GTKY 9/29

nopegoat

@heytallmama's post in the randoms thread made me realize I don't think we've actually shared our locations. We also haven't had a GTKY thread in a bit so why not!



-Where's everyone at? As specific or general as you are comfortable sharing of course.
-What brought you there? 
-What's your favorite thing about where you live?
-What's your least favorite thing about where you live? 

nopegoat

-We are just South of Houston, Tx

-We moved here for H's job. We were hoping being closer to his office would mean him being home more but for years it seemed to be the exact opposite. Thankfully it's gotten a bit better.

-Favorite things are the long growing season and there's just so much of variety of everything here. Being from a much smaller town in Mississippi, it's nice to have actual choices for food, stores, animals, ect.

-Least favorite thing is it's soo dang hot and even though we live in a much more rural and smaller town there's still so many people that a lot of the activities and stuff are hard to really enjoy, especially since I'm a pretty severe introvert. It's also hard being so far from family.

mytrueloves

-Where's everyone at? As specific or general as you are comfortable sharing of course.
Currently located in a small town in rural Illinois. Big change for me since I've lived the majority of my life in the Detroit area.

-What brought you there? 
A few years ago, DH got a job offer in the area and we decided to go for it. We had 2 weeks to move out of state with a 1 month old, 2 dogs and a cat, and a flighty 5 year old. It was stressful. 

-What's your favorite thing about where you live?
Two main things. 1) before we moved here, I only had DH's friends as my friends and we saw them maybe once every 6 months. Since moving here, DH has made friends through work and I made friends with their wives. So we have a dedicated friend group that we see and talk to all the time. My best friend is the wife of his best friend he met through work. They have a daughter the same age as our toddler and they've grown up together and are very close. We see them every weekend and do tons of things together. Having an actual group of friends has been amazing for my mental health. 
2) I love living in a small town for the most part. The roads are so much safer. It's calm and quiet. DD#1's has the same kids in her class every year and has made a lot of friends. The library is a 5 minute walk away and has lots of activities. There are 2 parks within half an hour of my house. I love it. 

-What's your least favorite thing about where you live? 
Since we live rural, most people in the area are pretty conservative and can be pretty vocal about their opinions. That gets kinda scary for an LGBT+ family.

disneybaby23

-Where's everyone at? We live just on the outskirts of Anaheim, CA
-What brought you there? I grew up in the area and can’t bring myself to leave - it’s home and both sets of our parents are here so it’s hard to leave free childcare. 
-What's your favorite thing about where you live? I love being close to everything - beach, mountains, theme parks, baseball games, a zillion fun vacation spots, parks, shopping malls, there’s always something fun that we don’t have to go very far to get to.
-What's your least favorite thing about where you live? Traffic and housing prices. I wanted more than anything to not be in our tiny condo when we finally got pregnant but there’s literally nothing we can do about it. We’re totally priced out of our market right now so we’ll have to make do. 

muggsd

-Where's everyone at? As specific or general as you are comfortable sharing of course.
we live in Thunder Bay, Ontario. We’ve been here since late 2019, when we moved from the GTA. 

-What brought you there? 

Housing prices & family. Previously we lived in a small townhouse and it was right at the top of our budget. We didn’t see any room to move forward in that city. 

-What's your favorite thing about where you live? 

I grew up here, so my whole family is here which is awesome. We moved from a place with no connections so it was hard when we had our first. 

-What's your least favorite thing about where you live? We got here right before covid, so we never really had time to make friends. I have a few girlfriends from high school that I get along with fine, but I wouldn’t consider us close at all. 

miss_lynn9

@nopegoat the company I work for has a warehouse in Houston so I've been there a couple of times. The first thing I thought of was the heat haha. I do love your trees though. 

