Pros and Cons Living in your city / state 🌃

cuddles_ndream

For the last few weeks I’ve been watching videos on the best & worst places to live in the U.S. I’ve always imagined Maine being the absolute best place to live for my simple lifestyle especially during the summer & fall time, & south Florida being the best place to live especially during the winter & spring time … some of the videos I’ve watched pointed out reasons why you would love & hate it in both those places… but instead of hearing it from people who don’t actually live there, I’d love to hear it straight from you guys what it is you love & dislike about the city / state you live in.

xelda

I'll play...

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada:
Best:

• the international cuisine is amazing! Winnipeg is often chosen as a testing site for chain restaurants' new menu items, because we are a tough sell with discerning tastes
• cost of living (a house worth over a million in other large cities can be had for $350,000)
• big enough city with everything you need, with lakes, forests, fields, and tiny towns within an hour's drive

Worst:

• winter
• I can't stress this enough... winter; we make international news most years for the coldest, most snow place on the planet... sometimes even colder than Mars. It's why we have so many snowbirds. It's why I'm one of them!
• I'm told that it's hard to make friends here. I think it's because we are housebound by winters for 8 months of the year!
• murder capital of Canada several years running

Babichev

St. Louis:

Best:
Lower cost of living than a lot of cities
Some very nice, accessible cultural opportunities
Fairly decent variety of ethnic restaurants

Worst:
Very spread out
Summers are too hot and humid
Bad public transportation

cuddles_ndream

New York City

Pros:
-Melting Pot of the world
-Diverse cultures & neighborhoods
-Guaranteed to find most cuisines / dishes / restaurants in the world
-a night life & many places opened 24 hours from car washes to delis / restaurants / mechanics / ect
-you really get to experience all 4 seasons (winter / spring / summer / fall)

Cons:
-Parking is horrible (it is so bad, that it deserves to be 1st on this list
-Yes, parking is really that bad
-Roads are horrible / potholes & bad traffic are a norm
-Rent is simply ridiculous, studios (not a 1 bedroom) but studios are surpassing the $2,500 price tag & reaching the $3,000 mark (in really bad neighborhoods
-Small businesses / mom & pops are being replaced by corporate stores like Walgreens & the likes , we’re rapidly loosing our sense of community & 2020 unfortunately sped up the process
-we have one of the biggest gimmicks ever - time square! , where tourist fly from All over the world to literally see billboards with shiny lights & get charged $3 dollars for an 8 ounce bottle of water

ShaneSchrute

Austin, TX:
Best:
• Winters are mild - one snow storm every 5-10 years
• Amazing public art, great live music & lots of live theatre options.
• Lots of parks.
• 1,000,000 bats living under a downtown bridge all summer.
• Progressive, liberal city in the middle of a pretty racist state.

Worst:
• It’s still a little racist.
• Highways are terrible.
• Lots of people whining about how it used to be smaller, cuter; more like how Portland, Oregon still is.
• It can be over 100 degrees over 100 days In the summer

CuddleDuncan

@cuddles_ndream I've been to NYC a number of times and I like it very much. I went to Times Square on my first visit in about 1992 - I didn't know otherwise - and yes, it was probably the shittiest place I've ever been. I'm told it's better now.

ShaneSchrute

This is just an aside but when a place gets put down for being too touristy I love going to see exactly how tacky and “awful” it is.

Oh? Your town has the world’s largest ball of twine? yes please!

Is there a billboard advertising the world’s largest non-natural cave?! I’m in there!

World’s largest Bull Statue in Australia? YES I’ll go out of my way 1,000 kilometers to visit its weirdly shaped gift shop in one of its hooves!! And if you’re cool you will get bull shaped postcard from me!

Time Square is the worst tourist spot? Well. While I’m collecting all these experiences where a tourist trap claims a superlative: count me in! Is the big cup-a-soup thing still up there? Let me get a stupid photo right under it!

I am after all a tourist. Let’s go do tourists stuff! Yes I’ll visit “secret/hidden treasures” and beloved local hot spots. But I will also Visit: World Famous Atomic Rock!!

biancalovecraft

One of my favorite subjects! I love this thread
I have only had love/hate relationships with any place I've lived, and often maintain dual residency one way or another. I'm taking a timeout in San Diego as I type this for the hate list, which is really just the shadow of the love list.
I've been talking about this with many of my friends and could go on forever but I'll do three.

