Where do you live, and how do you like it there?

[cammocat@gmail.com]

I live in Perth, Australia, and sometimes Sauðárkrókur, Iceland.

I love both places. Both are my home.

Good things about Australia:

So warm!

So many fruits and vegetables!

SO MANY BUGS. (Aspiring entomologist. Do you have bugs? Give them to me.)

All my friends and family are here.

Always new things to do.

Wonderful when it rains.

Good things about Iceland:

Snow!

Green, all the time!

Cows. (I'm going to hug the shit out of you, cows!)

Sheep! (I am going to hug the shit out of you, sheep!)

Horses (I am going to ride you, then hug the shit out of you.)

I'm happier in Australia overall. I get a bit sad in Iceland because I'm from such a small town, and I never really made friends there. So I always feel lonely when I live there. I wish I could live in a slightly warmer Iceland, if all my friends were there. That would be nice.

It's interesting hearing about places from residents, and not tourism.

[KiwiScout]

I live in New Zealand in the South Islands largest city Christchurch. I love it here.

Good things about Christchurch/New Zealand:

- Super close to a bunch of great hikes.

- My friend and family are close by.

- Not too hot in the summer

- Always something new to explore

- People here pull together in horrid situations

- Naturally occurring awesomeness e.g. glow worm caves, hot springs

Dislike about NZ/Christchurch

- Chch Earthquakes - not the actual quake but the fact you can't drive anywhere with out road works, job opportunities are more limited etc.

- New Zealand is ages from anywhere so slow internet, slow to get new tv shows, plane tickets are expensive

Can't wait to explore the whole world but this will always be my home.

[jizzle :)]

well considering its the internet...im really not surprised to see people from other countries. actually i lied. im COMPLETELY astonished that people from all overrr are coming together in this community. i guess thats why they call it the WORLD WIDE WEB. anyways!

im from the good ole u s of a....however....i didnt see any fellow californians....granted i only browsed the first page...but im from southern cali. everything you hear and what they say about california and californians is TRUE TRUE TRUE. especially the terrible things. hahahaha but i love it here. woooooo west coast!

[Rilo]

Am I the first Brit to post here? Weird. I always wanted to visit Australia until Athena posted the article to the huge spider. I hate spiders, the ones we get here are so tiny and tame compared to those over there. So yeah I live on the little island of Great Britain and it's great like the name says.

What I like:

- our flag is cool

- there's not a load of ugly terrifying creatures unless you count some of the people

- when it's hot, it's actually not as hot as some places where i'd die in the heat (20C/68F is scorching to most of us)

- our fish and chip shops

- all the history

- even though we're a tiny place, there's still certain differences in england, scotland and wales and it's amazing when you travel over the borders and see what it's like in the other parts. different lingo, accents, and traditions interest me so it's pretty fun.

[Pup]

I live in the city of Malmö in the south end of Sweden. Ok summers, underwhelming winters (seriously, 3 inches of slush has been the standard the last 5 years) and ALWAYS windy.

Good things:

*For being the third most populated city in Sweden it is astonishingly compact. Even if you're counting some of the suburbs it takes you less than 45mins from one end to the other on a bicycle.

*Awesome friends live here

*Multicultural melting pot, great food, interesting people.

*A fine selection of culture/entertainment. From the Opera and small venue rock concerts to the film festivals and wrestling games. This city has a lot to offer if you just look around.

*Proximity to Copenhagen. Really, I don't live in the central bits of Malmö but I could theoretically put on my shoes and jackets and be in the middle of the Danish capital (or Kastrup international airport for a airplane to pretty much anywhere else in the world) in less than an hour. If a band isn't stopping in Malmö on their European tour you can pretty much guarantee that they will play in Copenhagen.

Bad stuff:

*Windy as hell. During some autumns I've been brought to a halt going down a hill on my bike.

*Multicultural melting pot, segregation, gangs, lack of integration, etc

All in all the good outweighs the bad. I like it here and I doubt that I will leave for another place (unless we're talking temporary-situations or the dream-job)

[chasely]

I live in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Looking into places to live overseas for a year or so while I'm in grad school

Positives:

-It has the four seasons. Though the winters could be shorter.

-Weather is fairly moderate. It doesn't get crazy hot or cold.

-Has lots of fruit trees. The sweet cherries, peaches, pears, apples are amazing.

