What do you love and hate about where you live?

[jenn D]

I'm having wanderlust lately. Lol! We live in New Mexico and have all our lives. I long for actual weather not sun all time. Not slot of variation. Why do you love or hate where you live? I need to live vicariously through all of you right now.
For me, love: the fact that we have no humidity ever and the fall when the sunny days cool off. Hate: constant sunshine, no variation. No snow, not a lot of rain or clouds.

[Donna Bay & Buzz]

I am laughing here.....while being on Long Island (yes, on...not "in") it's not too different though the winds may be slightly toned down.  I agree, I love the season changes yet I crave the warmer weather and could learn to love it all year long and visit the other places as desired :)

[Lynda Kamrath]

Well, we live on the central coast of California and there is so much to love about living here.  I love that there is seldom traffic problems, wonderful beaches, and great weather.  It is between 55 and 75 degrees 95% of the time.  I love that we basically live outdoors.  I love that my husband has a beautiful woodshop attached to our house, the local junior college has an outdoor Olympic-sized pool and art classes, and we can be comfortable in our retirement.  There is plenty of work to be done in local gardens where we volunteer and great trails for hiking and biking at the old Ft. Ord.  Now, for the downside.  This in an agricultural area and spraying of the fields is constant.  In California, they want to make spraying mandatory to "save the crops" and claim that organic crops can always be sold as non-organic if they are sprayed.  Water is a problem (especially with the drought) and our wells are contaminated.  Nobody wants to do anything about the water situation and agriculture continues to draw down the aquifers.  I am very pro-organic, anti-fracking, and anti-GMO.  It is a challenge everywhere.  BTW, my husband graduated from high school and college in New Mexico, and it is a great place to live.  You don't have to go far to get rain and snow.  And the biking is great!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Central Coast is where I would live if I could, Lynda.  Our retirement plans were to re-locate there.  Hasn't happened and probably won't now, but it continues to be on my wish list.

[Judy, Meg & Polly Wolly Doodle]

Illinois here, we live downstate and very rural, I love that.  I also love the dramatic springs, waiting all winter for the fabulous burst of green when it gets here followed by clouds of Jonquils and Paperwhites, next favorite is the incredible fall colors, you can always find a drive to make you catch your breath.  The rest you can have.  Not a fan of drinking the air during humid months, constant grey skies through the winter months. When we visit Colorado in the winter if feels great to step outside and turn your face up to that beautiful clear crisp sky.

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

We live in Southern California...San Diego. There's not much to dislike. Love that we can spend each and every day outdoors. If so disired, we can be at the snow to ski, and at the beach, all in the same day. We are at the beach, just to walk and stick our toes in the sand and sea. San Diego is extremely dog friendly, so of course, Enzo accompanies us on most outings.
If I have to dislike something , it would be my water bill being so sky high. Because of all our sunshine...rain is a rarity and water is scarce.

[Richard Crowe]

I love just about everything about San Diego County:  weather, beauty, photo opportunities, eating, and the mix of cultures from all over the world...

What I don't love about where I live are the Santa Ana winds in the fall bringing a constant threat of wildfires.

However, I think that we have dodged that bullet this fall.

It will be 72 degrees today and between 71 and 72 degrees for the next week with 54 to 55 degrees at night.

I would like to see some rain this season. We really need it!

[Adina P]

I'm in Walla Walla, WA and most people think all of WA is like Seattle: wet.  But our area is more like a desert. 
I like that there are "relatively mild" winters and four seasons and yet I hate that we have winter at all...haha. 
Really weather is the only thing I don't love.  I grew up in Sunny Southern California and I prefer that sort of season change: i.e. mostly summer all year long.  We also get a horrible inversion in the winter here, being in the valley, and can go eons without sunshine.  

But outside of that, I love that it's a smallish town and it doesn't take more than 10-15 min to go from one end to the other and there is hardly any traffic to contend with.  Driving in SoCal practically gives me a heart-attack.  My kids will be able to walk to school.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

I have to say that when I read your post I thought you were going to get really slammed because of choosing today of all days to make this post and complain about your wonderfully beautiful humidity and winter free climate year round.  Today, the day that millions and millions are getting hit by the big "arctic blast" or whatever crazy name you can think up for it that the weather people are calling it.  First significant snowfall of the year for most northern states and temps into the 20's down through parts of the South ... Not feeling too much sympathy coming your way today.  However, everyone has been very nice .... lol!   As for me, I can certainly add some to this post:  Here goes:

Current location:  Ohio.  I returned here 7 years ago because my parents are here and felt I wanted to be in place should they ever require assistance.  My Hubby likes the 4 seasons, I can live without them.  I hate cold winters and I also hate hot humid summers.  We have both here.  Cost of living is fairly cheap which allowed us to retire early.

