What's it like where you live?

[serenity55 15]

I'm a city dweller, and have always been fascinated by people who live in small towns, in the country, or in other countries.

I've been to England twice, and had a chance to walk in the English countryside, which was a dream come true for me.

So ... are you in a city? Small town? Village? Out in the country with no neighbors for miles?

Do you live where the seasons change?

I would love to hear.

Debbie

[Jachut 487]

Suburban Melbourne.

I live in a fairly outer suburb, property prices here are amongst the most expensive in the world, in terms of comparison with annual income and unless you bought in at the right time, you can never catch up if you missed the boom. So even though we've got a nice big six figure income, we're pretty much resigned to cheap, modern housing. I long for Melbourne's genteel, tree lined inner streets and Victorian/Edwardian architecture, but a 4 bedroom brick veneer is what I have. Still, I have a nice home, nice suburb, plenty of good facilities. I live near all my family and all of DH's family, except for my sister who lives in Sydney.

Climate here is awesome - its temperate - nice and mild in winter - usually above 10 degrees celcius, lovely and warm in summer, with long stretches of high 20's and then nice manageable bursts of really hot weather when it can reach above 40 degrees celcius. We dont live far from the beach, Melbourne is on a bay, and a very beachy city, we can easily drive down to pristine, non city beaches inside half an hour or so down on our Mornington Peninsula or South Gippsland.

Melbourne can tend to have 4 seasons in one day, it has a reputation for that, it can be cold one day, hot the next. It doesnt snow here, although sometimes it can on the very outskirts up in the hills.

Melbourne is a very multicultural city, with large Asian and Italian communities, and as a result we have loads and loads of really great cultural activities and fantastic eating out from all cuisines.

I love it here, its a very liveable city, with good road networks, that are well planned in a grid structure, so its easy to get around. But if I could live in my dream location it'd be Byron Bay - up on the border of NSW and QLD, I'd love the tropical climate, its gorgeous scenery and the mix of hippie and yuppie culture, its a fabulous place. Unfortunately although as a teacher I'd find work there, there's not much call for CFO's which is what DH does.

[Humming Bird 275]

I live just outside a small mountain town. We finished building our house in 2006 and I am really loving the life here in the Colorado Rockies. The house ended up a bit too big for me to keep up with the cleaning, but I try.

I live at 8,500 ft. We joke around about only having 3 seasons ......winter, summer & fall. We get quite a bit of snow in the spring, so it seems like spring doesn't happen. The area is considered a "bedroom community." Most people here live/sleep here, but drive to nearby towns/cities for work.

We have quite a bit of wildlife in the area.....Deer, Elk, big horn sheep, bears, mountain lions, fox, ....

Check out my pics in my album.

Here is a link to web cams that show what the area looks like. Woodland Park and Pikes Peak Webcam - Current Weather and Road Conditions

[elcee 3,341]

Well I am also close to Melbourne but in the country where it tends to get a bit colder. We live on a 5 acre plot with 3 horses, 2 dogs, 3 cats and a sheep!

We definitely have different seasons. the autumn trees are stunning and I love to see all the daffodils in spring. The downside is that it is very cold in winter and we get quite a bit of fog. Our little town is close to Ballarat which is an old gold mining city with some amazing heritage and architecture.

Our house is fairly large(although probably not by American standards), modern and open plan. Personally I'm not that keen on open plan but that is how they build all the houses over here.

There are no high schools so my son has to catch a bus into Ballarat to school every day.He plays footy(Aussie rules) for the local U18 team and he is also a member of the junior CFA(country fire authority).

Life here would probably be too quiet and boring for some but I love the peace and tranquillity.If I need some culture then it's not that far to drive into Melbourne for a show.

The town we live in is not very big and because I have only been here 2 years I don't know too many people. Have started to meet a few more recently through classes at our local neighbourhood centre which has quite a varied programme.

[girl55 5]

Well, I am probably all the opposite of you guys! I live in a small town in Central Texas. It's cold as heck in the winter and hot as hell in the summer. But fall and spring are very beautiful. I've lived here all my life and wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

[blue devil woman 0]

where in central texas

Well, I am probably all the opposite of you guys! I live in a small town in Central Texas. It's cold as heck in the winter and hot as hell in the summer. But fall and spring are very beautiful. I've lived here all my life and wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

[Kristy29 0]

I live in the Poconos, which is a big tourist destination. I live in a gated community on top of a big hill (or a small mountain, whichever way you look at it). I have close neighbors, but most of them are vacation homes so empty half the time. It is 10 minutes to the nearest grocery store, 25 minutes to the nearest Walmart, and half an hour to the tiny mall. Any big box stores are near the mall, and there are only a few of them but they are building more every year.

It is very peaceful here, we have birds, deer, turkeys, squirrels and other animals we see all the time. I like it but hate the inconvenience of it. I wish I lived in a town where I could walk places, I can't even walk to my mailbox here.

