the cultural base of Lebanon/Hanover, NH.
As for the rest of you sensitives out there in NH, I'm sorry, you have a beautiful state, but it is culturally lacking in every sense of the word!
I live in the area of University of Michigan, so don't lay the Dartmouth is...... line.
Jenna
Pamela: Oh, I'm very sorry, I forgot that a
waspy college and a HOSPITAL are the epitome of the cultural base of Lebanon/Hanover, NH.
As for the rest of you sensitives out there in NH, I'm sorry, you have a beautiful state, but it is culturally lacking in every sense of the word!
I live in the area of University of Michigan, so don't lay the Dartmouth is...... line.
Jenna
Mar 26th, 2002, 08:11 PM
#66
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Jenna
Each to their own. I have to say I'd much rather live around the LEbanon/ Hanover/ Woodstock area than Ann Arbor, which didn't suit me at all. The area really isn't culturally lacking though, for what it is (ie a really small town rural area). In fact, its always struck me as pretty good. And I can easily make it there from Boston in 2 hours, with another 1 and a bit past to Burlington, which has just about everything.
Each to their own. I have to say I'd much rather live around the LEbanon/ Hanover/ Woodstock area than Ann Arbor, which didn't suit me at all. The area really isn't culturally lacking though, for what it is (ie a really small town rural area). In fact, its always struck me as pretty good. And I can easily make it there from Boston in 2 hours, with another 1 and a bit past to Burlington, which has just about everything.
Mar 26th, 2002, 09:53 PM
#67
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Very interesting thread!
The city that didn't work for my husband and I was Boston (I won't say it was terrible, though), which was a bit of a surprise for us as we both chose to move there. We moved to Boston from Chicago, where we lived a downtown lifestyle, I didn't own/need a car, and I loved it. We moved to Boston, and couldn't afford to live in a similar type of neighborhood, so had to live in a suburb where we had to drive to most places, which I didn't (and still don't) like. We found that the environment we were in (we're both professionals) was still quite blueblood, which we're not! The working hours & resulting lifestyle were not something we wanted in life. And the weekend commutes both north and south out of the city (for weekends in the "country") were nightmares, to us. Of course, there were many things we liked about Boston, too. Some of the things we could have (and did, in some cases) foreseen, like not liking the suburbs, others we had to learn by experiencing.
Chicago, for me, is an ideal place for the place in life that I was in when we lived there. As I mentioned, I love the car-free lifestyle (how you could live on the Gold Coast and think you'd want/need a car is beyond me), and love the diversity & the activity of the city. And I don't like the big-box stores, and loved going from store to store. However, downtown is a difficult place to raise kids, so when we came to that point in life, we had to change things a bit.
Now we live in Denver, which works for us. Our entire family loves being able to go to the mountains, which we do almost every weekend. And yes, Denver is not IN the mountains, it takes a while (it's 1 hr. 30 min. from our front door to Summit County). The lifestyle and working style is more relaxed, and people in general are more physically active, as we are, & definitely more friendly than they are in big cities. On the down side for us, there is not much cultural diversity (my husband and kids are Asian American, so it matters to us), not much culture, and the stores & restaurants and in fact the city in general is rather "white bread," and there's not the history & sense of culture that I found out East or in Chicago. But for us, the city works for where we are in life. I still don't like the suburbs (more white bread; we're surrounded by chain restaurants & big box stores!), but it's a good place for our kids to be. We knew before we moved that there wouldn't be that "big-city" feel, knew about the lack of cultural diversity, & knew how far away the mountains really were, so the downside factors were not a surprise. In fact, Denver is one of those cities that's better to live in than to visit!
The city that didn't work for my husband and I was Boston (I won't say it was terrible, though), which was a bit of a surprise for us as we both chose to move there. We moved to Boston from Chicago, where we lived a downtown lifestyle, I didn't own/need a car, and I loved it. We moved to Boston, and couldn't afford to live in a similar type of neighborhood, so had to live in a suburb where we had to drive to most places, which I didn't (and still don't) like. We found that the environment we were in (we're both professionals) was still quite blueblood, which we're not! The working hours & resulting lifestyle were not something we wanted in life. And the weekend commutes both north and south out of the city (for weekends in the "country") were nightmares, to us. Of course, there were many things we liked about Boston, too. Some of the things we could have (and did, in some cases) foreseen, like not liking the suburbs, others we had to learn by experiencing.
