Why you love (or not) the area where you live?

[Ellen]

Santa Cruz, CA (for 16+ years). Some of the pros are some of the cons, but here goes:

Things I like:
•Temperate weather. I used to miss the hot summers of my Central Valley childhood, but I've grown accustomed to cool and foggy summer mornings that lead to pleasantly warm afternoons.
•Proximity to the ocean and redwood forests. I am w/in a 20-minute walk to the beach or to a mixed redwood-oak forest (opposite directions). Real redwood forests are a 15-minute drive.
•Many small ranches and orchards within the county. Lots of CSAs, farmers markets, and general access to a wide variety of really fresh produce even in ordinary grocery stores.
•It's a college town with a nice university campus. As anyone who's ever lived in a college town knows, this can be a good thing--and a bad thing. Overall, it's a mostly good thing here.
•It's rather a nice place to raise kids. I have friends and family in more urban, high-stress environments and there's a lot of pressure on parents and kids to always be doing/achieving/succeeding/competing.

Things I don't like as much (but understand):
•Lots and lots of tourists, and not just in the summer. SC is 30 miles away from the greater San Jose metro area, so there are a lot of day-trippers year-round.
•High COLA, esp. for housing. Like other parts of the larger SF Bay Area, it has skyrocketed in the past 15 years. People pay a premium to live here, whether they rent or own. If you rent, you are competing against groups of students.
•Lack of well-paying jobs. Many people commute over a mountain pass every day not just for more $ but out of necessity.
•Dearth of good restaurants. There are some, but I've lived in other parts of the Bay Area (SF, Berkeley, Oakland) and the abundance of inexpensive and interesting choices in those towns was phenomenal. Since kids, we rarely eat out, but when we do, I wish we had more choices.
•A local political scene that can sometimes portray ordinary liberal Democrats as right-wing neo-cons.
•A lack of intellectualism (including knowledge of world events, history, and art) among the community at large, in spite of the university. Many people who move here--and love living here--fall into two camps: very outdoors-oriented (surfing, kayaking, triathloning, etc.) or super-interested in alternative medicine: herbs, oils, bodywork, or the healing arts. There is absolutely nothing wrong with either of these interests, but they're not mine, so for me this is a bit of a minus.

[kosh525]

Northern New Jersey.  I can only think of a few pros for me:

Access to NYC is only a car, train, or bus ride away.

The shore is only an hour away.

Cons:

I've beginning to understand that the culture in this area does not match up with my ideals.  I live very close to Paramus, NJ.  It is one of the largest shopping areas in the country.  It is one of the most anti-mustachian places.  There are luxury vehicles all over the place. along with million dollar McMansions. Not that it's inherently a bad thing if these people could afford it, but I am fairly certain most people who own them can not afford it.

We get hit with blizzards and hurricanes.  The property taxes are insanely high.  Taxes in general here are insanely high. My mother in law pays over $12,000 in property taxes a year.  My uncle who moved to Tennessee, pays less than $500.  Traffic is always horrendous.  Cost of living is one of the highest in the country.  NJ is very well known for government corruption, and my father working in the courts for 30+ years can attest to that.

As you can see, I am very fed up with this area and planning on moving by the end of the year.

[acanthurus]

I absolutely hate Houston with a passion.

It's a dirty sprawling unzoned ghetto with patches of nice areas here and there. Strip club, bar, church, sex shop, high rise office building, run down body shop, wash rinse repeat. It's ungodly humid, stupid hot, the only nice season is Spring which only seems nice because the rest of the year is truly awful, and it's getting horrifically expensive to live anywhere decent because everyone is flocking here due to the oil boom (400k for a home in Spring TX? Thanks Exxon...)

The best thing that could happen to this city is a MASSIVE hurricane to wash it all away.

I really miss Austin with all the beautiful hill country. Spent 7 year there and loved it. Hell I'd put up with Dallas if I could get a job there.

On the plus side all the immigrants means we have some awesome ethnic food (Thai, Vietnamese, Mexican in particular). And I have a few really awesome coworkers who keep me sane. Working with great people is what's keeping me here for now, some awesome guys that I'm learning a lot from.

