2blu442

I'm sure most of us like where we live or we'd move, unless our job prevents that. I like Southwestern Oregon as the climate is generally mild with a few days of extreme each year. Right now we've having some of those extremes. I love the forests with the sea of green trees, but we do have forest fires. Below is a picture I took yesterday afternoon of the smoke column from a fire 70 miles to the north. Then today the wind is blowing that smoke towards the South, so the following picture is the smoky haze and the sun. Typically we have just enough hot weather for me to look forward to the rain and snow. And enough cool/cold weather that I look forward to the warm weather again, four distinct seasons. Today we hit 109 and last night it was still 91 degrees at 10:00 pm. This is as hot as it gets and typically happens a couple days at a time maybe 8-10 days total. Summer has lots of 90's with very low humidity and winter has lots of 40's with 16-18" precip each year. This is probably the biggest negative. I'll have to dig out a couple photos of what I really like about my location too.

DSCN4631.jpg

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z11375ss

My property taxes are way too high. Illinois.

Macadoo

Central Illinois is okay and I rather like the extremes. They keep things from getting too dull, lol. And I love living in a rural area. I can make as much noise as I want and pee outdoors when the ladies of the house are hogging the bathroom. But I do miss the trick-or-treaters on Halloween.

MDchanic

Crawling with tourists in the summer - slow traffic, screaming kids, trash and dog crap on the lawn, and sometime they just wander into the house to look around and use the bathroom, because they think the whole town is a museum.

Friggin' cold and completely silent and desolate in the winter.

BUT, it seldom goes above 80° in the summer, with the nights around 60°, and seldom very humid.
Also, pretty laid back, and not a lot of busybodies - none of the crap I've read on here about having to cut your grass, or not being allowed to park on your own lawn, or not being allowed to have a bunch of cars.

- Eric

NHolds

It was 103 today...

oldcutlass

I can pee in my yard too..., don't really care what the neighbors think. I live in a subdivision that's a city. I miss living out in the country and we've been thinking on moving. Just have not figured out where yet, and I want a shop.

RandyS

It was 99 here today, 101 forecast for tomorrow.......... we moved here because wifey has family here - big mistake most of Idaho is high desert, hate the extremes of heat and cold (I can pee in my yard too, it's freakin Idaho). Would love to live in Portland, OR. again, green year round.

2blu442

If you can ever get the wife to move check out Roseburg Oregon. Very green but not as much rain as Portland and not the extremes we get in Medford. John

RandyS

I'm very familiar with both areas. I traveled Oregon and Washington from K-Falls to Bellingham 4 days a week for 4 years........ We have mostly lived in larger cities and enjoy the amenities.

2blu442

I knew we'd talked about you living in Oregon in the past, but didn't remember that you drove across the state so often! The traffic in Portland would kill me. Having to spend so much time in traffic commuting to work is not what I'm used to. Some days even Medford seems too big for me. If I don't get through the light the first time it changes, my blood pressure starts going up Obviously I'm kinda spoiled in that way But if you ever visit Southern Oregon and have the time please stop by. Always a pleasure to meet other CO members! John

seansolds

Seems every year my body has a problem adapting to midwest weather. Scorching hot summers, deep freeze winters so cold ice road truckers would complain! However, every year I look forward to the new beginning of spring and changing leaves in autumn. I will always remain a Midwesterner and look forward to the ever changing climate the local news meteorologist can never get correct!

lazy394

I love living in South Australia, its just a big country town.
Just over a million people so our peak hour is just that, 8am to 9am.
The weather is great, now in the heart of winter it is 55f and in summer it hangs around the 100f.
Downside is not a lot of rain 55cm or 22 inches. It is only green for 6 months of the year and brown the other.
I often wonder what it would be like to live in California, similar climate but 37 times the people!


Scott

Fun71

Earlier this week our local TV weathercaster said that day would be "only" 104 (woohoo, break out the sweaters!) and today was 110.


We typically have over 110-120 days a year above 100ºF and a few years ago we had 32 days over 110ºF.

This was the back porch thermometer a while back:



And the car thermometer last summer:

120degrees2.jpg

I have come to hate summer.

1970cs

Well besides being 15 minutes away from Lansing and all of the history of it.

