What is the best and worst part of living in the city you live in?

[jangoman88]

Atlanta GA, best/worst aiport in the world - nonstop flights to almost anywhere. Can't complain about the climate as it is pretty temperate most of the year.

One positive is we're still fairly smoker-friendly, many establishments one can still enjoy a cigar in. At least the politicians and nannies leave it up to the business owner here for now.

Beaches are a little far (4-6 hours) though I guess it's also a positive that traffic congestion has eased since we're now only the 7th worst in the US this year vs. one of the top 3 in past studies - either that or at least 4 other cities have surpassed us by becoming even worse.

For a minor metropolis there's relatively decent culture - museums, restaurants, music and the like but having moved down from the DC area and traveling frequently to most of the major cities in the world, it seems a bit lacking all in all.

Cost of living is not bad at all compared to other big cities, a lot more house for your coin.

Great place to have raised the kids.

Dont forget about The Walking Dead!

[sk00ts]

Edmonton, AB

The best: summers are beautiful. The river valley looks spectacular. Nice people (for the most part) and as Reason said, all the festivals

The worst: the winters are long, dark and cold...and long and cold and long. Terrible drivers (using a turn signal takes too much effort. The professional sports teams aren't very good (we are still called city of champions though...)

[Mr.T]

Minneapolis

Pros: very strong and vibrant local and national music scene and independent radio, strong in arts and culture, great public schools, beautiful city lakes and parks, biker friendly, great restaurants and local beer scene.......

Cons: winter, winter and winter and most recently the Minnesota Vikings....our deepest apologies to the entire planet for that Monday Night Football game and guess what: you get to watch us again on Sunday Night Football Yay!

[jangoman88]

Connecticut

Pros- not much, love my town I live in and the small town feel/community and my neighborhood

Cons- Worst gun laws passed in the country, taxes, cost of living and just about everything else you can imagine..CT sucks but my wife wont move because of her family maybe someday we can live in an area we really love haha!

[Hafner32]

Scranton, Pennsylvania

Pros: Low cost of living in comparison to other PA cities

Great proximity to larger US cities: 2 hours to Philly and NY, 4 hours to Boston, Pittsburg, and Washington DC

We get to enjoy all four seasons and there are 7 ski slopes within an hour drive

Cons: High unemployment rate

Run Down areas of center city

Flying out of local airport requires connecting flights to everywhere except about a dozen cities

[ptrthgr8]

My town for the last 14 years - Grand Forks, North Dakota (~60K peeps)

Pros:

Everyone here loves hockey and it's the home of the UND Fighting Sioux

Outdoor hockey rinks in every neighborhood

Big enough to get pretty much whatever you want, but small enough to still have charm

Very low crime; everyone around here likes guns, uses guns, and many people have CWPs

Guns and hunting are considered a normal part of life

Very low cost of living

Cons:

Winter can be a real ***** (I've seen -75 with the wind chill)

No good seafood joints

Wild prairie land is being gobbled up by farming

I'm originally a Seattle native, so that will always be my hometown. I do miss the mountains, ocean, and seafood. But in 14 years I've yet to find any compelling reasons to make me want to move back west. Grand Forks is the polar opposite of Seattle. And I'm 100% okay with that.

Cheers,

~ Greg ~

[SCgarman]

Scranton, Pennsylvania

Pros: Low cost of living in comparison to other PA cities

Great proximity to larger US cities: 2 hours to Philly and NY, 4 hours to Boston, Pittsburg, and Washington DC

We get to enjoy all four seasons and there are 7 ski slopes within an hour drive

Cons: High unemployment rate

Run Down areas of center city

Flying out of local airport requires connecting flights to everywhere except about a dozen cities

Ahem. You forgot to mention close proximity to Old Forge, Pa. The pizza capital of the world. I love Revellos pizza!!!

[Puros Y Vino]

Toronto:

Pros:

• Centre of the Universe
  
• Great, hot summers.
  
• Lot's of green areas scattered throughout. Great bike trails.
  
• Borders on the Greatest of the Great Lakes: Lake Ontario! (which is pretty much devoid of any aquatic life)
  
• Great restaurants and entertainment througout. 90 mins from the wine region in Niagara.
  
• Lovely ladies from all backgrounds.
  
• Harmonious civic life (people of all races/creeds seem to get along)
  
• Multicultural = lots of interesting things to do and explore. Helps make us a bit more "worldly"
  

Cons:

• Crappy, embarrassing,drug addled mayor.
  
• Winter. Especially Jan/Feb. Brutally cold.
  
• Terrible nanny state, anti-smoking laws.
  
• Terrible, monopolized liquor sales. We pay 2X + of what products actually sell for.
  
• Getting too crowded. Bad civic planning cramming too many people into certain areas.
  
• Outdated and over capacity subway/transit system that no one knows how to fix.
  

It's where i was born, I love it, but I feel that someday I will leave it.

[dafrey23]

Chicago

Pros: Top 5 food city in the world (in my opinion), weather (spring/summer/fall is awesome), great park system, women (we get the midwest's best), golf (some of the best public and private courses in the country), close to great vacation spots (Door County, Western Michigan), an airport that can get you anywhere in the world, and the best sports town in the world.

