What do you appreciate about where you live?

[Malika]

I started thinking about this a bit on Saturday morning, when shopping at the market in the local town. This is about as far from the experience of shopping in a supermarket as you can get! Everyone has time - time for sellers and customers to exchange humorous and witty remarks, ask about family and health, comment on the weather, greet friends who you run into and stop to chat with, time to examine the huge array of fresh vegetables and fruits at leisure, to savour the local cheeses and home-made saucisson. Everything looks beautiful, smells beautiful - it is a feast of the senses, a hymn to the quality of life and of enjoying the present moment without thinking of where you have to rush to next on the list. It all takes place in the central square of the town, surrounded by cafes where people, locals and tourists, sit drinking in the atmosphere and is erected and then dismantled in the blink of an eye...
This is one of the things I appreciate about living in France... what do you appreciate about your neck of the woods?

 

[trinityroyal]

Malika, what a delightful question. I LOVE where I live and could go on and on for days. I'll try to keep the list short-ish.

Background: I live in a very big city, but in an old part that used to be "out in the country" in the early days of the city's founding. This part of town is where people used to retreat for their summer holidays, to get away from the heat of the city.

1) Lovely old trees that bow over the streets. We are surrounded by mature trees. The "tree canopy" is considered a major feature of the neighbourhood.

2) Close to, yet far away from, everything. Close to the subway, close to 3 major highways, easy to get in and out of the neighbourhood when I need to go downtown or up north or somewhere else, but we're in a hidden little pocket, separated from the rest of the city by rivers and valleys. No one really knows we're here, so we have access to all of the great stuff that comes with living in a large city, with few of the drawbacks.

3) Community. As Malika mentioned, the village-ness of the neighbourhood. Some of the shops have been around for generations, now run by the grandchildren of the original founders. Everyone knows everyone, and it's quite lovely.

4) Anonymity. In the big city, I can sneak off to places where no one knows me at all. I can spend an entire day out and about without running into a single person that I know. Which, for an extremely introverted aspie, is a Very. Good. Thing.

 

[dashcat]

Great question! There are so many things I love about this area, including:
4 seasons (remind me of this in February!)
A small community with big city access
The largest performing arts community outside of NYC
The coolest city market on the planet
Tomatoes in August
The Great Lakes
Ethnic restaurants
No hurricanes

Dash

 

[Nancy]

What dash said....but then I live only 20 minutes from her

In Addition:
Greatest parks anywhere with lakes, hiking trails, bike paths, picnic areas, gorgeous scenery
Very reasonable cost of living
Close to everything
Growing downtown area
Excellent medical facilities
Friendly people
Great restaurants...home to Michael Simon and birthplace of his famous restaurants
No earthquakes

 

[Calamity Jane]

I grew up in NYC, and just moved about 45 minutes from there about 8 yrs. ago. NYC is arguably the greatest city in the whole world (well, it is to me!) and I would miss it terribly if I ever moved far away. Best pizza, bagels, really friendly, helpful people - trust me on this - New Yorkers have big hearts, Central Park, museums, Carnegie Hall, the Chrysler Building, Broadway. Sigh. I Love New York!

 

[recoveringenabler]

What a lovely post, Malika, thank you for suggesting it to us........

We are one hour from the Pacific ocean.
One hour out of San Francisco.
Hours away from Tahoe/skiing/snow in the winter.
There are more scenic and gorgeous hikes to take even if you hiked all the time you could hike in a different location each time.
The 5 star restaurants are everywhere and wine is plentiful, varied and you can go directly to the wineries for tastings.
There are redwoods, vineyards, mountains and valleys everywhere you look.
Excellent medical facilities
availability of all healing arts
close to the Capital
beautiful mild weather, no humidity,
access to the arts, the theater, entertainment and many tourist attractions
a small town with no large chain stores, with unique small privately owned shops
Friendly residents
close to 3 major airports
Lots of Farmers markets in this town and all the surrounding towns, so availability to great local produce, breads and all kinds of delicious fare; food and wine are HUGE here. (Dungeness crab, pacific salmon, Ghirardelli chocolate, sour dough bread....)
Close to Yosemite, many state parks and wildlife preserves

Every single time I drive over the Golden Gate bridge, or see a brilliant sunset, or watch the vineyards turn from green to orange and red, or have a bowl of Fisherman's stew,.......... I am very grateful to be living here.

 

[hearts and roses]

I grew up on LI, which was called the suburbs of NYC when I was a kid. I moved from there about, wow, almost 20 years ago to northern CT, which reminds me a bit of the ruralness I grew up with on LI as a kid. I do miss the water, however! Very much!