The down side I live in a small city of 7K and the city limits what you can do like enclosing my carport for one my cars. I can still park on my lawn with in reason! I can still pee in the bushes. Yes, we still keep things neat as pin with our lawn, flowers, house and daily drivers. We always get compliments from people passing by.

But the lake effect here which is not as bad as the people near the west side, but it still makes a mess with the D.D.'s and we have to clean not one but two sets of sidewalks. (corner lot) with two schools within a block you understand why. Last couple of winters have been rough with 2 years ago being cold and lots of snow we broke the record since they were kept. Last year was just a lot of cold temps.

We have two seasons here winter and constuction! Brutal this year again, last 5 have been the High school. Now half a block away my major route out of my house has 3 phases (3 years of tearing out and re-doing of infrastructure) On my main route to work 2 different bridges are being rebuilt. And some how we still have crappy roads.


Where to move to with average everything. i.e. Good pay, decent weather, taxes, no toll roads had my fill of them in Illinois and Ohio as usual.

Pat

RonFX

Hello:
The heat is a Big Problem for me and the way I react to it, I work in the New Housing field as Finish Carpenter and the heat and humidity can be brutal. The Cold weather I can deal with much better and it does not bother me as bad, the cold air and slightly numb face makes me feel alive, I even go for walks in the Metro Parks in the winter. I would never move to another part of the country, I enjoy living in Grove City, it is a really nice suburb of Columbus, Ohio.
Thanks, Ron

sammy

I live on 240 acres about a hour North east of Toronto. I love living here. The property has been in my family for 5 generations. Weather, for me is great, although the winters can be a little cold.....but I do l like the seasons.....and I have lots of room to store cars!. The only dislike is the area is underserviced...limited restaurants and amenities, but it is getting better.....I always remember that a home is what you make it

1968_Post

We've lived in Ohio (Youngstown), Nebraska (Lincoln), Illinois (Chicago Suburbs), Arizona (Scottsdale and Tucson), Colorado (Boulder and Glenwood Springs), North Carolina (Wilmington), Georgia (Atlanta area) and now Murfreesboro, Tennessee . We're in an unincorporated neighborhood with no restrictions on a little less than an acre and really enjoy our lack of rules and regulations. The weather can be a little tedious, as we are right in the middle of the Dixie Highway. All in all, friendly people, fair taxes and a decent place to live.


My favorite place of all that we've lived? Tucson, without a doubt

m371961

I am on 20 acres. Taxes are fair, but they get you on everything. Retired here, from Baltimore and DC area. No zoning laws, building permits etc. Roads suck, but don't have to go anywhere. Small town in ten miles or so. Hour drive to good food, or any specialized medical care. Good gun laws, have my own shooting range and hunt in my backyard. Have 4 definite seasons of weather, nothing severe.
Only things I miss are steamed crabs, pizza delivery and the convenience of a close store.

rcorrigan5

What do I like about Olympia, WA? One, that I don't live within the city limits of Olympia (they pay extra taxes each year for everything from schools to streets; out in the county we are not part of that, thank goodness) and downtown Olympia just doesn't seem to be the place to go nowadays. Two, the summers are pretty nice here, despite the recent heat wave.


What do I not like about Olympia, WA? The politics here are pretty far to the left and that's a bad fit with me. The winters really suck - too grey, too wet, too cold, too dark (sun barely gets to 20 degrees high in the sky on December 21st). I thought Oregon was bad for all those things but it seems much worse here.


I'm an Oregonian at heart and I suspect that someday I will move to the Willamette Valley (Salem or Albany areas) just to return to my "homeland". Already bought the collector Oregon plates for my '68!


Randy C.

nj67

I live in Sussex County New Jersey, lots of woods and privacy. I love the seasons have everything within driving distance the mountains, ocean and city no natural disasters here. My only gripe is the Taxes highest in the country, this year my town did a re assessment and I was bumped up another $1,200. The home I am in now I purchased in 2000 and is right on border of PA and I wonder why I did not just go the extra two miles and save on Taxes. When I moved in 2000 my previous home Taxes were $7,800 a year the new house at that time was $2,800 now 15 years later I am at $8,100.

Koda

I'm a Floridian transplant to Evansville, SW Indiana. Central FL is getting way too crowded with immigrants from the North and Latin America. Crime is going up, and everyone is talking in Spanish. So I got out with college and a job.

