What You Like (and Dislike) About Where You Live

[JayhawkCO]

Few interesting places to eat that aren't chains.

With all due respect, I disagree with this pretty strongly. I almost never eat at chain restaurants and I lived in the Kansas burbs of KC for 15 years and ate very well. Some of the time you have to cross State Line to get there, but I have plenty of good local spots on the KS side too.

I disagree also, and my parents both grew up in the Shawnee-Mission area.  When I think of dining in the KC area, I think of a healthy number of non-chain choices.

Where are all the mom-and-pop/greasy-spoon diners?  Where is there even one that's open all night?  There USED to be a good place called Chubby's in Westport, but it ain't there anymore.

Winstead's? Town Topic?

[Scott5114]

Few interesting places to eat that aren't chains.

With all due respect, I disagree with this pretty strongly. I almost never eat at chain restaurants and I lived in the Kansas burbs of KC for 15 years and ate very well. Some of the time you have to cross State Line to get there, but I have plenty of good local spots on the KS side too.

I disagree also, and my parents both grew up in the Shawnee-Mission area.  When I think of dining in the KC area, I think of a healthy number of non-chain choices.

Where are all the mom-and-pop/greasy-spoon diners?  Where is there even one that's open all night?  There USED to be a good place called Chubby's in Westport, but it ain't there anymore.

Wyandotte County?

[JayhawkCO]

I feel kind of like we're getting a statement like "we don't have any good non-chain restaurants" that actually means "we don't have any restaurants that serve both lobster thermidor and baked Alaska available at 5:42 AM". 

[J N Winkler]

Whereabouts do you live (in general terms) including nearby major metro areas?  Wichita, Kansas.

How long you lived there?  I was born and raised here, and am the fifth or sixth generation (depending on ancestral line) of my family to have lived in Kansas.

What do you like about where you live now?  Wichita offers a well-balanced tradeoff among the advantages and disadvantages of rural and big-city living.  It has a low cost of living, though it's now beginning to experience the same house price inflation as the rest of the country.  The economic base is well-diversified for a city of its size.  It also has little traffic congestion, with construction in progress or imminently programmed to address the few hotspots that exist.  Cultural facilities, such as the art museum, are quite good given the size of the city.  Rivers run through it, and some of the city's most attractive parks (Oak Park), neighborhoods (Riverside), and landmarks (Keeper of the Plains statue) can be found along the banks, though whether the city makes the best possible use of its water frontage is a debate that has raged for decades.

What you dislike about where you live now?  Wichita gets torturously humid Cfa summers.  Thunderstorms often bring hail:  two of my last three cars have had severe hail damage that was not economically repairable, and I live in a house that has had four roofs in 44 years.  Days with heavy wind are common through much of the year; in winter it knifes right through you, and in spring it cakes your skin with dust.  I don't find Kansas' deep-red orientation congenial, but am under few illusions that I will be happier in a blue state.  Though I have little direct experience of this as a native, newcomers to Wichita often complain that longtime residents are insular and slow to make friends, while employers tend to be more suspicious of candidates with apparent histories of job-hopping than is the case elsewhere.  Passenger air transport connections are fairly tenuous (the budget airlines open and close routes all the time) and most trips to major destinations involve connecting through a hub like Chicago O'Hare or Dallas/Fort Worth.

How are the road trip opportunities?  Wichita is built on an alluvial plain in a state with low topographic relief.  In terms of surface condition, however, the Kansas state highway system is second to none, while the scenic Flint Hills are just to the northeast of town.  Kansas City, Oklahoma City, and Tulsa, all of which make good daytrip destinations, are no more than 200 miles away.  Denver, Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio, Houston, Little Rock, Memphis, St. Louis, Des Moines, Omaha, and (in a pinch) Chicago are reachable by up to a day's drive.

Where are would you love to move to?  Every time I've worked with this particular Rubik's cube, I have not been able to find a better answer than Wichita.  Places with good year-round weather, such as Northern California, tend to be congested and expensive; places with mountains get forest fires in the summer; and places that are cold in winter but pleasantly warm in summer often have bad mosquitoes.  Several more affluent members of my extended family have cycled north for the summer and south for the winter, but I would hesitate to follow their example even if I had the resources, because I feel that weakens ties to the community.  However, I value the cultural facilities that are available in much larger cities, and would like to stay in places like Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, New York, Vienna, Berlin, and Buenos Aires for a month at a time, in a self-catering environment (e.g., as a house-sitter).

[Scott5114]

Wichita is built on an alluvial plain in a state with low topographic relief.

That's a lot of words to say "Kansas is flat"

[kphoger]

That's a lot of words

Well, of course it was.

