An apocryphal story seems appropriate here.

After a young couple toured a local home for sale, they spotted a neighbor sitting on his porch. They took the opportunity to find out more about the type of neighborhood they were considering moving to.

"Pardon me," the young husband spoke, "but, we're considering purchasing the house next door and we're wondering what you could tell us what the neighbors are like."

The local man studied the young couple for a few seconds and asked them what they neighbors are like where they live now.

"Oh," the young wife jumped in, "they're the most nosy, rude, and gossipy people you could meet. We're so looking forward to moving away from there."

"Well," the local man said, "I'm sure you'll find the neighbors are pretty much the same here."

The young couple thanked the man for the information and left feeling fortunate to avoid a poor purchase choice.

The same scenario played out a few days later with another couple of potential home buyers. The spotted the local man on his porch and asked him the same question about the neighbors. The man responded with the same question to them about their current neighbors.

"Our current neighbors are the best," the new wife explained. "They're very friendly and they'll do anything for you. We're really going to miss them."

The local man smiled at the new couple and said, "Well, I'm sure you'll find the neighbors are pretty much the same here."

I do not like living in rainy, humid places. Of all the places I've lived, for me Texas is just the very best and Dallas in particular. I find that Texans are generous and friendly. The state is progressive, beautiful, clean and has a wide variety of terrain from mountains and hills to the coast and plains and, of course, lush land of East Texas.

celticmoon..."I thought they shot hippies for target practice" rofl

When I left Laguna Beach, California & moved to Colorado, I went to give my Dad our new address. His response, "That's OK, I won't need it...I'll just head east until I smell it & north until I'm standing in it!" He really thought there was nothing in Colorado except cattle. Too funny! :) His descriptions of Texas were even more vivid. I have to chuckle now as I recall how tainted my own impressions were from others' opinions when I also was too young & inexperienced to know any different.

I'm very glad I've had the opportunity to live in various places in our great country. Each is unique and has special attributes along with some negatives. For instance, when we moved to New England I had to learn a foreign language. But now, I can pahk my cah in Hahvahd Yahd with the best of them! :)

Tricer (that would be "Tricia" to a non-New Englander)

Here is a link that might be useful: How to speak New England....

I too am a happy CT resident - it is true "The Litchfield Hills of western CT are true rural" and that is the way we love it. I could not be happy in a a crowded or really hot, humid area.

My husband claims that he couldn't live anywhere in the flyover zone

Having moved to Omaha 3 years ago I'm surprised by how nice it and the people are. Its really a nice small city. It does to me anyway, have a certain feel to it, maybe because I think about it because I like it - the feeling of being in the middle of nowhere. Not exactly true but fairly close. I love it. It makes you think about the pioneers, gives you a feeling of space.
Now I'm moving to Ohio and am not happy about going back to a state with 11 million people in it.

Sweet Tea, I like your wording -Places I hope Not to Live -

Cookie cutter developments
No seasons
Condos - for some odd or stupid reason...
Too much traffic
Too many illegals
Too much new development
Places where you have to drive everywhere you go
No history
Places where I couldn't have a yard
HOA's
"Stepford" neighborhoods
To densely populated
Too many of one age group
Where children are not welcome
Where it doesn't snow in the winter
Where you can't get "Da Cubs" or "Da Bears" on TV
Too many "new transplants"
Too much "Urban Sprawl"
Places where families cannot afford a decent home
Too expensive cost of living

I could probably find happiness anywhere, but these items would not be a plus on my list.....

Very interesting comments....

More than anything I chickened out of moving to new england. there was not enough strip malls, walmarts and litter and grafitti dotting the landscape. Everyone spoke english and wore a smile. Those small towns you have are charming but the place freaked me out.

Mary, having been raise for the first ten years in Ohio, I can tell you it is considered a fly-over state too.

My aunt and uncle still live there and invite us to parachute in when we flyover...

-anyplace that LACKS diversity. I'm a city rat from Chicago, and very happy in the San Francisco Bay Area. I want those ethnic grocery stories, and restaurants that serve foods I never grew up with, in addition to all the ones I did grow up with. Admittedly, my Japanese American Nisei mother is a rabid cook who introduced us to more different cuisines than anyone else I know. This makes me all the more happy with the Bay Area!

-anyplace without sidewalks, sewers, and emergency medical care within 10 minutes. My husband suffered a haemorrhagic stroke at the age of 50 when we were driving to work one morning. We were 5 minutes away from the house and I only had to drive another 10 minutes to get him checked into Kaiser HMO emergency ASAP. His almost 100% recovery is pretty much due to our being able to get him to the hospital so quickly.