Chicago, for me, is an ideal place for the place in life that I was in when we lived there. As I mentioned, I love the car-free lifestyle (how you could live on the Gold Coast and think you'd want/need a car is beyond me), and love the diversity & the activity of the city. And I don't like the big-box stores, and loved going from store to store. However, downtown is a difficult place to raise kids, so when we came to that point in life, we had to change things a bit.
Now we live in Denver, which works for us. Our entire family loves being able to go to the mountains, which we do almost every weekend. And yes, Denver is not IN the mountains, it takes a while (it's 1 hr. 30 min. from our front door to Summit County). The lifestyle and working style is more relaxed, and people in general are more physically active, as we are, & definitely more friendly than they are in big cities. On the down side for us, there is not much cultural diversity (my husband and kids are Asian American, so it matters to us), not much culture, and the stores & restaurants and in fact the city in general is rather "white bread," and there's not the history & sense of culture that I found out East or in Chicago. But for us, the city works for where we are in life. I still don't like the suburbs (more white bread; we're surrounded by chain restaurants & big box stores!), but it's a good place for our kids to be. We knew before we moved that there wouldn't be that "big-city" feel, knew about the lack of cultural diversity, & knew how far away the mountains really were, so the downside factors were not a surprise. In fact, Denver is one of those cities that's better to live in than to visit!
Mar 26th, 2002, 10:07 PM
#68
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LExma-
Interisting post - I generally agree with you, though I'm more pro Boston and anti-Denver. I do live downtown in Boston, which makes a difference. If I were somewhere like Natick I don't think I'd like it nearly so much.
I've lived in Park Hill and Congress Park in Denver. They felt too suburbabn to me, but the architecture was nice.
Interisting post - I generally agree with you, though I'm more pro Boston and anti-Denver. I do live downtown in Boston, which makes a difference. If I were somewhere like Natick I don't think I'd like it nearly so much.
I've lived in Park Hill and Congress Park in Denver. They felt too suburbabn to me, but the architecture was nice.
Mar 27th, 2002, 03:25 AM
#72
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This is a long thread about people's inability to adapt to places that are different from where they came from. I just don't know HOW you people can think the problem is the town/city and not YOU!
The Chicago- and DC-haters would probably feel very different to them had they grown up there, fallen in love there, gotten rich there, etc. etc.
I'm certainly not immune, because I had a lot of trouble dealing with Rochester NY's snow and the CONSERVATIVE constricted, behind-closed-doors Republican strangle-hold, uncompassionate Chicago suburb I lived in (take that, Roger, you bigotty blow-hard!). I can't say I'd gladly go back to either place, but at least I've learned enough about _myself_ to know that if I had to go back to Chicago, I'd be more comfortable in Hyde Park and if I had enough money to leave in the winter, etc. etc. etc.
I now live in the South and have grown up enough (take that, all of you) to know that while it's not a great fit between me and location, at least I should look around and enjoy what there is to be enjoyed -- and understand that what doesn't fit here is me, not the South.
Don't mean to be a complete pollyanna. I still have some prejudices and stereotypes, but at least I know they're there and they're nothing to proudly proclaim as if engraved truth.
The Chicago- and DC-haters would probably feel very different to them had they grown up there, fallen in love there, gotten rich there, etc. etc.
I'm certainly not immune, because I had a lot of trouble dealing with Rochester NY's snow and the CONSERVATIVE constricted, behind-closed-doors Republican strangle-hold, uncompassionate Chicago suburb I lived in (take that, Roger, you bigotty blow-hard!). I can't say I'd gladly go back to either place, but at least I've learned enough about _myself_ to know that if I had to go back to Chicago, I'd be more comfortable in Hyde Park and if I had enough money to leave in the winter, etc. etc. etc.
I now live in the South and have grown up enough (take that, all of you) to know that while it's not a great fit between me and location, at least I should look around and enjoy what there is to be enjoyed -- and understand that what doesn't fit here is me, not the South.
Don't mean to be a complete pollyanna. I still have some prejudices and stereotypes, but at least I know they're there and they're nothing to proudly proclaim as if engraved truth.
