I live with my dh and three kids in a subdivision in Wichita, Kansas. We live on the edge of the city so we are close to stores, but drive by a barn and silo every day. Our house has 1.500 sq ft upstairs and about the same in a finished basement. We have lived here 15 years and rented a duplex before we bought this house. My youngest will be a junior in high school this year and my dh wants to move to St. Louis after she graduates...we will see. We have great neighbors and close to anything we want.

I live with my husband of 45 years, two cats, one of which is ours and one that adopted us. Our home is a brick ranch on 1 acre of ground in the suburbs. The house is a 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath, livingroom, dining room, solarium, kitchen, breakfast room, laundry room, attached 2 car garage and we have a workshop in the back yard. Like some others, we are having to hire help to do things we just can't do any more. Hubby is 81. I'm soon to be 76 and handicapped. There is no way I would ever want to move again. I hope to die right here in my own home, in my own bed, God willing. The floor plan is very open which I love. The solarium is our favorite room as it faces the front yard where there are a lot of trees. We call the front yard our entertainment center, where we enjoy feeding and watching all of the birds and crazy squirrels.

Ellend, I live in Windsor, ON Canada which is right across the river from Detroit. I am further East though, across from Belle Isle an island in the Detroit River and closer to Lake St. Clair. Where I live used to be the town of Riverside before it was annexed by Windsor in the 1960's haha we didn't join willingly. We have retained our old town community and spirit, and the air is fresher. We refer to this area as Old Riverside since Windsor is now expanding Eastward. Riverside - this link writes about our area of Windsor

We live a little over half the year in rural MN, on a river, four miles from a town of 3,000. We have two mobile homes in the shape of an L, with a 3-season deck on the inside of the lines in the L, if that makes sense. We have an acre of land. My very spry 80-year old DH re-roofed the house and garage last year with help from our 77-year old neighbor.

We have flowers, lots of feeders and birds, we see eagles, Ospreys, muskrats, beaver, etc. on the river.

We live just under half the year in the Ocala National Forest in FL. An hour west of Daytona Beach, 45 minutes from Gainesville, out in the sticks. There we have an old mobile home, 12 x 48 or so, with an addition the same size. We have about .5 acres of land, with a chain link fence around it. Kind of ugly, but slows the bears down a little. We have bird feeders there, too, and enjoy seeing 4-6 pairs of cardinals all winter, titmouse (titmice?), migrating robins, and once a painted bunting for a week or so.

We enjoy friends in both places, go out dancing as much as we can, and love our two lives. I hope they ban smoking in bars in FL soon, though, like they have in MN.

I'm her neighbor, only in Oakland county mi...we're not rual by any means...in fact our street is a direct line to the airport...still in the house we bought in 88 when we moved from san diego area...and really don't have plans to move. the strange thing we have had deer, squirrels birds ducks and rabbits all visit one time or another...we are lucky that traffic nearly stops from about 10-11 on...do I miss ca? only the beaches and mountains...hated the smog...we lived in a fire prone area...the only thing I did miss was when our 1300 sf tract home shot up in price to nearly $3-400,000bucks..before the crash...would we have sold? i'll never know!!

Thanks Cherry, for getting back Sounds lovely, just a bit too far off from our radar!

Dh & I have lived in this little Colorado mountain town, Manitou Springs, for 24 years now. We are surrounded by single people, on either side of us and across the street. Then down the street both directions are several single ladies, retired school teachers that have pets but no human room mates. We have millions of open acres behind the house with canyons and moss rock outcroppings, deer, bear, mountain lion.....our cat is walked on a leash or staked out under a tree.

If I ever find myself "alone" I personally would opt to downsize and move into one of our rentals. Then I'd adopt a couple of dogs for company. Go to the dog parks and take them on local trails. I run and they'd match my single lifestyle....not so much now tho.... :0)

I live with my DH of 38 years and DS and a senior Dachshund up in the Santa Cruz Mts. in California on 2.5 acres. We have been here almost 30 years. DH recently retired and we have talked about moving but can't think of anywhere else we would rather live. We love the climate and area where we live. It is rural enough with horses and in an area of wine vineyards and apple orchards.

We are a 10 minute drive to a highway and civilization. Though traffic has become a problem. We use to be able to get to the main stores in 10-15 minutes 30 years ago. Now it takes 30-45 minutes. That is one reason we would move.

