What cities have you lived in?
So, what cities have you lived in? What city did you like the best/least? I was reading through a thread recently and it seems where people have lived strongly influences how they view that city(obviously) and how they view other cities. So I thought it would be interesting to see where everyone has lived or lives as to understand how they view urbanity.
If there has been a thread like this before, please delete. If it belongs somewhere else, please move. Thanks! |
Bucharest, Romania 0-5
Iowa City, IA 5-8 Ames, IA 8-9 Reno, NV 9-18 (one year was in Sparks, NV) Stanford, CA 18-22 Cambridge, MA 22-27 Chicago, IL 27- Chicago, Cambridge are the best but Cambridge was too expensive on a grad student stipend to live super well. Bucharest is nice too but obviously my impression of Bucharest is mostly from subsequent visits. |
Waukegan
Chicago Madison Wi NYC DC Oak Park Ill. Which is the best depends on the phase of life, at the moment it is Oak Park. |
Discounting the suburbs I had no choice in living in as a child, and college towns (which were not cities):
Detroit Washington DC New Haven, CT Pittsburgh |
Dublin 1981-1984
Calgary 1984-2007 Medicine Hat, AB June-December 2000 Shanghai 2007 - Present |
As a kid:
Pensacola/Tallahassee/Tampa/Orlando/Atlanta As an adult: Atlanta/Tallahassee/Detroit/Fort Worth |
Edmonton: 1972
Seattle: 1972-1976 Lloydminster, AB: 1976-1977 Calgary: 1977-1981 Dallas: 1981-1984 Sylvan Lake, AB (part-time 1982-2001) Calgary: 1984-1988 Toronto, London, ON: 1988-1990 Edmonton: 1990-1995 Vancouver: 1995-1996 Calgary: 1996-2001 Seattle: 2001-2004 Hong Kong: 2004-2007 Perth: 2007-2010 Seattle: 2010-2013 Calgary (part-time): 2010-2013 Perth: 2013-present Singapore (part-time): 2015-present |
Reston, VA
San Antonio TX (Lackland AFB) Chicago, IL (Albany Park/Gold Coast/Rogers Park) Grover Beach, CA (few months) Los Angeles, CA (Koreatown/North Hollywood/Van Nuys) Los Angeles and Chicago the best, Reston, Grover Beach, and San Antonio last. |
1. Small swamp town not on a map
2. Baton Rouge 3. New Orleans 4. Houston 5. Miami Beach 6. Fort Lauderdale 7. Washington DC 8. Baltimore (present) I would move back to New Orleans in a heartbeat if the money was right. I would never move back to Texas or Florida. I'm happy I got to experience them, but they are not for me. |
since i've spent the vast majority of my life in chicagoland (with a college stint up in the twin cities), i'm gonna do all of the neighborhoods i've lived in. i'm also including streetviews of all the buildings i've called home because why not.