I like Evansville because it's pretty safe, low taxes, and people are sensible and the town is not too big. The hood is limited to south Evansville, so the only people you have to watch out for is meth head white trash, of which there is some. What I don't like is that there is not a whole lot to do here. I make my own fun, but you run out of places to take a girl.

Spring, summer, and fall are fine. I don't mind winter temps, I just don't like driving on snow and wet roads that could magically turn into ice.

Napoleon Solo

Life here in the Lower Mainland of BC is pretty good comparatively. I live in a suburb of Vancouver which in essence is a fairly big city of of it's own. I grew up in Ottawa with Siberian winters and Saharan summers. Of course here it rains. A LOT. Typical winter is week after week of rain broken up with intermittent showers followed by periods of drizzle.
Aside from the dreariness of the winter rains, the biggest issue I have here is the tree hugger mentality when it comes to bylaws and such. I can't build a garage in my back yard because someone once saw a fish in the creek my house backs onto. It's a protected area now.
The second biggest thing would be how generally expensive it is here. A house anywhere near the city of Vancouver is well over a million dollars - that's a rancher with no yard. A decent home is several million.
While I'm at it - the the three biggest organized crime families operate here unchecked. The first is Translink - they control all of the taxes for fuel, roads etc. The second is ICBC, the Insurance Corporation of BC - controls your insurance premiums, the only game in town. The third is Strata, which controls all of the apartments, townhomes and condos here. You can't put a small shed in your back yard without prior approval of colour and size in triplicate...

BUT the car culture here is pretty good. SO it's all good under the hood.

ELY442

When I get asked on where I live, I tell them Brooklyn, NY. Automatically, they think its a bad city. To be honest with you, I lived here for over 30+ years and its really a quiet neighborhood. It all depends on what part of Brooklyn you live in. There's a bad and good part of it and I happen to live in a good part. I live minutes away from Manhattan and from my back yard I can see the Freedom Tower (the new World Trade Center). I live in an Asian community and these people are nothing but hard workers (12-14 hours a day). Nobody will give you a hard time just as long you mind your own business. The one thing I hate about Brooklyn is "Parking". No matter where you go, there's no place to park your car. Even if you do find one, you'll have to squeeze in because these people like to take up 2 parking spaces and paying the meter is for 1-2 hours, depends on where you go. Traffic cops loves to give out tickets and you have to make sure you have to know when the meter expires. Thank god, I have a 2 car garage so I park my car in front of the driveway. A lot of stores are walking distance so I just save money on gas, meters and tickets.
Sales tax is 8.875% and beginning of this year the city raised the tolls on the bridges and tunnels.

Lady72nRob71

I live in the Dallas TX area and cannot wait to move out to the Oregon coast!

Dislikes about here (I will try to keep it short)...
Too dang hot in the summer and forced to stay indoors. I am an outdoors kind of guy who does not like being caged up too long.
Too humid in the hot summer.
Too cold in the winter, too dry when it is cold. I dislike temps below 40.
Very little rain here on average (although every 7 years we have a lot).
Too many stinkin bugs! Mosquitos are the worst.
Too damn crowded! No such thing as a quick trip to anywhere. Wait in line for everything. The water supplies we have are insufficient, so water restrictions are forevermore.
Traffic sucks as well. Takes 25 minutes just to get out to the backroads for good cruising.
Bunch of big crap companies from California are moving here, making it much more crowded and more to come. Property values tax skyrocketed as a result, and roads and lakes were insufficient to begin with.
Too many illegals - enough said there...
Too much crime.
Very high insurance and taxes and goes up a lot each year.
The top things to do here is shopping, sports, and eating out. None of which I like doing. I used to like dining out but now it is crowded everywhere and cannot even talk to my companion(s), nor hear them.
Non-scenic here. Just buildings and flat land when you get out in the country. Too boring. Not much to see on scenic cruises in the country.
I am in a typical 'birdhouse' neighborhood which I hate.
For the most part people here are selfish, reclusive, and inconsiderate.
Too many hippies, unfriendlies, and morons as well. Standard occupants of big cities perhaps.

So what do I LIKE about here? Lots of tech jobs. That is it about the area I think...
I have 3 sets of wonderful neighbors who are like best friends and family to me. Very rare indeed.
Also no hoa commies and I have a 1/4 acre lot, rather than the typical 1/8 acre.


