What do you like and/or dislike about your town?

[WriterDom]

I can walk to about 10 resturants, 2 grocery stores, the bank, and drug store. I like that. It's very quite usually except when the neighbor's dogs start barking. Anytime they hear a siren or when they are ready to be fed usually. There isn't much crime here to speak of. Maybe one murder a year.

On the bad side, there are a lot of ugly uneducated borderline retarded people here. The top students in the high school put this town in their rear view mirror at the first chance. The dumb ones squeeze out babies and quit school. No bookstore other than what Walmart carries. The local government screws everything up. They've been trying to get E911 up and running for years and can't figure it out. Service here sucks. It took 5 hours for the Ford place to change my oil because Gomer had to go out of town.

 

[Chicklet]

Portland has this unique feel of dozens of small towns plopped down into one big city. Whatever section of the city you live in has its own feel, own attitude, different events, great local restaurants and shops. I can walk to just about anything I want, and when I lived on the other side of the town the same was also true. It has small town feel with big city living. I love it.

 

[WriterDom]

Portland must have a lot of crappy men. Or you are just unlucky.

 

[Chicklet]

i mean, they can't ALL be bad, can they? i just pick the winners.

 

[FurryFury]

I hate:

Some of the elected officials who spend money like water and seemingly make all of their decisions, not in the best interest of the community itself but based on money, legal or illegal, public or private.

Then they tell, say, librarians to watch out when making copies because it costs so much. Of course their million dollar projects that aren't needed couldn't be the problem. Oh no, it's those ten cent copies used in actual preparation for community programs. *grr*

The way the sucking up political system has worked to put incompetent and mean people in charge of some departments that should be about serving the community.

The snottiness of some communities including mine which contribute to the "bigger is better", "tear it down and build it with inferior projects cause I've got the credit to do so and a HUGE ego" and other social problems.

I love:

The usually warm weather.

The usually warm people.

The huge amount of art projects currently going on in the community. (But I fear the funding woes facing us right now will make them scarce.)

The fact that this community tends to love it's trees and other plant life.

Fury

 

[coy_one]

Portland is a beautiful town. I've been there many times, but never to live.

My town is a small town. It is beautiful and historic. Unfortunately, because it's a small town, everyone knows your business.
Soon, I will be in a large town where no one will know me. That will be wonderful.

 

[graceanne]

I love the thing that chicklet said about Oregon.

On the other hand, Oregonians aren't the friendliest people in the world. Women in the northwest complain about lonliness more than any other area in the US.

 

[callinectes]

Like: It's a small town with friendly people

Beautiful environment in a resort area that hasn't been ruined (yet)

I can get from one end of town to the other in 20 minutes in rush hour

My job is awesome and I work with wonderful people

My child's school is small and filled with great teachers

I can leave my house and car unlocked

Dislike
Our school board is the laughing stock of the state

Property values are skyrocketing as Northerners and Atlantans move here to build McMansions on prime real estate. People who have owned property for generations are being taxed off of it.

The good 'ol boy network is thriving

Baptists and Jehovah's Witnesses knock on the door at least twice a month. I wish they would show up at the same time just once. That would be a cool conversation.

Too many rednecks

 

[intothewoods]

Likes:

Everyone is from somewhere else. So easy to meet people!

People are well-informed. The check out guy wants to know what you think about the '08 candidates.

Free museums, and so many of them! I'm never bored.

My particular neighborhood is really fun - great restaurants

People dress for dinner out. It's silly, but I like getting dressed up.

Dislikes:

Weather

Too many tourists in shorts (do they not sell full length pants in other parts of the country?)

Finger wagging - it's a thing here. You took my table. You took my parking spot. I don't want it back. I just want you to feel bad about it.

Restaurants - it's really improved, but it's not SF.

 

[Ebonyfire]

What I hate about my town?

It is in the state of Connecticut.

Enuf said.

Eb

 

[Blushing Bottom]

I like that I can walk to almost anywhere in town it being no more than 8 miles in any distance and less in most. There are little artsie sections sprinkled throughout as well as museums and libraries.

I hate that there is a major problem with drug traffic in my town. For some reason the overpaid city officials can't clean it up. Oh yes they are very overpaid. Just voted them selves an 84% pay increase last week in fact.

Go figure

d

 

[WriterDom]

We are paying a kindergarden teacher here 75,000 a year. When the Per capita income is around 15,000. I should open a private school. I bet I could get a fine kindergarden teacher for around 50 grand.

 

[shy slave]

LOL

I think I have him on my mind.