Would love to get a job with Statoil of maybe Oceaneering or one of the smaller oil and gas co's in Austin (Benchtree etc).

If someone in Oil & Gas in Austin is reading this, a Halliburton engineer would love to chat.

[sekritdino]

Seattle, WA, USA:

Pros:
*Beautiful!
*Mountains AND beaches
*Progressive, liberal city
*Pretty good public transportation
*Good tech industry with very high earning potential (I'm a software engineer)
*Lots of diversity, so great restaurants and tolerant people

Cons:
*Expensive housing. I'm looking to get a new place next month and rent on a studio is $900-1200 per month, on the low end. That includes looking at micro-apartments.
*Rainy, damp winters, but the summers make up for it.
*Traffic is bad along all the freeways. A lot of people work for Microsoft (East), Amazon (in the middle of the city), or Boeing (South) and commute.

I'm definitely a fan, and I love Seattle more than other cities I've been to and lived in in the US.

[citrine]

Northern New Jersey.  I can only think of a few pros for me:

Access to NYC is only a car, train, or bus ride away.

The shore is only an hour away.

Cons:

I've beginning to understand that the culture in this area does not match up with my ideals.  I live very close to Paramus, NJ.  It is one of the largest shopping areas in the country.  It is one of the most anti-mustachian places.  There are luxury vehicles all over the place. along with million dollar McMansions. Not that it's inherently a bad thing if these people could afford it, but I am fairly certain most people who own them can not afford it.

We get hit with blizzards and hurricanes.  The property taxes are insanely high.  Taxes in general here are insanely high. My mother in law pays over $12,000 in property taxes a year.  My uncle who moved to Tennessee, pays less than $500.  Traffic is always horrendous.  Cost of living is one of the highest in the country.  NJ is very well known for government corruption, and my father working in the courts for 30+ years can attest to that.

As you can see, I am very fed up with this area and planning on moving by the end of the year.

We are in the New Brunswick, NJ area and feel the same way!  In the last few years, the sheer amount of people and traffic has just exploded!  Good luck to you...we have three more years until we are able to leave. 

[MrFancypants]

Canberra Australia

I *love* Canberra.  When I was there people were apologizing to me for how boring they felt it was, but my impression of the city was that it was beautiful and clean and beyond pleasant.  If I had the ability to uproot everything and choose a new city to live in, Canberra would absolutely be a contendor.

I think the only real downside is that it can be a bit pricey, and that it's on the other side of the planet and I can't get to it so easily.

[MrFancypants]

I absolutely hate Houston with a passion.

I'm sure you know it, but San Antonio isn't any better for a lot of the same reasons.

I think the only thing I like about living here is being able to get a nice sized house for not much money.  Nothing else makes me want to stay here.

[NoraLenderbee]

San Jose, California (Silicon Valley)

Pros:

The climate.
--you can grow anything here, and the growing season is wonderfully long.
--lots of flowers everywhere for a good part of the year.
--low humidity during hot weather makes it a joy to be outdoors.
--you don’t need to worry about rain spoiling an outdoor event (except in the winter).
--non-freezing winters mean less damage to homes and buildings
The geography.
--minutes away from fantastic hills and open space; the best cycling any time you want it.
--a day’s drive from gorgeous, spectacular mountains
--all kinds of scenic beauty
Liberal/progressive socially
Highly educated population
Excellent produce.
Diverse population.

