What do you love about the place you live?

[azpenguin]

What makes where you live special - the things you would miss if you moved away?

Quail scampering around in the morning.
The fresh smell of the desert after a rain.
Sunsets. Hard to top the ones here.
Taco stands.
Mountains on all sides.
Stargazing in the desert.
Riding through saguaro forests.
The knowledge that San Diego is six hours away (when it's 110, that's important.)

[LDYAPXR]

You brat! You are making me miss my AZ summers that I used to spend with my grandparents every year from the time I was 5 yrs old until I was a teenager! LOL Gosh I miss those sudden rainstorms and then the quiet of the desert afterwards. So peaceful. And you are soooo right about the sunsets! Ok, lets see...things about the place I live....

30 miles of twisties within 3 miles of my house
The Pacific Ocean within a one hour drive(SF) or 3.5 hours(Mendocino and more twisties!)
Lake Tahoe 2.5 hours away

That is pretty much it that I can think of. LOL

[asp125]

-Mule deer running through your yard (eating your flowers)
-Aspens in the fall
-60 degree riding days in the middle of winter
-300 days of sunshine
-low humidity, no bugs
-no earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, killer bees
-skiing in the morning, golfing in the afternoon
-cheap land compared to the left coast
-twisties out my back yard
-clean air, clean water
-casual friday is shorts and sandals
-close enough to Denver and not be too close
-eclectic food and culture in Boulder
-3 race tracks within 2 hours of here
-deep dry powder, no lift lines, world class resorts (after Whistler)
-reasonable cost of living vs after tax wages, appreciating housing market
-the UT desert within a day's drive

[Wookie]

Living in western Oregon (Portland area) I absolutely love the diversity of the area.

Within short drives/rides I can go from the Pacific Coast to the Cascade mountains to the eastern deserts of Oregon. We have loads of trees, fairly clean/clear rivers, flat areas and areas that seem to go up forever.

With all of the mountain areas, this gives a lot of open and very winding roads.

Spring and summer here is beautiful. Temps in the upper 70's to mid 80's, long days, low wind and little rain during the spring and summer.

Winters can be a bit depressing with the rain, but the summers make up for it :smile: , of course you have years like this year when there has been little rain with lots of nice mild and clear days in the 50's (almost all of January and February so far).

The fact that Oregon is a farily culturally diverse area is also a bonus :thumbsup:

Overall, there are few places I would rather live than western Oregon. I wouldn't mind checking a few others out though.

[Squelch]

The fact that it's not Fort Polk, Louisiana or Baghdad, Iraq anymore. :thumbsup:

[Calabash]

Seeing clouds creep up the mountain in the mornings.
No traffic jams.
Slower pace than up North.
Riding the roads on a bike in spring smells like someone spilled a lot of perfume on the road everything smells so good.
Most of my relatives live down here.
Living 40 minutes from the tail of the dragon.
Living near twisty rivers with twisty roads that run along side of them.
Southern fried chicken.
Food good enough to shorten your life span 4 years.
The friendliness of the south, strangers wave to me even when they are not on bikes.
Lightning bugs in the summer.
The changing temperatures in the summer going up and down the hills and mountains here while riding my bike.
Birds in the morning just singing up a storm.
Picking up pecans, cracking them and eating pecan pies, all in the same day.

[BaseballDad]

Atlanta has a pretty decent economy so it's easy to find a decent job here. Other than that I hate it. The traffic sux. It's too cold here in the winter. If I never saw another pine tree it would be ok with me. I'm ready to move.