1976-1994 - Wilmette, IL (Chicagoland) - https://www.google.com/maps/@42.0697...7i13312!8i6656 (my childhood home, from birth until i left for college) 1994-1997 - St. Paul, MN (Macalester College) - https://www.google.com/maps/@44.9401...7i13312!8i6656 (my dorm from freshman/sophmore years, lived off campus later on) 1997-1999 - i moved back to my childhood home in Wilmette 1999-2001 - Chicago (Little Italy) - https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8714...7i16384!8i8192 (where i lived when i first joined SSP all those decades ago) 2001-2004 - Chicago (Lakeview) - https://www.google.com/maps/@41.9510...7i13312!8i6656 2004-2006 - Chicago (Lakeview) - https://www.google.com/maps/@41.9456...7i13312!8i6656 2006-2007 - Chicago (Rogers Park) - https://www.google.com/maps/@42.0007...7i16384!8i8192 2007-2011 - Chicago (River North) - https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8870...7i13312!8i6656 (the first home that i ever owned. a small studio condo on the 33rd floor, but it was all mine!) 2011-2014 - Chicago (West Loop) - https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8845...7i16384!8i8192 2014-2018 - Chicago (Edgewater) - https://www.google.com/maps/@41.9908...7i16384!8i8192 2018-present - Chicago (Lincoln Square) - https://www.google.com/maps/@41.9657...7i16384!8i8192 (not our exact 3-flat, but close enough to it to get the idea): so while i haven't lived in many cities, i have lived in a pretty good variety of different chicago neighborhoods. our plan is to now stay in Lincoln Square for the next couple decades as we raise our kids. |
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Battle Creek, MI
E. Lansing, MI Albion, MI Philadelphia, PA (Center City) Nashville, TN Chicago, IL (Hyde Park) Washington, DC (Georgetown) NYC--UWS (Manhattan) NYC--Forest Hills (Queens) Racine, WI Libertyville, IL |
Los Angeles, CA
Cerritos, CA Santa Barbara, CA South Pasadena, CA |
Hampton, VA
Cheyenne, WY Miami, FL Boston, MA Miami, FL NYC too if 2.5 months counts. |
i never got to live the city life, both these cities are very suburban. unless you live close in and then you have to pay a crazy amount.
portland or bend or |
Maquoketa, IA 1974–1988
Pearl City, IL 1988–1992 Davenport, IA 1992–1994 Beaverton, OR 1994–1995 Iowa City, IA 1995–1996 (after a failed stint in Fairbanks, AK) Portland, OR 1996–1999 Carlsbad, CA 1999–2000 Forest Park, IL 2000 Chicago (Edgewater) 2000–2006 Lost Nation, IA 2006–2011 Rock Island, IL 2011–2012 Moline, IL 2012–2016 Davenport, IA 2016-Present |
Growing up my parents always had to live in the furthest flung suburb of whatever city we lived in because they associated cities with crime and icky brown people probably, not really sure. Maybe they just loved the boring ass suburban American dream. After college though I've lived in urban settings. Anyways...
-Chicago (St. Charles) 1987-1990 -Dallas (Plano) 1990-92 -Chicago (Batavia) 92-93 -Dallas (Plano) 93-97 -Houston (Kingwood) 97-06 -Nacogdoches, TX 06-07 -Beijing - part of 07 -Russellville, AR 07-2011 -Lafayette/New Orleans, LA 11-12 -Houston (downtown) 12-14 -Pittsburgh (Millvale) 14-16 -Pittsburgh (Oakland) 16-19 -Pittsburgh (Carnegie) 19-now Id love to move to Philly, but there aren't any oil and gas jobs there, so Ill be stuck here in Pittsburgh until the drilling out in Ohio and WV dries up. Don't really ever want to go back to TX, but Id for sure move back to New Orleans as drilling around there won't end anytime soon. |
Aside from a few months of "extended vacation" London I've always lived in Toronto. The first 24 years in the same house, and the years since split between just 2 apartments. I don't move much.
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Army brat here.
Kansas City, KS Mt. Vernon, Virginia Detroit, Michigan (Mt. Clemens to be exact) Berlin, Germany Detroit again (Selfridge Air National Guard Base) Newport, Rhode Island Davenport, Iowa Rock Island, Illinois Huntsville, Alabama Orlando, Florida Atlanta, Georgia New York City, NY New York is probably my favorite but I also have a lot of fond memories of Berlin and Newport. |
Cincinnati, OH
Phoenix, AZ Orange, CA Flagstaff, AZ |
Jesus, some of you get around!
