How did you end up living where you are?

[bluej]

Just being nosy :)

[JMS]

You need to add my category: Met DH who grew up here and would never leave. Luckily I happen to love where we live and it's only 1 hour 15 minutes from where I grew up :)

[psophia17]

I didn't vote because none of the options apply - DH and I met online, I was in NYC, he was in Vancouver, Canada, and he moved out to marry me. Many, many immigration hassles and 2.5 years later, we were sick and tired of dealing with the USA, and we moved. Other things factored in, but mostly it was that we both hated what was happening to us in the US.

[MartiesMom2B]

DH and I met in the DC area (where I grew up). After we got married he kept saying how much he hated the area, from the cost of living to the traffic. When I finally agreed to move, we picked the places that we wanted to live in the US, the only thing was that it had to be an area where DH could get a job. DH's first choice was Alaska, b/c he loves the cold and he could get a lot of money. Mine was Las Vegas b/c it was warm, exciting and where friends of ours had just moved to. Our compromise, Raleigh, NC. Why? It's within a weekend's drive to my family in NC and DH went to school here and had lots of friends. I really have come to love where we live.

-Sonia

[KrisM]

I picked Grew Up Here. Why else would I live in Metro Detroit? Actually, DH and I are both engineers and the automotive industry needs a lot of engineers, so it was easy to live here. DH is from out east and we met at work. Even thougth I'm from the area, my parents and siblings are still an hour's drive away.

[amazz]

Tim moved here to go to college and since I was married to him, I moved too. :) Then I ended up going to college here as well and we really love the size and are ok with the location of Lubbock (~210,000 and ~5 hours from Dallas, 4 hrs from my parents, and 1.5 hrs from ILs). It is a great place to raise a family and Tim has a really good job here, so we will be here for quite some time (I hope!).

Angela
Mama to Kami Allyse (10/10/04)
A baby is God's opinion that the world should go on. ~Carl Sandburg

[muskiesusan]

I moved to Cincinnati for college. I left for a year after I graduated, but missed all my friends who stayed here, so I moved back. I had also met my DH by then and he grew up here and has no desire to move.

Susan
Mom to Nick 10/01/01
& Alex 04/27/04

[C99]

I wanted to move (back) here, but my husband and I both worked it out with our employers at the time to work remotely or work out of different offices than the ones we were hired in and where most of the rest of our teams were. None of the options in the poll really fit that scenario.

[Marisa6826]

I'm a born and bred Jersey girl and Jonathan's a born and bred NY'er.

We don't think we could ever leave the Northeast - especially after this past November ;)

-m

[MelissaTC]

DH and I were engaged and hating living in NY. We wanted to buy a house, etc.. and we couldn't do that there. We were looking in CT when the opportunity came for DH to get a temporary assignment in the Raleigh area. We jumped in with both feet. The assignment became permanent and after living in Chapel Hill and Morrisville, we settled on Cary and are now true Cary-ites.

[Momof3Labs]

That's pretty much our story to a "T", even the hour and 15 minutes part! With one little addition - DH is a fireman, so we're restricted geographically where we can live anyways.

[wencit]

My family moved to the SF Bay Area almost 24 years ago, and I've been here ever since. In fact, except for one summer in high school, I've never lived outside of a 100-mile radius from the apartment my parents first moved into when we came down here. What can I say -- I hate change! ;)

[crayonblue]

DH is from New York, I'm from Texas. We wanted somewhere that still has a southern feel (without the heat!) but not northern attitude. So, we are here in the D.C. area and we love it. We are 6 hours from DH's family and we make this trip every other month or so. We are 3 hours from DH's brother and sister-in-law and kids in Philadelphia and we see them quite often. We get back to Texas maybe once per year. I think the hardest part of the whole thing is that my mom was so hurt when we chose to move so far away from her and so much closer to my in-laws.

[barbarhow]

I don't fit a category. I met was living in NYC when I met DH who is from Maine. All my family was living in Maine and trying to get me to move here. I told my brother on many occasions to give it up-I would never, ever move to Maine. Yup. I ate my words. I met DH on a ski trip in Austria. A year later he said move to Maine and I said-"ready". I have adjusted pretty well considering the vast differences between NYC and rural Maine. Most of the time I love it here. I still need an occasional NY fix.
Barbara-mom to Jack 3/27/03, a Red Sox fan
expecting #2, a Yankee fan, around 5/9/05!

