Living (Where and why?)

[Kujacker]

daydreamer wrote:

okay, i’ll stop daydreaming now… 😳

But… but your name is Daydreamer! 😆
Up until my mother got sick, I would go to So Cal every year to visit a few friends that live there. While I like to visit there, I do NOT want to live in Cali. I was born in Cali, and while my mother’s side of the family still lives there, I know I don’t want to. Just something about it that says “no”.
About the only thing I would like to take from So Cal are the beaches and the Japanese market, Mitsuwa. Hmmmm I would live in that market!

Even though I’m leaning toward Seattle, I too am a wilderness and forests person. That’s why Oregon and Washington were narrowed down int he first place. Greenery! But I’m also attached to the idea of not having to drive forever to get somewhere (so, city living).

[Kujacker]

siberakh1 wrote:

I don’t like hot weather (especially humid/hot), so too far south is out for me. Haven’t been to the desert, but the landscape isn’t green enough for my tastes, so though it is pretty in it’s own right, living there is out for me. 🙂

Yeah, I don’t like the heat either. I’d rather be cold than hot.
I like greenery myself, but something about the desert is still beautiful. I just get a kick out of everyone I know who has never been to desert before.
“Someone told me that you all have rocks for lawns in Arizona. I didn’t believe it. Thought it was just some fake stories, until my sister visited out there and told me, no, it’s true! Rocks for lawns.” That was a friend of mine who was born in and still lives in Florida 😆
And there is some sort of small part of me that has pride for living in Arizona. I’m not ashamed to say I live here… but I just don’t want to be here forever. I love forests! Trees, grass! Cold weather!

[Kujacker]

Jennifer wrote:

So why on earth here? Well, it comes down to two things. Family and scenery.

Wow Jen. I could never live somewhere where I couldn’t get a job or if the cost of living was ridiculous. Kudos to you for doing what you want, no matter the price!
I want to move somewhere with forests and greenery too, but I wouldn’t be able to/want to do it if I couldn’t get a job in that place. I see all the photos you post in LJ, and I love the greenery and such. It’s always so beautiful and I love looking at your pictures. I can definitely understand why you want to leave where you do.

[Elena]

I live in Calgary, in Southern Alberta and love it here. I grew up in the city and after living on Vancouver Island for awhile, moved back for a number of reasons. Here were get all four seasons, though not always in order XD . Spring and Fall are the shortest but summers are warm with out being hot (it rarely breaks 30C, 90F) and we get cold winters, not as much snow as I’d like 🙁 , but we also get Chinooks that roll in and warm everything up periodically, so we aren’t in the deep freeze all the time. My family is here and most of my friends. The economy isn’t too bad, but the cost of living is high, especially when you consider our dollar is almost at parity. What I like most is that it may be a big city (near 1 million) but there still is a generally friendly feel to the area. We have huge wild areas/parks within city limits and lots to do. There is also lots of hiking, fishing camping up in the mountains which is only about a hour drive away. I lived on Vancouver Island for awhile and loved the west coast rainforest and hiking but hated the fact that it rained. It would start about early October and rain pretty much constantly until late March early April. I missed the cold and snow. And the activities (other than hiking) were pretty limited, not to mention having to go far to get even the basics. I’ve thought about moving east for work but the thought of huge cities like Toronto scares me. No offence to the Americans, but I doubt I would ever move south unless there was a VERY good reason.

[frozendragon]

Kujacker wrote:

I could never live somewhere where I couldn’t get a job or if the cost of living was ridiculous.

then you might want to rethink Seattle.. yes it’s a great place and lots of cool things to do.. but I have some friends that just moved here from Seattle..

and yeah they hate it here and would like to move back.. but Seattle was just too expensive for them to stay..

[Jasmine]

I love living in the middle of a big city, or rather our part of the city. Where else can you go for a walk at 2 am to get something to eat and actually find places still open?? 😀 But in all likely hood, we will have to move out to the suburbs for our next house, we just can’t afford the rising house costs. I’m totally an urban girl. I like the country and greenery but just for visits. Luckily, hubby’s family live in the middle of nowhere and it’s only a 3 hour drive. I have thought about moving somewhere a little more temperate (I do like foxfeather’s area) but I would really miss my family. Both mine and hubby’s all live in Southern Ontario. Staying here means I get to see my niece and nephew grow up.

[Kujacker]

frozendragon wrote:

Kujacker wrote:

I could never live somewhere where I couldn’t get a job or if the cost of living was ridiculous.

then you might want to rethink Seattle.. yes it’s a great place and lots of cool things to do.. but I have some friends that just moved here from Seattle..

and yeah they hate it here and would like to move back.. but Seattle was just too expensive for them to stay..

Really? I had no idea. Is it just now because of all the economy problems or always?