For me(in order(although I've lived in some locations twice): 1. Jacksonville Florida 2. Zama City Japan 3. Minamirinkin Japan 4. Jonesboro Arkansas 5. San Antonio Texas 6. Trumann Arkansas 7. Austin Texas 8. Virginia Beach, Va 9. Norfolk, Va So I have lived what is, in my opinion, some of the best urbanism in the world and also in a town of 7,000 people in the Arkansas Delta. This has given me a perspective of what life is like in vastly different areas. I hated living in Arkansas, from living in a rural area to suburban, I disliked almost all of it. But that experienced furthered to concrete my idea that living in an urban area is the best way for me to live. Living as a minority in Japan has helped me see their point of view. Living amongst mostly conservative people in Arkansas has shown me that being around people who agree with you politically doesn't always equate into happiness and on the flip side being surrounded by liberals isn't that bad. Best place: Both cities in Japan Worst place: Trumann, Ar |
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I know it's better than Toronto, but would you really call Jacksonville amongst the best in the world? |
London
Seattle (Redmond) Chicago (and Evanston) Madison New York London again |
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each neighborhood provided what i wanted/needed at each life stage. but if i had a gun to my head, since i'm happier now than i ever have been at any previous stage of life, i guess i'd say lincoln square is my favorite because we were lucky to get a wonderful home for our family in a wonderful family-friendly city neighborhood. i also greatly appreciated the house/neighborhood i was raised in up in wilmette, but looking back upon it now, the north shore burbs of chicago are pretty damn "bubbly". very pleasant, but not terribly real. i can say that rogers park was probably my least favorite, but that was more related to the fact that it was one of the low points in my life. also, i was like a 12 minute walk to the nearest el station, and with the exception of my college years up in the twin cities, i've never lived more than a 5 minute walk or so from an el station. being walkably close to rail transit has always been a kind of security blanket for me. it probably comes from growing up in wilmette a couple blcoks from the end of the line stop on the el's purple line. growing up, the purple line was like a lifeline to the magic of the city for me, and it must have gotten ingrained in my mind that one simply must always live close to an el stop to feel that connection to the magic of the city. |
Evanston WY
Lewiston ID Clarkston WA Coeur d' Alene ID Moscow ID Portland OR Seattle WA Kirkland WA ....and a few months in Pittsburgh PA for work. |
Cities I have lived in (longest were Baltimore 20 years; Edinburgh 10 years; Atlanta 25 years)
1. Chicago 2. Detroit 3. Boston 4. Baltimore 5. Antwerp 6. Bochum (D) 7. Marburg (D) 8. Edinburgh (S) 9. Atlanta |
Los Angeles 1991-2011
Buenos Aires 2011-2011 Washington, DC 2011-2012 Berlin 2012-2012 Los Angeles again 2012-2014 Oslo, Norway 2014-2018 Los Angeles 2018 - |
Sacramento.
Portland. Seattle. What can I say, I'm a West Coast guy. |
Omaha, NE (1985-2004)
Ames, IA (2004-2008) Council Bluffs, IA (2009-2011) - a suburb of Omaha. I was required to live on the Iowa side of the metro as I worked for an Iowa state agency. Villa Park, IL (2011-2014) - suburban Chicago. I had a job in the western burbs and didn’t want to commute having done so at my last job Chicago, IL (Wicker Park) (2014-2016) - decided living in Chicago was more valuable than a short commute Chicago, IL (Logan Square) (2016-2017) St. Louis, MO (2017-present) My favorite city by far was Chicago with Wicker Park edging out Logan Square slightly as my favorite neighborhood of the two I lived in. My least favorite was Council Bluffs but largely due to an unsatisfying job at the time. The job was 40 miles away in a small town and to keep some semblance of urban living in my life, I lived on the edge of the Omaha metro. The experience solidified how much I neither enjoy exurb or small town life. |