Oh Los Angeles 💔

Love:
Diversity! We have everyone, I've been able to explore of submerge myself in so many cultures, and as an insatiably curious creature, I've loved that, and feel really weird and uncomfortable if I'm in an area dominated by one race or even culture. Speaking of-
Culture: I came to and stayed in LA to go to university and develop as a dancer and teacher, and I had ample opportunity, and was able to evolve and support myself in one of the most competitive and poorly paid professions that exists, and had access to some of the best teachers, chorographers, and mentors (at least before the plague.) We have impressive educational institutions, and brilliant people who come with that. Also incredible museums, food, gardens, artistic opportunities, and unconventional weirdos like me.
Natural environment:
We're beautiful. We have a glorious coast and beautiful mountains and you can see all of them in one day. Hiking and beaches 300 days a year. The weather renders immediate converts, and socal natives like me are crippled for life as far as surviving anywhere else.

The shadow side:
It's a hard place to live if you aren't rich or have a very strong support system.
It's expensive there's devastating poverty, and so unequal it's becoming third world. A high-rise multi-million dollar penthouse or trendy rooftop pool or restaurant in downtown LA can occupy the same square footage on the ground as a tent city, and all the filth, danger, disease and general misery that goes with it. You STEP over them on your way up to have an $22 martini. Same goes for a very modest $2k/ month apartment. Obscene. I can't enjoy anything watching people suffer right in front of me and it was seriously messing with my mental health. I don't know how we do it.

Cars!
They are everywhere!!! They ruin everything!! You will be rear ended side swiped and t-boned! You will dodge them When you have right-of-way in a crosswalk! And you will have to have one because you will not ride a bike anywhere if you want to live! All the great things in a 30 mile radius - you'll pass because it's too exhausting and stressful to get there. You will breathe carcinogenic smog daily. Also, If you intend to take advantage of everything the city has to offer or work outside of your home, you will live a third of your life on the freeway and circling the block looking for parking (which you will pay for) Oh and if you want to park it where you live, your rent just went up $500.

Crowding and competition.
We wait in line for everything day or night. Table for lunch, line. Mediocre coffee, line. Getting on the freeway to go home, LINE! There's not much space or solitude unless you hole up in that expensive shabby apartment, but it still won't be quiet. Neighbors through the walls, gas belching leaf blowers, traffic going by, and the mighty helicopter fleet of the LAPD as well as the news stations. It makes people irritable, transient, and antisocial, and definitely contributes to the loneliness epidemic.

I'll be back.

Rezz

Nashville TN

Pros

• Lots of natural gems both inside and outside of Nashville
• Pretty diverse now that everyone from CA and NYC have moved here
• Winters are usually mild with very little snow. It was 64 today
• Friendly city
• Relatively low crime if you stay away from downtown Nashville where the bachelorette parties go and booze wagons reside

Cons

• EXPENSIVE
• want to but a house? Too bad, you will be outbid by 15 others offering 10-25k over the asking price. So be prepared to rent for the unforseeable future
• Rent is laughably expensive. My 1 bedroom apartment 20 mins from downtown Nashville , $1600 a month not including utilities. Studios start around $1400
• Mass transit is a joke
• Worst drivers ever
• Roads are just as bad
• our transport infrastructure is outdated by decades
• 420 is still not legal.

☺️👋🏼👋🏼 Wilmington, DE

👍🏼 TAXES!! No sales tax, low income tax, and low property taxes
👍🏼 Diverse natural habitats… Beaches, estuaries, forests, farmland
👍🏼 Low cost of living
👍🏼 Great modern, diverse, and established restaurants/bars
👍🏼 Close proximity to Philadelphia, Baltimore, DC, and NYC

👎🏼 Poor infrastructure
👎🏼 Low median household income
👎🏼 Poor education
👎🏼 Crime rate per capita is insanely high
👎🏼 Traffic, especially beach season and Biden jams when he comes home

tyspace

Richmond, Indiana

Pros:
Small town with a Quaker college
Good schools
Close to Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Dayton and Columbus.