Oh yeah. You wanted to know what I liked. Sorry.:)

[rpminmn]

Minnesota sux and everybody should stay away!
Bitterly cold winters and humid summers with mosquitos the size of sparrows! You wouldn't like it. And with 90,000 miles of shoreline (more than California, Florida and Hawaii combined) it's way too easy to find yourself distracted from work.


http://www.friends-bwca.org/images/photo6.jpghttp://www.elycanoetrips.com/hillso.jpg

10,000 lakes and the land of sky blue waters... who needs it? ;)

-bob

[Clair]

Why I love living in Utah ..
- 4 world class ski resorts within 15 miles or 25 minutes of my house
- Another 6 world class ski resorts within an hours drive of my house
- Utah Powder ... ain't nothing like it. Waist deep powder, virgin track = heaven
- Ski in the morning, golf in the afternoon
- Serious single track mountain biking at the above resorts, thus very close to me
- Serious slick rock mountain biking at Moab and south, within 4 hours drive
- Incredible hiking in the mountains within 10 minutes of my house.
- GREAT place for camping (car camping and backcountry) and hiking
- Easy day drive to many many national parks and monuments (Arches, Canyonlands, Bryce, Yellostone)
- No humidity = no bugs, you can eat dinner outside at night and actually enjoy the meal
- Something like 300 days of sun a year
- Fun mountain twisties to ride and Colorado twisties are an easy ride to make
- Affordable place to live, cost of living is good
- Mountain Time Zone ... best time for TV. Monday Night football is over by 10:30 LOL
- No real bad weather. no hurricanes, no tornadoes, no real flooding, just snow, and snow is good.

Why I HATE living in Utah (yeah, I know, he didn't ask for this but ...)
- One religion controls everything here, and I'm not of that religion (it's not fun folks)
- Utah drivers SUCK! Heck, they'd have to work hard to work UP to just sucking ... UGH
- Did I mention that UT drivers SUCK?
- Stupid UT Alcohol laws
- Only prefessional sport we ahve here is Basketball ... and I hate basketball ... and the Jazz suck this year LOL
- Earthquake faults ... okay, not active like CA's, but we have 'em ... thus earthquake insurance
- Bland, homogenous culture ... I'd kill for a decent ethnic restaurant, or real pizza, actually made by an Italian (not a pizza chain)
- Salt Lake valley, and west side of state, is flat, boring straight roads, no fun to ride
- Did I mention UT drivers suck?

[LDYAPXR]

Sorry Clair, but did you mention something about UT drivers? I might have missed that. LMAO! I copy you on that religion thing(one half of my family is that religion and the other half is Pentacostal Go figure why I don't follow either! LOL) But you always have the good time zone! :)

[Cindy]

12 month riding season.
80 miles from the gulf coast.
Dogwoods and azaleas in the spring.

Cindy

[JohnBryer]

The Good about Charlotte:
Banking/hi tech jobs
2 hours to the BRP
4 hours to the Dragon
4 hours to the beach
12 month riding season

The Bad:
Horrible Air pollution
Summer heat
Urban sprawl
High taxes (compared to cities the same size, not compared to the NE)

[CometRider]

Good things about Somerville, MA:
- drivers are mostly predictable
- nice blue collar town with lots of diversity
- located in a state that's more blue-purple than red-purple
- winter causes lots of pot holes that will just have to be swerved around come spring (i like swerving)
- decent riding roads outside of metro boston, and new hampshire moutain roads aren't too far away
- lots of slow-speed practice forced upon you :)

Cons about Somerville:
- massive traffic if you ride at the wrong time
- if you live in east somerville, its probably healthier to smoke cigarettes than the air at rush-hour
- no twisties :(

[x_cuesme]

Well...what do I love about JoMo.

Overall low cost of living vs. about anywhere else I've lived.
Great area for bikes- smaller city with mostly considerate cagers, rural roads within minutes.
Twisties, hills, lakes- we have them all. Plus creeks, ponds, alleys and trails- that's our idea of cultural diversity!
Weather is ho-hum- usually a long bike season but I miss snow.
Overall good, friendly people.

I think I'd like to try CO- but bet I'm pretty well here for the rest of my life.

x_cuesme

[Wolfie]

Alexandria, VA...hmmm thing to like.
Lots of places to eat, shop, see shows, listen to live music, go siteseeing.
Pretty good roads within a hour ride, and many hours of good riding beyond.
House is 2 miles from work.
Good friends.

On the other hand
I can't afford to sell my house and buy another unless I move far away.
Traffic is pretty bad most days.
You have to use motor transportation to exist, unless you like Xtreem living on a bicycle or on foot.
You have to ride an hour to get to where the good riding roads start.
The Washington D.C. area takes itself WAY too serious.

mark.