Cons: Weather (the winter sucks), traffic, few places to enjoy a cigar

People will complain about taxes no matter where you go (especially Chicago). Yes, we have our problems, but we get quite a bit for out tax money. Our schools should be better, we have alderman slush funds that should not exist (TIF districts), and we have a pension funding problem (caused mostly by the State), but other than that we do pretty well.

[SCgarman]

Northern Virginia.

Pros; mild weather year round for the most part. Lots of sunny days.

World class shopping, restaurants

Still cigar friendly here in Virginia

Relatively low state and sales taxes

Availability of jobs

Cons; proximity to Washington D.C. and the issues related to it

Worst traffic in the country

There are people living here from all parts of the world, so some really bad and rude drivers on the roads

Over-inflated housing prices

Fast paced living

This area is a good place to have your career and a better place to pack up with your nest egg and move out of when you retire!

[galtline]

Orange County - Ca

Weather is awesome - Hollyweird has invaded Orange County along with Mexico and has brought with it day dreamers of all shapes and sizes. Ca is the true Looter State. Cost of living is ridiculous and its not getting any cheaper with more taxes burdening the hard working.

But again : Weather Weather Weather is just incredible.

You can go surfing, skiing - snowboarding , and water skiing all in the same day. In a 300 mile radius you have just about everything you could want. And what can I say its located on the west coast the most diverse stretch of land running from Baja Mexico all the way to the border of Canada. Pure desert to the high sierras and everything in between.

[Hash]

Amman-Jordan, a city built on seven hills, its inland so no beaches ,unless you drive to Aqaba on the red sea,which is more of a winter resort, more than four hours journey, on the other hand you have the Dead Sea to the west in the Jordan valley which is considered the lowest point on Earth. The weather is fine year round except for Jan ,Feb. could be very cold. Most places allow smoking , a couple of very good places for cigar smokers ,of special mention The Library at the Marriot hotel .Amman is well situated for cigar shopping close to Dubai and Beirut Duty Free.

Traffic is awful people tend to be rude when they sit behind their driving wheels women never leave their mobiles , they drive with one arm on the driving wheel and holding their mobiles with the other. Other wise its an o.k city.

[fozzie]

Leeds, England.

Pros:

1. Friendly Northern folk
   
2. Easy to get out into the countryside
   
3. OK rugby league team
   
4. The home of Headingley cricket ground and the 1981 Ashes thriller
   
5. Loads of MILF
   
6. Relatively low house prices
   
7. UK's 2nd largest financial centre
   

Cons:

1. Not cigar friendly
   
2. Weather ain't the best
   
3. Too close to Scotland for my liking..........
   

[Peacock]

SEATTLE

Pros: Very diverse metropolitan hub. Great food, lots of things to do. Beautiful area....minutes from the mountains, minutes from the sea. Within an hour or so you can be in the rain forest, desert, glaciers, rivers, lakes, or mountains. Good hunting, fishing, and many options for camping. Very temperate climate...never too hot, never too cold. Lots of economic opportunites with major technology companies...(Amazon, Microsoft) headquartered here. Liberal values.

Cons: The diversity brings many cultures. It rains...a lot. Taxes. Government. Not smoker friendly (except weed).

I've lived all over the US, and chose Seattle for my home. I would leave, but there would have to be a lot on the table.

[garbandz]

Pleasant Garden,NC...

Positive....

No Fast food

2 stoplights

3 miles from 2 highways

No Wallyworld

traffic jams = 3 cars in front of you at a stop sign

everyone waves from their car

5 miles to the city

Negative:

............

[riazp]

Montreal

Pros : Gorgeous women, great food culture, great restaurants, has a euro feel to the city, indoor venues to enjoy cigars during the brutal winter months, good travel distances by air or by car to marjor cities.

Cons : the brutal winters forces our beautiful women to dress up in layers, cant be bothered to go out and enjoy the restaurants because its too cold. and one major problem is this great city of montreal is stuck in a brutal backwards province with a idiotic provincial government too worried about languange to actually give us real services....

[thebigk]

Hanska, Minnesota

Pro= Less then 500 people good place to raise kids

Con=Less then 500 people nothing to do have to drive everywere

[TiminBC]

Victoria Canada.

Population of greater Victoria is about 350,000 which is fine for me.We have lots of festivals and great restaurants given the amount of tourists that visit yearly which is estimated at 2-3 million.

Pros

lots of hiking, biking, fishing, soaking up the sun.

scuba diving, kayaking, beach smoking.

Mild weather year round (for Canada).

Minimal violent crime.

Lots of events.

pace of life

Cons

Housing is expensive

restrictive smoking rules (everywhere now a days)

winter rain (hello southern vacation)

I have lived in 8 Canadian cities in 4 provinces and think my present one is the best.

[ramon_cojones]

Orange County - Ca

Weather is awesome - Hollyweird has invaded Orange County along with Mexico and has brought with it day dreamers of all shapes and sizes. Ca is the true Looter State. Cost of living is ridiculous and its not getting any cheaper with more taxes burdening the hard working.

