Why do you live there???

JTC · Jun 3, 2004

Grew up in the St. Louis area and lived within 40 miles one way or another for 35 years. Madison and St Clair County IL., Jefferson and South St. Louis County MO. Love the Ozarks and Southern Illinois. Missouri has the prettiest rivers and springs I've seen. St. Louis will always be home and I do get homesick occasionally.

Moved to Camas Washington, Portland Oregon area, western edge of the Cascade mountains. Moved for Career reasons. If it wasn't for the rain, the Northwest would be the most ideal spot on earth. Spent a great deal of time exploring deep into the Cascade's. I always wondered if our 4x4 broke down, how many days (or weeks /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif) it would be before we were found. Loved the Summers there but after 4 years the wife was tired of the rain and being so far from family, so...

Moved to Fairfield County Connecticut, 50 miles to NYC but yet, in the wilderness (we have a neighborhood bear). I like the climate here best of all. Plenty of rain up until mid summer so everything is lush green, Summers are not as hot and humid as the Midwest, Winters aren't as cold either. Best of all, we get plenty of snow. We're 40 miles inland and seem to be in a band that gets snow frequently when they don't get it North or South of us. I commute down county and the congestion and traffic gets progressively worse to the point where it messes with my attitude. I've seen a lot of bad traffic in other major cities and spend at a couple of days every month in the Bay area (CA), but Northeast drivers are the worst. If you see a car with New Jersey license plates, give it plenty of room because you never know what it will do /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif.

Jim

mitchdb · Jun 3, 2004

My wife and I live about 10 miles from where we were both born (Seabrook), just south of Houston Texas on the coast. It's not a bad place to live, it can get a little crowded sometimes but not as bad as Houston. The weather is not too bad if you like hot Summers and fairly mild Winters. We travel quite a bit so we do get to see other areas.

We have about 30 acres in central Texas (between Houston, San Antonio and Austin) that we plan to build on someday but everything is at a slower pace out there and no one really seems to want to do it. We been in the process of getting power ran to our property for the past 3 months, everything is a done deal but still no poles on the property!

We are both native Texans and we have a lot of pride in Texas but if we were to leave the state, it would have to be either for Fountain Hills Arizona or Las Vegas Nevada! We love the desert and we like hot weather!

Poppa · Jun 3, 2004

So Mitch, where are you in relation to Shiner. I have been there once and I loved it. Course it was May and the heat was already a tangible thing. But I sure thought it was pretty.

Mike

Poppa · Jun 3, 2004

I guess this would be for Jim and anyone else from Connecticut. How does it stay so Rural situated where it is? I am just amazed that it hasn't built up more. Must be a east coast thing is all I can figure. on the West coast, fifty miles is a close commute and there is no way an area like Connecticut would survive long before it was suburbanized.

Count yourself lucky.

Mike

mitchdb · Jun 3, 2004

Shiner is about 60-70 miles south of my 30 acres and about 120 miles west of my house in Seabrook. Did you go to the brewery in Shiner (Shiner Bock among others), I've heard you get free beer!

LarryRB · Jun 3, 2004

where Junkman, AndyMA and I live, we're in the last green valley.. It is very rural to sparse.. If any one of us wants to travel just over 20 miles, then your in the city environment.. That is to say, city water, sewage and a library that is open 15 hrs a week and not 10 per month if your lucky.. A lot of people leave the city, East Hartford for example. live here about a year, then head back.. Having to watch their water well, pump a septic system, rent their own dumpster or have the bi-weekly pick up, usually drives them back to the city.. Constant loss of power, phone and or cable which happens in my town 3 times a week at least, is the final cap in doing them in.. We, who live here, don't know any better and think everything is normal.. Our weekly power outages add up to about one hour or just over each week.. Also, the trip to Hartford (36MILES) one way, really does it in.. That is the down side of living in the last green vallwy because there is too much turn over of people and home sales which now makes an area very unstable..

Poppa · Jun 3, 2004

Mitch, the brewery was the reason for the trip. I was visiting a friend in San Antonio. He wanted to go to the brewery and who was I to say no. I forget which road we took east out of Shertz (sp?) but I passed my first and second Tractor Supply Stores sandwhiching in a big Lutheran University on the way. He wouldn't stop on the way east because the brewery only has one tour a day and he didn't want to miss it but on the way back I got him to stop.

The brewery was worth the drive. The woman who gave the tour was full of information and we sat around and talked with her for about an hour. There was just the two of us plus a couple guys had driven down from Dallas. They do give you free beer, seems it was a handful of wooden nickles and you got to taste anything they had on tap. Quite yummy.

Stopped at TSC on the way back, almost bought a George Strait (sp?) hat and walked around gawking at what was available (we don't have TSC around here)

Anyway, Shiner Brewery and a TSC, yeah, I would have to say that was a banner day. Oh, I forgot that was the same day I got a haircut for 4.50 at a little hole in the wall barber near Randolf AFB. Best haircut I ever got and fast. Guy had been there forever I guess and because he owned the land and the shop he was able to actually undercut the on base barber. Although to be truthful, it was an AFB. Never seen anyone undercut a Marine Base Barber. Even in Hawaii I only paid five dollars at the Marine base.

OK, sorry, you got me going about what a great day that was and I just about lost track of where I was.

Inspector507 · Jun 3, 2004

I live where I do because I was born here. I have never lived more than 50 miles from the spot I was born. My family is all here, I couldn't imagine leaving them behind if I wanted to live somewhere else. My brother is planning on relocating out of state this summer, I hope not.
Do I like it here? Nope......no punches pulled there.

JTC · Jun 3, 2004

The East Coast in general just doesn't have the highway infrastructure in terms of capacity that the rest of country has. That 50 mile commute could take you 45 minutes without traffic but on a Summer Thursday or Friday evening or before a holiday more like 3 hours. The same traffic in other parts of the country just don't bother me as much as it does here because you don't have a steady stream of idiots cutting you off if you leave an extra 6" between you and the guy ahead of you.

Land costs are pretty crazy too, I couldn't afford to move here today. There is a lot of undeveloped land around but when the going rate starts at $350K for 2.5 acres, but if it's what you want, better buy it this year because it will go up 20% next year.

The Southern New England countryside is very beautiful, but I think I'm destined for a more rural community within 1 - 2 years.

Jim

mitchdb · Jun 4, 2004

That sounds like a great trip! I've never been to the brewery but I've been to my share of TSC's. I can go in there and just walk around for an hour or 2.

I wish I could find some cheap haircuts, they are about $10 around here.

Good story!