What cities have you lived in?

[Brooke]

Have you lived in any cities besides the one you're in right now? Where else and how long?

What was the best and worst part of each place?

Where would you LOVE to live?

[Lori]

I grew up in South Plainfield (a suburb in NJ), when to college in New Brunswick, lived in Ann Arbor for four years, and have lived in Detroit for two years.

I loved Rutgers, but New Brunswick is a pretty crappy college town. There's very little to do, because it's so close to NYC that people just go there for fun. It had a couple of good restaurants and one coffee shop, but that was about it.

I :love Ann Arbor. There are some annoying things about it, but otherwise it's probably one of my favorite places. There's tons of stuff to do, most people are really, really nice, and it's very safe. If we had family in the area, I'd definitely want to live there.

Right now we're in Detroit. It has good and bad points. There's very little to do, for a city this size, and the public transportation is awful-to-non-existant, which really sucks because car insurance rates are so obscenely high, because there is so much car theft. There's just a lot of crime in general, and because of that I'm looking forward to moving. On the other hand, there are some really wonderful things to do, and I do love our neighborhood, in terms of the people. People are very friendly, and there's very little showy materialism or sense that you need to "keep up" with the neighbors or are being judged by them for what kind of car you drive or clothes you wear or what your house looks like. In that sense I really like it, but we're not going to stay.

I'm not really sure where we're moving. I'd love to move to NYC, but unless Sean finds a fantastic job, that won't happen for a while. Most likely we'll find an apartment by my parents' house for a while, and then eventually figure out where we want to settle for good. We definitely want to be in the northeast, because both of our families are there.

[Kristi]

Have you lived in any cities besides the one you're in right now? Where else and how long?
Well we have lived in Gainesville and Melbourne Fla but I was too young to really remember much about living there though they are places we visited often since my Aunt lives in Gainesville and my moms family in Melbourne
We lived in Jacksonville Florida from the time I was 5 until Tim and I moved to Italy when I was 19.
Then we moved here in August.



What was the best and worst part of each place?
I loved where we lived in Jacksonville. We were right near the beach. :D ANd i love the beach. :) The area we were in was very safe. There was tons to do around there and of course I had friends that I had known since second grade in the area. Growing up there were lots of places I could walk to and things like that.
There were some not so good areas near by and other things that were annoying but nothing too major

I loved Italy because the scenery was goregous. The people were very friendly and it was interesting learning about a different culture.
The things I did not like were that everything was so spread out so it took awhile to get anywhere and the horrible driving there.

I do not know much about this area yet. But it seems okay. There is alot of things to do nearby esp stuff for the kids. Museums, the zoo, parks, the beach etc.
The thing I do not like are going through the tunnels LOL They freak me out. :giggle

Where would you LOVE to live?

Honestly I would love to be back in Jacksonville. But most of that has to do with being close to my family and friends.

[Tlee]

I lived in several cities in California when I was little. But the only one that I remember is Fontana. It is in southern Ca. I lived there until I joined the army. I miss the weather of California but I wouldn't want to raise my kids in the area. It is way over populated.

For the army I was stationed at Ft Hood, TX. I lived there for almost three years. There are actually a few tiny towns outside of the base there-Killeen and Copperas Cove. They are military towns. I wouldn't want to live there as a non-military person but they have a few things that I miss. Like cheap haircuts and dry cleaning.

We have lived in four cities here in Illinois since getting out of the military. Niles for a few months. I don't know enough about that to say that I like it or not. Then we moved to Chicago for a year. I HATED it. It was not a nice part of Chicago and it was just too crowded for me. We then moved to a city called Mt Prospect. I loved it there. We lived in an apartment and if we could afford it we would look at buying a house there.

Finally...we live in a city called Willowbrook. I wasn't too happy with are apartment area at first but have grown to like it. Overall I like the city/area. I can't think of anything to complain about at the moment, lol. It is an expensive area so we will probably not stay here in this area once we buy a house.