Cons:
Zero quality restaurants
Social scene is abysmal
No Cuddlers

xandriarain

Philadelphia, PA (I’m in the suburbs)
Pros
1. Housing/ cost of living is generally more affordable than other major cities on the East coast.
2. There is a decent amount of economic opportunities
3. We get all four seasons
4. Historic charm
5. Lots of nature and hiking trails
6. You can drive to NYC, DC, the Pocono Mountains and the Jersey Shore within a couple of hours.

Cons
1. One of the poorest big cities in the country
2. Winter is depressing
3. Summer is super hot and humid
4. Very congested roads and poor public transit system
5. The suburbs are more expensive than the city
6. High crime rates in the city
7. Not as progressive as other major cities or most of the west coast.

Mela_B

I live in rural Pennsylvania in a tiny little town called Lewisberry. I list Harrisburg because the first 20 messages I got here all said "Where the heck is Lewisberry?" 😂

What I love about where I live is:

1. It's antique and small, with lots of farm land and spaced out properties.
2. There are a lot of beautiful wild spaces.
3. The views are incredible, I can see mountains everywhere I look.
4. I can see all the stars at night.
5. Deer graze in all the fields everywhere in my city.
6. There are beautiful creeks and streams with fresh water that are lovely to fish, kayak, and swim in

What I don't like:

1. It's kind of racist in certain places and I am decidedly not so.
2. Unfortunately I have noticed that there seems to be a lot of litter in the more popular areas and the towns do nothing to clean it up.
3. There's no beach lol 😂

Maine's pretty and all but I've lived here my whole life so it's 🤷‍♀️. You'll love it if you love nothing but trees for miles, mountains right near the ocean, lots of places to go hiking, lakes and rivers for fishing, kayaking, sailing. If you enjoy hunting, snowmobiling, ice fishing, skiing, snowshoeing, etc etc. If you love the idea of getting bundled up and clearing snow off the car and driveway and driving in the snow... But today was warm. It was a sunny 36 degrees. Spring is still cool, windy, and muddy. Summer doesn't last long enough but temp is tolerable, not really too hot, mostly 80s. Fall is nice, foliage is pretty, but season is short, winter is close behind. Southern Maine is more city like - they like to say Portland, Maine is north Boston. I guess those were the pros...

Cons would be Central to North Maine is an older population. College educated young people leave because there's not a lot of opportunity here. A couple of hospitals and a lot of retail and restaurants. We have potato farms in Aroostook county and blueberries and lobstermen "downeast". Bangor here is where Stephen King owns a home but no longer resides and overdoses are common on the scanner, drug needles and homeless encampments are frequently seen. To live here comfortably though, you'd probably want to work in the medical sector or university system or work remotely if you're in a computer programming field or something.

The motto is "Vacationland". Great place to visit if you visit the coastal areas or Mt. Katahdin area. But avoid route 1A in the summer time (mostly one lane 50 mph highway where everyone goes 70 until traffic comes to a halt in summer because of so many tourists and accidents) and skip Bar Harbor - tourist trap. There are other nice areas for hiking, rock climbing, beaches, and touristy souvenir and antique shops on and off Mt. Desert Island, some wealthy and artsy coastal towns. I've lived here my whole life though and honestly I hate the outdoors except in summer and mostly go hiking, go to the beach, and paddle around in a kayak. Oh, and I almost forgot - we don't have any real sports teams. University of Maine Black Bears for hockey is the best you're gonna get in my area. Portland has semi pro baseball team the Sea Dogs. They tried to have a semi pro football team but that lasted one season. Best bet is Boston to attend sportsball events. Portland is best for live music/nightlife. Bangor does have the outdoor concert venue Darlings Waterfront Pavilion (changed recently to Maine Savings Amphitheater) which gets mixed reviews.

Bryan123

Morgantown, Wv

Benefits
-Not a big city compared to other cities like Pittsburgh or Chicago, but big to West Virginia (so there is something to do here). The next town which is comparable, but smaller, is about 30 minutes away, so it is rural outside of the city, which I like.
-As someone who is young for this site this is a plus for me, but the WVU atmosphere is cool, and the attending the games are fun!
- The scenery is amazing outside of Morgantown is splendid with the mountains.
- Pepperoni rolls, which is essentially pepperoni in a bread roll. The best ones are homemade, though the ones you can get at Sheetz or any other gas station are not that bad, either.
- Of course, it is almost heaven!!