And we are getting to a point where we just don't have the energy and stamina to take care of the place. I use to have a 1/4 acre garden and an orchard with over a dozen trees and berry bushes. Now it is just a few raised beds for veggies and only 5 fruit trees.

We have always done everything ourselves and will stay here until we get to the point that we can't. I have thought that if I was on my own I would move to a townhouse or condo. DH is the one who wants to stay as long as we can. I do love nature with all the wild animals and birds singing.

DH and I live in an 1,275 SF home with same SF in finished basement and have been here for about 35 years. I love the area - large yards, semi-rural feel, wonderful neighbors, walking distance to banking, library, grocery shopping, etc. A very quiet area near a park and lovely locations for walks. I love living here.

Flower lover, we lived in Ben Lomond for years. I had terrible allergies, but I absolutely loved it there. We moved 13 years ago and I still miss it. DH is a fire captain with the city of Santa Cruz and my son is now attending the Junior College in Aptos, and working at the Boardwalk. I'm in and out of the county multiple times a month. I can not believe how bad traffic has become. It's no longer Saturday beach traffic, or afternoon commute traffic. It's constant, and it's awful. If I still lived there, I would never want to leave my house.

Been living in a condo for the past 13 years. Love it as I am on the end unit with a front porch and a back deck. Front is on the walk in level and back is in the tree tops. I have had great neighbors, ones above and below me, and blessed that they are quiet and extremely thoughtful.

Area I live in is fast growing, and I'm so close now to everything I need. My Y is less than 5 minutes away on good traffic days, which I so enjoy going mornings for water aerobics.

We do have lots of wildlife around, raccoon's, possums, deer, armadillo and an occasional mountain lion that meanders thru and condo has to put up warnings for keep small pets inside, until it moves on. We can generally know when it's around, as the chipmunks and squirrels disappear, and it's spotted behind my and another close condo. Doesn't come often and doesn't hang around long, thankfully.

Live on a mountain ridge with an awesome view when the summer foliage is gone, and enjoy sleeping with my bedroom door open to my back deck, which is screened in, on cool nights.

Guess I'm here to stay until :o)

@glenda, Forget the "ensuite BR, open concept, etc." stuff, putting "occasional mountain lion visits" in a real estate listing would make me want to see the place. :-)

Hubs and I have been together for a little over 34 years, and married for a little over 29 years. This is the third home we've owned together. It's a single family detached home in a subdivision in a suburb of Sacramento, CA. The house is about 2,300 sq. ft. and the lot is just a skosh under 10,000 sq. ft. There is a creek that runs behind our property, so there are no neighbors within 120 feet to the rear and side-rear. (We're on an L-shaped cul-de-sac so our lot has 5 sides.)

Hubs and I have both retired from the State of California. We have no children, but we do have one very handsome tuxedo cat, who is totally spoiled.

We are far enough out in the unincorporated area of the county that we see lots of stars in the sky at night. We have a huge redwood deck in the back yard and a great pool and waterfall. I love to sit out on the deck and read or knit, and Hubs loves to golf. I can also take my laptop out to the deck and work on genealogy. :-)

We live a couple of hours from the Napa/Sonoma wine country, and a couple of hours from Lake Tahoe in the other direction, so there is always lots to do.

Very cool to read all the different homes and locations!

I am a single woman who bought her first home in late 50s. It's a modest 'starter" home -- 1500 sf, sort of builder Southwest/vaguely Tuscan --all basic builder stuff. Bank owns it, of course, as I'm not sure I'll be able to pay it off before I kick the bucket, so I try to view it as a "long term lease." I live on the outskirts of a large desert town, in an area which is being developed, although there is still farm and ranch land out here, just a few miles from the Mexican border. It's a new subdivision, and they are still building homes here. It takes me 25 minutes to drive the 12.5 miles to work. There's a great walking path, but no stores or anything close enough to walk to.

After living in apartments for 30 years, I'm absolutely thrilled to live in a SFH. Although it's near a busy highway, it doesn't bother me at all, and the trade off at my price point is a beautiful view of mountains and sky. I added a screen porch for me and my kitties, and I've learned to garden, and designed a really cool back yard. It's a happy house, and I love it, and hope to stay here the rest of my life.

violetwest - I got so happy while reading about your home. You just sound so happy in it.