-It's a college town, ethnically diverse.

-Apparently the "smartest" city in the US (highest college degrees per capita).

-Plenty of water around because of the Great Lakes.

Negatives:

-Expensive. About as expensive as Chicago for housing.

-Getting a "regular" job is tough because of over-qualification (see the "smartest" city thing).

That's about all I have. I would like to end up in a "larger" city (think Chicago, Seattle) but those places are more expensive on the whole. Depending on what type of career I want I may be geographically limited to where I can end up, which would be a drag.

I'm hoping to do research abroad during gradschool and get a taste of life outside the continental United States.

[Ocelot]

This is a fascinating thread. Love getting the inside story about places!

I live on the Welsh borders, UK. I absolutely love it here and would never leave, having lived all over the country I always come back here.

Its something about the climate. It's very changeable, and can be quite tropical with all the rain we get. The landscape is very vibrant, tons of trees and green spaces, hills and rivers. It's peaceful and most people are friendly and mildly anarchic. There's also quite a large population of artists and musicians in this area, as well as general craftspeople. Its all quite old-fashioned... lots of the buildings around here are hundreds of years old. The house I'm moving into soon has a kitchen from the 1600s. There are castles everywhere as tons of battles have been fought between the Welsh and English (or Romans) and various tribes if you go back further.

The worst thing about this area is the diabolical public transport. Buses don't come, and if they do they're early, or so late they may as well not have bothered. No one is ever on them, probably because the timetables are changed every 2 or 3 months it seems and there is never any warning or new timetables printed. The nearest station is 20 miles away and of course you have to get a bus there, so there's no point even trying to make a train connection. I don't drive so I'm basically trapped. Lol.

[andygates]

I'm in mid-Devon, which is the lumpy farmy bit between the coasts where Brits come to enjoy the scenery. It's grand. We've got Dartmoor. And coasts. And all the hills and rain you could ever want. Seriously, I rode the length of the country and only the Highlands came close (the Lakes were nearly there) to just loveliness.

Downside? Vanilla small-town blues, and the weird damp stains on my 1750-ish basement flat (cob walls: a yard thick for that bunker feeling, but impossible to damp proof).

One day I'll get my arse to Iceland.

[Rostov]

I live in Nottingham, UK.

The good:

Perfect sized city for me - big enough to have most things I could want (culture, shopping, infrastructure), but without being a Sprawling Metropolis

Safe, secure, stable, good infrastructure, generally well run. Can't underestimate how lucky I am (and I think most of us are) not be living somewhere that's properly corrupt, dangerous, lawless, and/or polluted

'Wayne Manor' in the latest Batman film is in Nottingham.

The Robin Hood legend means I don't need to explain where I live that often (though I do have to explain how to pronounce it). And we still have a Sheriff.

Second best public transport in the UK (after London)

It's where all my stuff is.

The bad:

When I was a kid I always promised myself I'd live by the sea. Although nowhere is that for from the sea in the UK, Nottingham is very central.

Unfortunate (and undeserved) reputation for gun crime within the UK. And minor rioting.

The bloody weather... though it's been mostly good recently, Winter is Coming. (Though I agree with Rilo about appreciating not roasting to death...)

@ Perth people.... what I remember best about your wildlife was seeing a parrot in a tree, and thinking "oh, someone's pet must have escaped". Then realising they were everywhere.

@ Ocelot - once spent a summer working in the Hay/Hereford region. Lovely part of the world, and a golden summer that will live long in my memory.

[azsf]

@ Perth people.... what I remember best about your wildlife was seeing a parrot in a tree, and thinking "oh, someone's pet must have escaped". Then realising they were everywhere.

This is perhaps the most bizarre memory anyone could have of perth. congratulations?

I too hail from sunny Perth on the west coast of australia. it's a pretty great (if slightly boring) place to live. we have excellent beaches, a freak ton of hot summer days, and a whole lot of rich bogans getting fat off the mining boom.

the worst things about perth are it's flat and isolated. id love to live somewhere with epic mountains and snow, and somewhere not so culturally backwater. we don't get a whole lot of touring musicians or artists, and there's not exactly a thriving indie scene either.

[ponita]

Grew up in Northern California, which should be considered a different state that Southern CA. I was 2 hours away from both the ocean and the mountains. Pretty, but I don't miss not living there.