-anyplace with high humidity in the summer and cold winters, having been there/done that in the Midwest. Love the Chicago museums - classy! - but the weather is yuck except for 2 weeks in the spring and 2 weeks in the fall. Forget the rest.

Big cities are definitely not for me. I grew up in a mid-sized town in the Shenandoah Valley in VA. The crowds of big cities feel oppressive.

Also can't do HOA. I've seen some amazing covenants and restrictions in place (used to work in our county deed room). No thanks!

I like places with 4 seasons and plenty of outdoor nature things to do (bird watch, fish, etc). Really, I'm a VA girl...not NoVA, but real Virginia. I feel at home here, unlike other places.

Anywhere within smelling distance of a poultry farm.

"...Everyone spoke english and wore a smile..."

Not really. I was in a truck stop in Springfield, VT getting fuel the other day and all the truckers there spoke FRENCH!

It's interesting how the title of this thread is interpreted; when I first read the title, I was thinking arab countries or the orient , then I read some more and it was about cultural diversity within the USA, which I find equally interesting. I feel very comfortable in just about any big city in Europe and North America; if I had to live in rural areas, it would mostly depend on which larger cities were closeby so I could escape from time to time.

So I guess I would NEVER live in an area of the USA so remote that it has too many limitations; otherwise, I could live anywhere.

I think it also depends if you still raising children or if you only have yourself to think about.

Retired military here. Grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan and then off to see the world. Have lived in Arizona, Wyoming, California, Virginia (Northern)and traveled throughout the entire U.S.

Currently living in Dover, DE and love it. Reminds me a lot of what my home town USED to be like. GR is now so overgrown that I hardly recognized it last time I was there.

Prefer the areas where I have a change of seasons, and since I'm retired military, close to a base so that I can use my privileges, such as the commissary (grocery store) etc.

Didn't care for AZ when I was there and visited a friend in FL who had to keep everything in tupperware containers. No thanks.

Living in "Pugetopia" for employment reasons. Longing to return to S. Cal.

I could never live where it's flat, or near a desert, or where there are no seasons, or more than an hour from the ocean. I like hills, winding roads, a variety of architecture, and proximity to cities like Washington, New York and Boston. I've tried parts of California, but they don't suit me. I think I'm an East Coast person.

I want a place where there are four seasons. I like the cold and the snow, provided it's going to go away. I love really high heat and stifling humidity, provided it's going to go away. I like spending all winter working inside my house, since the weather's so bad outside. I like spending all summer working in my garden, since it's too nice to go inside.

I really like lorrainebecker's response! In my younger days, I loved the winter for skiing and skating. As my bones have gotten older, I enjoy reading, cooking and quilting during the colder weather. Gardening never gets old:) I was born and raised in Massachusetts (never want to go back), lived in Los Angeles, New Hampshire, Kentucky and Oregon. They all had their pros and cons. I've lived in Maine for the last 18 years. While it certainly has it's share of cons, the overall quality of life is wonderful. I really don't think I'd want to live anywhere else. But I tend to shy away from "never" because you never know what's down the road:) Is there somewhere I absolutely wouldn't want to live? I've lived in enough places to know that everywhere has it's good and bad, but I have to say that anywhere that has high crime isn't the place for me.

Born in Brooklyn and raised in Florida, I don't think I could ever live anywhere too cold now. My blood is so thin. Yes, our cockroaches fly, hurricanes and tornadoes interrupt the peace at times and when we aren't flooding, there is a drought. Developers are surely paving the place over but there are still things to love about Florida. I won't say I'll never live anywhere cold but I don't see it as likely as a 42 year old who already suffers from arthritis. Let's just say I would never live outside the US with the exception of maybe Canada. I still think we have the best thing going.

None of the 'red' zones! I watched a show on Discovery Sat. night that was about the devistation in our country, and the areas considered the most dangerous to live because of natural disasters. Anyone else watch it?

New Orleans
Naples(Italy)
New York
Western Europe
Aftica
'Tornado Alley'(areas of Texas)
ANY coastal area
San Francisco

There may have been other areas mentioned, but these are the ones that come to mind. Most have faced devistation of some sort, or there's a good chance they will in the future. Many of them also have to depent on their water supply coming from rivers/tributaries that are in other states/countries as they do not have their own source, or it's slowly running out/being polluted. ;o)

patty_cakes

Where does your state rank in safety? Crime, murder, etc.

North Dakota is the safest, Nevada is the most dangerous.
The link below tells you where your state is. It's the latest information available.

Here is a link that might be useful: The safest states

Well, I guess if I stay in Northern New England, I'm good!