[jbowman]

I accepted a job as a professor and DH followed me!

ETA: We moved pretty far away from the area where we grew up. The closest relative to us is my twin sister, who is 5 hours away. DH and I could live anywhere. We love our families, but they visit often and we like exploring new places!

[wagner36]

This is my story too, except I would be much happier somewhere else. I'm from Minneapolis (and I love it there) and DH is from Chicago. We met in college, he moved to Mpls while I finished law school after he graduated from college (he's a bit younger), and then we moved here. If I wouldn't have agreed to move here, I do not think we'd be married today. He loves it here. It took me a year of crying every single day before I got used to Chicago. Serious tears, every night and even a broken door jam from the door-slamming phase (we refer to it as Tara's Chicago Adjustment Period at our house). I like it now, but it is in no way my ideal place to live. I prefer cities that are a more manageable size (Denver, Minneapolis, Portland, etc.). I've always thought that we'd move after being here for a few years, but now it seems I'm quite stuck - DH's sister (who lives in San Francisco) is very ill and probably won't make it too much longer, so now he thinks that we need to stay close to his parents forever. Ugh. I'm hoping for a miracle cure for the rare cancer she has (and not just for this selfish, completely self-absorbed reason)....

[Saartje]

Your description makes me feel much better about moving, Lana. Thanks; I've been a bit worried about it. (I've never even been to DC. I told DH he darned well better take me there BEFORE we have to go house-hunting there, unlike what we did when moving to Chicago!)

I don't really fit one of the categories (where's Other when you need it? ;)) but of what's there, it's a combination of the first and second options -- I'd always had this irrational desire to live in Chicago, and DH was applying to grad schools, so he applied here. He got in here, and we moved.

When we move again, it'll be the third option: a job opportunity we just can't turn down. I'm hoping when we move away from there, it'll be the first option again.

[AvasMama]

I voted new job opportunity (for me), since there was no category for "moved for new job opportunity, but hated it and are moving back!"

We left the DC area (where I grew up for the most part) to move to AL for a job, but after a year and a half we decided it wasn't the right place for us and decided to move back. I'm really excited. I found a new job right away and DH works from home so where we live isn't an issue for him.

Robyn & Ava

[amp]

Ummm...hubby's job transfer. Sorry fellow Kansas Citians, but I would never have chosen to move from Michigan to Kansas! Now I don't mind it, but often wished I lived somewhere more beautiful, like the places we visit (Bermuda, New Mexico, Lake Tahoe, etc).

[Puddy73]

I grew up near Buffalo, New York and my family moved to Georgia when I was in high school. I met DH my freshman year at UGA and by then I had NO desire to go back to NY winters, even when the rest of my family moved back to NY. DH grew up in the suburbs of Atlanta, but both of us hate Atlanta traffic too much to live there. DH's parents retired to Savannah (where FIL grew up) and after I graduated from law school, DH and I followed them to Savannah. The shopping opportunities are very limited - we just got a Target last month - but I love it here. It is a beautiful city and very laid back. I also love calling my yankee relatives in February and rubbing in how lovely the Savannah weather is!

Jennifer
Mommy to Annabelle Mae 9/8/03

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."

[amp]

Kris - I might have asked you this before, but where do you live? I grew up in Milford and my parents are still there.

[murpheyblue]

Tara's story is very similar to mine. I grew up in NY, DH grew up in the Bay Area. We met in Boston when I was in law school at BU and DH was an undergrad at BC. He waited until I finished law school. I wanted to go back to NY and he (sick of the snow) wanted to go to California. We've been here for 6 years so I'm fairly used to it now but I hated it at first. I really love the little town we bought our home in a few years ago but I stil miss the east coast and my family desperately.

[crayonblue]

Well, there is a wonderful group of BBB ladies in the D.C. area! If you need any house-hunting ideas for this area, DH and I just went through it. It's painful, but we found a house we love!