We are in suburban DC in a typical tract colonial SFH where we raised our kids. I am retired and DH will retire within 3 years. We will then move to a less costly area that is retiree friendly for taxes, etc......most likely the Carolinas or Florida.

Single family tract home in a suburb in Silicon Valley. We are at the end of a cul de sac so we also share 5 fences similar to Lindsey.

I love my proximity to so many different geographical areas. I am 30 minutes from the beach, 15 minutes away from rural, an hour to the city. Mountains, valleys, skyscrapers,the ocean. I am within walking or biking distance of picking up a few groceries, drugstore, fast food and Mexican, American, Chinese or Thai food.

DH and I have lived here for almost 40 years. Thought of moving in the past, now glad we didn't. It's nice to have a paid off house and live where we can stay as we age. All our remodeling is geared toward that result. So glad now we didn't move up to that larger 2 story house we once thought we wanted. Because the lot our house is on was originally meant to have a bigger house on it we ended up with one of the largest lots in our subdivision. We have almost a quarter acre, mostly back yard. I guess the builder wasn't allowed to put the elevation he wanted here because it was too wide for the lot. So we ended up with our single story surrounded by two story homes. The nice thing is the way they are laid out we still have our privacy for the most part. Only their bathroom windows face our yard.

Both DD and DS are married and live less than 40 minutes away. One north of us and the other in Santa Cruz.

I live in the MidAtlantic area, in a small town about 25 minutes out of a larger city. We live on an acre on the water. Have lived here for 17 years and while the stairs are getting too much for me, we're (really my DH) are not ready to move. I'd love a one story house but nice ones are hard to find in this area, so guess we'll stay here for now.

I live in Perth Ontario Canada. My husband, our thirteen year old grandson and two Boston Terriers live in our house in a subdivision. The house is a bungalow, 1400 SF and that again in the finished basement. Everything we need is on the ground floor, 2 bedrooms, two full baths, large kitchen and living room and main floor laundry. We have a family room, third bedroom, third bath, game room for our grand, and a large storage area downstairs. Single attached garage and a garden shed in the fenced yard. We moved here ten years ago from a large old Victorian house that was too hard to keep up. We have a town maintained park beside our house and the original farm orchard on 4 acres behind us so we don't feel crowded. I have lovely flower gardens and a patio in front and raised veggie gardens in the back along with flowers on one side and in the back corner of the lot. When we sit in front we feel like we're in town and when we sit in the back on the deck we feel like we're in the country! Everything we need is within walking distance.

From Los Angeles originally, moved a bit up the coast to the SF Bay area for a job change a zillion years ago and am now in the general vicinity of watchme and caflowerluvr. As with others, we're still in the house our kids grew up in. We don't need all the space we have but we like where we are.

We've talked about the next step and we're waiting to see where in California our kids will wind up when they finish their educations, trainings, and adventure seeking. We've decided that should any two wind up in the same area but one that's not an easy drive from where we are now, we'd move or buy a condo nearby to facilitate visiting. I'd be happy to move anywhere within the immediate SF Bay area (but not inland) , or back to the southern coastal part of the state. Or, I could stay where I am. Any of these possibilities would be fine with me.

We are here just north of Pittsburgh. The house is a modular ranch. We went modular when selecting a home for retirement back to our home state after 32 years in Ohio and Michigan. Modular because we would not be able to oversee the construction of a site built home as we were still working 300 miles away. After touring several modular factories we felt assured that we could put our trust in a modular build with quality materials that suited our needs. A very simple home that accommodates my slow progression of a muscle wasting disease. Just 3 bedrooms, 1 full bath and a laundry room with large shower. And of course a kitchen I can work in, dining area and living room. We did add a room on about 5 years after moving here that has become a place to do anything but watch tv. I don't allow a tv in "my room". A full basement is entered from the attached 2 car garage plus another 2 1/2 car garage at the back of the 3/4 acre lot. The yard consists of 10 designated flower/shrub beds, plus 7 trees that have their own little beds. Taking care of me and all that plus all the neighbors who call here when they need any kind of help keeps DH off the streets!

Hard to believe that we have been here almost 17 years.