-Where's everyone at? I live in one of the smaller cities just outside of Edmonton, AB, Canada. 
-What brought you there? I grew up in Edmonton. My H is from Ontario and he moved to where we live now since it's close to work. We decided to buy here because it's close to work and we wanted to get into real estate here. 
-What's your favorite thing about where you live? It's a smaller city so it's quiet and has everything you need. There are walking/biking paths so close and the river valley is close. If we do need to go into Edmonton, it's only 10 minutes away. I also love being near the mountains. We like to hike so it's nice to be able to take a weekend trip.
-What's your least favorite thing about where you live? Our winters suck lol so much snow and cold. 

babymac4321

Where's everyone at? Vancouver Island BC Canada

-What brought you there? always lived on the island. We bought my husbands childhood home. It’s my dream house except a tiny small things. 

-What's your favorite thing about where you live? It’s a really tiny town that closes at 9pm. They also go ALL OUT for Christmas and Christmas is my fave time of the year. 

-What's your least favorite thing about where you live? Everything closing at 9pm is hard at times so I do a bit more driving (30 mins each way) to get what I need. We also only have a PO BOX that sucks the post office is only open 9am-4pm and I work out of town until 3:30pm, rarely can make it there in time. But I get pro days off so one day a month I’m able to go no issue. 

lightintothevoid

-Where's everyone at? New York City 🗽

-What brought you there? I’m from the PNW and was floundering in Seattle for a few years. I was going to school and had a bit of money, so I took a solo trip to NYC, and had the time of my life. I knew this was where I needed to be. When I can home, I packed up my apartment, transferred my job, and moved!

-What's your thing about where you live? Anything you want in the world you can get in New York. The culture is amazing. Museums, film, theatre, dance, food, fashion — I love it all!

-What's your least favorite thing about where you live? Ugh, where to start? It’s so expensive. The crime has also gotten out of control in the last couple of years, so I don’t feel very safe having a baby here. We want to go somewhere more rural once the baby is born. 

noxacanthus

@lightintothevoid Ironically, I am originally from NJ and now live near Seattle. I hate NYC. 😆

-Where's everyone at? Near Seattle, WA

-What brought you there? The Navy. This is actually the second time we've lived out here. We have also lived in VA, SC, Japan, and CT. We have moved 7 times in 10 years of marriage.

-What's your favorite thing about where you live? The scenery (mountains and it's SO green), the coffee, geek culture, the weather is perfection. 

-What's your least favorite thing about where you live? The housing market is INSANE. We got so incredibly lucky with the house we found (another Navy family was desperate to sell), but I have seen it go wrong for many military families that were forced to move here.

burr1371

-Where's everyone at? A suburb outside Denver, CO.
-What brought you there? Born and raised here. H and I joke that our hometown is like a black hole - you try to get out and it sucks you back in.
-What's your favorite thing about where you live? We have so many friends here and both families are close as well. Its hard to give up that free childcare and support like @disneybaby84
-What's your least favorite thing about where you live? All the people moving here. The roads just aren't built for it and traffic is starting to suck ALLLLL the time. 

youcanhavemanhattan

Where's everyone at? Vancouver, BC

-What brought you there? Came out here for school and stayed to work in theatre. My husband and I are both originally from Alberta, and he also came out for school and stayed for acting 

-What's your favorite thing about where you live? The views of the mountains/being right by the ocean 

-What's your least favorite thing about where you live? Chances are we will never be able to afford owning our own home here, which is a tough thing to come to terms with. Apartment life it is!