Cons:

The cost of living is insane.
Everything is about money, money, money all the time. Everyone is a venture capitalist, a real-estate broker, or an Internet millionaire. Everyone else is an engineer. Everyone discusses their stocks, property values, and vacations all.the.time. Conspicuous spending. Fierce competition to have the biggest house, the fanciest car, the smartest kids (as measured by GPAs and SAT scores).
Cultural desert. “If I want culture, I’ll go to San Francisco.” San Jose has the least cultural life for any city of its size. Even around the university, there isn’t much.
Smart people, but their education is very one-sided.
Suburban sprawl to the max. San Jose isn’t really a city—it’s just a gigantic suburb. And therefore a total car culture.
Traffic. Crowds. Smog.
The climate—we’re in a severe drought that looks as if it’ll go on for a long time.
Noise (in my neighborhood). Loud music, kids screaming and playing in the street at night, boom-boom cars. And there seems to be a rule that at least one leaf-blower or lawnmower must be running during all hours of daylight.
Obnoxious neighbors (again, in my neighborhood).
Did I mention the cost of living? Salaries are high, but not high enough to compensate.

I really want to move somewhere else—I just can’t figure out where.

[iris lily]

St. Louis, MO (the city, baby!)

Pros:
- Historic architecture all over the place to look at and admire
- Affordable same historic architecture to buy: live in a kick-ass mansion for $500,000 or a stunning handsome old house for $250,000
- slow moving, not progressive  :) 
- world class Botanical gardens (important to me, a gardener and member of several plant societies)
- too much to do, really too much--free! including world-class music, theater, art
- too much to do that costs only a bit!
- you can get around this city to entertainment venues within 15 minutes
- 4 seasons, can grow lots of things and usually pretty mild winters for the mid-west
- great city services for urban gardeners: unmetered water, lots of free compost, wood chips

Cons
- race politics all the time 24/7
- normal people don't sent their children to the city's public schools, with exceptions
- politicians and locals do not realize how cool this place is and they shortchange it
-  crime problem that is real, but the perception is worse
- fooking clay soil (not cool for a gardener)

[Unique User]

Also in St Louis area, but out in St Charles County.  Have only been here a year, expecting we'll get transferred again, but if not, we're moving to the city.  The burbs have no soul. 

Pros:
Very family friendly and tons of stuff to do nearby, MUNY, museums, zoo, float trips on the Meramec, botanical gardens, free beer during Budweiser tours and at Grant's Farm, Forest Park
The City Museum is awesome and one of the wackiest things I've ever seen. 
Lots of green space and trails in the conservation areas
Our school district is really, really good. 

Cons:
The suburbs have no soul, I never ever ever want to see another vinyl siding house again in my life
Everyone is from here and all their families still live in the area, so weird to me.
Humid in the summer, cold in the winter
Way too flippin conservative
Full page gun ads in the newspaper
Did I mention the suburbs have no soul?

[RetiredAt63]

OT - What else is new?  You could run a pottery out of my back yard.  Darn Champlain Sea (Leda clay).  Worst is that it was originally salty, so as the salt leaches out the chemistry and soil properties change -> quick clay -> landslides

If it's not one thing it's another  ;-)

St. Louis, MO (the city, baby!)

- fooking clay soil (not cool for a gardener)

[BooksAreNerdy]

We are in a suburb of Lawrence, KS

I didn't realize Lawrence HAD suburbs! ;)

We live just south of Lawrence on the local lake.
Pros- college town in an agricultural state. To us, this translates to a well educated population that values a rural and agricultural heritage. Thus, we have a HUGE local food movement. Farmers markets 4+ days a week, towns of local food type restaurants downtown, plenty of CSAs and co-ops.
Lawrence just opened their newly renovated library. It, and many of the other city services are stellar.
The parks and local music/festival scene are great.
Housing is typical for the Midwest.
You can get everything you need without driving to nearby Topeka or KC.
People are very 'green' with a large local 'old hippie' type population.
Family from Colorado often say that our Mass St reminds them of Pearl St in Boulder.
Was just named a top triathlon city. Very bike friendly.

Cons:
Schools aren't great.
The west side of town is growing rapidly in a mcmansion kind of way.

Having been residents for just over 5 years, we feel like Lawrence is home. We love it here.

ETA- just realized I'm the 3rd lawrencian to post here! We must have a high population of MMMers here too!

[iris lily]

Also in St Louis area, but out in St Charles County.  Have only been here a year, expecting we'll get transferred again, but if not, we're moving to the city.  The burbs have no soul. 