[ColleenC]

Edmonton. My. Whole. Life. LOL

There are so many places I would like to live but we can't leave Steve's business and I don't want to leave my mom LOL

[MathSpeak]

Have you lived in any cities besides the one you're in right now? Where else and how long? Ithaca, NY for 4 years, Chicago, IL for about 3 mos LOL

What was the best and worst part of each place? Ithaca was insanely boring for me for the first year, but I got used to it and I'm actually quite fond of it now. Chicago was the disproportionate distribution of wealth... and how it's evident in the living arrangements. I lived in Hyde Park, though, which is a pretty fun neighborhood for young people.

Where would you LOVE to live? Utopia... but if not there, somewhere where the temp is between 50 and 90 throughout the year, but mostly 70s... :)

[Brooke]

Have you lived in any cities besides the one you're in right now? Where else and how long?
I have lived in a few cities in Chicagoland, one in WI and one in IA. In IL, I've lived in Berwyn, Bartlett, Lemont, Oak Park and now Forest Park. I lived in Des Moines, IA for four years in college. And spent about 6 weeks in Door County, WI - specifically Fish Creek. But I got homesick and came home.

What was the best and worst part of each place?
Berwyn was just lame. I lived there till I was 8, but my Dad stayed there till I was about 11 or 12. Bartlett I barely remember. Lemont was ok but I didn't go to school there so I only met people through working. It was fun and actually, that is where we are going to be looking for houses this summer. It's a great community for young kids. Oak Park is my fave place ever to live, I wish we could afford it. It's one of the most culturally diverse places I've ever seen in my life, very liberal, very progressive and a bit of a higher level of intelligence. It's great. I do like Forest Park and it's right next door to Oak Park so we get the best of both worlds. A bit more affordable and it's turning into the new Oak Park. But the public schools are awful and that's why we're moving out. I do NOT want any of my kids going to these schools.

Where would you LOVE to live?
I'd love to live in Oak Park but you can't even get a starter home for less than $325k. It's ridiculous. The taxes are awful too. But their park districts, community and school are wonderful. To be honest, if I was single with no kids, I'd move to Maui. In a heartbeat. I almost did at one point but totally chickened out.

[SabrinaJL]

I lived in Sacramento until I was 14. I can't really give you a best and worst, as it's been too long.

I've lived in Tucumcari, NM. The only redeeming thing about it is the lack of traffic. Everything else sucks. There's one grocery store, which has a crappy selection and high prices because there's no place else to go. There's one crappy movie theater which shows one movie a week.

I lived in San Diego for about 7 years. The best thing is there is SOOOO much to do and the weather is great almost all the time. The worst thing is that it's really expensive.

I lived in Lemoore, CA for 3 years. The best thing was I loved the whole community vibe of living on the base. The worst thing was that it's small and out in the middle of nowhere. It stinks too.

If I could live anywhere it'd be Portland, OR. I just loved it there.

[Jurgita]

Have you lived in any cities besides the one you're in right now? Where else and how long? Ok I won't mention cities, since it's not in USA, but I have lived in Lithuania and Holland before.

What was the best and worst part of each place? I grew up in Lithuania, so I had no choice LOL but I love it there! It's beautiful place and we might just retire there. In Holland I lived for few months. It was nice as well, beautiful and safe place, but I didn't really like the people. Now we live in Finland and I love it, expect for the language! It's very safe, it's nice place and I think we will stay here for a long time.

Where would you LOVE to live? Like I said we really love it here in Finland, and I want to stay here for a long time. I feel very safe here for myself and my children, and there are just so many good things I could go on and on about Finland.

[Christine]

Born outside of Boston, MA and loved it. We lived a block from the ocean and would go skipping stones all the time. They had a fantastic children's museum too! I always loved going back there to visit each summer.

I spent most of my childhood living outside of Syracuse, NY. It was a good place to live - a good school, lots of "stuff" within driving distance - but the snow was AWFUL! Syracuse got dumped on like you wouldn't believe and it got real old real fast!

I went to college in Elmira NY. The only good thing about Elmira was the glider airport and the old Mark Twain estate. Other than that, it was a dive.

Dave and I lived in Cortland after that. A half an hour to Syracuse but pretty much the boonies there. Although I loved my college.

Then we moved to Charlotte. I realized I really don't like city living.

We moved from there to Chester, which was an hour from Charlotte and in the middle of nowhere. I hated being so cut off from everyone and everything!