Interesting. I see that a bunch of states that allow people to carry handguns are right down there in the bottom 10.

So much for "if everyone's armed, everyone's polite."

I know that Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire take second amendment rights very seriously. (all in the top 5) Don't know about the Dakotas, but I'm curious.

What the heck is this one about?.... "visited a friend in FL who had to keep everything in tupperware containers".

I live in FL. I only use tupperware on occasion, for refrigerated leftovers. I don't know of others in FL that use tupperware any more often than folks in other states.
===========================

I also want to comment that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE living in Florida and you could not pay me a million dollars to move out of this state. I have lived in other states but FL is perfect for me. And I am right on the coast. Paradise.

That's the most skewed ranking system I've ever seen (except for the one that called cities fat based on how many health clubs they have). Of course less populated states are going to have a lower ranking. Then they go on to admit they give the same weight to the crimes of murder and rape as they do car theft????

I THINK the poster meant to keep bugs off her stuff. SIL who lived in Hawaii for a time had the same problem there... ants everywhere on any foodstuff left out.

Does a state ranking even matter, isn't lifestyle more local than the average for an entire state? I ignore the state issue. I live in Southern California, crime in Northern California, or individual cities doesn't affect my lifestyle.
I live in an earthquake area, it doesn't affect the whole state, but of course, I don't worry about earthquakes, or I wouldn't live here in a three story home.

cmarlin20...I agree with you. It's unfair to judge every town or city by a larger & much broader state standard. For example, I live in Mystic, CT. Connecticut ranks 12th on the scale. But, Mystic's crime index is ranked at "1" against a national average of "3.6". The reason CT's ranking is not better as a whole is due to two pockets within the state. You can't judge Litchfield, CT against New Haven, CT & have anything resembling accuracy in comparing apples to apples.

Tricia

There are certain environments that I couldn't live in.

A city--any city at all. Grew up outside of NYC and left right after college. I only return to visit family.

A suburb/village I can't stand people living on top of me. I don't do well with stupid regulations so a HOA would be reason to pull the trigger.

In a hot/humid place. I can handle upper 80's and melt at 90.

I'm another fan of CT. I would move to the Old Lyme area in a heartbeat. I spent my summers there growing up and it really is the most beautiful region for recreational sporting.

I loved western Massachusetts. The people were warm and welcoming. I'd move back to the Williamstown area if I could afford it.

I'm a New Yorker and think this really is a great place to live. I love the mountains and lakes. I hate NY's shore due to crowds and over commercialization. I love the seasons in the Albany area and have adapted to the snow being measured by the foot instead of the inch. I'm really glad I don't have much lake effect snow to deal with like the poster from the Buffalo region. That I couldn't handle.

I'm currently living in the place I said for years I'd never live - Northern VA. Fairfax County to be exact. It has many positives (like good paying jobs for someone in my field), but the traffic is absolutely horrible. For years we lived elsewhere and my in-laws lived here and I said I'd never live here, but the job market for both my husband and myself, plus the good school system, and good Universities (I completed my degree at GMU) caused us to end up here.

That said, when we retire in about 10 years it will (hopefully) be someplace where there are no signs saying "Caution - Bridge freezes before road". If anything freezes it'll be too far north for me. I intend to spend all my retirement years (or until my body fails me) outside in shorts and tees, running, hiking, biking, rollerblading, gardening, swimming, and just BEING outside. All year long, every year. I abhor the cold, yet I love the outdoors.

We lived in Cheyenne, Wyoming and we wouldn't move back. The first year we moved into a brand new house and planted a garden. Early September frost killed everything.
The next year we planted another garden and just before harvest, a hailstorm turned everything into "coleslaw," and also damaged roof and windows.
The third year we planted another garden...Tornado moved it a block away and the fence fell over the garden. It also destroyed the house.
Three blizzards and a windstorm that blew over railroad cars was icing on the cake. If we had lived there one hundred years ago ( before grocery stores) we would not have lived to tell our story.
So we moved. End of story!
P.S. Ten years after we moved, we went back to Cheyenne to visit our former house. The tree we had planted in the front yard looked no taller than when we left.

Qoute kitchenshock I can only speak to the places where I have been that I did not like:
Northern NJ - Family lived there (still do).
BTW, some of my family lives in Moorestown and Cherry Hill.

What do you consider North Jersey?

I've lived in North Jersey (Union, Somerset & Middlesex Counties) and doubt I'll live there again.

I now live in what I consider South Jersey (below the Raritan River) and like it. I like it so much that I'm dreading the day hubby retires and wants to move out of NJ to go more south but not something warmer than zone 7. I have a history here, both of my parents came over from Hungary in the 50's. While my dad struggled, by the time he died last year, he started to live the American dream of being comfortable when he retired. Although he struggled, he was able to buy a house in the late 60's and a business in the early 70's.