[rdlax]

Ha Ha!! I'd have to agree. The only good thing I can think of in Atlanta is that we have mild winters and a pretty long riding season. other than that I hate this place!!


Atlanta has a pretty decent economy so it's easy to find a decent job here. Other than that I hate it. The traffic sux. It's too cold here in the winter. If I never saw another pine tree it would be ok with me. I'm ready to move.

Oh yeah. You wanted to know what I liked. Sorry.:)

[Lezbert]

Things to love about Houston (OK, most of this relates to my little corner of it):

* Diverse city
* Many excellent restaurants
* Many excellent dives (cuz sometimes you need to find a taqueria at 2 a.m.)
* Artists, musicians, punks, students, yuppies, gays/lesbians living in one neighborhood. Peacefully.
* Can be on quiet roads within 20 minutes of downtown
* Can ride in the country, have a picnic in a gorgeous urban park, visit any of the many museums in our extensive museum district, have an exquisite dinner and see a theatrical production at a Tony-Award winning theater. In one day.
* People-watching
* Year-round riding
* An hour from the Gulf of Mexico
* Home of the weirdest marketing campaign ever: www.houstonitsworthit.com

[Hilts]

What I would miss about Ottawa

- the world's longest outdoor skating rink (The Rideau Canal)
- the acres and acres of parks everywhere in the city
- an experimental farm in the middle of the city
- attending Ottawa Senators hockey games (already have a taste of missing that right now)
- I can be in downtown Ottawa from the suburbs in less than 20 minutes
- the spectacular colors of the fall leaves in the nearby Gatineau Hills

Hilts

[Clair]

Darlene ... OUCH, how'd you come out okay out of that partnership? ;-)

Hilts ... I've been to Ottawa ... VERY pretty city, I loved it there. Very kewl mixture of modern city (downtown) with the parlimentary buildings being old world europe. And friendly people too. Only bad thing was I was there in the early 90's when Quebec really REALLY wanted to exit Canada and I met a lot of them there. They didn't like that I spoke English, and worse yet was that I was an American, and thus only capable of knowing one language. LOL

[Less]

I'm sure there is something I like, but this time of year it's tough to remember...

Snowstorm headed for southern New England
By John C. Burke, Boston.com Staff | February 8, 2005

Much of southern New England including the Boston area may get as much as a foot of new snow beginning late Wednesday and continuing through most of Thursday.

[Derick]

Nothing. I hate indianapolis.

It's cold
Weather is NEVER consistant
Weathermen are ALWAYS wrong
It will rain on an otherwise sunny day
Snow.
Ice.
Sleet.
-10 degree winters 98 degree summers.

I hate indy. Only reason I am here is for school, and even then, they had to give me lots of money to come here.

I think I would like to live in North or south carolina. Not far enough south to be hot all year long, but something better than indy. :heyyou:

[southernspirit]

Hmmmm.........let's see.....

gotta love our state bird....the giant skeeter! :smash:
the mountains with LOTS of twisties
the wildlife
the lakes and rivers
the scenery
the hillbillies...... :thumbsup:
the cuisine!.... :rockon:

did I mention the mountains? :heyyou:

[Mer]

Hmmmm.........let's see.....

gotta love our state bird....the giant skeeter!
the mountains with LOTS of twisties
the wildlife
the lakes and rivers
the scenery
the hillbillies......
the cuisine!....

did I mention the mountains? :heyyou:
Other than the fact that we can ride pretty much year round....there's not much here except that it's close to her state...and the mountains, wildlife, lakes, rivers, scenery and twisties.http://web1.prag025.server4you.de/html/images/smilies/schilder/00000694.gif

Seriously though we do have nice weather most of the time, great school systems, lot's to do, nice roads to ride and proximity to the mountains of Arkansas.http://web1.prag025.server4you.de/html/images/smilies/auto/auto181.gif Oh....and the BEST BBQ in the world!!! :thumbsup:

[Hilts]

Darlene ... OUCH, how'd you come out okay out of that partnership? ;-)

Hilts ... I've been to Ottawa ... VERY pretty city, I loved it there. Very kewl mixture of modern city (downtown) with the parlimentary buildings being old world europe. And friendly people too. Only bad thing was I was there in the early 90's when Quebec really REALLY wanted to exit Canada and I met a lot of them there. They didn't like that I spoke English, and worse yet was that I was an American, and thus only capable of knowing one language. LOL

Clair...glad you liked my city too! I know what you mean about Quebec. I don't even enjoy crossing the bridge into Quebec cause I don't speak French myself. Kinda limits how far I can go up the ladder too. But all the traffic signs and store signs are in French only. They have a French language law that prevents English only on any signs. Makes it hard for us Anglophones to find our way around. Oh well, they do have cheaper beer though so I'll forgive them. :)

Hilts

[Chrystal]

What I love about central Wisconsin:

cows
Wisconsin cheese
the Packers
beautiful, breathtaking cycle riding, fall foliage, scenery, lakes, rivers, etc.
Highway 55
all of the dumpy little dive bars & grills that the bikers frequent
the grassy spot at Chute Pond under the big maple tree after the cycle ride up there
the friendly little north woods towns that welcome weekend tourism and bikers

What don't I like about central Wisconsin?
snow from November through April

I love Wisconsin!

[Allan]

Nothing! Youngstown, OH is the armpit of the USA. :vomit: Youngstown

[aprilmaybe]

Year round riding with the best weather in the country
Both mountains and beaches with world class roads
Diverse population--My neighborhood is a blend of gay, straight, white, latino, thai and armenian
Fantastic restaurants from scary pricey to dirt cheap
Strong arts community
Jasmine in the spring
Smell of new mown grass, especially in the winter
great nightlife
Sunset Junction
Melrose on a sunny saturday afternoon
Venice boardwalk
Griffith Park Observatory
fish tacos

[jenniferb]

What do I love about Central PA....
Fall leaves
White Christmas
April Showers
May Flowers
Plenty of hills and valleys to ride
Roots...my family has lived in this area sooo long. Can't go past a cemetary with out my hubby laughing...probably someone you're related to in there, huh?
http://users.pandora.be/eforum/emoticons4u/fam/fam03.gif

[smoore]

Living in New Mexico, Land of Enchantment, has its ups and downs.

Good things:

-- New Mexican cuisine - good, tasty, moderately hot green chile goes great on just about everything, except possibly for ice cream, breakfast cereal, and some veggies.

-- Native New Mexicans are friendly, unpretentious folks.

-- Beautiful sunsets that make you stop and raise your glass, or get off your bike and just stare.

-- Clear bright blue skies most of the time (although it's actually raining here today).

-- Warm weather. (Okay, it's way hot here during the summer, but I prefer being hot to being cold. Honestly, I don't know how folks live in Minneapolis or Buffalo or other places where they measure snow in feet of depth and months of duration....)

-- No natural disasters, as a general rule. We don't get hurricanes, tornadoes, mudslides, nor significantly damaging floods, snow, or earthquakes. Although we DID get the Hailstorm from Hell back in October -- baseball-sized hail fell for about 20 minutes here in Socorro, and lots of vehicles, including mine, were totaled (fortunately, I had driven the truck to work that day, not the bike!)

Bad things:

-- Since I'm a native-born New Mexican, I can say this: we're sort of the "last bastion of the Third World" in the 48 contiguous states... and we've got all the social ills that result from this. New Mexico is typically in the top five on all the Bad Lists (crime, DWI rates, teenage mothers, high school dropout rates, percentage of children living in poverty, inadequate school systems, falling-apart school buildings, etc.) and at or very near the bottom of all the Good Lists (per capita income, college degrees, home ownership, school achievement levels, number of jobs with good pay, etc.).

-- Drought. This is going to be a major problem in the coming years for New Mexico, which is trying to attract industry so that there'll be a few high-paying jobs. Water rights in this state have been a contentious issue since the Spaniards arrived in the 1600s, and it's only going to get worse as the population grows and the water supply doesn't......