Mar 27th, 2002, 04:07 AM
#73
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To state that a particular town has nothing but malls and Walmarts is ridiculous. Most major cities anymore have malls and superchains everywhere. I travel to Erie, PA and they have a huge mall. Grove City, about half way to Erie has Grove City Outlets. I travel to Lancaster, PA, and they have HUGE outlets. So let's not bash a particular city. I live in a small town outside Pittsburgh (20 miles) and love it. I also don't like what has happened to the small town that my Great-Grandfather/Grandmother moved to in 1914. There are Yuppies on the hill. My neighbor of 40 years use to go up there in the woods (before they cleared it for the Yuppies)to hunt. More traffic and more people are never a great thing. We actually have a traffic light on top of Route 30 because of the traffic. It's really horrible to see so many people around. I feel like we are being invaded by outsiders.
Mar 27th, 2002, 04:51 AM
#75
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Denver is getting better, a little more cultural. If the arts and entertainment is what you are looking for, I can think of several mid-sized cities (Seattle, Minneapolis, Austin, Nashville) that offer alot more. As far as large mountain (or close to the mountains) cities go, Denver is better than Salt Lake, by far.
Mar 27th, 2002, 05:47 AM
#76
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I am amazed at Jenna's negativity to the Lebanon NH area. Did you ever attend a concert at Dartmouth or an Opera at the Lebanon Opera house? How about one of the great jazz jam sessions in Newport? How could anyone call this area boring? Did you ever go to a contra dance, church supper, local theater, bike the rail trail, climb the many mountains this area is blessed with? Perhaps it is a little lacking in the fast food and strip mall departments, but if that's what you look for as criteria for a great place to live - oh well to each his own!
Mar 27th, 2002, 07:14 AM
#77
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We moved from Philly (Center City) to Eugene, OR, over 10 years ago. It was a culture shock, to say the least, but we LOVED it. Life in Eugene was wonderful and it made us think about how materialistic the urban East Coast was/is in comparison. We spent 10 years in the Pacific NW, hugely enjoying it, before a job change brought us to NYC. We'd worked in NYC before and thought we'd like the sophistication, the fast pace, the culture, but in truth, we didn't care for it much at all. Again, it felt so much more materialistic and hard compared to our life in the Pacific NW. Now the NW has changed a lot over the past decade, but the essential core remains the same--it's a region devoted to the outdoors, to a low-key lifestyle, and to NOT showing off how much money you have every day.
For the past couple of years we've been living in Europe (another job change) which we also enjoy, but the Pacific NW is the place that feels like home and we look forward to returning there someday.
BTilke
For the past couple of years we've been living in Europe (another job change) which we also enjoy, but the Pacific NW is the place that feels like home and we look forward to returning there someday.
BTilke
Mar 27th, 2002, 07:44 AM
#79
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hey carrie - the chicago hater -
CHICAGO IS GLAD THAT YOU ARE GONE! CHICAGO IS A GREAT PLACE. YEAH IT'S COLD - DUH? SURPRISE!! THE SUMMER IS GREAT AND WE DEAL WITH THE COLD. WE ARE A RESILIENT PEOPLE WHO LIVE AND LOVE IT HERE. BY THE WAY THE SUN IS BEATING DOWN AND IT IS GLORIOUS OUT! TRY DETROIT IF YOU THINK CHICAGO IS DISMAL.
GLAD YOU LEFT!
CHICAGO IS GLAD THAT YOU ARE GONE! CHICAGO IS A GREAT PLACE. YEAH IT'S COLD - DUH? SURPRISE!! THE SUMMER IS GREAT AND WE DEAL WITH THE COLD. WE ARE A RESILIENT PEOPLE WHO LIVE AND LOVE IT HERE. BY THE WAY THE SUN IS BEATING DOWN AND IT IS GLORIOUS OUT! TRY DETROIT IF YOU THINK CHICAGO IS DISMAL.
GLAD YOU LEFT!
Mar 27th, 2002, 07:53 AM
#80
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I'm amazed at how much people move around! Often I wish I could take off and go, but I just don't see how I could leave 1) my parents 2) my husbands parents and 3) believe it or not, my ex-husband (we had 3 kids together).
My husband and I often talk about moving from Nebraska, but ... I can't take my kids away from their dad, and their grandparents. By the time my kids are gone, I'm sure mine and his parents will need ... "help".
So I guess what I'm asking is, how do the frequent movers do it? Perhaps its just my kids that are my real concern. I suppose without kids, moving would be much easier.
My husband and I often talk about moving from Nebraska, but ... I can't take my kids away from their dad, and their grandparents. By the time my kids are gone, I'm sure mine and his parents will need ... "help".
So I guess what I'm asking is, how do the frequent movers do it? Perhaps its just my kids that are my real concern. I suppose without kids, moving would be much easier.