We now live comfortably in the middle and I love it! There's enough to keep me busy here and we're close to everything that we want or need. :D

[Shana]

Have you lived in any cities besides the one you're in right now?:yup Indeed. I'll list them.... and may or may not tell you what I love/hated, as some of them were from childhood, and I don't remember a ton.

Spokane, Washington -- Born here. Lived here for 5 months.

San Francisco, California -- 19 months, while my parents were in seminary.

Oceanview, California -- My parents first church was in Daly City, we lived in Oceanview. No clue how long, but not THAT long I don't think.

Anaheim, CA - 3-4years old. I DO remember that when I lived here, I started a fire in the field next to our house with my little buddy, Virgil :noway

Englewood, Colorado -- 4.5 - 7. I have a couple memories, one of getting bit by a German Shephard (well, I WAS breaking into the neighbors garage to pet the puppies LOL) and a good one was doing the MayPole dance for my mom in 1st grade :D

Phoenix, Arizona -- 7 to 10. I LOVED Arizona, when I first fell in love with warm climates I think. I have tons of great happy memories here -- I had 2 best friends. One lived next door, the other lived across the street. It was a great time of life.

Portland OR -- Just lived here for 11 months. It was pretty, but not a good time of life. My parents CONSTANTLY argued. I remember a really cool ice storm that kept us home for days on end though :)

Rancho Palos Verdes, Californa -- 11 to 15 -- Again, a great time of life. I lived directly across from the ocean, and thus began my love affair with the ocean. Not really any bad memories except my 1st "real" boyfriend, breaking my heart.

Pacific Grove, California -- 15 to 17 -- what a magnificient place to live and go to high school. I had a very very serious boyfriend here, who I lost my virginity too :( Not really the best time of my moral life but it was a lot of fun and a GREAT city to live in :thumbsup

:vomit Grand Junction, Colorado :vomit -- We lived here when I was in my senior year of H.S and 1st year of college (17 to 19) and as I am sure you can imagine, after having moved from California? It was NIGHTMARISH. I do not have one good memory. I still hate that city, to this day. NO ONE go there!!!!! It is HELL. Also my 1st very true love and I broke up when I lived here, long distance relationship:thumbsdown

Littleton, Colorado -- Nice city. Very suburban. 19 to 20.

Englewood, Colorado -- Where Mike and I lived when we 1st got married. It was fine. 20 to 21.

Boulder, Colorado -- Lived here while Mike was going to graduate school. :love this city!! To this day -- fabulous place, great memories. Gooooooo CU!!!

Torrance, California -- 23 to 27 -- We moved here when Mike got out of grad school. Kaleb and Rachel were born here. Those were my best memories:lovealot The worst? The outrageously high cost of living and the crowds. Ick.

Aurora/Centennial, Colorado -- I have lived here for 12 years now. I love it, my children loves it, Brian loves it. NO INTENTION of moving anywhere ever again, for a VERY LONG TIME.

[Amy J]

I've lived in my hometown all of my life with the exception of living in Iowa during college for 4 and a half years. My town is very small and the place where I went to college is even tinier than here.

[wendygrace]

Have you lived in any cities besides the one you're in right now? Where else and how long?
What was the best and worst part of each place?
Currently living in Chicagoland.
Resided in San Antonio, TX for college. Hated it. Horrid college time. Most people go to Austin to party. There is nothing there. I have fond memories of people (and some not so fond) but the city itself is blah.
Outside of Salt Lake City, UT Also Hated it. Lived there several years. Only four types of people live there: Mormons, Military, Gays, and people trying to get the heck outta there. I have no problems with any of the three types of people but everyone I knew was one of the above. LOL

Where would you LOVE to live? I'd love to try out the Pacific Northwest. I'd like to go somewhere a bit crunchier then the midwest. :)

[Amber]