Downsides
-The potholes are frequent, I call this town pothole city.
- Terrible roads.
- When the WVU students are in the city, traffic is terrible.
- Deer like to play leapfrog on the road.
- Parking is not easy to find when the WVU students are here.
- So basically, driving in Morgantown

HogboblinZwei

I've lived in Fargo, North Dakota for two years shy of a decade. Here's my list!

Pros

The cost of living is cheap.

Cons

Racists, everywhere. Before moving to North Dakota I'd spent most of my life in southern California (Eagle Rock, Glendale, Palmdale). I was not prepared for the blatant prejudice against anyone who isn't white. My brain has come to associate those who wear camo, American flag apparel, MAGA gear, and American Fighter shirts with racism. Mainly because people who are openly racist often wear that type of stuff.

Homophobes/Transphobes, everywhere. While I've met gay men, lesbians, and trans people here in Fargo, those groups are excluded, or ignored. And when people from those groups aren't ignored, it's usually because a member of the LGBTQ+ community has been harassed or attacked. Whenever @DaringSprinter and I go out, we get weird looks—or get called out by white dudes with a limited vocabulary that mostly consists of slurs. One time, while on the bus, some dude sitting behind us kept repeating "die you f__king f__s" for like...thirty minutes. It was hilariously pathetic.

Tweakers, everywhere. Seriously, meth is a huge problem in Fargo.

Downtown consists of five bars.

Have I mentioned the methamphetamine crisis?

Science deniers, everywhere. There were a few months last year where North Dakota was breaking Covid records in the US. The reason? Conspiracy theorists and the scientifically illiterate are in the majority by a huge margin.

So...yeah. It's cheap to live here. That's swell.

JasonCuddles

I live in calgary, alberta.

Pros:
A decent amount of green space
I feel safe

Cons:
Expensive
Bad public transit
Illegal to have convenient shopping
Illegal to have convenient living space
Bad path network
Poor clearing of the path network that exists
Fake construction zones just everywhere all the time
No good system(s) for helping people who need help
Large numbers of walls blocking people from walking places

I am sure I could think of more cons....possible another pro.....but that's all I have just off the top of my head.

cuddles_ndream

A lot of great responses!! : ), didn’t expect so many so I’ll try & keep my responses as short as possible

@xelda thanks for kicking things off … me being the foodie that I am I feel that winnipeg is a must now! I like how affordable a dream home 🏡 could be, i love condos & I feel that a modern 2 bedroom / 2 bathrooms / 2 parking / balcony / patio will be a reality there! I hate extreme cold & extreme hot & I found the stats you shared with us as far as cold & snow very interesting 😅

@Babichev I’ve always wondered about St. Louis … all I’ve known is that 2 rappers that I’ve listened to around 2002-2005 are from there (Nelly & Chingy) have you heard of them? 🎶 🎧

@ShaneMTB I'm digging the Live music scene of Austin Texas , your follow up reply about being a tourist & loving those very places that people say you shouldn’t go to had never literally laughing 😂, I haven’t been to time square in so long & it is literally , right there! But I hope they kept the soup thing above the clock because it is iconic & it is one of the 1st things people think about when they think time square

@biancalovecraft thanks for your very detailed description about L.A. , I almost feel like I’ve visited already, everything you mentioned checks out with the buddies of mines who have visited there , but they all seem to really love it, (maybe because it is somewhat the opposite of nyc as far vibes & structure / city layout?) would definitely love to visit LA & see for myself.

@Rezz i had a chance to visit Nashville Tennessee for a chess tournament & couldn’t because I didn’t sell enough chocolates in the 7th grade or something like that lol 😂 I was soo mad & didn’t sell the rest of them, ate the chocolate I didn’t sell & kept the money & I was very jealous of all my friends that got to go, including my brother , everyone loved it! Lol it sucks that since Nashville is the “it” place that it is affecting home prices & people will outbid the asking prices just to secure a place, the same happened with Phoenix Arizona & it is now happening near Elon Musk space X location in Texas …hopefully the people moving in from Cali & Nyc are a nice welcome instead of a burden.