I thought the title of the thread said 'Lover' not 'Town'

The words are not even similar

I don't like that my town (city actually), is too far from my lover

 

[kiten69]

Likes ~ there's no snow...and nice beaches.

Dislikes ~ too many tourists ~ someplaces are just too overcroweded ~ traffic is a bitch!

 

[Blushing Bottom]

Actually that makes me quite happy.

Historically teachers have been far too low on the pay scale and after all when one really thinks about it no amount of money is too much when you understand teachers are educating out future leaders.

just saying

d

We are paying a kindergarden teacher here 75,000 a year. When the Per capita income is around 15,000. I should open a private school. I bet I could get a fine kindergarden teacher for around 50 grand.

 

[Kierae]

Likes:

being surrounded by trees/greens and not wall to wall houses (there is space/land between neighbors)

driving by neighbors to see horses/goats/cows/llamas/sheep grazing in what you initially thought was just a house but realizing it's a home farm

seeing the water 24/7 - having the beach 2 blocks away

seeing the mountains 24/7

"island life" feel even though we aren't an island - just a peninsula accessed easiest via 2 ferries. I love taking the ferry - 30 minutes to slow you down from the bustle of the day, gorgeous scenery, and time to catch up on reading (or short nap).

being within a ferry trip to Seattle and all that the city life has to offer

dislikes:

never traveling via ferry if possible on holidays, fridays and sundays due to the ferry line traffic

public transportation sucks until I get onto the ferry and hit the other side

living 30 miles (or doing the ferry) from any type of shopping beyond a grocery store - cost of driving onto the ferry round trip=$20 so I end up doing alot of online ordering or saving all my shopping for my one monthly trip into the city.

the rain can get old - I don't mind rain if its RAINING but I get tired of drizzle that lasts weeks.

there isn't any sushi/japanese/thai food closer than 30 miles or a ferry trip which means I have to cook more!


~kierae

 

[catalina_francisco]

Likes: Being 5 minutes (literally) walk from the city centre/shopping which to walk there means passing lots of canals and wildlife...being within walking distance of the hospital, 2 modes of public transport...being 5 minutes walk from the doctor and pharmacy and physiotherapist....being built on the ideal of celebrating artistic and architectural creativity beside living surrounded by recreational parks/forests in all neighbourhoods.....the markets twice a week....the number of great restauants and cafes of just about every nationality and cuisine imaginable...the multi cultural feel in both people and business...the huge number of services available for a variety of things...looking out my bedroom window and seeing water and parkland as well as the city centre skyline.

Dislikes: The snobbery that exists in the country about it being an embarrassment to live in because it is newer and not old and historic....the snobbery about it being a multi cultural city (LOL, of course Amsterdam is also but that is different ).

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/43/123887325_ebaa7307f6_s.jpg Catalina

 

[WriterDom]

Likes:

being surrounded by trees/greens and not wall to wall houses (there is space/land between neighbors)

driving by neighbors to see horses/goats/cows/llamas/sheep grazing in what you initially thought was just a house but realizing it's a home farm

seeing the water 24/7 - having the beach 2 blocks away

seeing the mountains 24/7

"island life" feel even though we aren't an island - just a peninsula accessed easiest via 2 ferries. I love taking the ferry - 30 minutes to slow you down from the bustle of the day, gorgeous scenery, and time to catch up on reading (or short nap).

being within a ferry trip to Seattle and all that the city life has to offer

dislikes:

never traveling via ferry if possible on holidays, fridays and sundays due to the ferry line traffic

public transportation sucks until I get onto the ferry and hit the other side

living 30 miles (or doing the ferry) from any type of shopping beyond a grocery store - cost of driving onto the ferry round trip=$20 so I end up doing alot of online ordering or saving all my shopping for my one monthly trip into the city.

the rain can get old - I don't mind rain if its RAINING but I get tired of drizzle that lasts weeks.

there isn't any sushi/japanese/thai food closer than 30 miles or a ferry trip which means I have to cook more!


~kierae

I loved the ferry when I was stationed up that way in the navy. Beautiful summers. Can't say much for the rest of the year though. Still I'd love to go back.

 

[BiBunny]

Jacksonville is a small town, but I suppose the Oxford/Anniston area a few miles to the south and the Gadsden area a few miles to the north makes us the suburbs of an ok-sized metro area. I grew up in a town so small it doesn't even have red lights or the first fast-food restaurant, so what do I know, right?