Places I've been to where I couldn't live:
Vermont - beautiful country but couldn't live there.
Conn - doubt I could live there either.
NH - too cold
Upstate NY - Adarondacs - too cold but beautiful - love to visit
FL - Key West - 3 to 4 days is enough for me; Orlando - wasn't nuts about it. There was a town within 25 miles north of Orlando that I might consider though.
AZ - visited areas where it was really warm, then drove to Grand Canyon where it was a blizzard in the same day. Not for me.
Texas - didn't care for Dallas
CA - visited Escondido (sp) - nice country also visited San Diego & LA - loved LA but I was 20+ years younger lol
Ohio - DH's family lives there - they can keep it.

roselvr, those counties aren't TRUE North jersey,lol..Bergen,passaic,Morris,Sussex, Hunterton, Hudson,Essex are North jersey..We consider those you listed as Central jersey,lol...

That post puzzled me too. Moorestown and Cherry Hill are North Jersey? North of what, Cape May?

The Trenton / Princeton area is considered South Jersey for most residents of the state (who actually don't really know where Cherry Hill is)

Somerset, Middlesex are central Jersey.

Q Dog is right. Bergen, Passaic, etc. are true North Jersey.

North and South Jersey are like two completely different states.

C

carolineb, not only different states, north and south are like 2 different counties,lol :)

Well I grew up in Northwest NJ (Warren County) and I can tell you that Northwest NJ and Northern NJ are two completely different areas.

Well I grew up in Northwest NJ (Warren County) and I can tell you that Northwest NJ and Northern NJ are two completely different areas.

oops, that should have said "countries" not counties, my bad

Trenton, Princeton considered South Jersey? Not that I ever heard.

If I try to post more than one message with the same subject header it gets rejected. Yet I see others post over and over without changing the header. What am I doing wrong?

ps sorry for the double post.

Only if you post two messages in a row.

Plus you can stick a space at the end of the subject and it'll work.

Ah, thanks

Would never again move back to NYC. Twenty-five years of my life is enough! Not too rural-im afraid of the things that can happen in small towns! Ive lived so far in NYC, SC, and Louisiana in college towns. My next move will be Virginia, somewhere near the beach. Im a real surfer-gurl!

Bump this up. I grew up in MI, lived in CT, CA and currently in NW Illinois. Naperville is 15 min. from me and it's voted as #1 safest city in America. I laughed since it's so cold here, thus the low crime rate.

I like CT the most (small town South Windsor near Hartford). People grow old in that town and are super friendly. Neighbors gave me veggies from their garden. Nice scenery with trees shading the streets. Lots of places to enjoy: herb farms with swarms of birds, Elizabeth rose park, Mystic Seaport, Gilette Castle State park, and nice lakes for swimming.

Next in my liking is MI (small country town with farms) ... people stay put long and get to know neighbors. The stench of cow farm across the street was the only negative. Nearby shopping was Grand Rapids, MI .. traffic was NOT bad like Chicago.

I barely tolerate IL (suburb of Chicago & too congested but shopping & health care are minutes away), neighbors are too close together and I'm bothered by loud wind chines and barking dogs.

Last is CA (San Jose area), too crowed and neighbors don't care to get to know one another due to high mobility ... people don't stay put in one place long. Traffic congestion is bad and long, long lines at grocery stores. I stayed with my sister (the doc.) in a rich Northern CA area, also another sister's middle-class area, and neighbors never care to talk to one another in both places.

Love Dallas although it’s gotten much too big & less friendly, but my heart will always love home….Big D!

Really - a 15 year old + thread?

Sure, why not, it’s an interesting discussion.

I grew up in Michigan and left for grad school in Boston. Lived in Dublin Ireland for about 2 years then back to Boston. Then a move to Seattle for three years and decided to move back home to Michigan. Boston still has my heart. Dublin-meh. Seattle-meh. Michigan- has its perks and drawbacks. The value is tremendous. As a sailor, having the local yacht club a few miles down the road is incredible in the summer. But it’s in the heart of the rust belt and Detroit, while making incredible headway, has a looooong way to go.

I could absolutely not live in Ohio, Florida, Texas, Utah, any of the Bible Belt. You may sense a common theme. Goooo Bluuueee in every sense of Blue.

Damn Stax. It’s Friday. Smile. Take a walk. Grab some ice cream. Smoke a bowl. Enjoy the day and relax :)

I'd skip anywhere that water is a problem or will be one shortly. Too little or too much = Not good!