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For all the jokes about Jacksonville's skyline, Modis is indeed a pretty darn cool tower. https://img02.deviantart.net/4342/i/...to-d8i99v2.jpg https://honecellpversilsx.ga/photoshop-cs6-13-1-3 Quote:
Whoa, here's a face we haven't seen in a while! Does this mean a new LA thread is on the way? :runaway: |
Childhood:
New York (mainly Queens and nearby Nassau County) Miami ( mainly West Palm Beach in Palm Beach County, then Stuart in Martin County) Atlanta ( Marietta and mainly Austell in nearby Cobb County) New York again ( Flatbush, Brooklyn and surrounding neighborhoods) Teenage/ College years: Miami again ( West Palm Beach, Royal Palm Beach, and eventually Stuart again) Chattanooga, Tennessee ( Collegedale, which was 20-30 minutes from Downtown and 2 hours from Atlanta) Miami again (Stuart to live with family for half a gap year) Med School/ Early Adult years: Los Angeles ( Loma Linda in nearby San Bernardino County) Except for NYC, I have only really lived in the metros around the principal city. The best urban experience was of course NYC, but I was too young to really experience it. Atlanta, LA, and Miami all have their strengths and weaknesses. |
Montreal
Vancouver Dublin, Ireland Chambly, Quebec since last December. |
Cincinnati, OH
Kansas City, MO Knoxville, TN Nashville, TN Boston, MA Athens, OH Columbus, OH I also worked in Paducah, KY, Mobile, AL, and New Orleans, LA for several months each. |
Boston - 6 years
Suburban Boston - 12 years Amherst - 2 years Tokyo - 18 years Add up all the summers staying with my cousins and I’ve lived about 3 years in Roscommon, Ireland. Add up all the extended stays for work and I’ve lived about 2 years in Singapore. |
Prince Rupert, BC 1987-2003
Comox Valley, BC 2003-2005 Victoria, BC 2005-2007 Calgary, AB 2007 Comox, BC 2007-2008 Edmonton, AB 2008- |
Fort Worth, 1946 (birth) to 1964
New Orleans, 1964 to 1969 New York, 1970- mid 1972 Fort Worth, 1972- spring 1973 Los Angeles, 1973- early1974 San Francisco, 1974-1980 Los Angeles, 1980-1985 Washington, DC, 1985-1994 Phoenix, 1994- early 1995 (too damn hot) Atlanta, 1995-1996 Austin, 1996- present |
In order:
Victoria, BC Kelowna, BC Calgary Vancouver Tainan, Taiwan Shanghai Seoul |
After immigrating from Ukraine at age 5 I've lived in Vancouver all my life, aside from 2 years in Winnipeg for grad school.
I'm open-minded and try to be positive, so I enjoyed my time in Winnipeg. It was my first time leaving home, first time living in an urban neighbourhood, and first time experiencing real winter. Had a lot of fun there, but there's still a grain of truth to its negative reputation as drab. Ultimately it just made me appreciate Vancouver much much more. Never realized how good it is here until I experienced something else. |
Karlsruhe Germany
Mannheim Germany San Antonio (twice) Chicago’s -Edgewater (twice) Seattle -North Beacon Hill San Luis Obispo Sacramento |
San Francisco
Los Angeles Chicago |
Albuquerque
Phoenix Los Angeles Seattle Portland Pittsburgh New York |
Toledo, OH
Columbus, OH Lexington, KY Dallas, TX Austin, TX Miami, FL Austin, TX |
Calgary, AB: birth - 2001
Ottawa, ON: 2001 - 2007 Iqaluit, NU: 2005 (for 8 months) Toronto, ON: 2007 - present Johannesburg, GP: 2019 (for 4 months) |
Utica NY: birth - 1978
Plattsburgh NY: 1978-1979 Utica NY: 1979-1981 Houston TX: 1981-1989 Marcy NY: 1989-1997 Houston TX: 1997-2014 Peterborough NH: 2014 Houston TX: 2014 - present |
Akron Pittsburgh Detroit L.A Chicago
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I've lived in several cities but leaving out some out some because they're small. The biggest Little Rock, Los Angeles and Houston. I liked my experience in Houston more.
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New York City
-Washington Heights: 18yrs -TriBeCa: 2yr -West Village: 5yrs Ann Arbor, Michigan: 3.5 yrs (School) -London - 6 months (Study Abroad) Chicago: -Old Town: 1yr -Lakeview: 5yrs |
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