Pros:
Very family friendly and tons of stuff to do nearby, MUNY, museums, zoo, float trips on the Meramec, botanical gardens, free beer during Budweiser tours and at Grant's Farm, Forest Park
The City Museum is awesome and one of the wackiest things I've ever seen. 
Lots of green space and trails in the conservation areas
Our school district is really, really good. 

Cons:
The suburbs have no soul, I never ever ever want to see another vinyl siding house again in my life
Everyone is from here and all their families still live in the area, so weird to me.
Humid in the summer, cold in the winter
Way too flippin conservative
Full page gun ads in the newspaper
Did I mention the suburbs have no soul?

City Museum is the most unique place ever conceived, and the mad genius who built it, Bob Cassilly, was my neighbor. He is legend around here. RIP Bob. Too many Bob Cassilly stories to go into but believe me he is as colorful as the "Museum" (which isn't very much of a "museum" at all, it's a place to play and explore and burn off kid-energy. Or if you are an adult, a place to have an adult beverage in an interesting atmosphere.)

You out there in St. Chuck have, in certain places, lovely black river bottom soil. It's really the only thing I envy out there because as you say the sea of  vinyl siding is pretty awful.

I do like the frequency of gun shows out west, however.  :)

[Helvegen]

Seattle, WA, USA:

Pros:
*Beautiful!
*Mountains AND beaches
*Progressive, liberal city
*Pretty good public transportation
*Good tech industry with very high earning potential (I'm a software engineer)
*Lots of diversity, so great restaurants and tolerant people

Cons:
*Expensive housing. I'm looking to get a new place next month and rent on a studio is $900-1200 per month, on the low end. That includes looking at micro-apartments.
*Rainy, damp winters, but the summers make up for it.
*Traffic is bad along all the freeways. A lot of people work for Microsoft (East), Amazon (in the middle of the city), or Boeing (South) and commute.

I'm definitely a fan, and I love Seattle more than other cities I've been to and lived in in the US.

Live around the Puget Sound and I agree with all of this except the weather. I really like the rain and it was one of the major attractions for us to move out here in the first place. :D

Some additional things...

Pros:

*No income tax
*Icelandair flies out of SEA, got a very cheap 4 day trip to Iceland out of this
*The hiking is incredible here
*Rural public transportation is available in some areas
*Skagit Valley Tulip Festival

Cons:
*No salt on the roads during icy conditions
*Liquor is taxed all to hell. I think WA has some of the highest, if not the highest, taxes on liquor in the nation.
*Weather is notoriously unpredictable.
*Some of the absolute worst dog owners I have ever met were here. I mean, no regard for other people at all, think it is hilarious when their muddy dog jumps on you 'OH LOL, HE IS SO FRIENDLY". I've been bitten and chased by dogs out here just walking down the street, run over on trails where it is clearly marked dogs need to be on leashes if they are allowed at all.

[Michael792]

Tiny camp in Korea: Current. Disadvantages:

Forced to live here and not allowed to bring family
Somehow the Army here is FUBAR
Really FUBAR
Have to pay our own way for leave. Round trip cheap tickets to states are around 1200
Not much in the way of entertainment
13,000 artillery pieces pointed at us, and in the direct line of approach to Seoul.
camp is in a fishbowl

Advantages:

Good way to save money, as there's not a whole lot to spend on.
Get tax free hazard pay, though it's not a lot
Pretty area
Good partnership with ROK army
If we're attacked, we'll probably be dead before we know what hit us. :D No agonizing over what's coming!
Oh, and due to fishbowl status of the camp, obviously there's lots of challenging mountains on literally every side. Can ya say hiking opportunity?
If the artillery misses us, the mountains may buy us some time to get the heck out of Dodge to someplace we can defend.

Back home, where I grew up:
Disadvantages:

Property values keep going up and it's one of those 146 counties where half the country lives.
Lot of strangers moving in
Still pretty low wages for most people
Flat, with not much in the way of beautiful landscape
Hurricanes hit

Advantages:

I know a lot of good people
There's still cheap housing and land to find
Far enough inland hurricane damage isn't horrific
Land is green and wet enough to support livestock fairly well
It's my home, and I love it
Expanding opportunities and markets for small business
Good amount of rainfall usually

[Beric01]

SF Bay Area (South Bay).