@SweetiSammi I remember visiting Delaware once for white water rafting (many many many years ago) & I’m digging the low taxes & low cost of living … like you mention it isn’t ridiculous far from nyc / Baltimore / Philly & dc , … Nyc is regarded as having one of the best water & water system in the country / world & part of it comes from the Delaware River (incase you’re into random stuff like that) … I should’ve taken a dump in the water when I went white water rafting lol 😂 jk , I never viewed Delaware as a dangerous place, & one of my boys at work was telling me that alot of people here go down to Delaware to hustle , but I couldn’t picture it, but now that you mention it & you actually live there I believe him now lol.

@xandriarain every now & than me & my friends have absolutely nothing to do & we head out to Philly literally just to eat Philly cheesesteak smh @ us 🤦‍♂️ lol, but I love the 1:50 minute road trip when it happens like once every 6 months / going to Max’s & grabbing a beer while we wait for a delicious authentic cheesesteak, & like you mention, sooo much history down there so it’s nice to visit several spots … I like the fact that people could actually enjoy affordable football 🏈 & basketball 🏀 games with nice decent seats , & not like here in nyc where to see the knicks it is ridiculously expensive / they are always sold out / have a horrible record / haven’t won since the 70’s but continue to have sky high prices for games… and yes when we go there I’m extra alert & focused … the fact that grocery stores close by 7pm / Chinese restaurant have bulletproof glass / & gas stations sell through a sliding drawer, let’s me know exactly where I’m at! I’m glad you’re in the suburbs.

@Mela_B Lewisberry sounds like the dream place to be! backpacking / camping was a big part of my childhood & I have such a huge love & appreciation for the night sky 🌌 / open space / mountains ⛰ rain 🌧 lakes & creeks 🛶 ect, this scenery is almost the exact same where my grandparents live … Nyc living has gotten me so lazy 🤦‍♂️ we have a super that clears the snow ❄️ in the winter / takes out the trash / fixes anything that goes wrong / this is why I want a condo so bad … so that I can pay maintenance fee that continues covering all that lol, I would sooo love your scenery & I know that every single day I’m missing out.

@MaineCuddle thanks for your detailed breakdown and of maine, I’ve been curious about Main since about 2004 give or take because one of my co-workers at the time came from maine, & this dude was the nicest / friendliest guy in the world , he would also give 60% od his salary away to charity (which I couldn’t believe) & he described maine as being super friendly & lots of apple 🍎 picking … later on I learned that maine supplies 90% of the lobster in the country / so while we have to pay $18.00 for a lobster 🦞 roll here, I imagine this not being the case there , the foliage in the fall is gorgeous 🍁 🍂 I feel that New England states really enjoy democracy , (I don’t know how to explain this, but I feel that these states are really for the people & they actively participate ) I can only imagine the coastal areas … I barely could stand the winter here in the city & I know you guys get a much tougher winter which lasts much longer … I think I’m attracted to the simplicity : )

@Briana123 i spent several years in virgina, always curious how different West Virginia is, thank you for sharing & thank for mentioning the pepperoni rolls, should I take a road trip that takes me that way or I need to pass through, I’ll be shore time stop for a pepperoni roll 😋

@HogboblinZwei North Dakota doesn’t seem welcoming at all, or Atleast In Fargo … sorry you & DaringSprinter have to go through that, seems like the complete total opposite of SoCal & it seems like a big jump from there, wondering what made you take the leap 8 years ago & what makes you stay.

@JasonCuddles Wow! I would hate to pay any tax there, but I’m glad you feel safe which is very important.

quixotic_life

Portland, Oregon (aka: Stumptown, Bridge City, Rose City, Tree City, "Portlandia", Hippster Ville, among a mess of others...)

Pros ~
☆ It's like a small town ~ people are generally pretty decent, it common to run into the same people even when in a different part of the city
☆ We still have a few delightfully weird weirdos about
☆ The city lights reflected on the water at night are beautiful
☆ Art abounds
☆ Reuse centers are abundant
☆ The proximity to elsewhere (beach, mountains, deserts, caves, rivers, waterfalls, etc.) is great ~ it's an outdoor enthusiast's dream!
☆ Tons of great food
☆ A semi-decent public transportation system (kinda location dependent)
☆ And if you're into it we also have beer and weed and the decriminalization of personal amounts of elicit drugs, tons of strip clubs and cabaret, and fairly lax enforcement of laws (unless you're a POC).