What I love about it here are the mountains, the cool summer breezes, fall's changing colors are magnificent, Christmas in New England is really beautiful, and the Springtime is so much appreciated! Where we live is an old farm town, so it's relatively small. A lot of new people have moved into the area since we've been here, about 3,000 give or take, so there is some anonymity but also some familiarity. I enjoy going to the Sunday farmer's market in town during the farming months and seeing old and new friends, neighbors, parents of the kids the girls went to school with. They even have local bands play music, live animals and freebies. Our town has two drama theaters and a supper club as well. There is a lot of old culture in the area and even if we've take a drive somewhere we've been, there is usually something new to see or some cool exhibit going on. Where we live also tends to attract very open minded and diverse people, which keeps it interesting. Raising my daughters here instead of LI was the initial goal and I'm glad I listened to my sister and took a job with her H following my divorce from exh - this is a great area to raise children with great schools.

 

[DDD]

I loved my home town in South Florida....we had the sense of small town community and yet were surrounded by Miami and the wonders of sking in Biscayne Bay, the artsy community of Coconut Grove, the diversity of people, endless restaurant choices etc. etc. Still regret leaving home and moving to central Florida. It's now an even break. My first 36 years were "down south" and the past 36 years have been rural. No comparison.

on the other hand, I'm enjoying the happiness in this thread. DDD

 

[dashcat]

I think I'd like to visit all of your communities! So many blessings.
Dash

 

[SuZir]

Malika, your post made me laugh. You just described something everyone in my community always raves about France and many other places and that are totally non-existent around here. All of them.

I however happen to love there I live and we do have our good points:
-Nature and access to it
-Light and how it changes
-Lakes and sea and water all together
-Four very different seasons and excellent possibilities to do all kinds of sports etc.
-Probably one of the the safest and most smoothly functioning places on earth (we are totally over pampered and just waiting when our government decides that we need a law that makes it compulsory to wear helmets while walking... So it has its pros and cons.)
-Grumpy, pessimistic, introverted and overly pragmatic people, who don't mind that I'm grumpy, pessimistic, introverted and overly pragmatic.
-Living almost rurally half an hour from bigger city with almost anything you could need (except those awesome fruit selections, un-supermarket type food markets, people who have time and desire to chat or who are witty )
-It's home

 

[Hound dog]

Rural. Small town. Southwestern ohio with rolling hills that are beautiful scenery anytime of the year but during autumn it is just breath taking.

The people here are friendly, that small town don't know a stranger sort of friendly and most of them would bend over backward to help someone in need. I find myself in conversations with all sorts of people in all sorts of odd places. When we first moved here my kids would ask me who that was and how I knew them, they were so confused when I told them I didn't know them that is just the way it is in a small rural town. lol It's quiet here for the most part and folks are pretty down to earth. A child can go out to play without much worry or walk to the bus stop without danger. I've been here for over 15 yrs and up until Katie and M moved to town I never locked my doors, now I do only because of M. Our crime rate is low, most of the area is armed......deters robberies. lol I can walk my dogs after dark without fear.

It's not perfect, but it's mighty close. Wouldn't live anywhere else.

 

[TerryJ2]

Nothing below 24 degrees above zero in winter (in MN it was 18 below).
Slower pace of life.
Beautiful, flowering trees.
Longer growing season.

 

[InsaneCdn]

I moved away from this area back when I was young... and returned with family in two many years later.
What do I like about it?
Well... here, we're getting answers for difficult child that I don't think we could have gotten anywhere else.
Plus...
- we have four seasons, but every year is different...
- small city on the edge of farm country - city enough to allow some anonymity, small enough that it's amazing how often you do run into someone you know in an unusual spot.
- we're 500 miles from anywhere else (of size) - in almost any direction... and can go in any direction.
- chatty little impromptu farmers markets in various mall parking lots around town... on different days of the week, so if you miss your favorite you just go to another one.
- beautiful river valley full of trails and views
- skies that nobody believes are real when they see pictures (photos or paintings)

 

[Malika]

Can you post us a picture of one of those skies, IC?
I am so glad you are all happy where you live. From your descriptions, I think I am moving to Northern California though

 

[HaoZi]

Small town with low crime, local departments that have been helpful, a reasonably decent IEP that seems to be helping, and as of late a new boyfriend that "gets us" and has been enormously helpful with Kiddo.

 

[TerryJ2]

Malika, that sounds lovely.

 

[DammitJanet]

I was born and raised in a suburb or Richmond VA which I though was wonderful. I still think Richmond is a beautiful city. I love driving through there at night. I actually love driving up I95 from NC all the way to Boston. It is one of the most beautiful drives on earth to me but I might be prejudiced...lol.

Now I live in a small town in NC right on the side of 95 close to the border of SC. There really isnt much here. We are an hour from Myrtle Beach. One nice thing is people are mostly very friendly and we talk to each other in the stores even if we dont know each other. We really dont have the nice stuff like other places. Im sure Tony would have other things to say about this place but I dont. I sort of feel its just rural which was nice for raising the boys because they could go outside without me worrying about them constantly. That part was good. I think this place is better for someone who is really an outdoorsy person but I am so not an outdoorsy type gal. I dont hunt and fish like the guys.