heytallmama

-Where's everyone at? As specific or general as you are comfortable sharing of course. We live just north of Baltimore, MD (sadly no longer in the city)
-What brought you there? When H and I graduated college (met right before my senior year), we were both applying for jobs (but it was 2008 at peak recession) and said whomever gets a job first, is where we’ll go. We both applied to places near Baltimore and happened to both get them! I grew up not too far from here and always loved visiting. 
-What's your favorite thing about where you live? Though we’re in the ‘burbs, I do love our little neighborhood. Very walkable, a ton of families, convenience to get where we need to go. Our area (like much of Baltimore) has a lot of community and it’s a small town vibe. Everyone knows everyone, it seems. Lots of people grew up around here and come back. Not nicknamed “Smalltinore” for nothin’. 
-What's your least favorite thing about where you live? Baltimore gets a bad rap from people who only experience it through the lens of the news, shitty politicians, and The Wire. It’s such a great city (in spite of its lack of good public transit) to be by. I’m sad we don’t live downtown anymore- had to move when we knew we wanted a baby: at that time with our salaries, daycare and a city mortgage were a “pick one” scenario. So I hate that in our neighborhood, I can’t walk to a restaurant or coffee shop. Every time I’m in my old neighborhood I miss living there! 

muggsd

@heytallmama my city has the same thing as Baltimore - has a horrible reputation in the news but is quite nice when you’re here! 

marebear15

-Florida panhandle
-I went to college in this town in 2011, and never left!
-I like how it's a small big town. No sky scrapers, but we have a mall, large airport, and diverse food places.
-It's too hot. I would rather have more seasons than just hot, and comfortable.

shorty-sar

@noxacanthus
@lightintothevoid
I grew up north of Seattle. I do miss the green and the milder weather!

Where's everyone at? Central Washington, about 2 1/2 hrs east of Seattle.
 
-What brought you there? My husband grew up in the area and wanted to come back, and I wanted to be closer to family before we TTC. Before we moved, we lived about 40 minutes from the Canadian boarder. So about a 3 hrs drive from where we are now and about a 4hr drive to my parents…even longer in the winter time with the mountain passes. 

-What's your favorite thing about where you live? I always wanted to live out in the country, and that’s exactly what we’re doing. The sun is out almost every day, even during the winter, there’s a lot of agricultural fields and farming life. And I’m not in a big city. 😂

-What's your least favorite thing about where you live?  Lack of decent restaurants and shopping centers/malls! All we have are Mexican restaurants(which are really good) and pizza places. Even the bigger cities nearby have mediocre restaurants. For clothes shopping, all we have is Walmart, but I guess I was spoiled growing up north of Seattle! 

I also do not like the extreme heat! 80 degrees and sometimes low 90s are okay, but over 100 and muggy gets to be too much…especially pregnant!

gravcass

-Where's everyone at? Middle of nowhere IL, but close-ish to the st. Louis area

-What brought you there? Grew up in a St. Louis suburb. My first marriage brought me to the IL side of the Mississippi. Now it's my daughter that keeps me in the Midwest, otherwise I would head to Oregon or Washington in a heartbeat. 

-What's your favorite thing about where you live? It's not a super long drive to anything really. 30 min max to shopping and good resturants. I like that my area is quiet and I don't have to worry about crime. I also love having seasons. 

-What's your least favorite thing about where you live? It's still a drive for anything lol even though it's not a crazy long drive it's still enough to be annoying. There are no OBs in my small town, the closest is a 20 min drive in the next town over. Nothing delivers to my house food wise... good way to save $$ I guess though 🤣

mvm0609

-Where's everyone at? As specific or general as you are comfortable sharing of course.
Southeast Michigan

-What brought you there?
We were looking for somewhere to live in the Midwest, and we had a couple friends in this area that invited us to live with them for a year…so we did that about 6 years ago and then moved out on our own and have been here since. Not sure it’s our forever home, but we like it well enough.


-What's your favorite thing about where you live? 

I enjoy the seasons, the cost of living compared to the coasts (though the cost is climbing compared to the rest of the Midwest). A pretty diverse area with a lot of stuff to do, and if you go west or north, you can get to some more rural areas. Lots of nature to be had!

-What's your least favorite thing about where you live? 