[plain]

Whereabouts do you live (in general terms) including nearby major metro areas?
Richmond, VA


How long you lived there?
Off and on since the mid 1980's


What you like about where you live now?
The architecture!

Genuinely real city vibes. Also I like the fact that you can find Northeastern, Midwestern, and Southern looking neighborhoods all in one city

Becoming more and more walkable every year

The improved bus system (I don't always drive here when I don't have to). It used to be terrible.

The cuisine

The fact that there's plenty of alternate routes to get around backups (well in most cases anyway)


What you dislike about where you live now?
The fact that backups even exist around here in the first place (outdated roads)

Potholes on many city streets

The weather. Outside of summer (which is generally humid AS FUCK) the temperatures can be pretty unpredictable. It's literally not uncommon to experience all four seasons in one week... Pop-up storms can be real annoying also.

The cost of living is getting up there (though still better than NOVA and Hampton Roads)

Many of the natives (especially those living deep in the suburbs) love to inject politics into EVERYTHING.


Hows the road trip opportunities?
Perfect!!!


Where are would you love to move to?
Absolutely nowhere. I'm good.

[Ned Weasel]

Winstead's? Town Topic?

Winstead's is a chain, but it used to be a much larger chain than it is now.  I need to try Town Topic.  It's not close to where I actually live, but I still should try it.

Wyandotte County?

Oh yeah, they have Fritz's there!  I like that place!

I feel kind of like we're getting a statement like "we don't have any good non-chain restaurants" that actually means "we don't have any restaurants that serve both lobster thermidor and baked Alaska available at 5:42 AM". 

That's not what I intended, and I don't even know what lobster thermidor is, but point taken.  Maybe I was wrong on this one.  I just feel like, when I go back east, there seem to be a ton more independent restaurants around than there are close to home.  But "few" was probably the wrong word.

[JayhawkCO]

I have a lot of good recommendations if you're interested.

[webny99]

... most trips to major destinations involve connecting through a hub like Chicago O'Hare or Dallas/Fort Worth.

Are there any mid-size cities that this is not true of? None immediately come to mind.

As pertains to Rochester and the other upstate NY metro areas, the hub actually is the destination at least as often as not because there's so many within range: New York (JFK/LGA), Newark, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore/Washington (BWI/DCA/IAD), Detroit, Chicago, etc. (ROC does have a few direct connections to more distant hubs, too: Atlanta, Charlotte, Minneapolis-St. Paul (suspended in 2020 but restarting this year AFAIK), and even Denver starting this May.)

... places that are cold in winter but pleasantly warm in summer often have bad mosquitoes.

The Northeast isn't mosquito-free by any means, but there's certainly a lot less here than there is in the Midwest. I (and some of my family even more so) get eaten alive by mosquitos when spending evening time outdoors in MN and especially ND. I've heard that mosquitoes are more attracted to the "new blood" of visitors to the area, but I'm not sure how much truth there is to that, if any.

[Rothman]

The Northeast isn't mosquito-free by any means, but there's certainly a lot less here than there is in the Midwest. I (and some of my family even more so) get eaten alive by mosquitos when spending evening time outdoors in MN and especially ND. I've heard that mosquitoes are more attracted to the "new blood" of visitors to the area, but I'm not sure how much truth there is to that, if any.

Pfft.  I have found the opposite to be true, having lived in MA and WI/MN.  Mosquitoes aren't as bad in NY as they are in southern New England and WI/MN certainly weren't as much of a nuisance as in MA.

The South may be the King of Bugs, but saying there are more mosquitoes in the northern Midwest than the entire Northeast doesn't ring true.

[SkyPesos]

... most trips to major destinations involve connecting through a hub like Chicago O'Hare or Dallas/Fort Worth.

Are there any mid-size cities that this is not true of? None immediately come to mind.

As pertains to Rochester and the other upstate NY metro areas, the hub actually is the destination at least as often as not because there's so many within range: New York (JFK/LGA), Newark, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore/Washington (BWI/DCA/IAD), Detroit, Chicago, etc. (ROC does have a few direct connections to more distant hubs, too: Atlanta, Charlotte, Minneapolis-St. Paul (suspended in 2020 but restarting this year AFAIK), and even Denver starting this May.)

CVG's a good example. Despite being much smaller than the Delta hub's peak in 2005, Delta still flies to a bunch of non-hub destinations from CVG, including a transatlantic flight to Paris.