After graduated college, I worked for a year in rural West Virginia. Absolutely beautiful. And as crazy as you hear it is. I was a mixed animal vet. I can write a book on the adventures I had.

Example:

Owner - My goat is sick. He doesn't want to eat anything.

Me - Okay. What does your goat normally eat?

Owner - Cheese puffs and graham crackers, but today we think he ate some of the Christmas lights hanging outside (this was May, btw). But we don't have any money for you to do anything to him, just look at him. Oh, and he's really mean. We can't hold him for you, he'll attack us, you'll have to look at him through the fence. What do you think is wrong?

Me - Man up and hold the goat for me. Here's how you do it...

After a year of that, we moved to PA just north of Philly where I now work as a public health vet for the USDA. I LOVE living in PA. It's green, beautiful, we get really cool lightning storms, the food is awesome, and people seem to be very health-oriented up here. I never, ever want to move away.

[Cresca Muccapello]

I live in Austria, the heart of europe.

I quite like it here, it´s warm in the summer (a lot of lakes for swimming), there is enough snow for winter activities (~30 min to the next ski resort) and if I wanted to I could be on holiday in Italy, Germany, Hungary... in about 3 hours (perfect for a long weekend).

[azsf]

3 hours is a short trip down the coast and you're not even out of your State.

QFT, though out of Brisbane this gets you to Byron, which is out of your state Totally applies to Perth though, you can drive for days in any direction (except west, obviously) and still be in WA. Perth bands often play weekday shows down in Bunbury; around 200km away (that's a bit over 4 hours total driving). To play a 30 minute set...

[Zima]

Whoa, I come back from the weekend, check the boards, and there's two whole pages of replies! Awesome. It's really cool to read about all the different places - so much diversity.

Keep em coming

[Circapaleo]

Arkansas!

Summers are either really hot and humid, or miserably hot and humid. Winters are usually either mild or unusually cold. There is virtually no spring or fall.

I do love the wilderness here. We have beautiful waterfalls and scenic rivers.

And then you can't really beat the unofficial Clinton tour of downtown Little Rock.

BTW, I do have all my own teeth! And so does my husband (who is not my cousin).

[Sambalina]

I'm currently living in South Korea - been here for a year.

Things I like:

- Four really distinct seasons

- Excellent public transport

- Food everywhere

- Stuff is so big! Big cities, big parks, so many people.

- People watching here is fascinating.

Things I don't like:

- Gets both very hot and really cold.

- Extremely crowded at times.

- Korean logic is sometimes very different from Western logic. Very different.

- surprise red bean paste in foods that look nice and innocent.

Overall it's a great place to explore. Some foreigners hate it with a passion, but I like it enough to stay for another year

[Razor]

Things I like:

Your lack of Gangnam Style is... disturbing.

[Guest Snake McClain]

I'm in mid-Devon, which is the lumpy farmy bit between the coasts where Brits come to enjoy the scenery. It's grand. We've got Dartmoor. And coasts. And all the hills and rain you could ever want. Seriously, I rode the length of the country and only the Highlands came close (the Lakes were nearly there) to just loveliness.

Downside? Vanilla small-town blues, and the weird damp stains on my 1750-ish basement flat (cob walls: a yard thick for that bunker feeling, but impossible to damp proof).

i want to be here...

[Teaster]

Arizona! Around Phoenix more specifically.

Our summers can be pretty brutal but if you're a night owl like me, it's fine for running. Our fall to spring is extremely comfortable and makes for a fantastic place to live as long as you can deal with 110 degrees Fahrenheit for a few months.

I've lived here my entire life so I know where to stir up all of the nerds and places to go and we have a pretty good convention circuit (Two anime cons and a comicon). You can trip over Mexican food every few hundred feet and a pretty good mix of everything else. It's a pretty big city but there are a lot of smaller towns on the outskirts where I live at. There are a lot of places that hold a beauty specific to a desert such as our fantastic sunsets and lovely colourful rocks.

Places in Arizona that rock the most: Meteor crater in northern Arizona, Sedona for the awesome red rocks, and of course, the Grand Canyon.

[Sambalina]

Your lack of Gangnam Style is... disturbing.

If you were here, you would know.