Pros:

• Weather is nice.
• Salaries are high.
• Lots of people (and their food) from around the world makes for interesting cultural exchanges.

Cons:

• Everyone is a workaholic. I put 45-50 hour weeks on salary and that's normal or less than normal, and I'm not even at one of the true workaholic companies like Google.
• Life is so fast-paced, people don't enjoy life.
• Cost of living, and even more so, NIMBY people and government regulations! Basically, suburban homeowners use local government fight against any new development, not only insuring that their property values continue to rise, but also that supply never meets demand in the local housing/apartment market.
• Not a very good place to find a partner.

Cons:
-Flying out of Billings can be pricey depending on where you go. It's certainly no Denver.

But why would you ever want to leave?  Only half a joke: if I didn't have some good friends here who are wussies when it comes to decent winter weather, I'd move back to the Kalispell/Missoula region.

My family vacations in the Kaispell region (at a little lake near Flathead) every year. My Dad often says (half-seriously) that he'd like to retire there.

[Chranstronaut]

Northern Nevada, not quite far enough outside Reno.

Love: The mountains, Tahoe, the desert, California's "Empty Quarter" that's not quite mountains, but has lots of dirt road & trails for riding the horses (or bikes) all day, usually  without seeing anyone else.

Likes:  Close enough to town to get decent internet service, drive to the university in a half hour (or bike in an hour).

Dislikes: Too many other people like the place, so it keeps growing.  The weather kinda sucks at times: some hot days in the summer, and in winter it seldom stays cold enough to keep the fresh powder in the mountains from turning to slush after a few days.  And did I mention the wind?  See Mark Twain on the 'Washoe Zephyr': http://www.twainquotes.com/Zephyr.html

Always surprised to see my hometown taking any notice.  Growing up in Northern Nevada myself, I agree with the pros.  There's nothing quite like the smell of sagebrush after a thunderstorm and the brightest blue sky I've ever seen.  Ultimately, I found more cons than pros and moved away, but home means Nevada to me.

Inside the Reno metro area, I would add:

Pros:
Eclectic culture unlike any other.  I really didn't appreciate this until moving, but the lifelong Burners mixed with the youth music culture is pretty special.
Cheap housing.
Cleaning up/gentrifying historic districts
ArtTown, wine walks, events on the Truckee river

Cons:
Don't plow the roads in winter
Lack of education/jobs in my field
Small enough that you're no more than two degrees of separation from anyone else
Nothing to do after 9pm between the ages of 14 and 21

[Basenji]

Tiny camp in Korea: Current. Disadvantages:

Forced to live here and not allowed to bring family
Somehow the Army here is FUBAR
Really FUBAR
Have to pay our own way for leave. Round trip cheap tickets to states are around 1200
Not much in the way of entertainment
13,000 artillery pieces pointed at us, and in the direct line of approach to Seoul.

You win the thread, hats off to you.

[CowboyAndIndian]

Central New Jersey (Around Princeton)

Pros
* Close NY and Philly. One hour.
* Great transportation by NJ transit Rail and bus
* Wonderful University in the neighborhood
* Great Schools
* Very low crime
* Very cosmopolitan, with people from all over the world
* An hour from the beach

Cons
* High real estate taxes (16K$ !!!)
* High State taxes
* High population density

[Michael792]

Tiny camp in Korea: Current. Disadvantages:

Forced to live here and not allowed to bring family
Somehow the Army here is FUBAR
Really FUBAR
Have to pay our own way for leave. Round trip cheap tickets to states are around 1200
Not much in the way of entertainment
13,000 artillery pieces pointed at us, and in the direct line of approach to Seoul.

You win the thread, hats off to you.

ahahaha Thanks! Though I'd really rather keep reading other people's problems. Helps me not think about the artillery :)

[paddedhat]

I absolutely hate Houston with a passion.