But again : Weather Weather Weather is just incredible.

You can go surfing, skiing - snowboarding , and water skiing all in the same day. In a 300 mile radius you have just about everything you could want. And what can I say its located on the west coast the most diverse stretch of land running from Baja Mexico all the way to the border of Canada. Pure desert to the high sierras and everything in between.

you forgot some more cons:

nowhere to go except the same 5 places

most of it has no history and not much culture/character

pathetic restaurants as compared to LA

people are mostly stuck up aholes and are uninteresting

roads are smooth though LOL! and my favorite place to smoke is there

[stogieluver]

welllllllllllll ... I don't live in a city ... town of 8000 and I live 26kms from town . next door neighbours are (in both directions) half a mile away .

there is NO city in the universe that I would like to live in ... but as long as you guys are happy where you live ... good for you .

pros of living in the great white north(a long ways from town) ... no snakes(yuck) ...no rats ... no fleas ... zero crime(I lost my house keys 25 years ago and have never locked my house since) . good hunting fishing canoeing sledding quading etc etc and I don't have to leave my property .

cons ... a long way to anywhere(you just don't go for pizza at midnight) ... somewhat expensive(pay my heating bills for a winter) ... 1200 kms to salt water .

all in all ... I love where I live .

derrek

Derrek,

Give me your address. I'd like to come by and visit some time.

[stogieluver]

Mobile, Alabama (pronounced Mobeal, Alafukinbama)

Pro's:

beautiful sugary white sand beaches close by (Gulf Shores and Orange Beach)

Mobile Bay sunsets in the spring and fall

great seafood restaurants everywhere

2 hours to the New Orleans French Quarter

Friendliest people anywhere

Generally mild winters

Traffic not much of a problem

Can get anywhere in town in less than 15 minutes (population about 350k)

Con's:

Bama (University of Alabama football) fans EVERYWHERE

Summer's hot as hell with 90% humidity, but usually a Gulf of Mexico breeze to cool things off)

Airport is small, nice, but flights are expensive and limited nonstop destinations. Most flights go to Atlanta first and then from there.

HURRICANE'S can be a *****. We hate the months of August and September here. Prime of hurrican season.

[Carpenter69]

NY- it's New York

Cons- insane property taxes

pros- it's NY

[Nino]

Wörrstadt / Germany

Rheinhessen Wine country

Pros :

Reduced my cost of living by ( at least ) 30% from the big city Frankfurt.

Met nice people.

Have fun.

Rhine river around the corner - as well as several totally different countries with truly totally different funny walks a la Monty Python just hours ( or even minutes away )

Great Schnitzels and great affordable wines, a nice Tuscany-kinda-feeling about the region

Smoker friendly laws here, pubs, cafes, restaurants and even pharmacies are OK with cigars

Don't need Rx at the pharmacy

Don't need cash in my pub

Always get back what I forget in my pub ( cutters, lighters, baseball caps ... )

Can get cigars anytime in the pharmacy in case of need

Just 2 traffic lights in town

Big cities in reachable distance ( Mainz, Wiesbaden 20 and Frankfurt 30 minutes )

Airport with worldwide connex around the corner

Quite well-known as a cigar hot spot

Cons :

Quite well known as a cigar hot spot

Traffic jams on the Autobahn from people driving into the big cities mornings and afternoons ( good I'm retired, sleep in and have Siestas )

Never missed the big city again ...

[Orion21]

Phoenix, AZ

Pros:

1) Great weather 6-7 months of the year

2) Lots of outdoor activities like biking, hiking and camping

3) 3/4 of the State is pine forest and only 1.5 hours from Phoenix

4) Incredible resorts

5) Low taxes, especially on cigars

6) A great international airport

7) Relatively low cost of living

8) Good, but not great food scene

9) Our public universities are some of the least expensive in the country

Cons:

1) Surface of the sun hot from mid-May until September (115F+ is not uncommon for 2-3 weeks at a time)

2) Very spread out planning, meaning no real downtown culture to see

3) Cookie cutter construction capital of the world. Master planned communities are very common

4) Horrible seafood, unless you are willing to pay a small fortune

5) Not a very close knit community. The main complaint I hear from new people that move here is that their neighbors keep to themselves

6) No arts and culture like bigger cities with a deeper sense of history

7) Public schools are known for being some of the worst in the country

8) Our public universities are over capacity and rated in the third tier

9) There are scorpions everywhere . . . and lots of them!

[Perla]

Wiesbaden - Germany

Rheingau Wine Country

Pros

very green city (parks, forest)

we always find a nice excuse to have a party or to create a festive

good restaurants

twice a week a farmer market, lot of food is coming from the area

very close to Wörrstadt may you do not know this little village - but this is a really well known as cigar hot spot

close to the airport

close to other cities (Mainz, Frankfurt & Darmstadt)

hot summer & mild winter (mostly)

Cons

costs of living are pretty high

not really smoking friendly

rent and housing is pretty expensive

to many rich brats around (the rich, the famous & the botox injection)

traffic sucks