[dragonmedley]

I was 9 when we moved from France to Canada. We were in the Montréal area for a few months, then off to Ontario we were, in the Greater Toronto Area. I was in Ottawa for a few years – 6 hours East – and boy, do I like it better were I am now, back in the Toronto ‘burbs! Just enough snow to enjoy it – Ottawa was too cold and too snowy for me. I love the change of seasons, the cultural diversity, the fact that while we do need to drive, we do have quick access to pretty much everything. I certainly don’t plan on moving anywhere else in the near future, nor do I dream about it.

Read my books! Volume 1 and 2 of A Dragon Medley are available now.
http://www.sarahjestin.com/mybooks.htm
I host the feedback lists, which are maintained by drag0nfeathers.
http://www.sarahjestin.com/feedbacklists.htm

[Jennifer]

Kujacker wrote:

frozendragon wrote:

Kujacker wrote:

I could never live somewhere where I couldn’t get a job or if the cost of living was ridiculous.

then you might want to rethink Seattle.. yes it’s a great place and lots of cool things to do.. but I have some friends that just moved here from Seattle..

and yeah they hate it here and would like to move back.. but Seattle was just too expensive for them to stay..

Really? I had no idea. Is it just now because of all the economy problems or always?

I have friends in Seattle too. They had a very, very hard time finding jobs (now mind you that unemployment is up everywhere but it seemed a lot worse in Seattle) and the cost of living is pretty steep for them.

Volunteer mod- I'm here to help! Email me for the best response: nambroth at gmail.com
My art: featherdust.com

[Jennifer]

Kujacker wrote:

Jennifer wrote:

So why on earth here? Well, it comes down to two things. Family and scenery.

Wow Jen. I could never live somewhere where I couldn’t get a job or if the cost of living was ridiculous. Kudos to you for doing what you want, no matter the price!
I want to move somewhere with forests and greenery too, but I wouldn’t be able to/want to do it if I couldn’t get a job in that place. I see all the photos you post in LJ, and I love the greenery and such. It’s always so beautiful and I love looking at your pictures. I can definitely understand why you want to leave where you do.

It’s a sacrifice. The cost of living, here, is not terribly high really. Taxes are high, but housing is relatively cheap. Taxable items, such as gasoline, alcohol, etc etc are much more expensive than all of the other places I’ve lived. Property tax is pretty stiff too. I am always amazed at the low rates some of my friends pay on their property taxes. That’s just one of those things… NYC sets the tax rates for the state even though we make far less at the jobs over here (an average of 1/3 the average income of NYC). I guess it balances out because you can easily buy a home here for less than $100k, and if you are willing to do some home improvement you can get a home for less than $60k. That is absolutely not the case in many urban areas!

We have found a way to make it work for us. We live simply and are happy for it. The only ‘luxury’ service we buy is the internet, which is of course part of my business as I use it as my primary sales vector. No TV, No phone services, we are very frugal with electric, and keep the house pretty cool in the winter (50°F upstairs), don’t eat out, buy components to make homemade meals instead of instant, etc etc. It means I can’t afford stuff like Windstones but as I mentioned, to me it’s worth it to live where I love. It’s just that important to me. Life is too short to be someplace miserable even if it means I make mad bucks. It has been a lot of work and some really lean times of course. And I do not discredit how fortunate I am to have had the opportunity to make this happen! 🙂

Volunteer mod- I'm here to help! Email me for the best response: nambroth at gmail.com
My art: featherdust.com

[frozendragon]

Jennifer wrote:

I have friends in Seattle too. They had a very, very hard time finding jobs (now mind you that unemployment is up everywhere but it seemed a lot worse in Seattle) and the cost of living is pretty steep for them.

yeah.. like Jen said.. it’s hard to find a job anywhere right now..(I haven’t been able to find one in so long I can’t remember when I had a good one) but the cost of living has always been pretty high in Seattle..

although like most big cities.. there are always suburbs that are better..

my friends said they’d go back in a heartbeat if they could afford to.. and I know I would move from here just as quick if I could afford to also.. we have crazy neighbors like you were talking about.. and people in general here have gotten worse and worse recently..

probably because they keep advertising on the web and stuff how Amarillo has so many jobs and the cost of living is so low and blah blah.. and people have been moving here and the town is growing.. but we don’t have any more jobs and the cost of living is pretty high for the state.. average home prices have actually increased even though the average income is at the national poverty level.. and hasn’t increased..

but I it never hurts to try.. especially if you find a place you love

[Kujacker]

frozendragon wrote:

Jennifer wrote:

I have friends in Seattle too. They had a very, very hard time finding jobs (now mind you that unemployment is up everywhere but it seemed a lot worse in Seattle) and the cost of living is pretty steep for them.

yeah.. like Jen said.. it’s hard to find a job anywhere right now..(I haven’t been able to find one in so long I can’t remember when I had a good one) but the cost of living has always been pretty high in Seattle..