Feel free to email me through the boards!

[amazz]

Jennifer--I LOVE Savannah!!! I visited last November for a conference and I fell in love with everything. There was a possibility that DH would not get the job he ultimately did so I was totally pushing to look in and around Savannah. I really hope to get back there one day to visit. We stayed down on River Street and I think I walked by the candy store down there every day so I could get a free sample of the pralines!! :)

Angela
Mama to Kami Allyse (10/10/04)
A baby is God's opinion that the world should go on. ~Carl Sandburg

[redhookmom]

I live upstate NY and would never leave. I grew up here and love the seasons. If anything I would like to move further north.

[smilequeen]

Totally job related or NO WAY would we live in SW Missouri.

DH and I met in dental school in Chicago. He is Canadian, so he couldn't own a practice down here yet. He had a great offer from a dental company so he could stay in the states, it was in Champaign Illinois and I was still in Chicago. Later they offered him the practice he has here in Springfield MO and he took it (I was moving to St. Louis for my residency). Turned out to be a great practice, and they moved him up quickly in the company, and now owning his own practice would cut his income in half, so here we will stay until we can at least semi-retire or he can do more of the business stuff with the company...hopefully fairly young :) We don't want our kids to go all the way through school here. We hope to be in St. Louis within 10 years. Fortunately, that's where I grew up and it's only 3 hours away.

So that's my long winded answer for totally job related.

[JElaineB]

I moved here (Iowa) for a job and met DH here (he grew up here) so I'm still here. If I hadn't met DH I would be long gone. Actually we did try to move once, we moved for me to take a job in Hershey, PA but I hated the job and quit 2 months later; we moved back so DH could get his old job back (which he hates, but that's another story). I would love to move back to NH where I went to college or Oregon where I went to grad school, but I think we are here for the long haul.

Jennifer
mom to Jacob 9/27/02

[starrynight]

The military stuck us here ;). I voted job opportunity for spouse.

I do not like TX much, Austin is ok and Dallas isn't bad but Killen/Ft. Hood is not for me! It's not horrible just not big enough city for me. Dh and I are both from RI, I want to go back so bad it's not funny but dh already said no way in heck he would go back. Granted we couldn't afford to live in the nicer parts anymore and I wouldn't want to live in the areas we could afford so I guess he has a point. He teases daily we will move to Florida, he knows that is just about grounds for divorce, I hated it when we visited my inlaw's and I refuse to live near his family (hey if he can refuse to live near mine...) we probably will end up going back to GA when the army is done shuffling us around.

sorry for any possible typos or spelling issues, I'm way overtired and have a sleeping baby in my lap!

[DebbieJ]

We moved to Los Angeles for reason #3--new job opportunity for my DH--he's a sound effects editor. But having a baby changes things and now family is more important, so DH is sacrificing his Hollywood career and we're moving back to Chicago in the next month or two (if our house here ever sells!)

~ deb
Mommy to my sweet boy
B born 12/03
http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/10023.jpg http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/10029.gif

[Mommie2MadLyn]

We moved from NY to VA for DH's job opportunity. Its still new...only been here 6 months. But so far we like it, except missing our friends and family of course!

[dowlinal]

I don't really fit in any catagory either. DH and I both grew up here in NJ, but I always planned on moving far far away. I was happily living in upstate NY and then almost 9 years ago I came home for thanksgiving, went on the traditional night before bar crawl, and met DH. His job is in this town so here we are. Sadly I will probably never leave but somehow :) it doesn't bother me anymore. I now think it's kind of cool that Madeline will grow up in the same small town as us.

[jk3]

I grew up in the same suburban NY town + my parents still live here. I NEVER imagined I'd be raising my family here. In fact, I think I remember countless times saying I wouldn't but we ended up here once the reverse commute got old for me. This may or may not be a permanent situation. It depends largely on my DH's career path. There are aspects I love about this community but I could easily see us elsewhere.