They are so proud of that song they play it everywhere all the time. Shops here play their music out onto the street, so any given block you can hear Gangnam Style blasting from 4+ stores. Go out for dinner? Hear it played 3 times in the 45mins you're there. The kids at school play it during lunch time over the school PA system, and then out loud on their phones after school. It's on the TV. It's on the news.

It's eating my brain!

[spencer_]

I'm originally from Queens, New York, but I was forced to move to Tampa when I was 16. It's pretty sucky in comparison.

Pros: I guess it's cheaper here?

Cons: It's hot and I'm a cold weather kind of person, and it's definitely no New York.

[Seven]

http://www.warrentontrails.org

Web site I made for our local trails organization. I live on the Oregon Coast beside the Pacific, in a rainforest and it's lovely!

[Tocho]

If you were here, you would know.

They are so proud of that song they play it everywhere all the time. Shops here play their music out onto the street, so any given block you can hear Gangnam Style blasting from 4+ stores. Go out for dinner? Hear it played 3 times in the 45mins you're there. The kids at school play it during lunch time over the school PA system, and then out loud on their phones after school. It's on the TV. It's on the news.

It's eating my brain!

Have the South Koreans transitioned fully from walking to Gangnam Style "dancing" for getting around yet? That'd be kind of... cool.

[Rurounii]

I live in Brooklyn, New York. I've lived here since before I could walk and love it. Good food everywhere, bars, transportation almost anywhere I need to go in the tri-state area, new bike lanes mean I can get around faster than public transportation. There's always something going on, and I don't think I could live anywhere else.

[Absidey]

I live in San Antonio Texas. We enjoy very mild weather most of the time - but as soon as it rains, people suddenly forget how to drive. Seriously Texans are terrible drivers when it comes to any sort of weather. The summers can be very hot and humid. Last year was a very hot summer, this year is cooler but very humid. I love that there is no snow in the winter - I can run outside all year round (with the rare exception of an ice storm). Real estate is pretty cheap here - San Antonio was not hit by the housing crash - but the real estate market never really booms either. There's no state income tax, but property taxes are a little steep. In general the people here are very friendly - and very proud to be San Antonians. Oh and don't forget THE BEST BREAKFAST TACOS ANYWHERE!!!!

I'm in Dallas, TX, and pretty much everything above is true here too. Exceptions: We get occasional snow, and everyone panics. We get occasional tornados, and everyone is just kind of, "Sure, whatever." Breakfast tacos...? The housing crash did effect us. I just sold my house for about $25K less than I paid 6 years ago. Last summer broke heat records for days over 100. It was pretty brutal. I lived in Las Vegas, NV for 7 years, and 100*F in a humid climate is MUCH worse than in a dry one.

I like:

Spring. It goes from brown and drab to green and fresh overnight, it seems.

Green. Coming from Vegas (desert), I missed green, growing things.

Architecture. It's not that much, but compared to Las Vegas, which is all flash and no substance? Love it.

Family Oriented. It's definitely a more family friendly city than others I've lived in.

Higher Education: Colleges are plentiful and not too cost prohibitive.

Food: Vietnamese, Ethiopian, Brazilian, Mexican/TexMex, and Indian are all well represented here. Thai is around, but not as plentiful. Sushi.. eh, it's better on the Pacific coast. BBQ is a gimme, but I think I prefer the South Carolina style. There are some pretty awesome food trucks on the rise now too. (Korean tacos, om-nom.)

Festivals: holy cow! Renaissance, Irish, hot air balloon, fairs, Pirate, multicultural, German, Greek... And those are just the ones we went to or plan to go to this year. There are MANY. I think Pirate Days was cancelled though, so =(

I don't like:

The humidity.

The location. It's hours to mountain-like terrain in Arkansas, and many hours to real mountains elsewhere. The lakes here are gross, some smelly. Mostly there's miles and miles of... omg, nothing.

The Texan Republicans: Direct quote from the 2012 platform: We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), critical thinking skills and similar programs, supposedly a "mistake." (This was pretty much the nail in the coffin for Texas for me. I WILL get out of this state.)

Tollways. $80/month in tolls? Just implement state tax and have done with it, seriously.

I've also lived in Wyoming, Utah, California, Idaho, and Nevada. Of all, Texas is dead last in all my weighted categories except food. I never found much good food in Wyoming or Idaho.