We currently live in a beautiful heavily treed area north of Houston, TX. We, my husband, myself, and our little dog, have been here about 7 years, we moved here from the Dallas area. My husband's business was expanding into this area. We have a little under an acre, most of our other homes have had much more acreage so this was downsizing. The house is a mid century modern style about 4000 Sq feet, this was not downsizing! We just fell in love with the place which was completely unlike any other homes we had. This area was a huge Plantation so there are massive oak trees and a lot of Pecan trees. I have over 30 large trees on the property. The tall Pines that touch the clouds it seems just tower over everything. We are in a great neighborhood with great neighbors, we watch out for each other. We have awesome medical centers, schools and doctors near by. Which I need now with my health issues. It's a good reason to stay here.

I'm not sure it will be our forever home, it's really big, more than we need, and we both would prefer a little more rural area with a few more acres and less house to take care of. But we certainly have not made any decisions and are not in a hurry to do any moving!

I love my big old atrium which allows me to garden much more easily and accessible. Plus we get to enjoy the beauty from the many windows in the house. My hidden garden.

I love being on or near the water so ideally we would like to find a little place on a pretty piece of land with some type of water view. An option we have seriously considered is the property with no house but a nice area for the RV. We keep the house here and have that as our home away from home, best of both worlds lol.

I enjoy reading about your houses and where you live

Small town girl here. DH and I both grew up small farming towns (<1,500) in the Mississippi River Delta. Ironically our childhood homes were both across the street from the Methodist Church in our towns. We met briefly at University, but didn't connect until after we had finished our professional education (law/dentistry) in different cities. Those four years for each of us are the only times either of us have we've lived in a city of over 150,000 (so small cities at that).

Luckily when we finally connected, he was building a practice in a small town (but not a farming town and a good deal larger than our childhood hometowns) within commuting distance of the city where I had already accepted a job as an associate at a prestigious lawfirm. Our town's current population is about 5,000 but is well known for an excellent countywide school district. Ironically, we ended up buying a big white house built by a member of the town's most prominent families in the 1930s right across from the Methodist Church. Although this town is more of a timber area and different geology from my hometown, it is still only a bit more than an hour away. My Mom still lives there and the family farm is there, so there will always be a strong connection.

We've been very happy here for 31 years, but in a couple of years we will retire (or semi-retire - I may stay with my firm in an of counsel role for a while because there is no much I can do remotely and DH may do some locum tenen practice) in Steamboat Springs Colorado. We've owned a second home there for 17 years and where our daughter and SIL are settled and it's a great fit for us because it is basically still a small town, but with amenities you would typically find in a much larger town. Full time population ~= 12,000, but more than double during ski season and the summers. It is also the largest town in about a 50-75 mile trade area, so it has state of the art medical facilities (now associated with Mayo Clinic), symphonies and an arts scene that are fabulous. Our lot is in a small subdivision that is right in the middle of it all, but still secluded and prohibits nightly rentals. Bear. moose, elk, etc, are often spotted on the trail running beside the mountain stream in our backyard. There is also a lovely senior center in town with stages for independent living, assisted living, memory caes and a nursing home, so I am hopeful that my Mom will make the mive with us.

I live in the country on a 160 acre farm. I am 16 miles from any amount of shopping places but quite a few restaurants close by. I think of selling and moving to town to a senior apartment since my husband passed away, but I do like the country.

I live in a house in Southern California, so it might not look "urban" to people used to vertical cities, but it is by our reckoning. Small garden. Just big enough to balance with the house. I have an herb bed with some peppers and a lemon tree, but not enough room (or water) for urban farming. No plans to move. Just did up the kitchen a few years ago. :)

I grew up in Windsor Ontario, but moved to Toronto after college, for my first job. After marrying my husband, we moved to a suburb 30 minutes northeast of Toronto, to avoid the higher housing costs in Toronto, but still be close enough to enjoy everything we love about the big city. Our house is 2,000 sq. feet, not including the finished basement. Our 3 kids are all on their own now, so our house, while not huge by any means, feels a bit large to me, with no children and 3 empty bedrooms.

Our daughter, who is our only child to currently be a parent, recently moved with her hubby to the province of New Brunswick. If they love it there, in a few years, we may move there to be closer to them. Our sons (still single) aren't planning on having children ever, or only possibly. They have both give us their blessing to move away, to be close to our grandchild and soon to be, sibling. I'm almost 60, so it will indeed feel strange if we move to the east coast, after spending all my life in Ontario!