[webny99]

The Northeast isn't mosquito-free by any means, but there's certainly a lot less here than there is in the Midwest. I (and some of my family even more so) get eaten alive by mosquitos when spending evening time outdoors in MN and especially ND. I've heard that mosquitoes are more attracted to the "new blood" of visitors to the area, but I'm not sure how much truth there is to that, if any.

Pfft.  I have found the opposite to be true, having lived in MA and WI/MN.  Mosquitoes aren't as bad in NY as they are in southern New England and WI/MN certainly weren't as much of a nuisance as in MA.

The South may be the King of Bugs, but saying there are more mosquitoes in the northern Midwest than the entire Northeast doesn't ring true.

I'd say Great Lakes, but MN is a Great Lakes state too. Maybe interior Northeast would be more apt.

One thing I know for sure is that ND is much worse than the Northeast. Interestingly, both MT and SD are on this top 10 list. I suspect ND"s shorter mosquito season is the main reason why it's not on the list.

[SD Mapman]

The Northeast isn't mosquito-free by any means, but there's certainly a lot less here than there is in the Midwest. I (and some of my family even more so) get eaten alive by mosquitos when spending evening time outdoors in MN and especially ND. I've heard that mosquitoes are more attracted to the "new blood" of visitors to the area, but I'm not sure how much truth there is to that, if any.

Pfft.  I have found the opposite to be true, having lived in MA and WI/MN.  Mosquitoes aren't as bad in NY as they are in southern New England and WI/MN certainly weren't as much of a nuisance as in MA.

The South may be the King of Bugs, but saying there are more mosquitoes in the northern Midwest than the entire Northeast doesn't ring true.

I'd say Great Lakes, but MN is a Great Lakes state too. Maybe interior Northeast would be more apt.

One thing I know for sure is that ND is much worse than the Northeast. Interestingly, both MT and SD are on this top 10 list. I suspect ND"s shorter mosquito season is the main reason why it's not on the list.

How the heck are they quantifying it? I'm curious what their metrics are... in my area we don't have a major mosquito problem (though they can be annoying) but the problem bugs are deerflies. I hate those.

[chrisdiaz]

Whereabouts do you live (in general terms) including nearby major metro areas?
North Myrtle Beach, SC

How long you lived there?
I have lived here (permanently) since Summer of 2021. Before then, I had spent my summers here growing up, visiting my much older brothers that lived in the Myrtle Beach area.

What you like about where you live now?
The weather. Originally being from Long Island, New York, I was used to four seasons of distinct weather. The weather of the Myrtle Beach area is generally much warmer than that of Long Island, although we still do have seasonality with temperatures, with the average being around 55-60 in the wintertime. We also do occasionally get threats of snow and ice, but only sometimes will it actually happen.

What you dislike about where you live now?
One thing I dislike would have to be the truck culture - with the infamous "Carolina Squat" and trucks with obnoxiously large rims/wheels and also antennas that are 5+ feet tall for no reason.

Hows the road trip opportunities?
I would say they are good. However, one annoying thing about Myrtle Beach is that there is no direct freeway connection to the rest of the country's interstate system. If you're looking to road trip with speed, you'll be mad that you have to stop at traffic lights at any way into or out of the Myrtle Beach area. If you want the scenic route, its fine. Location wise, its nice to be 2 hours from Charleston and 3 to 3.5 hours from Charlotte.


Where are would you love to move to?
To be honest, I'm not sure. As much as I love New York, its just financially impossible to afford rent there, even after I graduate college and get a big boy job.

[SD Mapman]

Suppose I should do mine since I've entered the thread...
Whereabouts do you live (in general terms) including nearby major metro areas? 

Rural Lawrence County, SD. For you Easterners that's an hour north of Mt. Rushmore. Closest airport is KRAP (or KGCC, if you don't mind no options).

How long you lived there? 

Almost 25 years.

What do you like about where you live now? 

The climate's not terrible for where it is, the winters only occasionally get miserably cold and the summers only occasionally get miserably hot. Despite our northerly latitude, the Hills make us on the same climate band as Kansas City, only without the horrible death humidity they have there. There's a good county road network for running, and Spearfish itself has good rec paths. As a tourist town, we have a larger number of amenities than one would expect for a town of 12,000 ish, while still maintaining somewhat of a small town feel.

What you dislike about where you live now? 

Not much, the town is starting to fill up with Californians (wish we could ban them) and housing prices are through the roof. It seems like it's on the road to becoming the next Bozeman/Jackson type of place, and I really wouldn't like that. Also, the Rally is annoying, but it's only 1 week during August so it can be ignored.

How are the road trip opportunities? 

Great, we're right off I-90 so going anywhere west is fairly easy. I've been to the Pacific multiple times. The one downside of this is going east is pretty hard, and I've only occasionally been to the Atlantic (haven't even been to NYC).