So I am saving as much as I can so i can retire early and move myself out to the coast. The beauty in the northwest is beyond compare. I have the land, just need to $$ to build and live on.


BTW, John - what do you think about the mid to upper 100s you are having there?
At least you have low humidity and it cools off below 80 at night!

babs68

Here in Sacramento, California it has average around 105 the last week or so. Plus, the drought problem we have here I haven't seen a lawn that was green in months.

Jetstarjim

I live in Southern Ohio, I have no idea why. This past winter seemed never ending. The spring and summer seems to be unusually wet, and all I think I have managed to do this year is mow the grass and cut up downed trees and branches between storms. The yard should have been dried up and dead by now, which is the way I prefer it. Last week it was so hot and humid, I had to wear a paint mask to keep from drowning, lol!


On the plus side, I'm in a small community next to farm country, yet only a few minutes from high crime, relentless traffic, overcrowded malls, and inconsiderate morons, should I choose to participate. I usually don't.


They say the grass is always greener.....I do find it interesting that some of the areas I always thought I would like better, have their down sides as well. I had thought I would like Texas, but know little Spanish.

don71

I'm born and raised in central Missouri. I like the four seasons the climate offers. I'm fortunate to have seen a lot of places, and its all ways good to come home.

It offers a great deal for out of doors interests. Fishing and hunting are very good. Mosquitoes and ticks are ever present during such events. One learns to deal with that.

I live just out side a small but bustling town. The neighbors are close but not too close. We've all been here a long time. I'd say I'm fifteen minutes from just about what ever you want. The culture is diverse but not dominated by any one specifically...depending on who you ask .

If I could change something about where I live, it would be lower temps and maybe a bigger lot. I just don't want to maintain it. Life is good.

11971four4two

al franken
amy klobuchar
and state bird = mosquito

don71

I take it that is what you dislike or want to change?

Anything you like? Beer, nachos....perhaps?

11971four4two

I like those three critters equally

i do enjoy edible treats
more

don71

Ok, because I wasn't sure. I had to google Amy, you might ask her.

coppercutlass

I live in elgin il. directly west of chicago. last big town before the sticks. It really is like a city in the suburbs as thats what the towns slogan embraces. With a big town of 100k plus we have the typical gangs and what not but i live in a pretty nice area. The house was the right price at the right time and the garage was huge. I work 2 blocks from home , 3 blocks from the casino and 4 blocks from downtown elgin. Taxes are cheap as im not in cook county . I like the city vibe and dont mind the riff raff which does not hang around my area but i also grew up in a rough area so im not affraid.

11971four4two

cojack says enforce the no political i want your vote mesages
in the veterans day parade
independence day parade etc
keep your children under control
LoL

rustyroger

Too damn crowded in Margate, UK, parts of it have become outposts of eastern Europe because of the influx of people looking for a better life, some very nice people among them but also some crooks who use extreme violence in a very casual way.
One of the most corrupt councils in the country, no mean achievement.
The health service now close to breaking down it is so overloaded.
On the other hand, four seasons to the year without any weather most of you would consider extreme, although nobody can match the British for complaining about it .
Almost zero gun crime.
BBC radio and television. I have never found any other broadcasting service that comes anywhere near the standard it provides anywhere in the world.

Roger.

501Paratrooper

I live in SE Florida, the weather is great but crime, traffic and population are getting crazy. 2blu, My mom lives in Roseburg and I love it there the Callahan mountains keep the rain from the coast away and not too crowded yet with Californians. I will probably retire there. I'll look you up next time I visit.

MDchanic

Not to be too much of a buster, but the last person I recall being shot around here was several years ago when the daughter of a fifty-something year old woman called 911 (999 on your side of the pond) because her mother was very upset.
The police came by, the mother came at one of them with a kitchen knife, and they shot her.
As the local constabulary is not known for being violent, I tend to accept that there wasn't anything else they could have done in that second or two.

Statistically, the rates of violent crime for my county, York, versus your county, Kent, are 0.7 per 1,000 to 21.2 per 1,000
(I've checked the numbers several times: 2007 stats for York County (all I could find) are here, 2014 states for Kent are here, showing about 2,600 incidents a month, for a total of 31,960, in a county with a population of 1,510,000).