Jenn
DS 6/03

http://lilypie.com/baby2/030603/2/5/1/-5/.png

[kijip]

My parents moved a lot but finally settled in Seattle for good when I was a teenager (after having lived here before). I have thought of leaving often as I would prefer to live in a bigger city (planned to go out-of-state for school) but gave up on going away for undergrad when my teenage brother moved in with me when I was almost 19. At 19 I started dating the man I would marry 2 years later and voila here I still am 3 years after that. We had considered moving away for professional school but decided that we had too much invested in the area to leave at this time and that some of the best schools for us were right in our backyard. I am very interested in a career in politics and think that moving elsewhere would slow that process down a great deal. Besides, what little family (read close friends) I have is here. And my husband really likes it here. And having moved SO much as a child (I attended 19 different schools, most often 2 a year) I will not be moving Toby around willy nilly.

[bluej]

"DH and I could live anywhere. We love our families, but they visit often and we like exploring new places!"

That describes us too. Which is why the Air Force works out well for us. We have really enjoyed all of the places DH has been stationed so far and it's always fun to see what possibilities there are for his next assignment.

[Marisa6826]

Lana-

For some reason I thought you lived in the South or Texas!

I had no idea you were so reasonably close!!!

-m

[usfrph]

I guess the closest would be "New job opportunity" but we really don't fit into any of the categories. We both went to uni in East Texas and landed in DFW during the tech boom.

[newbelly2002]

We first came to germany on an exchange program for DH's grad school in 2000. After the better part of a year, I came to really like it but then it was time to move back. We talked about ways to return to Europe (Germany since that's his gig) and worked out a plan to apply for a Fulbright. Got it and moved to Berlin. Since then we've worked through 2 different stipends and DH is now a fulltime freelancer. It's a bit of a risky life (financially) sometimes, but it's fun nonetheless.

Our next move will take us wherever he can get a teaching position. We're hoping for Denver or MD as we're both ready to (finally) settle down.

Paula
Mama to Dante, 8/02

[HGraceMom]

That's too funny - unfortunately, we don't even have automotive careers to justify living in Metro Detroit!!! We lived in the South for 3 years and LOVED it (DH grew up on Grosse Ile and I in Dearborn) but when DD was born, DH had the opportunity to work for himself, so nothing was keeping us in the South. I didn't want DD to grow up not knowing our parents, so back to Michigan, along with the ugly, long, cold, grey winters, it was...

I joke with my parents that they'd better retire someplace warm - TN / NC or South, because I don't want to stay in MI forever...

[jbowman]

Someone else from the Piney Woods? That's great!

[Puddy73]

If you do visit again, definitely let me know! It is a great vacation spot for families.

Jennifer
Mommy to Annabelle Mae 9/8/03

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."

[ginalc]

What part of Iowa do you live? I'm just ouside Des Moines!

gina, mom to 3
new baby due 5/05

[aliceinwonderland]

School. Only here for three years, then I'm off back to Boston, or overseas. DH does not want to go live abroad, though. It'll be a long commute.

[hez]

I didn't realize you were in Cincy, too. Let me guess: is your husband from the West Side? :)

DH and I were at different colleges when we met, so we spent senior year looking for jobs in the same city. Thankfully there're a couple companies that hire engineers around here, so we made out (even better was that we took jobs with the same company).

Side benefit is that my folks are about 3 1/2 or 4 hours north, and his are about 5 hours south, so we've nearly equally ticked them off about proximity for the most part :)

[crayonblue]

Nope, we are here in Maryland! A few years ago, DH took a consulting job and we got to pick where we wanted to live. Our first choice was NYC. DH had worked in Manhattan one summer while in school and then we spent a summer there while DH was on a work project. But, we looked around at housing in Manhattan and I ended up crying! We wanted to live in the city and that just wasn't going to happen. We didn't want to live in a 600 square foot apartment permanently!

So, we picked the D.C. area. At the time, housing was still relatively affordable. We bought a house but then sold it a year later because DH was on a project on the Maryland side of D.C. and the commute was awful from the Virginia side of D.C. So, we rented for two years in Maryland and just bought a house a few weeks ago. We REALLY wish we had bought two years ago instead of renting, but hindsight is 20/20.

So, that's how we ended up here.