My DH and I live less that 20 miles north of Fort Worth Texas in a smallish town of ~10,000. We own a SFH 1675 sg ft with almost a 1/3 acre plot. I love my neighborhood and couldn't imagine leaving here, tornados and trailer parks happily accepted.

I just couldn't live in an urban area with so much humanity on top of me.

I was widowed 4 years ago and moved "back home"...or at least in the same county where I spent most of my life in mid-east Kansas. It is a small little laid-back town and boosts a whopping 2,500 of the best people I could ever hope to find....heck, we even have two stop lights!

I live in a 1638 sf home on a pretry little lake built just for me when I moved here. I feel safe here and it was a great decision. We have a great hospital and staff, a wonderful fully equipped recreation center with inside and outside swimming pools, walking track, latest machines and it is all free to residents, beautiful schools and facilities...everything I need!

i have a son and his wife, who live right across the steet and one daughter and family 65 miles away and the other daughter and family who lives 80 miles away....so it makes keeping up with family easy. Life is good and I am thankful for every day I am given to enjoy it.

We moved here along the southern California coast 36 years ago with a new baby, a toddler and our only daughter who was ready to start kindergarten. We are about 2 or 3 miles from the beach in an upscale community in southern Orange County. Our SFH is about 3300 square feet, 5 bedrooms upstairs, with another one used as an office downstairs. We have kept this house as empty nesters so that the kids and grands can all come at the same time and we can have a wonderful family visit. We kept all their bedrooms as bedrooms, and it is great when everyone is here. We have told them to feel free to stop over with a quick phone call whenever they want to, and we do babysit for the parents while they go out to dinner or run errands.

If we were to buy a 2 bedroom condo here, we would be paying more for it than we would get for selling this house. So we stay and have visitors as often as possible. DD and two grandsons arrive for a few days tomorrow; younger son arrives the following week. This is where my kids grew up, and so they are quite comfortable coming home and hitting their favorite haunts.

And to me, deep down inside, this is still my new house on a hill overlooking a small canyon that leads to the ocean and provides us cool breezes.

We live in a little town of 850 people in southern Vermont. I say southern because here it only goes to minus 30 in the winter. I have a 1250 sf modular ranch that's about 12 years old and we use our woodstove as the primary heat source. We have neighbors and we are friends, but the attitude around here is "I leave you alone and you leave me alone, but if you have an emergency you better call me first!"

Our road is not paved, which is not unusual because in Vermont there are more unpaved roads than paved ones. There are no malls within a 60 minute drive and the local Walmart is about 1/3 the size of a normal one. When Walmart came here they were not allowed to build a new store and were told that if they wanted to come here there was an empty store they could use, but could not expand it one foot. If we need milk or bread or something the local general store is 3 miles away and you can still run a 'tab'.

We observe the New England tradition of Town Meeting once a year where everybody gets together at the school and we discuss everything. We vote on everything too. Things like the road budget, the cemetery budget, the town budget, the school budget etc. Talk about local control.

But the OP said something we all missed. She wanted to know where she "belonged". I think everybody could have a different answer. I cannot live in an urban area if my life depended on it as I hate cities. Others on the other hand could never see themselves living in the country or rural areas. So my answer to her would be she belongs foremost somewhere where she is safe, and second, happy.

Christopher, Vermont is unique--and very beautiful. I live on a dirt road and heat with wood too.

About belonging . . . I've always loved New England, and was thrilled in the early 1970s when my husband got a job in Boston and we made the decision to move to southern New Hampshire. I went hunting for restored antique houses with acreage, and fell in love with every one that I looked at. I felt as though I'd landed where I belonged.

But my husband hadn't landed in the job where he belonged. With all our furniture in storage in Boston, and with me in love with NH, we reluctantly decided to go back to PA. Years later, reading Yankee magazine, I saw a couple of those houses I'd looked at. The prices had skyrocketed, and so had the property taxes. I could never afford to live there now.