I'm sure you know it, but San Antonio isn't any better for a lot of the same reasons.

I think the only thing I like about living here is being able to get a nice sized house for not much money.  Nothing else makes me want to stay here.

We were visiting San Antonio over the winter and had a need to find a doctor. We found a great and caring specialist. Our last visit should of been a 20 minute affair, but it ran about an hour longer. The reason is that the doctor was our age, raised in another southern state, and attended University and Med. School in the northeast.  My wife is an educator, and the doc really needed somebody to empathize with how blown away he is about the state of affairs in Texas today. He absolutely despises SA. He was stunned by the general lack of education, and total lack of worldliness evident in many of his patients and staff , and had some great stories.

 He told us that he announced to his staff that he was giving a presentation at a major downtown landmark, and wanted to know if anybody was interested in attending? Nobody was quite sure where the event was being held. He then described it as, "down the street from the Alamo". More blank stares. He  asks if anybody had been to the Alamo? Nope, not a soul. He asked if anybody could describe the significance of the Alamo to their history?  A few had a vague ideas, but nobody had a decent grasp on the battle, or significance of the site. Having practiced in other states, he found the whole situation to be pretty upsetting. He just shook his head and told us that his staff are all SA natives, and not a one has a clue about Texas history, or that fact that the seminal event in the history of their state was a massacre that happened right in the heart of where they grew up, and are raising their families.

  We were also surprised by the apparent crime issues such as bars on the windows of homes in seemingly "nice" neighborhoods, and an armed guard strolling through a restaurant, mid-day and in a decent shopping mall area, in sight of the interstate. Finally, rural west Texas sure was different than most of the other places we have travelled in North America lately. Except for the deep woods of WV and KY. I have never seen the oddness of brick mansions, or big horse county estates with a junkyard on one side, and a half falling down, yet full occupied, single wide trailer on the other side.  The amount of wind blow garbage in most rural areas was also pretty noteworthy.

The whole experience was interestingly odd, indeed.

[Garnacerous]

Suburbs of Chicago

Good:
1) The city of Chicago in the summer CANNOT be beat. The weather is generally fantastic, and there's a free festival going on every weekend on a given street.
2) On that same note, you can be anyone or want anything, and you will find others that agree with you here.
3) We have somewhat of a little brother complex, we want to prove were as big and important as NY or LA, so there's a good amount of city pride and togetherness in that regard.
4) The architecture. Seriously, take a boat tour and oogle at the history and beauty of our buildings.
5) The beaches here are severely underrated.

Bad:
1) The corruption and violence are real. Although I've never been directly impacted by either, its always something that's around. There are certain neighborhoods on the south side that you're strongly encouraged not to drive through.
2) The winter is generally awful. We get snow that stays for months which causes foot deep potholes, wind that cuts through your clothes, and often times we can go from 65f/sunny to 35f and snowy in the same day.
3) The wildlife leaves something to be desired. There's no shortage of forest preserves, but they all kinda look the same and have no mountains.

[Cpa Cat]

We are in a suburb of Lawrence, KS

I didn't realize Lawrence HAD suburbs! ;)

I kind of think of Eudora, Lecompton and Baldwin as "suburbs" of Lawrence. Also... sometimes people call New West Lawrence the suburbs. ;)

[RichMoose]

Edmonton, Alberta

Pros:
-good employment scene (about 4.5% unemployment) and good wages although more so for blue collar workers and as Red Deer poster mentioned, it's not the greatest for upper level professionals.  I'm starting to see serious saturation in my white collar field in last few years.  Would not want to be graduating now!
-very nice summers in that temps are moderate and it stays light until almost 11PM in the middle of summer
-live in a town of 1 million people so it's not too small and not too big
-traffic is not too bad.  Can get anywhere in the city in approx 30 minutes
-where i live i have a plethora of mountain biking, walking, cross country ski trails.  Overall, I believe Edmonton has the 2nd largest urban trail network in North America
-awesome summer festivals and Farmer's Markets
-some really good restaurants here in the last ten years...$ is here so the good stuff follows
-since it's Canada - FREE HEALTH CARE (well on most stuff)
-Canadian Rockies about 3 hours away - perfect for overnight or even a day trip if one gets up super early
-No sales tax, lowest provincial taxes in canada and no medical health premiums in Alberta! I have no idea how people get by in B.C. with their tax regime