Where are would you love to move to? 

Nowhere

[kkt]

Whereabouts do you live (in general terms) including nearby major metro areas?

Seattle, Ravenna neighborhood.

How long you lived there?

Since 1982, with about a year break once

What you like about where you live now?

good theatre, restaurants, libraries, bookstores, farmers' markets, good park nearby for walks.  Great national parks.  Mt Rainier, North Cascades, Olympic.  Great hiking in smaller parks too, closer to the city.
Mild weather year-round
Ships and ferryboats on the harbor, sailboats
Views of snow-capped mountains in the distance

What you dislike about where you live now?

Traffic is pretty annoying.  Thinking about driving anywhere, must think about how to schedule it.
There's no state income tax, which means very high property tax and sales tax, uneven state revenues which means a rollercoaster for some important state services
Housing prices are very high.  I hope I never have to move again, because I probably couldn't afford it.

Hows the road trip opportunities?

There's some pretty nice roads through mountains but it's often a couple of hours slog to get out of the city before the fun starts.

Where are would you love to move to?

I kinda liked Tucson for the scenery, as long as I could come back to Seattle for the summer.
I grew up the S.F. Bay Area, and there's some things I miss, but overall the years have not been kind to it.
Vancouver BC maybe.  Beautiful city, with mountains right there next to the city.

[kkt]

Oh, and Seattle is pretty good for air connections.  It's a hub for Alaska Air which is pretty good as airlines go, so good flights to most of the western cities as well as Alaska (duh) and Hawaii.  British Airways has a great nonstop to Heathrow.

[Bruce]

Oh, and Seattle is pretty good for air connections.  It's a hub for Alaska Air which is pretty good as airlines go, so good flights to most of the western cities as well as Alaska (duh) and Hawaii.  British Airways has a great nonstop to Heathrow.

All of the new airlines being announced now that the International Arrivals Facility is opening is really exciting. Non-stop to Tahiti and Turkey were announced recently, and we might finally get the Australian and Indian connections that were promised before the pandemic.

[zachary_amaryllis]

• Whereabouts do you live (in general terms) including nearby major metro areas?

near fort collins, co

• How long you lived there?

essentially my whole life, with a few short stays in a few other places. no matter where I go, my life seems to emanate from this place.

• What you like about where you live now?

River in my backyard. Legal weed. I work in the city, and live in the mountains. lack of humidity.

• What you dislike about where you live now?

gas prices make the commute a little painful.

• Hows the road trip opportunities?

Colorado is great. You can drive up into the mountains for a mountain experience, or you can drive out on the plains for a plains experience.

• Where are would you love to move to?

walden, co. it's high enough up to where it doesn't get too hot. It's in a valley, but surrounded by the mountains. only downside, is that there's few jobs that don't involve cows.

[/list]

[Ned Weasel]

I have a lot of good recommendations if you're interested.

That could probably be a whole other thread.

[webny99]

... most trips to major destinations involve connecting through a hub like Chicago O'Hare or Dallas/Fort Worth.

Are there any mid-size cities that this is not true of? None immediately come to mind.

...

CVG's a good example. Despite being much smaller than the Delta hub's peak in 2005, Delta still flies to a bunch of non-hub destinations from CVG, including a transatlantic flight to Paris.

That's an interesting one, although Cincinnati is right on the border of "large city" IMO, at least in terms of the metro area size. It's a larger metro area than Jacksonville and comparable to Columbus and Indianapolis, all of which are top-20 cities in the US.

[kphoger]

I (and some of my family even more so) get eaten alive by mosquitos when spending evening time outdoors in MN and especially ND.

The mosquito is the state bird of North Dakota.  Or so I've heard.

[webny99]

I (and some of my family even more so) get eaten alive by mosquitos when spending evening time outdoors in MN and especially ND.

The mosquito is the state bird of North Dakota.  Or so I've heard.

And I didn't even know that was a thing, but apparently it is. Now I know what to wear if I ever attend a meet. 

[kkt]

Oh, and Seattle is pretty good for air connections.  It's a hub for Alaska Air which is pretty good as airlines go, so good flights to most of the western cities as well as Alaska (duh) and Hawaii.  British Airways has a great nonstop to Heathrow.

All of the new airlines being announced now that the International Arrivals Facility is opening is really exciting. Non-stop to Tahiti and Turkey were announced recently, and we might finally get the Australian and Indian connections that were promised before the pandemic.

Oh, cool!  I've been hoping to visit Turkey since before the pandemic.  Maybe when we get around to it it'll be an easier trip.