[gracelynne]

I'm not entirely sure how I got here! Grew up in Carson, CA -- went to UC Berkeley, reluctantly returned to Carson while I attended grad school, got engaged to college sweetheart (who lived up north), broke up with said college sweetheart, met up again with DH-to-be (old friend), moved to Los Angeles, moved back to the South Bay (Torrance) -- ended up buying a house in San Pedro, which is a handful of exits off the 110 freeway from my old house in Carson. Sigh.

[mudder17]

I voted the job transfer because it was the closest thing. DH got a post-doc at Hopkins and then I got into the graduate school there for teaching. Then I got a job teaching in Baltimore, and he got another post-doc that turned into a job at NIH in Bethesda. We like it here, so we've ended up staying, even though most of our relatives are far away--FL, CA, NM, plus some cousins in IL, MI, MA and even Canada. It just gives us places to visit. :)


Eileen

Mother of Beautiful Kaya, www.chemicalgraphics.com/kaya
http://www.babysfirstsite.org/newtickers/ticker/16994.birthday.png

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_garnet_6m.gif Breastfed 8 months and counting

[MartiesMom2B]

Oh yes you are! Centralized (Contained) Area of Relocated Yankees fits you to a tee! Hee hee.

-Sonia

[C99]

Deb,

I didn't know that you were from Chicago! My neighbor is a sound editor of some sort.

[ALLEYCAT]

Loved college. Love this town. DH grew up here and now wants to move to the coast. And live on a boat. With a one year old. And 2 cats. And a wife! NOT!

[mudder17]

LOL! He must be dreaming! :) Which coast does he crave?

(Which college town are you in? I'm not exactly in a college town anymore, but I LOVED Chambana when I was there. If there had been a job for DH, we might have considered staying there.)

Eileen

Mother of Beautiful Kaya, www.chemicalgraphics.com/kaya
http://www.babysfirstsite.org/newtickers/ticker/16994.birthday.png

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_garnet_6m.gif Breastfed 8 months and counting

[ALLEYCAT]

Asheville,NC. I went to Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa or Swannanowhere as we called it then. We are in the mountains and it is beautiful, the leaves are falling and everything has that leafy earthy smaell. And the CRUNCH CRUNCH underfoot when we go for a walk. I love it. Apples are abundant and cider.... mmm.
So he wants to leave all this and pack us into a boat in Hilton Head SC. It is where my parents live and Mom is sick so it would be nice to live nearby. I love the ocean but it get soo hot there in Summer. That boat would have to have an A/C as big as a the one at home now for it to be bearable. I break out in a sweat at nothing. LOL

[JFC]

I grew up in NJ, but went to high school and college in Mass., where I met my DH. After college, we lived in Boston for 9 years. During that time my parents moved from NJ to Wilmington, NC (the beach!) and after a year of visiting, we left the cold winters to settle in Raleigh. Three years later we couldn't imagine living anywhere else! ;-)

[JElaineB]

I'm in eastern Iowa between Iowa City and Davenport. I know there is at least one other mama here who lives outside of Des Moines though.

Jennifer
mom to Jacob 9/27/02

[spencersmommy]

DEb,
My story is similar to yours! My DH worked in Hollywood, too (Burbank to be exact :-) in post production), but sacrificed his career when DS was born, too. Good thing, I think (though I know he misses it a lot). We moved back to Northern CA to be close to family. Both of our parents live in the same town and DS has 4 cousins close in age here, too. I do miss So Cal a lot, though...

[peanut4us]

I grew up half of my childhood in Saudi Arabia the other half in Las Vegas (wee bit of an extreme swing there!) and DH grew up in Connecticut near NYC and lived in UT during his last 2 years of high school. Now we live in TX. We got here because I got a job here, but I was looking in Austin and few other places... we literally got out an atlas one night and picked off of all of the states as places we would never live. We went through the atlas again and came up with NYC, Boston, some places in PA and NC and Austin. Voila.

But we will likely move next year for law shcool. Funny, we must have matured somewhat since we moved here 4.5 years ago because we both feel that we could be happy anywhere there is an internet connection :)

We do like Austin, but I don't really want to raise Sara here. Too much emphasis and money spent on sports instead of education.