Both DH and I were born and raised in SF/Bay area and is where we have raised our two sons. This is our third house in 35 years, I love everything about it and the community. Our home is a 4 bd, 3 bath single story on nice sized lot with an inground pool. Even though we are in the burbs, I am surrounded by hills and hiking trails which are now brown from the drought. Shopping and all that I need is very close. My oldest son and DIL live and work in Silicon Valley, so they are less than 40 miles. Youngest son works and lives a tad closer, so it makes me happy to have them nearby and even happier when babies start arriving :) My parents still live in the house that I grew up in, which is fairly close, so I am able to take care of them, although they are still quite healthy and independent in their 80's.

"hills and hiking trails which are now brown from the drought"

I'm not sure where you are, matti, but the Bay Area hills I know, and indeed those up and down the state, are always brown in the summertime except for where there are trees or chaparral brush. Are you saying the chaparral in your area is dying?

You surely know that the same hills turn green when the fall/winter rains make wild grasses sprout. Whether a drought year or a year of heavy rain, it's the same brown everywhere by now.

I live amongst the other Bay Area folks here in the suburbs, in a 2000 sq ft house that I love. Our lot is about 8000 sq ft, but it's big enough to grow some tomatoes and beans every year. (I probably shouldn't have planted this year, but we eat a LOT of tomatoes and I couldn't resist.) However, prices have risen so drastically that I don't see any of our kids having a chance to live here as well, though one dd rents an apartment 15 minutes away for now. Dh dreams of moving to a small town, preferably near the coast as he relates this area to the rat race of his job. We will have to have discussions...

Snidely I've been living in the same area for 60 years and I am quite familiar with my surroundings. I know what it looks like when in drought years vs non and yes, I surely know what makes the hills turn green lol

I live in southern Orange County. My husband and I just moved into our house about 2 years ago. It's just over 2,000 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms. We have a little backyard where I'm growing vegetables. We live in a little subdivision and while I don't know my neighbors, they all seem very nice. Our house was built in the 90's, so a lot of the original owners are selling and young families are moving in, which is great as we hope to have kids in the next few years.

We love the location. It's near everything, and has excellent schools. I don't think this will be our forever home (I want an ocean view someday) but for now, I'm happy. We're going to be remodeling the kitchen and bathrooms sometime which will really improve the house.

Alisande, the reason the property taxes are high is because New Hampshire has no sales or income tax, and the money must come from somewhere.

I live on the Texas Gulf Coast, not far from Galveston and Houston. I live in an old farmhouse on Chocolate Bayou. I have no near neighbors, and I love it here. I plan to stay until I am carried out feet first. This is the bayou behind my house.

I live in the Southwestern part of Arizona. Born and raised here and love it. I guess I am one of the few that live in a part of the country that gets "hot" in the summer. Not much humidity though, which makes it bearable for me. As with anywhere else you live, you learn to live with the existing conditions, and during the summer months you do all your shopping in the morning or evening. The rest of the year makes up for it though, we have beautiful weather. We live in a ranch-style (one level) home on one acre, and we have great neighbors.

I've enjoyed seeing the pictures, so I took the camera on my last
Japanese beetle raid of the evening. It's so humid I couldn't get a
good, clear focus, but here is our very green little valley.

I live in Central KY, in a small town about 25 miles from Lexington. I work in Lexington, thought about moving there many times but there have been so many shootings there the past couple years I've decided not to. My son lives and works in downtown Lexington and I worry about him a lot. My daughter is here on summer vacation, is going to college up north. Our house is 1400 sq feet on 1/4 acre lot. Lot of trees in my yard...backyard anyway, only one out front. The house is needing some fixing up. I want to tear the sunroom off and someday build a deck. We have two large dogs and if I didn't have them I would probably move to a newer home on a tiny lot. Not that I like living right next to my neighbor but I'm tired of the work it takes to clean up all the weeds that come up in the yard. I like it here but also like visiting the big city.

DH and I are originally from Pittsburgh but we moved across the state to the Philadelphia area for graduate school and jobs. We've been here now for over 40 years. This is only our second home. Our first was a bi-level which I detested and we left after 4 years.

I love my current home, neighbors, town and location. The first English settlers built a homestead in 1682 ( before Wm. Penn founded Philly) and the town has a great school system, a wonderful small town feeling and a strong Quaker heritage.

My town was voted #1 of the top 100 best places to live in the US by Money Magazine. The population is around 20,000 and the location is great - we're only 10 miles from Philly, the ocean is only 60 miles, New York City is about 90 minutes, and we can get to our place in mountains of NE PA in 3 hours.