Cons ~
¤ This city favors white people - though there are a ton of people working to correct things, racism and inequity still run deep in our institutions
¤ The homeless epidemic - It's exploded in recent years
¤ Driving is a flippin nightmare!!
¤ The cost of housing is insane! ~ Crap rentals are over a grand a month for less than 700 sqft, mobile homes are over 120k, dinky condos over 200k and homes that were 250k five years ago are easily going for well over 500k.
¤ And our schools are understaffed & underfunded

But my family is mostly here so ... 🤷‍♀️ I guess I'm staying...

UKGuy

Phoenix, Arizona

Pros:
Very mild winters (no snow ever, but if you want it drive to northern AZ, they get lots)
95% of the year it's sunny with clear blue skies
Amazing desert scenery
Wonderful sunsets
Friendlier people than the north east where I lived before

Cons:
Brutally hot dry summers (over 100 degrees for months) but you do get used to it.
Too many people and too many cars
Not much character, everything is new
Far from any other major city
Far from any ocean (but we do have lakes)

cuddles_ndream

Sorry guys I noticed a lot of spelling / grammar errors In my previous reply due to rushing & trying to get to everyone, but gonna leave it as it is.

@quixotic_life after reading your description of Portland, Oregon it sounds fun as hell!!! Especially all those strip clubs lol jk but I’m glad weed is legal (even though I’m not a weed smoker), that you guys have beer 🍺 (I’m definitely a beer guy) / tons of great food 🍔 (I’m all about a delicious bite 😋) lax enforcement of law ( unless necessary) & just overall

@UKGuy I had the privilege to be an exchange student for several weeks in Arizona when I was like 10, & yes I was very young, but I loved it! It felt just right, it felt like home! Everything about it… so I was very surprised to have watched this YouTube video by Nick Johnson … I feel like his videos are very accurate & well researched , so I was bummed to see his description of Arizona today … do you agree?

JoyfulHeart

Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Pros:

Just the right size--a small town feel, with everything that's needed for day to day life

Rich history--it's the oldest inland city in the US

Culturally relevant--there's a "gallery row" displaying the work of local artists, and several venues for live performances

Central Market--the oldest continuously-operating market in the US

Temperate climate--snow never lasts too long

Close to scenic areas along the Susquehanna River

Cons:

The summers are often humid and sticky

The smell from farms can be off-putting to some

Potholes take forever to get fixed

@cuddles_ndream lobster rolls are that expensive here too. I hardly ever have lobster. Believe it or not, most people in Maine do not eat lobster or even seafood on a that much of a regular basis. Maybe fishing families on the coast do. I'm not really sure to be honest Tends to be a special occasion thing for most.

JasonCuddles

@cuddles_ndream many cities in North America have the problems I listed. It's like they were designed by the ford motor company.

cuddles_ndream

@CuddleDuncan if you visited time square in 1992, this was before Giuliani was mayor … Yes, I can only imagine how bad time square was, I hear stories all the time about life in Nyc prior Giuliani , especially time square … it is nothing like that today, although I don’t view time square as a big deal overall.

@JoyfulHeart thats really fascinating! I really love history , old establishments / architecture ect … seems like a really cool place to visit one day … if you’re into history, check out this video on the oldest bar in nyc - & oldest restaurant in the world -

@MaineCuddle thats really interesting to know lol, I’m not much of a seafood person, but I do enjoy lobster, whether it’s deep fried or broiled with butter, I could see myself enjoying fresh lobster from right there if I was living there 😋

Mela_B

I really, really want lobster now. 🤤

That recipe does look really tasty. I usually just have my giant sea scorpions boiled alive in salt water and then crack them open and dip the meat in melted butter. 😋

cuddles_ndream

@Mela_B deep fried lobster with all those spices & seasoning is yum 😋

@MaineCuddle last time I went to city island 🏝 (which is a seafood hub here in nyc) I almost got the boiled lobster 🦞 with melted butter 🧈, but on that last split second I ordered deep fried lol 😂, next time I go I’ll make sure to get boiled with butter for a change (but all those seasoning & spices for deep fried just taste so good! 🙈)