I can't compare murder rates between counties, because York often has zero, and I could find no published number for Kent.
However, the overall UK murder rate is 0.010 per 1,000, while that of Maine is 0.019 per 1,000, which, allowing for the generally less civilized state of these Colonials, seems to me to be fairly comparable.

Sorry to digress, and no disrespect intended. I like the UK.

- Eric

gs72

My house sits on a 1/4 acre, I live on the outskirts of town. Across the road from me is 2000 acres of corn, alfalfa or sometimes onions. The summers are a little hot, but the other three seasons are quite beautiful. Also I can be on the highway and out of town in about 5 minutes. I grew up in LA where it takes an hour to accomplish the same thing.

Tedd Thompson

I live in the mountains of North Eastern California,. I have five acres and great view and few neighbors. I can shoot or pee off my rear deck if that is a sign of the remoteness of where I live.

We have four seasons normally(drought has changed that for the last few years) with the highs near 100 and the lows in the 20's, it's a good place to live. It's 25 miles to anything that you would call a town but after almost thirty years We have adapted to that just don't for get something at the store because it's a hour up and back.

The bad is It's California and way to liberal , to high of taxes, bad gun laws and there is nothing that can be done about it. I too am looking at southern Oregon or places like it to finish out my days..... Tedd

lemoldsnut

I like that a fellow Olds enthusiast and fellow Oregonian John "2blu442" started this post. I live in the center of Oregon typically called the high desert of Central Oregon. I have found that many think Oregon is basically Portland. Rain and more rain. It is like those who think New York is New York City. Portland and the Willamette Valley is the western side of Oregon. Oregon has the Cascade mountains which seperates the state into two major climate changes. The western side of Oregon is very green. Except during the summer when it all turns brown from no rain. Most of the population in Oregon is on the left side of the state. I said that as the Left side on purpose. Because of that much larger population of mostly very left wing thinkers our state is very liberal. We are constantly losing rights and having bad laws passed as a result. That is the part of our state I dislike the most. As for weather; where I live is very dry and like I said before is high desert. Much like: Idaho, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, and others. That is also why we have more rust free cars than the rust belt and the south. Lately we have had much hotter temperatures than normal. I am not one to buy into the global warming hip that goes on. But, I do believe our world changes and that it is all in God's plan.
I have lived in New York, New Jersey, Florida, Washington state, Virginia, California, Japan, Illinois, Louisiana, Hawaii, the Phillipines, and had extended stays in many other places during my 6 years in the Navy. I grew up in upstate New York and the Portland Oregon area. Without a doubt, I am where I want to be. Every place has it's issues. Some it's excessive heat, some it is excessive cold, some have both, some too much rain, some too much snow, some too humid. I like the dry climate of the Central Oregon high desert. I don't like the forest fire season, we have bad air quality for that time. The rest of the year it is clean and clear air. We have sun most days even in winter. Not the extended gray skies and rain like western Oregon and western Washington. We don't have sales tax. But they sure make up for it in property taxes. We have gun laws that are still livable but are getting picked on constantly. The major influx of growth is from California. Which I don't mind as long as they don't try to make it California here. They left there for a reason. I live in a very small rural town. I am just barely in the city limits. I have lived here in Redmond, OR for over 23 years. When I moved into this house 11 years ago it was not in the city limits. I feel safe and comfortable where I live. Sirens and crime is not a common thing. It is still one of those places where you can't go to the store without seeing someone you know.
I really like the small town I lived in in the Hudson River Valley of New York as a kid. But, the weather was too harsh in the winter and too humid in the summer for me.

Otherwise, I love where I live and have no intention of leaving except maybe for a few weeks during the extra cold winter now and then. I have enough land to have a few cars to play with and neighbors who put up with it. We have an on going battle with the deer to see who can enjoy the garden more them or us. But, that is part of the country.

rustyroger

Gun crime includes simply possessing one, Eric. I have no idea when anyone last deliberately killed someone else with a gun. There have been accidental shootings at game shoots, again I can't recall when one was last reported.

It's fair to say guns are being used more often in big cities, however I'm not sure how we compare with Johannesburg, South Africa or some Latin American cities.
Hopefully sometime I'll be able to visit Maine, my wife instructs me it will be in the summer months though.

Roger.