We're now empty nesters and we think about downsizing to a ranch or a Cape Cod but we've remodeled, redecorated and added on to this home and now it's just right. All 3 adult kids live in Philly and we're fortunate that they're so close.

Hubby and I grew up as neighbors in Northern California (Saratoga) and moved to Southern California when we married in 1973. He was in the Navy stationed in So Cal.

We are currently in our third home near the coast in Orange County (OC) and have been here 34 years. It's a small single family home in a planned community that values open space set aside for nature conservation and recreation. I spend a good deal of time at a wildlife sanctuary 4 miles from home and often hike local mountains. I can easily hike in the morning and be at the beach (Newport, Laguna or Huntington) in the afternoon.

We also still own our second home, also in OC. Our son lives in that though he is currently in escrow on his own place.

OC lies between Los Angeles and San Diego making a trip to either place about an hour away. Though living in OC one really doesn't need to go anywhere else as there is plenty to do here. Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm are under 20 miles away. Lots of shopping nearby. Performing arts opportunities abound and even a good sized airport (John Wayne).

Our home is small but we were able to comfortably raise two kids in it with excellent schools nearby. We are walking distance to banks, medical facilities and lakes (man made). Tennis courts, bicycle and running paths, and nature surround us.

While I love it here, I am interested in moving to another country for a year before I die. Both of our homes have been paid off for many years so essentially we could rent both out and live anywhere on the profits we earn from rental income. Three more years and I'll be set to retire. Yea! :-)

I'm from "everywhere". I've lived in the northeast, the south Pacific, west Coast, and now the South. I live in Nashville, practically downtown. Close enough to everything, far enough from most traffic. We share a house with our landlord.

At first, it was friends who shared the top two floors, and we the bottom. They tried for a year or two to adopt a second time, but didn't have funds. So they sold their house in our booming housing market (some say it's a bubble about to burst. My last house has gained $51,000 in value in the past five years. I think that's a lot, considering where it was. It can't continue that way?), and built 20 miles south.

My current landlords are about to have another baby, and they too want to move. Something about that house only allows one child at a time upstairs! So I am moving. Going back to owning instead of renting. I'll still live in "west" Nashville so as to be close enough to everything, and not too much traffic. I hope!

Husband retired and we moved to Texas which we both loved. We chose Kerrville because of the weather...Not as hot in the summer and no bad winters. We built our house while living in a 1200 sq foot workshop ...It already had hot and cold water and a huger sink so we had a room enclosed on that end and moved all our furniture and boxes into the other side. We bought an RV to use to live in but we just slept out there and used the bathroom/shower. Other than that we lived in the shed. I made a kitchen and we brought in the tv and recliners..Our house is 2400 square foot and it sits on 5 acres. I had a huge garden and did all the country things, gardening, canning and making my own bread etc but unfortunately cancer kicked my feet out from under me. Now we pay for all the upkeep and hope to stay here for a while longer as it is close to Kerrville, 4 miles south and we have great hospital and doctors available...When we are forced to sell. we will probably move close to our son and daughter in Austin.Here is a link to our prettty little town...Kerrville TX

My husband lived in Kerrville as a child. It's a lovely city.

I've spent most of my adult life in southwestern Massachusetts in a suburban setting. I like the location because of its convenience. Cape Cod is 1 hour away, Providence is 20 minutes and Boston is 45 minutes to an hour depending on traffic. About five years after my DH died, I sold the family home and moved into an apartment until I found where I wanted to move permanently. Last year I found a duplex townhouse in an over 55 community and bought it on the spot. I've been very happy here. It's more square footage than my house but is more convenient for me with a walk in shower, laundry and MB on the first floor. My youngest daughter is currently living with me and has the second floor to herself. She works from home a lot and has plenty of room and her own bath to spread out. There's a tiny den up there which she uses as an office and we call it her woman cave. As much as I like it here, I have started spending winters in Florida with my significant other. He hates cold weather and loves being able to play golf and tennis year round. We live together in Florida but both own our own places up north.

I live in NW Pennsylvania in a 100+ year old farmhouse that used to be my grandparents. We lived here all our married lives (42 yrs) and raised 4 children here. It is in a rural area on 5 acres. Now that I am widowed my one son who is single lives with me and takes care of the plowing in winter and mowing in summer.