Gah! Anyone else hate where they live?

[Metlin]

I love where I live. No state income tax and they licensed me to conceal a firearm. Freedom!

...until you try to raise a kid.

[camb66]

No way- wouldn't want to live anywhere else than Melbourne.

[Monocrom]

...until you try to raise a kid.

Honestly, with zero sarcasm . . . I can think of worse places to try to raise an impressionable child into a decent human-being.

[Ray MacDonald]

I live in Ontario and it's fine. Small town, friendly, close to Ottawa. Cold winters but summers are nice. Easy commute to the border if I want to visit the US. Fall colors are fantastic, lots of lakes and forests nearby. Beautiful river and waterfall right in the middle of town. Inventor of basketball came from here.

[Ray MacDonald]

I sympathize with Statius because as far as I can tell he's thousands of miles away from his family and his transportation options are limited.
There are some lovely smaller towns not far from Peterborough like Bobcaygeon, Fenelon Falls and Lindsay.
Ontario has one huge population area (Golden Horseshoe) and then lots of smaller communities which have their charms. There are some mid-sized places like Peterborough which in my view are a bit less desirable. Most of them are lunch pail cities which have been hit badly by the manufacturing decline (think Muncie, Indiana.) Too big to be friendly and too small to offer a lot culturally.
Peterborough does have the University but I don't think it ever integrated with the town that much so you have the townie-gownie relationship that isn't the best. Same thing in Kingston and Guelph, actually.

[Torrid]

...until you try to raise a kid.

Why does everybody say this? I have a child and if you are not near the strip Vegas feels like a small town. Sure, the schools aren't the greatest, but Iwill be enrolling my daughter in a private school when she is old enough.

I used to say the same thing until I moved here. I used to think if I didn't live in a small town with a family it would be a recipe for disaster. I grew up in a small town and got into a lot of bad stuff because I was bored. One incident involved half sticks of dynamite and uprooting large trees. I'll take my chances in Vegas.

[falcon4311]

I love Vegas!! Statius, I feel for you, I actually like Calgary other than your hockey team...

[Metlin]

Honestly, with zero sarcasm . . . I can think of worse places to try to raise an impressionable child into a decent human-being.

Why does everybody say this? I have a child and if you are not near the strip Vegas feels like a small town. Sure, the schools aren't the greatest, but Iwill be enrolling my daughter in a private school when she is old enough.

I used to say the same thing until I moved here. I used to think if I didn't live in a small town with a family it would be a recipe for disaster. I grew up in a small town and got into a lot of bad stuff because I was bored. One incident involved half sticks of dynamite and uprooting large trees. I'll take my chances in Vegas.

Raising kids is not just about education (although that is certainly an important criteria), but also about the society and surrounding demographic. It is about opportunities outside of school (e.g. internships, volunteer opportunities, taking college classes in high school, access to good libraries and college resources when in school etc), social interactions, extra-curricular activities (e.g. music lessons), networking (some of my best friends to this day are children of my parents' family friends) etc. It is also about having a social support structure outside of your family, and the quality of such a structure. That is not to discount the quality of said support in Las Vegas, but having looked at the demographic distribution in the Vegas suburbs, I have my doubts.

You seem to think that the alternative is living in a small town, but that need not be the case. You can live in a good suburb in a big city with good education. In fact, I live in Cambridge, which pretty much has a rather insignificant suburbia per se, and yet has an outstanding educational opportunities at all levels.

[Will_f]

Afghanistan was pretty rough.......

Third world sanitation, crappy roads, crappy housing, corrupt politicos, police, shop owners, etc. What's not to love? Oh yea, angry fanatics high on drugs.

[joe_b]

I grew up a military brat, and naturally, my father was stationed in Fort Bragg, NC. He eventually retired there and that's where I spent approx 13 years of my life. Fayetteville, adjacent to Bragg, was the most boring place to live during that span of my life. I now live in Northern VA and welcome chances to visit my folks and take it easy in Fayetteville. It's calm and quiet. I actually can't wait to move from VA and make my way up to Chicago as my girlfriend and I have been in a long distance relationship for 3.5 years... Just wish the job market would open up some more, there...


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