Did you pick where you live? How and why!
 

My fiance and I have been tossing around places we think we might want to live in a few years. Neither one of us have ever had to opportunity to sit down and pick an entirely new place to live. He was born in Pennsylvania and has only ever lived here. I was born in New Jersey but moved to Florida for college and moved to Pennsylvania to be with a long distance boyfriend. So I didn't really have a choice about the states I lived in.

In the next couple of years we are hoping to be self employed with the option of going almost anywhere we wish. So I'm curious how and why people chose where they wanted to live if they had a choice!

We have so many places on our list that we'd go broke trying to visit them all to figure out which ones we loved the most.

Nope. We moved back to my husband's hometown 2 years ago for work. It's okay, lots of positives, but a few massive negatives (the main one is that I don't speak the local language so it's very difficult for me out & about ~ although it's getting easier).

Maybe it's because I've lived in Canada all my life but I would certainly choose Florida hehe :) Cost of living has been a factor for us (in a good way) and I have to say that alone is very well worth it.

Well, I suppose I had a choice, but not really! ;) I was born and raised in South Florida. Other than college up in Boston, I have lived here all my life. My entire family and my wife's family both live here. So, I don't see us going anywhere! I complain about it a lot because its hot, the lack of open spaces, etc. But after spending winter vacation in North Carolina and dealing with the cold and snow, maybe we don't have it so bad after all.

There's a website called find your spot .com (I'm not sure if we can post links?). That will give you some things to think about.

re:
 

I have never picked really, just end up in certain places.

If you're going to pick...pick somewhere with a low cost of living and good employment.

For example, San Francisco is beautiful, but I'd hate to have to try to afford to live there.

My husband and I have a target lifetime city: San Diego.

We both were able to choose our college and grad school fairly freely and therefore have lived in the L.A. area and in Durham, NC (where we currently live).

We want to get back to southern CA because we love the weather and the lifestyle. San Diego is our ideal because it is a biotechnology hub (our field) and it's close to family but not TOO close.

If that doesn't happen, it will likely be because we can't find jobs there or found much much better jobs elsewhere.

My husband and I are from different coasts so there is no overwhelming familial pull to be in any particular city. I'm glad I moved out of the area I grew up in because I have perspective on it now - I can appreciate what was great about it and I know what I'm glad I don't have to put up with any longer.

If you are self-employed and location-independent I think you should definitely take taxes into account!

You might be interested in reading a series on a blog I follow on the advantages and disadvantages of living in each state according to people who live there.

Interesting thread. I grew up in Northern NY and have always HATED it here because of the miserable winters. I always knew I would move as soon as I completed college.

Then I met my husband and we got serious and he made it clear that he loved it here and would never move. So I made a decision to choose him.

Now here's the kicker - he is now sick of the winters and ready to move. But I feel "stuck" here because I have an AWESOME job working for the state - pay is great and magnificent benefits!!

I can retire in 18 years LOL.

Jen

Nope, my story is fairly similar to yours. I was born and raised in PA but moved to NY in 2008 for college. I spent January to May in one location, then started a new school in September closer to the city (not NYC, mind you) but still not really a bustling location. I moved here initially to be with my now ex-boyfriend but that relationship crumbled... I chose to change schools in September, but stay in NY, even after he'd already left because it was a better school for me to be at. I mean, at that point my options were: A) stay where I was and hate it, B) try a new school in NY, C) go home and feel like a failure. So B was kind of the obvious choice...

After I graduated, I stayed because a job fell in my lap right as I began to contemplate moving to Portland, Oregon. I'd visited Portland during a trip with my ex and loved it. Even after our breakup I loved it. I still do. I'm kind of tired of the weather here, it's freaky as ****. We had a week or so of nice weather but now it's cold and rainy. Just purely miserable. And the winter...ugh, don't get me started on our winters.

If my current boyfriend and I stay together and decide to move one day, we'll figure it out together. But he's already said he'd like to spend time in a location before choosing but I think that's rare. I think most people follow where their careers take them.


EDIT: Just saw CherryPie's post and now I'm wondering where in NY she is after catching this: "the miserable winters". :lol:

Moved 40 minutes from both our families. Close enough that we can drive there if something is wrong or to enjoy the holidays, far enough away that no one can just stop by!

I moved from Ohio to Portland, OR after grad school and loved it, but we moved back to Ohio when our DH was about a year old to be close to family. I don't regret it, but I do miss Portland. We will probably move south when we retire.

Love that find your spot website! I didn't get my answers because I didn't want to put in all sorts of personal information at the end, but the questions give you something to think about.

My current place, I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone and try somewhere new. Job availability was part of it. I'm SO ready to leave. I don't hate it -- but I definitely don't love it.

Yes, we chose to live where we live and we really like it despite some negative points. We live in Maryland outside of DC and we chose to live here because we liked the area. Both of us had lived in various places (I had lived in various parts of Southern California and Denver, my husband had lived in Philly, Virginia, North Carolina and Denver).

Positives
1) Trees - so many trees
2) Hiking - lots of good hiking and outdoor activities
3) Proximity to major cities - DC, New York, Philadelphia and the rest of the east coast aren't too far. Also fairly quick plane trips to Europe if we want to visit.
4) Lots of job opportunities - this was a big one for my husband but really we could live anywhere.
5) Close proximity to Husband's family

Negatives
1) High humidity in summer - Honestly, it is only super bad a few days out of the year but it is livable
2) Far from my family

Only reason we'd move is to live closer to my family which would put us in San Diego but I'd prefer to live here over San Diego.

Yes, I picked North Carolina at age 42 after a lifetime of living in Michigan. I had no connections to NC, in fact despite fairly extensive travel in the US, had not even visited it until I decided it might be my next home and took a week's vacation to check it out.

I didn't burn any bridges, initially I did not even sell my Michigan house. But after I had been here only a few months, I knew it was the right move and started house hunting here. It did take a lot for a shy person to move to a place where I knew no one, but I like to push myself and so glad I did it. I remember distinctly thinking that I could always move back if it was a mistake, but didn't want to be sitting around 10 years later wishing I'd tried the move 10 years earlier.

Lived lots of places courtesy of the US Navy, but Charleston, SC was by far our favorite. Gorgeous scenery, lots of history, fun downtown. Loved the people and the flavor of the city. Low cost of living.

Watertown - 30 miles south of Canada. Where are you?

We would LOVE to move to West Virginia!!