Loves and loathes (your city)

[GreyhoundsRUs]

No need to say where you live, but what do you love and loathe about your current location?

I love
-no traffic
-24 hour grocery and Walmart
-awesome healthcare

Loathe:
-no decent airport
-high property tax (for a non-urban location)

[HouseofWool]

Loves:

- Great healthcare, both hospitals are community hospitals, but each is tied into a major teaching hospital.
- Good schools
- Low crime
- Amazing natural beauty


Loathes:

- Few decent dating opportunities
- Grown-up entertainment mostly consists of bars
- Few restaurants that are truly fantastic.

[diggitydot]

We haven't even been here a week, so I haven't learned what I'll loathe, but this doesn't suck:

[corn poffi]

Yes, I'm a total Scrooge but I'm so over all of the festivals in this place. Every damn day there's another street closed or a traffic jam due to lost out-of-towners.

[houseelf]

Pros-
low COL
big enough city to have options but small enough not to have Big city issues like high COL, traffic
four moderate seasons
close to a dozen cool cities for weekend jaunts. Seriously, Cleveland, Nashville, Chicago, Pittsburgh are all easily driveable.
although midwestern, Cinci has a unique feel with its hills, bridges, architecture, and riverboats. So many midwest towns are bland, bland, bland.


Cons-
there is no denying this is a Rust belt city. Hello, can we buy a street cleaner downtown?
For a city founded by German catholic immigrants, the German food is crappy
It is not a great running town. (Seriously the Pig marathon is cited as the definitive "hilly" marathon on the Runnersworld forums
Whiel there are some good educational and employment choices, this isn't the Twin Cities by any stretch of the imagination.

[Chrisada]

Pros: A mile from the water.
Private parks with pools, etc.
Great COL
Best public schools in the state.
Extremely safe
Small town, see people I know everywhere
Trader Joe's
No buses, kids walk to school
Cons:
Borders to Detroit, so there is a paranoia about "Detroiters" coming into the city.
People can be super snobby.
I kid you not when I say the official colors are pink and green.
Hysteria about minorities ( I mean blacks) moving in, yet minority pop. Is still way under 10%.

[niener]

Love:
- the beaches, the bay, the rivers (i.e. lots of water and water-based activities)
- rent is cheap
- friendly people
- gorgeous historic homes/buildings
- beautiful old oak-lined streets

Loathe:
- HUMIDITY. So. much. humidity.
- no TJs, no WFs, not even a Publix... wtf
- all the roads need repaving
- sucky airport (no southwest booo)
- no professional sports

[SoonerTexan]

Love:
DFW airport 10 minutes away
15 min. drive to med school (not during rush hour), but still definitely in suburbia
EASY access to almost every major highway in the area
awesome schools for whenever N gets there
Every major retail you can think of nearby (or soon to be nearby). Including the coveted Costco, Trader Joes, and IKEA.
Really safe, close knit, family-oriented community with awesome amenities
Cheap(ish) housing--there are cheaper areas in DFW but it is still affordable
Good job market
Personal to me--My family is 15 minutes away and DH's is in Houston, but only 4 hours away

Hate:
The heat and lack of seasons. May-August is miserable until you get used to it. The rest of the year might be considered beautiful, but I like variety.
Not a lot of natural beauty--it is hilly and wooded in very few areas. There is a lot of flat.
Really high property taxes--some of the highest in the area
There are lakes, but it's a LONG drive to any beach, much less a decent beach.
No REALLY neat weekend destinations nearby (unless you consider the Hill Country, Arkansas, Louisiana, or Oklahoma crazy neat)

[oceanchild]

I love...
...that I live in a big city that is still affordable and isn't too overwhelming in its big city-ness.
...that it's the state capital.
...awesome cultural opportunities like touring Broadway shows and big museums.
...the ability to take public transit where I need to go (though this could certainly be improved).
...great parks and trails.
...low humidity, high altitude, and lots of sunshine.
...non-stop flights to almost everywhere.
...the incredible beauty of the Rocky Mountains.

I loathe...
...the distance from the ocean.
...sprawl, sprawl, sprawl.
...wacky weather and the winter cold.

[Mrs. MD, Esq.]

I love...

-Having so much to do at our fingertips
-The restaurants
-The variety of different things you usually can't find (weird foods or products)
-Our view of the East River
-Free fitness classes
-That even when I feel like I have explored our area completely, I stumble across something new
-Free movies/performances outside
-All of the farmers markets (and fruit stands)

I loathe...

-The cost of rent
-The cost of groceries
-The tourists
-Street rats

[moonlight]

I love:
We are 1.5hrs from the beach, even though we don't make it there much
It's a small community, I always run into a at least one friend when I go out for the day!
Never any crowds, never lines, never fight for a parking spot
Southern kindness everywhere you go and the love people have here for small children
Nothing in town is more than 10 miles away
Summer are warm but not over 100 degrees, winters are cold with just a little bit of snow

Loathes:
Not enough interesting things to do, or places to eat.
Locals don't care about nor are they interested in: traveling, anything European, or that I'm from another state.
Not enough of a 'crunchy' crowd. That spills into: no yoga studios, only 1 little health food store, only 1 organic grocery store, no Trader Joes
The lack of a really good Mexican restaurant is a big issue! Can't find fresh flower tortillas... I could go on and on.
Too far from a large city.
Housing is too expensive for what you get
Not enough retail shopping
Not enough children activities, no zoo, no water park, no splash pad, no play area at the mall, etc etc.

[ides]

I've only been here a week but so far -
Love:
cost of housing -low!
Fantastic kids science museum
Lots of nice places to eat

Loath
Heat & humidity
No TJ's
No IKEA

I can comment on my past locals later

[MsSassyBaskets]

Love:
Not a whole lot
The beaches, even if they are on a great lake
Low COL
Wegmans
The 3 months of summer
The fact that we'll move to Pittsburgh in about 10 months

Loathe:
It's not Minneapolis
It's not even a real city
The incredible economic depression
The 9 months of dreary weather
The rude, depressed residents
No TJs, no WFs, no good local co-ops, no CSAs, only a handful of ok restaurants

I could go on. I wouldn't wish this town on anyone.

[blondie]

Love:
Grocery delivery
Lots to do
Other loves mainly have to do with benefits provided by the hospital itself

Loathe:
Expensive for a horrible part of town
Lots to do but not easy from this area
Residents (in this vicinity, not city as a whole) are confrontational/rude/poorly educated
Dirty

[ladymoreta]

Small city in north Texas, I just moved here, so these might change...

Love:
- DH's job
- Small town feel with quite a few big retailers and restaurant chains
- Really low COL; I came from OKC, and I'm still shocked at how cheap houses are
- Very close to Dallas for shopping, visiting friends and family, and DFW airport
- Splash park within a mile from my house
- Close to both of our families
- Close to Lake Texoma, which will be more fun as the kids get older (camping, fishing, boating, etc.)

Loathe:
- Not a lot of great locally owned restaurants or shops. I'm finding a few, though.
- I still haven't found a lot of good indoor activities for the kids. It's just too hot for parks right now, so I'm resorting to fast food places with indoor playgrounds much more often than I'd like.
- The mall is dead. It's kind of creepy to walk through!