Likes: The university has the biggest library in the state. Twelve floors of book bliss. When I'm hungry at 2:00 am, I can go get fast food without having to drive an hour's round trip to do it, like I would have to at home. Wal-Mart is five minutes away instead of thirty. Our English department rocks!

Dislikes: I still have to drive at least 20 minutes to Anniston/Oxford or to Gadsden to get something to eat that's not fast food. There are only three bars in the whole town, and none of them are worth a shit. The university has less than 10,000 students, but the number of students is greater than the population of the town, which makes for crappy summer breaks 'cause there's no one HERE! There are no BDSM-oriented groups in the community, and I'm not going to drive the hour and a half to Birmingham if I don't know anyone there.

Those are the ones I can think of now, but if I think of more, I'll add them.

 

[Zinfandel]

Likes:

-The weather. Summer is longer here than where I grew up. There are beautiful flowering trees in the spring, and warm weather later into the fall. It seldom gets truly bone-chilling cold
-The proximity to a multitude of cultural experiences. Beyond the great museums and performing arts, I can find a restaurant with any kind of food I could ever want or dream of within a 30 minute drive. I grew up in a town whose ethnic food offerings were limited to Italian, Mexican and Chineese, and I was in my 20s before I ever had sushi, or Thai, Indian, Salvadorian, Scandinavian, German, Argentinian, Israeli, Vietnamese, Spanish and Ethiopian foods. I don't think I could go back now.
-There's always something to do! You just have to go out and do it. I went to a baseball game this week, and realized that it's so easy here that I should really do it more often.

Dislikes:

-Traffic, traffic, traffic and general congestion. I hate getting stuck in a traffic jam for an hour and a half on a Saturday night, and I dislike that I can hear people outside my house most hours of the day.
-The cost of living. We'd love to sell our townhouse and buy a single family home, but unless we want to move further from our jobs, it's going to cost us an amount of money that I never, ever would have contemplated spending on a home before moving here.
-The weather, LOL. I miss the snow. We don't get much here, sometimes not more than a few inches all winter.

 

[HottieMama]

i like that i can literally walk two blocks and be at the mall. (Retail therapy is wonderful.)

i like that it's fairly quiet and the people are nice.


i dislike that the BDSM community is a HUGE fucking clique and new people are seen as suspect or meat. i won't be anyone's public plaything just to gain acceptance. (Also, doesn't help that the "ex" is VERY active in the local group and apparantly has a very big mouth. Fucker.)

 

[Chicklet]

I love the thing that chicklet said about Oregon.

On the other hand, Oregonians aren't the friendliest people in the world. Women in the northwest complain about lonliness more than any other area in the US.

really? where does that statistic come from? curious... (although frankly i'm lonely most of the time lol)

 

[minx1]

Manchester (my real home town)

Likes = the people are friendly, has a sense of community. Its gone through a process of regeneration and has some really good shops, restaurants and bars. Produces some great talent....comedians and music.

Dislikes = Sometimes it seems to have a 'small town mentality'. The weather... it rains, then rains some more.

London (my home for the last 8 years)

Likes = it vibrant and cosmopolitan. The sense of history. Huge amount of galleries, museums, restaurants and bars. The Thames at night is beautiful. West end musicals and the outdoor theatre at Regents Park. The weather is much better than in the North! Tourists....makes me feel like I am on holiday!

Dislikes = travelling by tube or car is a nightmare. Its sometimes a bit too noisy, hectic and dirty. It can be impersonal. Tourists....makes it more difficult to get to work or appointments.

 

[naxalite0906]

Likes - The fact I live in a cool place and very close to bars/pubs/restaurants and shops.
- The fact my job is here, which I love.

Hates - The students/young professionals who live near me who: a) Trash the place and leave it in a mess constantly - including littering and throwing up on the pavement at every opportunity which I have to walk past on my way to work. b) fill up all of the nice bars/pubs/restaurants and stand there posing in whatever clothes mummy and daddy have brought for them. and c) having no manners at all and being completely arrogant.
- All the people who were brought up here who either have too much of a small town mentality or are racist thugs
- The fact that these people seem to outweigh the nicer, friendlier and more polite people that live here.

 

[GentleSub_Ivy]

Dislike---It's redneck country (even though it's not that far from Detroit). There was recently a young man (20's I assume) who made a comment about my "shirt." I guess since I'm 37 I should be grateful that people still like my "shirt." Guys like that just make my skin crawl though. There are a lot of big trucks/little dicks around here.

Likes----It's less expensive and less snobby than Ann Arbor. It's country even though I have to put up with the rednecks.

Ivy