I really have a love/hate relationship with winter at this point. I didn’t grow up with seasons, but have lived in the Midwest for over a decade now. Winter used to fascinate me, now I don’t love it as much, but I do like having seasons in general. Additionally, we aren’t all that near any family on either side, and that’s been bothering me more and more the older I’ve gotten, and especially since we found out we’re having a baby. Really has made me think about what kind of support system we’ll have as parents. 

danielled100394

Where's everyone at? As specific or general as you are comfortable sharing of course. North Carolina, Charlotte area
-What brought you there? My husbands job 
-What's your favorite thing about where you live? Not to far from the beach
-What's your least favorite thing about where you live? Hurricanes, tornadoes, away from family. 

danielled100394

Where's everyone at? As specific or general as you are comfortable sharing of course. North Carolina, Wilmington area
-What brought you there? My husbands job 
-What's your favorite thing about where you live? Not to far from the beach
-What's your least favorite thing about where you live? Hurricanes, tornadoes, away from family. 

missmuisq

-Where's everyone at? As specific or general as you are comfortable sharing of course.
Bogotá, Colombia (the capital city, pop. 8 million) - if you're fuzzy on your geography, it's in the northwest corner of South America. I propose having our first in-person meetup here!

-What brought you there?
My husband is from here. I first visited in college with my family to do some volunteering and then moved down on a grant after graduating. Going on 11 years now.

-What's your favorite thing about where you live?
Low COL (making it easier to afford a lot of what would be luxuries in the US, and, sadly, this also includes excellent healthcare), and there are many things I like about living in a city, with not needing a car at the top of the list (though those priorities are shifting with a kid on the way). More specifically, I love Bogotá's weather - very mild, like early fall all year round. No need for AC or heating. It's usually sunny during the day with a slight chill. It also rains a lot. Not tropical in the slightest, it's very high up at 8,660 ft above sea level. But if you go just an hour outside of the city, you find totally different climates. It's something nice about the country in general - very varied landscapes and climates.

-What's your least favorite thing about where you live?
With a few so-so exceptions, Colombian food is pretty meh and many people here have zero tolerance for spiciness or even what you or I would probably call flavor Fortunately, there are tons of amazing restaurants with food from all over the world. Also, of course, it's hard being so far from my family, though most of them are in Florida, which is a short and fairly cheap flight from here.

missmuisq

@nopegoat Your comment makes me think that it would be nice to have a future GTKY about where we're all from, which for many of us doesn't seem to be our current location.

lightintothevoid

@noxacanthus @shorty-sar I miss Washington. Especially the nature. It’s so beautiful there. 

TortugaAzul

We live in a small town in the Sierra Nevada mountains. 

We used to live in an even smaller town (pop. 108) further up the mountain at a camp but COVID closed it down. My husband happened to get a job nearish and we were able to stay in the mountains we love. 

It’s just beautiful here. We get all the seasons and life here just moves slower than the rest of California. But we can still drive to the beach in a few hours if we want. 

It’s very conservative here, which is fine but I feel like everyone hates on this state and it’s annoying. Also winter and tourists. We will have people literally sledding into the highway and leaving trash all over. Tourism is great and keeps us alive up here but it’s so chaotic. 

TortugaAzul

@disneybaby23 Im heading your way in a couple of weeks!! 

@missmuisq I wanna go to Columbia! That sounds like a great place for a meet up to me 😁

disneybaby23

@TortugaAzul hope you guys have fun! It’s finally not 100 degrees down here so the weather should be perfect. Also I totally feel you about people hating on CA. We’ve had a big migration of people in our area leaving to other states and Im kind of relieved. Like it you hate it that much, no one is making you stay. That’s the beauty of having such a hugely diverse country - there’s somewhere perfect for everyone (I mean look at all the different places that just all of us on this forum are from). Your post really makes me want to visit the mountains this winter - I haven’t been in years - I promise I won’t be one of “those” tourists though 😜

cheznet

Where's everyone at? As specific or general as you are comfortable sharing of course.

San Francisco Bay Area

-What brought you there? 