We get a lot of tourists for skiing in the winter, and camping, shopping and river activities in the summer. This creates a lot of traffic, but as locals we know all the tricks to get around it.

We moved here because we were living in NJ and couldn't afford it and we wanted to buy a house. Now that the market has gone down so much, and it's especially bad here, we can not sell our house so even if we don't want to be here anymore, we are stuck. I try to tell myself it's beautiful and I should love it, but sometimes I just don't want to drive so damn much all the time.

[a dairyfarmers chubbywife 1]

I live 40 mile north of Dayton, Ohio on a Dairy Farm.

We milk 70 cows and we farm close to 1000 acres. Our closest neighbors are about 1/2 mile down the road, but our road is so quiet that if more then 10 cars go down it then it's considered a busy day!

I've often thought how neat it would be to live in an urban environment, but when evening time rolls around and the tree frogs start chirping and the stars are out so bright I quickly remember why I don't ever want to move.

Here in Ohio we enjoy the four seasons...sometimes all in a single day(!)...the morning can start off with a little snow and it'll be 70 by evening time!

Thanks for this thread, I'm so fascinated by where others call home.

~Annette~

[Apples2 19]

We live in MN...the West Central Prairie. Strickly grain crops...corn and soybeans...around 2,500 acres and operate a custom agricultural tiling business. Definately four seasons with winter being at least 6-7 months long. Spring weather is iffy with rain and snow. Fall is usually beautiful with colorful leaves. Summers are hot and humid.

We spend a couple of months in FL during the winter months and about 5 months up North during the summer on the weekends.

We live 5 miles from the closest town (pop.129) and 15 miles from next largest (pop.5,000). Closest Walmart is 70 miles away and any decent shopping is a couple of hours away. Not alot is offered as far as entertainment...again have to travel. We tend to make our own fun. Cookouts, farm shop parties, campfires. In fact, we tend to make up reasons just to put together a party. Such as: Pre-planting party, Post-planting party, Too Much Rain party, etc.

Life is good.

[girl55 5]

I live in Schulenburg, half way between San Antonio and Houston on I-10.

[serenity55 15]

This is fantastic! I'd love to visit everyone! Thank you all so much for responding.

I especially love the quiet and peace, something you don't get much of here in the city. There is a difference between living on a residential street in a city as opposed to where Humming Bird, or Annette live.

It all sounds wonderful. Thank you all so much.

Debbie

[Sarah Marie 2]

I live less than 5 miles South of the US/Canadian border in NW Washington. Blaine is a very small town with a lot of traffic coming and going. My house is in a little subdivision outside the city limits but not quite out in the country about half way between Blaine and Birch Bay which is a sleepy little community that only hustles and bustles with tourists in the summer time.

Stores and services are limited in the immediate area but Bellingham has it all and is only 25 or so miles away.

We have all four seasons, summers are almost too hot and winters are perfect. At least for me, I was born and raised in Anchorage, AK.

[Subie66 6]

I live in a smalll town in Kentucky. About 15 minutes to town. I live in a log house that we built 8 years ago. We have 8 acres -lots of hills. Many wild turkey, deer, coyotes, foxes...

I work about 35 minutes from home and hate the daily drive- once I am home I just want to stay home and sit on the back porch swing and watch the stars at night. We built a huge firepit with all the leftover rocks from the construction and we make a lot of fires and sit around in lawn chairs talking and roasting lots of marshmallows for the kids.

I thought I wanted to live in the city after college- but after living in town- I prefer the country life. I like it to be dark at night.

[serenity55 15]

Thank you Sarah Marie and Subie66.

I have been to places where it is quiet at night, and there have been millions of stars. I can't see them, but my friends have always described things for me. The peace in those places is what I want, and the safety one must feel as well, Not to mention the changing seasons, clean air--I could go on, but I'm sure you all get the picture.

Debbie.

[Humming Bird 275]

Ah yes, the peace and stars..... The fresh smell of pines. That is all why I put up with so much snow. When it starts snowing I think it is so beautiful, but I do get tired of it by the end of winter (before that really).

It is amazing how my stress level went down when I moved to the mountains. I have to drive to a fairly big city to work 3 days a week and another very tiny mountain town one day a week, but I can feel the stress lifting on my way home. We have 1 acre of land, but it seems much larger because all our neighbors have 1-5 acres and there are no fences. We live on a hillside that is covered pretty thick in pine and aspen trees. Our road is red dirt, so my car is never clean. Along the road that leads to ours there is a very large ranch that has several ponds. It is just so beautiful. There are flat areas on the ranch, but hills with pines as well. Sometimes in the mornings the Water in the ponds will be so calm it seems like glass. Sometimes there will be a fine mist of fog hanging over the ponds and woven in the valleys. On 3 sides of our land there are cabins where people only come a couple times a year and the rest of the time they just sit there all quite and empty. We can't see 2 of the cabins from our house. The little cabin that is the closest is a tiny "A Frame" and it really blends in with the trees well.

Edited June 3, 2010 by Humming Bird