 

[Star*]

Not a single thing. (pauses for thought.......) Nope not one. Will be elated when I hit the lotto and can move.

 

[SearchingForRainbows]

Although it's been 15 months since we moved from "home," I still miss "home" so much. Just recently, I've been thinking about how grateful I am to be here and am glad you started this thread. Just a few short months ago, I probably wouldn't have been able to come up with any reasons why I like it here except for being extremely grateful we were given a second chance and a roof over our heads. Now I can think of lots of reasons why this is a nice place to live.

We're close to a big city with all that a big city has to offer, yet, while in our home, it all seems so far away. We have a gorgeous view from our backyard, we're about 200 feet above a golf course, a stream at the bottom of the drop, surrounded by hills, mountains dotted with lots of trees. So far we've seen how pretty it is in the summer with bright sunlight, lots of different shades of green, lots of flowers, and in the fall with all the leaves changing color, vivid shades of red, orange, yellow... Now, although most of the leaves are gone, the sky is gray, there is still a certain beauty, a kind of peacefulness blanketed over everything, a feeling of calm, happy to be inside where it's warm.

The neighborhood we're living in is made up of many wonderful people, all in different stages of life. One of the best things is that just about everyone here loves dogs! At night there aren't many cars on the roads, (we're sort of isolated even though we're less than 12 miles from the city) just people walking their dogs, kids playing outside if the weather is good. It's just a great neighborhood to live in with everyone taking pride in their homes. And, with the city so close, everything we could possibly need/want is nearby. We also have access to great medical facilities, lots of sporting, cultural events and great restaurants.

While I miss the ocean so much and living in a rural environment dotted by farms, a tiny town where you could still run a tab at the local bar, pay for your groceries the next day if you forgot your wallet (yes! this happened to me!), get fresh fish right off the boat, eat at the local sandwich shop and be greeted by two very sweet dogs once inside, will probably always be homesick for (in my humble opinion) the breathtakingly gorgeous place I called "home" for so long, I'm very, very grateful that husband and I were given a second chance and that we ended up in such a wonderful community.

I didn't mean to write a mini-novel, lol... Enough said. SFR

 

[susiestar]

Small city wth amazing international elements. Great university and a couple of factories so there is employment. Shopping and eating out offer both local and chain establishments to get a good variety. I can run five errands in an hour even if I have to drive to all four sides of town to do it. We are 90 min or so from 2 major cities and for the most part this gives us excellent medical care unless you are Jess or I with really strange bodies that don't respond normally to anything.

Our schools are some of the top in the state and do not have the financial problems that most districts do. We have a public education foundation that funds a TON and they tapped the top finance/econ and business minds from the university to set up very long term financial problems. We do pay under $40 per year for elem school supplies but we have ZERO supply lists to buy for our children when neighboring districts have entire pages with 2 columns single spaced, and starting in middle school we do have supply lists but they run about $50. No fees for school busses, lockers, sport uniforms if it is a school sport, etc... We have some of the top teachers in the state because this area is highly prized as a place to live and often if a univ prof is hired and has a spouse that is a public school teacher, the public school teacher's job is negotiated with pressure from the university. If the teacher has a lot of experience, they may choose to work in another district, but that depends on salary expectations. We have a very good university with major agriculture and other schools, and this draws students and professors from all over the world. Agriculture and entomology (bugs) and veterinary schools have HUGE farms and fields and herds etc.... and we have totally amazing influences from pretty much everywhere.

Our kids go to school with the most culturally diverse and rich group of classmates in the state. They often get things like sushi at school parties where each kid brings something! I know my mom used to LOVE going to the kids' class parties because it was a great chance to eat the best sushi prepared by people who learned to make it as they grew up - the way we learned to make chili!

I like that my kids can walk almost anywhere with little fear of being hurt by people, and that I do not have to be afraid to let my son use a public restroom without me. When we lived in OH there were ALWAYS reports of kids up to age 12 or so being abused in public restrooms, but it just doesn't happen here. I know quite a few of the cops, and it truly isn't an issue here.

I like that my kids have the benefit of a small town where the neighbors know them and will call us if there is a problem, and the top education that only the top schools in the big cities can rival. We have a wonderful farmer's market where you must PROVE that you have grown the produce in this state, or raised the beef, buffalo, chicken, etc.... yourself. You cannot go buy a bunch of vegetables or fruit and put it in your truck and sell it like you grew it the way it happens in many areas in the US. If you cannot show the board that sets up the farmer's market where your fields are and what you have used for fertilizer, pesticide, etc...., then you cannot sell it at our farmer's market. They cannot tell you not to sell it if it uses pesticides, but they do make sure that the pesticides are legal in the US and this state, and that you are NOT calling it organic unless it actually is able to carry the certification. Lots of the farmers grow heirloom strains, so the produce is incredible!