Cons:
-winters are absolutely brutal and last about five months
-aforementioned weather makes spring very dreary due to the sand used on roads...takes city quite awhile to get street cleaners out
-kinda of a redneck type environment...everywhere you look big monster trucks with idiots driving them
-somewhat higher cost of living.  Housing not an issue as i bought my house about 12 years ago, but stuff like groceries is fairly expensive (ex 2L of milk is about $4, chicken breast about $4 - sorry don't know price by pound)
-not the greatest options re: international travel.  Most routes will require connecting trip to Calgary, Toronto or Vancouver and flights are hella long.  If you think of Europe...living on west coast basically adds 4 hours to a trip to Europe versus say New York.  Airline companies are starting to notice our passenger growth though and options are getting better
-city council obsessed with being "world class".  Noone will notice us no matter how much $ we spend.  Property taxes have gone up approx 5% per annum in the last ten years!!!
-super expensive beer!  highest in NOrth America from what I can tell.  Example - 6 pack of Sam Adams last night was $14!!!
-Also...not sure how to explain it but things are always GO GO GO here.  Likely due to the work hard play hard mentality.  Went out East for work a few months back (mid sized town in Ontario) and they just have a much more laid back vibe out there
-mosquitos in summer

To be honest, anyone who bought a house here ten years ago or prior should be well on the way to FI.  The employment outlook, COL and tax regime here is extremely conducive that someone could easily get to FI in 10 to 20 years assuming home is paid off

+1. Although I live in a affluent municipality just east of Edmonton.

Your Pros are bang on for me. Cons though, I would add that we have very short spring and fall seasons. Seems like its just summer or winter to me. I find our costs are very comparable to B.C. as far as groceries etc. goes, but yes we are expensive compared to the U.S.A.

In my humble opinion, its the best place in Canada hands down to achieve FIRE fast if you live smart and somewhat mustachian.

[annod]

I live in China's capital, a city with the best and worst of urban living.

Cons:

* The city's authentic historical architecture has mostly been razed - and a minuscule portion has been rebuilt. Streets are grey, filled with concrete and asphalt, dotted with wads of spittle and strategically-placed flower arrangements. Buildings are mostly glass and granite boxes.

Funny you should mention this. My husband is Chinese and we live in Flushing Chinatown, and he told me admiringly about a house around here where the owners RIPPED OUT THE YARD AND PAVED IT IN CONCRETE. So clean! So modern! So efficient! No dirt! Meanwhile, I'm experiencing depression from the total lack of plants around here. I knew there'd be cultural clashes in this marriage, but the fact that my husband would consider asphalt superior to a little flower bed was not was I was anticipating.

I am Chinese and so I can laugh at what you said. i live in the Bay Area, in a city with a lot of chinese people. When we were buying a house, whenever we see the whole backyard was paved in concrete, I knew whoever lived there is Chinese. i am right most of the time. You can certain do containers plantings to green it up a bit. Makes a huge difference.

[Goldielocks]

-Housing stock: you either pay an absorbent amount for a modern place or you pay a slightly less absorbent amount for a 100+ year old dump (compared to many other parts of the country)
-

I am sure it was an autocorrect error, but sometimes too true!  housing does absorb too much of our income when it is exhorbiant.   Thanks for the smile of the day.