-- DWI. This is *bad* here. Please be careful if you come to visit New Mexico. We have a LOT of drunk drivers, and they tend to be multiple-repeat offenders since they typically don't serve any jail time unless they actually kill somebody. You watch oncoming traffic on the Interstates like a hawk and keep your escape plan in mind in case someone crosses the median and heads straight for you....I don't ride my motorcycle at night here because of the drunks.

-- Tourists. Yep, I'm sorry -- I probably don't mean YOU personally. But there are a lot of folks who come visit New Mexico's Indian pueblos and treat it like it's Disneyland. The pueblo buildings are NOT "quaint"; they are the personal residences of people who don't appreciate you just walking in like you own the place. The residents are NOT actors or characters there to entertain you; Puebloan people don't say "HOW" and they don't scalp people, etc. Some people have apparently watched entirely too many John Wayne movies! They don't have a clue about how to be respectful and considerate of Indian culture and propriety. It's frustrating for the Puebloan people, and it's downright embarrassing for those of us who know better.

Anyway, good and bad, I can't envision living anywhere else.

steph moore

[Triumph]

This thread points out why I need to move. There's basically nothing I love about Northern Virginia. So why the hell am I here? Complacency, that's why.

[azpenguin]

smoore, a lot of those things can be transferred over to AZ - the native Arizonans, the weather, sunsets, food, drought, so on. Of course, on that bit about "the Bad lists," I have only this to say - Us here in AZ will race ya to the bottom! (We may have already beaten ya there.)
But all in all, New Mexico is a beautiful state. I've covered most of it, and while there's a few bland areas (Lordsburg - Las Cruces in particular) I love going there. My wife says that there are few places she'd consider moving to, but NM is one. How long would it take you to ride to Silver City, out of curiosity?

[HDSam]

Why I hate living in Korea:
No wife, bike, dog, truck, house, or tools.
Many of my peers and co-workers are not familiar with AA but should've been a long time ago.

Why I love living in Korea:
Because every day I'm here is a day closer to home.
It's still not as bad as Iraq.
Cheese ramen is pretty damn good.

[MsPotatoPotatoHead]

-Mule deer running through your yard (eating your flowers)
-Aspens in the fall
-60 degree riding days in the middle of winter
-300 days of sunshine
-low humidity, no bugs
-no earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, killer bees
-skiing in the morning, golfing in the afternoon
-cheap land compared to the left coast
-twisties out my back yard
-clean air, clean water
-casual friday is shorts and sandals
-the UT desert within a day's drive

You already said most of what I love about here. Gotta add:
-elk and coyotes running through your yard along with the mule deer
-the coal-burning narrow gauge train
-the amazing sunsets
-virtually no traffic
-casual Friday is actually every day!
-the wide variety of restaurants (from great grungy taco & hamburger stands to great Mexican, seafood (yes, seafood!), to French, to sushi)
-all the motorcyclists here
-you see someone you know every time you go out
-tourist watching (very entertaining)
-great live music
-MICROBREWERIES!!!!!!

Gee, I could go on and on...

[MiniZ]

what do I love about the place I live ?

well, there's 3 different twisties on 3 different mountains with 3 different difficulty rating about 1 hours' ride from my house, and college is about 30 minutes away, and I have nice neighbours. So I guess it's okay.

[aprilmaybe]

Year round riding with the best weather in the country
Both mountains and beaches with world class roads
Diverse population--My neighborhood is a blend of gay, straight, white, latino, thai and armenian
Fantastic restaurants from scary pricey to dirt cheap
Strong arts community
Jasmine in the spring
Smell of new mown grass, especially in the winter
great nightlife
Sunset Junction
Melrose on a sunny saturday afternoon
Venice boardwalk
Griffith Park Observatory
fish tacos


I totally forgot lane splitting.
I would really miss that :rockon:

[Magnamania]

I love the mountians. :) I live in a vally with mountains on all sides. The altitude is from 5,000 to 10,000 feet. Lots of good riding. Cool summers, never gets much over 85 deg.