although like most big cities.. there are always suburbs that are better..

my friends said they’d go back in a heartbeat if they could afford to.. and I know I would move from here just as quick if I could afford to also.. we have crazy neighbors like you were talking about.. and people in general here have gotten worse and worse recently..

probably because they keep advertising on the web and stuff how Amarillo has so many jobs and the cost of living is so low and blah blah.. and people have been moving here and the town is growing.. but we don’t have any more jobs and the cost of living is pretty high for the state.. average home prices have actually increased even though the average income is at the national poverty level.. and hasn’t increased..

but I it never hurts to try.. especially if you find a place you love

Well, there is no way I could move now. I’ve been jobless for months (technically, in terms of the a tax paying job, well over a year) so until I find a job here and save up money, moving anywhere is not an option. But I still like to waste my time looking at real estate in places I wish I could go, though 😉
So who knows. Maybe by the time everything picks up (if ever… ugh) then Seattle won’t be a such a big stretch. Or, maybe if I can ever afford to visit places, somewhere in Oregon might be better. So many things can happen within a certain amount of time.

[Jerusha]

It’s been about seven years since I moved from Portland, OR, so I have absolutely NO sense of the job market.
I do remember that having moved from Chicago, the Portland living expenses seemed very reasonable. Rent was definitely cheaper than in Chicago (especially in the Portland ‘burbs), and there’s no sales tax on ANYTHING. The downside is that property taxes are apparently really high – but I never owned a home there, so had no personal experience with that.

I’m with the folks who mentioned having problems with overly landscaped cities – that was a big prob I had with Chicago. I lived pretty much right downtown in Chicago, so the closest park I had available was the lake waterfront, and every tree had been planned and planted. It never felt right. Plus, I felt sooo sorry for the withered, stunted sidewalk trees crammed in between the skyscrapers.

So one of the things I loved best about Portland is, while it’s a big enough city that you really can get good city benefits (fun clubs, some culture, lots of artists live and work there, you can find open stores at 2am that aren’t gas stations), the city is surrounded and infiltrated by big, lush trees. When you stand on a hill and look toward the city, you literally can’t see the buildings for the trees, except for the few blocks of skyscrapers right on the Columbia River waterfront. And even going to the waterfront park, the city manages to feel “natural” somehow. Like a city kind of nestling and hiding in a forest.

Another thing that may be worth mentioning is local architecture. In Minnesota, for the most part the houses all look like they’re built to be huddled and snug against the cold winters. They’re kinda compact, with smaller windows. Here in Arizona, on the other hand, they sprawl out like a suntanning lizard. Nobody has basements (unlike MN, where EVERYBODY has basements), the ceilings are all lofted, and many of the houses have that stucco style walling.

In Portland, they have my favorite kind of architecture in houses: Big ole gorgeous Victorian houses, with all kinds of funny interconnected rooms and nooks and crannies and bay windows and turrets and stuff. They have character.

And I’ll cast my vote in with whoever mentioned how awesome the Columbia Gorge is. Drive 20 minutes from town and you are bathed in breathtaking beauty!!

(Must stop now or I will be tempted to start looking at housing in Portland 😳 )

[frozendragon]

Kujacker wrote:

Well, there is no way I could move now. I’ve been jobless for months (technically, in terms of the a tax paying job, well over a year) so until I find a job here and save up money, moving anywhere is not an option. But I still like to waste my time looking at real estate in places I wish I could go, though 😉
So who knows. Maybe by the time everything picks up (if ever… ugh) then Seattle won’t be a such a big stretch. Or, maybe if I can ever afford to visit places, somewhere in Oregon might be better. So many things can happen within a certain amount of time.

Oh I’m there with you, I’ve had a couple temporary jobs recently.. but they don’t pay anything.. certainly not enough to save to move

I’ve looked at apartments.com and all those sites.. it’s fun trying to find something good.. but kind of depressing when you find something great and have no way of getting there..

[darjeb]

I was born in Kansas City, MO and I hate it it is to hot in the summer and to cold in the winter. I also lived in Shawnee and Overland Park, KS – all are nice places to be from. After that I lived in Roswell, GA ,which is just north of Atlanta, curtsey of AT&T. I really loved living close to Atlanta even though it got a little to cold in the winter. When it did get cold it only lasted maybe three weeks instead of about 5 or 6 months. When I retired I moved to where am living now which is Boynton Beach, FL and I love love love it. I live just a couple of miles inland and get the ocean breeze to keep the temperature pretty good. It is ususally in the mid 80’s during the summer and occasionally upper 60’s to mid 70’s in the winter. I hate cold weather. My late husband and I took a vacation trip to Florida in the mid 60’s and fell in love with it and decided some day we would live there. We definitely didn’t plan on something happening to one of us at a young age but when I retired Imoved to FL the next day and plan to live here the rest of my life.

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