Florida -- When we first moved there I loved the heat.  Year round pretty good weather.  However, by the time we decided to move I was beginning to lose my sense of humor with the 95 degree days with 70% humidity.  Just too hot.  Didn't even want to get in the pool as the water was too warm.  Also was tired of worrying about hurricanes which we had 4 of in one season.  Loved the no state income tax.  Loved being able to get to the beach in an hour.

Connecticut -- Transferred there for work.  It is beautiful but there are people on top of people where we were.  Commuting to/from work for 3 hours a day got old really fast.  Winters could be pretty brutal or fairly mild, but summers weren't too bad.  Our home wasn't even air conditioned and it wasn't the end of the world.  Beautiful fall season.  Cost of living and taxes were very high.

Las Vegas ... other than the tourists aspect of Vegas and the lack of customer service everywhere Vegas wasn't too bad climate wise.  A little too hot in the summer but fairly mild winters.  We saw snow flurries once and our lawn sprinkler pipes burst once because it got unseasonably cold.  No seasons really though.  Gorgeous beautiful blue cloudless skies on most days.  Everything is wide open, gorgeous mountains.  Thing I didn't like was that it is like a 6 hour drive to the next town of any sort.  I used to complain that once I shopped the 3 malls in town each season there was no where else to go until the next season.  Wasn't like you could drive to the next town to go shopping.  You had to fly everywhere.

England, Cotswolds ... beautiful countryside.  Just like you imagine it.  Thatched roofs on stone cottages.  Cobblestone streets.  Weather, yuck.  Cold, wet and damp most of the time.  The day the movers came to pack us up it was the hottest day of the entire time we were there.  It was 70 degrees and the guys were dying they were so hot.  When I transferred there I said that I did it because I wanted to learn to appreciate the things that I had here in the US.  It worked.  The saying "it is the next best thing since sliced bread" is even true.  All the bread is homemade so therefore you must slice your own.  They have a much more laid back way of life than we do.  Very different lifestyle.  Loved being able to get to London on the train in 45 mins.  

Georgia.  ... On a scale of 1-10 it was a 5 for me.  Didn't love it but didn't hate it.  Weather was fairly mild.  When I lived there there wasn't even a shopping mall but that has all changed now.  Liked being close to Florida and the beaches but would never move back.

That's all for me.  When we moved here we said this is it.  We shall see.  

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Hi Jenn,

We lived in Fla. for 40 years and I have to say it is a beautiful state if you love the ocean. And green lush foliage 12 months a year, however, the humidty made it beyond miserable for me. I got off the plane as a 14 yr old and said to my mom, YUCK, WHAT the heck is that???? Being from Conn. it was a humidity I had never felt. And 40 years later, never got used to it. Not to mention the state of alert you felt from June 1 to Nov 1 due to Hurricane season. That never got any easier either, other than you got better at barricading the house and packing the absolute minium of your valuables necessary.

We traveled for 18 months in our RV, considering where we might want to live if not in FL. and everywhere we went there was something good and bad about the area, weather, economy, traffic, being too far from civilization or too crowded....hurricanes, tornados, snow, ice, months of gray sad skies.....or nothing but sunny skies.  There really is no perfect place so we decided we would be where our daughter was because we could be happy anywhere and make the best of the bad and enjoy the good, as long as we had our children and grandchildren close by. 

We are in Az. and the summers are everything you have ever heard they are, but having a cabin 100 miles away gives us respite from the heat, and a change of seasons without the severity of that season. The winters are picture perfect sunny crisp cool days. We are a 4 hour drive to the coast of CA. and less than 2 hours to snow skiing in the winter. 

Bad: Im not crazy about the immigration issues here, but I do understand they want a better life too.  Its just such a strain on our ecomony.  Certain cities are very overcrowed and any activity or function is a transportation/parking nightmare. 

All in all, I am a very happy home body and my motto is "there's no place like home".

[Susan & Randy's Kate]

I lived in Chicago my first 26 years during the time of no air conditioners and snow that turned black from industry and coal burning.  I live in SW Missouri now and we have extremes but not as much.  I find I go from air conditioning or heat to air conditioning or heat therefore it's not a problem.  We had 72 degrees yesterday and a beautiful fall.  I do miss ocean and beaches.  I love the green and flowers.

[Camilla and Darwin]

I LOVE living in Utah almost all of the time. I live in Northern Utah where we have beautiful mountains, the Great Salt Lake and 4 lovely seasons.

In the winter though it can be beautiful at times - it can also have TERRIBLE air. Like, the worst in the nation. And on "red air days" I really hate where I live. For the most part though it's such a wonderful place to live.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Oh Camilla, you make even the red smog beautiful!