Within 1 mile of my house is one of the best trail systems I have ever seen. :biker: You can ride 70 or 80 miles and never hit the same trail. We do a lot of dirt riding as well as street riding.

I love riding into high moutain lakes. The water is so clear you can see the bottom. of the lake. Don't let it fool you cause those lakes are verry deep, for there size.

Most of the trails are verry rocky and challenging. You can go all day and never see anyone else. Once and a wile you will run into another rider but not often.

Here is a picture from the Beartooth pass, located south of Billings. It is one way into Yellowstone park. There many twisties as this road climbs from 4500 feet to 10,500 feet This pic was taken from about half way up the mouintain. You get well above the tree line (wear the altitude is to high for the trees to grow).

SCROTUM4100sssrrs.jpg

[MarcS]

I love riding into high moutain lakes. The water is so clear you can see the bottom. of the lake. Don't let it fool you cause those lakes are verry deep, for there size.


That's gotta be harsh on your motor ...

http://www.thesteveco.com/BARFphotos/000/052/350/thumb-763208-crash_rc51river_copy.jpg

[Magnamania]

I have done that a few times. :werd:

[speeddemon]

Things to love about NYC...

--The culture. Any band you want to see, any play, any art happening, any food you want to eat, it all happens here.

--The amazing blend of cultures, religions, languages. Whats more amazing is that for the most part, people tend to get along.

--Not having to drive a car everywhere. People actually do this wild thing called WALKING here. You don't get in your car to drive around the corner.

--The energy. If you've never been here, I can't explain it.

--One hour from mountains, 30 minutes to the beach.

Thing to hate about NYC

--The garbage...not as bad as you would think with 8 million people, but people don't seem to give a second thought to littering.

--Tourists!! If you are visiting NYC, please remember that we walk quickly here. If you want to dawdle looking up at skyscrapers, please move to one side of the sidewalk!

--Long winters, expensive rent, expensive parking, expensive everything...

[Smitty]

True up in this interior part of the Province of B.C. Cdn., we are robbed of winter riding weather.

Still the smaller population of humans is to my liking as are the hills & mtn roads (we are in the middle of the Cdn Rockies only in a valley area with lakes & such) that are continually going up & down with bends to where 1/4 mile straight is almost impossible to find. Along with just a few blocks from my home & I am on the hwys just ideal for sportbikes, riding through farming terrain of cattle, fruit orchards, hay growing, to even these animals from South Amera like Alpha & the other whatever they are called.

True I am an ex-farmer, for I was a fruit orchardist & not familiar with the latest animals from South America.

The fresh air & lack of bumper to bumper traffic is why I made a complete change in my life style to get OUT of city life.

[smoore]

How long would it take you to ride to Silver City, out of curiosity?

Hmm. Depends on which route I took.

Route 1: Highway 60 from Socorro to Datil, then head SE on State Road 12 thru Horse Springs, Aragon, and Reserve to Highway 180, which then heads south thru Glenwood and Cliff to Silver City. Estimated distance is 210 miles, so at average of 55 MPH, that's between 3.5 and 4 hours. This is probably the best route for scenery.

Route 2: Down I-25 from Socorro to Caballo, then take State Road 152 over the Black Range to Silver... that's about 130 miles and probably pretty scenic, but can be very scary in bad weather. Not sure how well 152 is maintained..... assuming an average of 50 MPH because of the terrain, this would be about 2.5 to 3 hours.

Route 3: Down I-25 from Socorro to Hatch, then State Road 26 to Deming, then State Road 180 from Deming to Silver... about 170 miles or so. Driven this several times in my truck, and it's BORING! This takes about 2.5 hours because most of it is at freeway speeds, or through areas where you can floor it (few to no LEOs around).

Now that I've bored you with all of this info, why do you ask? ; -)

[azpenguin]

195 miles for me... many of them boring ones - there's really only one way to get there from Tucson. But it's a nice place, there's a great little gelato place there, and a few things to do... and of course there's a Blake's in Deming. Might have to arrange a meetup ride out there sometime.