[Fi(re) on the Farm]

Moncton, New Brunswick

Pros:

• There are trees here
• Walking distance to a park and other amenities
• People will stop to help you
• No traffic jams
• relatively safe
• houses aren't as expensive as other areas (quality isn't that great either, though)

Cons:

• Weather : High highs, low lows (no in between, or at least very little)
• Insects: LOTS of mosquitos, they eat you alive!! Ticks infested with lime disease
• Poorly kept up roads, very few biking routes
• Bilingual Province: few jobs for people who don't speak french, some even treat you like you're illiterate if you don't speak french
• Low paying jobs & lack of jobs
• One of the highest taxed provinces
• Ignorant people. I stopped counting the number of times that I've gotten the "you speak English very well!" or "you speak very good English!" comment or stopping at a green light to let someone turn left while there's oncoming traffic in the other lane, the list goes on.
• Very little cultural diversity
• Food is expensive
• Nosey Neighbors
• French vs English, all the fucking time... grow up!
• lack of arts and culture
• Radio personalities suck
• Expensive to travel to and from (cheaper to fly to a vacation spot!)
• High shipping costs (I got charged an extra $100 for shipping)
• lack of family doctors (people are waiting 5+ years)
• waiting to see your family doctor (usually a couple of weeks before you can get an appt)
• doctors and specialist receptionists only answer the phone 2-3 hours out of the day
• some doctors only work 2-3 days of the week

Jeez, I never really thought about it. Now that I've made the list it's starting to look pretty grim. Anyone got more positives I can add to the list?

I went to New Brunswick a few years ago and totally fell in love! I dream of moving there when I retire! I'm so disillusioned now! It's one of the most beautiful places I've ever been.

[stlbrah]

St. Charles  - suburb of st louis. I would like to move some day, and that is part of what fuels my mustachian interest. I have almost moved the bethesda, md recently, but I feel that it wasn't the right place for me either.


Pros.
1. Ridiculously cheap cost of living. My mustachian skills aren't as good as most people on here yet, but I have about the same percentage of savings.
2. Barely any traffic besides rush hours.
3. Lack of materialism. No one really gives a shit what you drive, or what brand of clothes you wear. The attire is mostly jeans and t-shirt/hoodie.
4. Colleges create a 1/2 decent nightlife environment, although I am growing out of that.
5. Several large companies have moved their offices out this way to get away from crime and expensive prices for land, so people like me end up with low COL and generous pay.
6. No crime

Cons.
1. Nearest major city is an absolute joke. It doesn't exist as far as I'm concerned.
2. No ocean or mountains. Some nice hills, thats about it.
3. The obesity is absolutely ridiculous. Statistics show 29%, but the obese people I am referring to are 350-400lbs +
4. 100% car depended

[stlbrah]

Austin is "popular" right now so something like 70 people a day move here and apparently all commute alone in huge trucks on our pitiful roads

For some reason everyone from st louis is moving to austin. I actually went down there to check it out and liked it, but liked Dallas better for a lot of reasons, mainly the powerlifting/bodybuilding community

[Airc00led]

Decatur, GA: wow, can't believe this isn't listed yet. It's Mayberry meets Portland. Hipsters in a small town.

Pros:
1. Great food
2. Microbreweries
3. Huge farmers market
4. Bikable with a dedicated path that goes all the way to downtown Atlanta.
5. Great cost of living
6. Parks everywhere

Cons:
1. Insufferable liberals (not to be redundant)
2. Every car completely coated with bumper stickers preaching at you
3. Georgia heat and humidity

[grantmeaname]

1. Insufferable liberals (not to be redundant)

It's interesting how many people list "people who think different things than me" as a con. (you're not the only example, just the most recent)

[fmzip]

Connecticut

Weather
Pro:
Weather from June-October
Con:
Weather from November to May, I hate winter! Cooped up, very depressing. Not into the cold at all

Income
Pro:
Income from job that I couldn't get elsewhere, paid 3x my salary due to unique arrangement
Con: Cost of living, taxes

Other Pros:
Great dining
Airport 5 miles from me
Plenty of shopping available within a stones throw
Biking, paths galore "rails to trails"
Scenic
Beaches close by, Rhode Island is better
Boston, MA is close by: Red Sox, Patriots
VT and Vermont are nearby, very scenic as well


Con's:

Roads are terrible
Cars all have road rash from winter driving
My neighborhood is not so nice (could move but I am frugal, eventually I will!)