Have you lived in any cities besides the one you're in right now? Where else and how long?
Decatur, IL: Birth to age 3. I don't remember it, but from what I gather, I'm not missing much :giggle
Flowery Branch, GA: age 3 to age 8-ish? small town outside of Atlanta. I only remember it vaguely.
Valdosta, GA: age 8 to age 9. I loved it here, but we only lived here for a year. Hot & humid
White Lake, NC: age 10-13. Small town, cute, but VEEEERY crowded in the summer.
Columbia, SC: age 9-10 and 14-18. I really love Columbia. It's not TOO big of a city & there's a lot to do. But living in the South really doesn't work out for me. It's too hot and I, being a non-religious democrat, don't fit in very well.
Middle-o-nowhere, MO: the past 8 years! Once again, it's too conservative an area for my taste. Despite being a small town, it is a nice place to live. Low crime rate, decent weather, decent schools.
What was the best and worst part of each place? see above
Where would you LOVE to live? Hmm..I don't know. Somewhere less conservative & further west.

[Corey]

Madison, Berea, N. Royalton, Geneva on the Lake (as well as some other cities maybe) - Ohio

Waikiki - Oahu / Hawaii

Fort Lee - VA

Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Bonita Springs - FL

Woodstock, Douglasville - GA

I think that's all?

[Emily]

Let's see if I can remember them all in order (Savannah was a few times cause my ex-husband had stability issues)!! Wild seeing as the first 15 years were all in the same city - from then on things got crazy!!

Madison, WI
Fayetteville, AR
Dallas, TX (first Richardson and then North Richland Hills)
Athens, GA
Savannah, GA
Hinesville, GA
Savannah, GA
Tampa, FL
Savannah, GA
Jacksonville, FL

I think I am going to stay here!! I really like Jacksonville and I have made it home over the last few years!!

[Renita]

Albuquerque, NM - born and lived here til I was 7
Santa Fe, NM - lived here from age 7 to 18
Notre Dame, IN - college (freshman/sophmore years)
Mishawaka, IN - college - summer of junior year - age 21 - attempted to live in an apartment and hated it...missed the dorm life
Notre Dame, IN - college (junior/senior years)
Willowbrook, IL - corporate training for work
Oak Park, IL - age 22 to 23
Berwyn, IL - age 23 to 28
Maywood, IL - age 28 - we just bought our first home here

[Rachel]

Ithaca, NY--I lived in Ithaca after I graduated college (Hobart/William Smith in Geneva, NY) and I loved it. I still daydream about moving back there almost every day. The winters were pretty sucktacular, but I loved the waterfalls, the gorges and the culture. If only I could convince my husband to leave Maryland...

Missoula, MT--I moved to Montana after I lived in Ithaca. I loved it there, but the job scene was horrible. Once I dropped out of the Master's program I was in, I couldn't afford to stay there. It's a gorgeous place. There is a paper mill outside of town that makes Missoula mornings smell like ass, but other than that (and the employment situation) it's a great place.

I also lived in a small town in the Adirondacks for a few months, and after that I lived on Martha's Vineyard. Despite swearing up and down that I would never move back to my hometown (in Maryland), I have been back here for 10 years now.

I would LOVE to move back to Ithaca. I'm a New England girl, and western Mass. would be wonderful too.

[giana]

Merate Italy
Sao Paulo Brazil
Porto Alegre Brazil
Schweinfurt Germany
Unterpleichfeld Germany
Baltimore Maryland
Durham North Carolina
and now in the beautiful Columbus Georgia UGH:vomit

[Desirae]

Oh gosh! LOL
We've lived in Orlando, FL, Kissimee, FL, Munks Corners, SC, Charleston,VA?, Big Bend, WI, St Francis, WI, Milwaukee, WI and daytona beach, Fl... Those are the ones I know of.

I only remember WI and Daytona though.

[giana]

See I forgot to say...I hate living in Georgia and loved living in Germany...But If I were to chose anywhere to live it would be Denmark or OF COURSE Italy

[Beka]

I've lived in my home town (a large town on the outskirts of Englands second city- Birmingham- we are a newtown which sprung up to cope with over-spill population from B'ham) my entire life- i was born the next small town over as my mom had a complicated pg and they specialised in problem pgs, i moved home after i came out of SCBU at a few weeks old and have lived in 3 houses my whole life (4 years in one, then a year homeless, followed by 13 years in the home my parents still live in now- then we left there to live here where we've been for 9 years now)

we're applying to be moved at the moment and we're still staying in the same town.