My sisters and their families both ended up living here. I moved somewhat close for a job after college, and after a while in Idaho (for grad school) I got a job in the Bay Area and here we are.

-What's your favorite thing about where you live?

It's beautiful. There are lots of opportunities for recreation. San Francisco has great restaurants and parks and museums etc (although we'd have a little drive and toll to get there) 

-What's your least favorite thing about where you live? 

Increasing wildfires and traffic 

cheznet

@danielled100394 I've visited Wilmington! My friend lived there in college and I thought it was so cute! He is very gregarious and knew like everyone in town. We also went to the beach. 🙂

mamahosch

-A suburb of Des Moines IA
-What brought you there? My husband (only boyfriend at the time) had been living/working here when we were long distance so when we decided we were ready to be together all the time I left my teaching job with no teaching job prospect 6 years ago and got hired a week later in one of the best districts in the area! 
-What's your favorite thing about where you live? There’s so much to do in the DSM metro. And we’re only 3 hours from some larger cities for a weekend getaway!
-What's your least favorite thing about where you live? That the ocean and beach is a 14 hour drive away 😭

foxofmoore

-Where's everyone at? Asheville, NC

-What brought you there? My uncle who had cancer multiple times. He is an amazing man, I wanted to get to know him in case he did not make it long. 8 years later and my husband and I now get to move next month to live right next to him! 

-What's your favorite thing about where you live? The mountains are absolutely beautiful up here, especially when you get to live up in them and not down in the city.

-What's your least favorite thing about where you live? When I moved down into the city when I met my husband a few years back it just felt so crowded and gross. Now it is real bad and feels like I live back in Cali. (Our move back up the mountain next month can’t come soon enough!)

heytallmama

@foxofmoore I love Asheville! Husband and I went there on vacation last summer and had the best time hiking and having local brews! 

Wishilivedinflorida

Late to this party here. 

-Where's everyone at? As specific or general as you are comfortable sharing of course.

I’m in Pennsylvania. 

-What brought you there? 

Unlike most here, born and raised and never left. Cost of living is low and both H and I found decent education and employment. We both grew up on limited incomes so we didn’t have a ton of resources to launch us elsewhere after high school. 

-What's your favorite thing about where you live?

 Low COL, live by a state park/lake, within 2 hours of three different big cities as well as Canadian border so lots to visit within a quick drive. We have gorgeous autumns. There’s a lot here for kids to do and it’s pretty safe with decent schools. 

-What's your least favorite thing about where you live?

The winters are brutal and we get lots of snow due to Lake Erie (Google “lake effect snow”). I’ve also probably reached the pinnacle of my career if I stay in this city. Which all in all is ok because my main focus now is motherhood and not necessarily career, but may necessitate a move later in life. 🤷🏻‍♀️

TortugaAzul

@disneybaby23 you are definitely welcome to come visit the mountains! The snowy season is beautiful. Just make sure you go to a legitimate sledding hill and not the highway and you’re good! 😅 

k_keyser1996

Where's everyone at? As specific or general as you are comfortable sharing of course.North Myrtle Beach South Carolina.
-What brought you there? Was down there on vacation with a couple girlfriends after we graduated college and met my husband down there 
-What's your favorite thing about where you live? The weather is usually pretty good all year around.. 
-What's your least favorite thing about where you live?  Away from family and definitely hurricane season. 

megelise1980

Where's everyone at? As specific or general as you are comfortable sharing of course. Tacoma, WA (about 30 minutes South of Seattle, if there's no traffic, which doesn't happen)

-What brought you there? Was lucky enough to grow up here.

-What's your favorite thing about where you live? It's beautiful here, I can be by the water in 5 minutes. Cute neighborhoods and shops, and a great arts community.

-What's your least favorite thing about where you live? The housing prices, and the never ending road work/traffic. It's gotten really crowded here in the last few years.

marebear15

@foxofmoore - My mom's family is from Ashville/Morganton. We visit fairly often. Love that area!