Here is my Light Bulb moment.... Most people stay in the area they grew up in because of family, even if they hate the area. They have children and their children stay in the same area for the same reason. We are imprisoned by this and we pass this on to our kids who pass it on to their kids ... Life is too short! Find the place YOU and your immediate family want to live and go there. THEN when the cycle continues, our kids will be in a place that has our values and they will be able to stay or go as THEY feel led. How many of you have pulled up shop from where you grew up and moved out of state? What was the most difficult part? Do you have any regrets? Are you going to stay put now?
My wife and I are moving to our land up north when I retire. Hopefully soon. It's not that far away for visiting.
Tony my Dad got transferred a lot when I was growing up so we moved quite a bit. I am originally from Philadelphia but lived in Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Ohio, Massachusetts and back to Pennsylvania before the first time I could decide what state I wanted to live in. I decided I did not like living in a very populated area and moved to Minnesota on my own. I didn't have any really difficult parts because at the time I was single and didn't have any kids. I don't miss much other than the food you can get on the east coast compared to the Midwest. If I was moving again it would be to Iowa!!!
Have never lived more than 50 miles from where I grew up... And I'm more than okay with that My dad moved around a lot growing up and most of my family lives in Texas which is unfortunate.... But I don't think I'll ever move away from "home". Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I moved from Minnesota to Utah. Stayed there for 7 years, long enough to get married have 2 kids but it wasn't home to me. So last year I got the family and moved back to Minnesota mostly for family and friends and my own selfish reason of hunting whitetails. So when i finally got back to Minnesota and got situated with my family, it wasn't until then that I realized how much I made Utah a home. ( but I'm not moving back to Utah to much of a pain)
My mom lives a mile up the road, she gave up a lot when I was young, my wifes mother is about 4 miles away, I will be here for them, the home of life long friends, I have no regrets, its beautiful and its home.
And really, you think you got dealt a raw hand, B.S., just retie the apron, get back to the dishes, and thank God, you could have been born in Cleveland Ohio!
How many of you have pulled up shop from where you grew up and moved out of state? After graduation I moved almost 2 hours south to live with my then fiancee. Was not hard to do as I was recently engaged, looking for work in the Philly area. Only 2 hours is not that far however, it was away from family. We got married and lived near her family for almost a dozen years. It was a change for me but, could visit family and friends easy when needed. Her and our two boys are now moving north 2.5 hours from Delaware to the Poconos. Only family really close with me an uncle and Aunt. We will see my family when they visit the area in the summers and her family on occasions. Again, not so far that we can't jump in a car but, still away from where I grew up. Different people, lifestyles, etc. What was the most difficult part? The first move to Delaware was not hard since I was young. Do you have any regrets? None but, I did not move that far away. Are you going to stay put now? We plan to live in the Poconos for a long time. Till both boys are in their college years. Plan is to move to OBX once we can retire. So, 25 years from now...fingers crossed. Oh...my wife would tell a different story. Delaware is home to her and I stole her away. She does find it hard not having her family close (They all live within 60 minutes in Delaware). Knowing that she can see them in 2.5 hours is comforting.
Tony, I think your comments were more accurate as a generalization pre-WWII. May still have merit, but may not be true across across all demographics. I see more movement with people with college/grad degrees at least in the financial services and IT industries. I believe, the strength of family bonds and upbringing also play big parts, but also the level of independence and responsibility instilled in us (when we were younger) and us in our kids. I grew up in upstate NY (North of Albany), met my wife and had 2 kids when we were in Georgia, had the rest of our family when we moved to NC. Moving was more difficult for my wife add she was moving away from her parents/family. Now, I don't think she would even say she has any regrets. Change is hard; it gets easier with practice. My siblings all have post-graduate degrees and all moved from NY for jobs related to their degrees (Medical, Education and Biology). God willing, we don't plan to move till the the last kid is in college, but then it's a decision as to where we want to retire-minimally further toward the country, maybe still in NC. ~Bill
Bill, thank you for the comments. I believe it is still very prevalent, at least in my area. It sucks here.....the politics, the weather, the taxes, did I mention the politics? politics The cost of living here is outrageous...ugh... I posted this on FB and had a pretty big response....several people shared it....all from western NY....Bill, be glad you moved from here..
My neighbor is from Buffalo...some of us get it. Btw-I often work in NYC and CT...I get politics, weather and cost of living/taxes--in spades! (Consulting in financial services) ~Bill
It really is hard for some people, I understand that. It's my case...I am actually wanting to move closer to my family on the farm. Had a few job options to move off, but timing with family stuff makes that hard sometimes.
I hear that....and it's the one thing that scares me when I do move......If I could bring my entire family with me, I'd do it in a second...if I lived in a conservative state with decent weather, I wouldn't think about moving
I lived in the same small little town in IL for the first 24 years of my life. I moved to NC a little over 1.5 years ago now with my fiance as she was accepted into UNC's grad program and it was an opportunity she couldn't pass up. I will say that it is nice having both the ocean and mountains only about 3 hours away, and there is way more to do out here for recreation purposes. I'm glad that I was able to come out here and support her in her endeavors, but we're definitely both missing home in terms of seeing family and friends. We probably only make it home about twice a year, and it really sucks having a 14 hour drive. She'll be done with her program here in a few months, and we have no idea where we're going to end up until she starts getting job offers. We'd definitely like to make it back to the Midwest... not necessarily the town we moved from, but something a little more manageable in case we feel like making a weekend trip home here and there.
I can relate... on both fronts. Weird, but let me explain... When I was growing up, and especially in high school, I would often tell my parents "I'll never live here when I get on my own." They would poo-poo the notion, and Mom especially would say "Don't say 'Never'"... like parents will say. I was adamant. I had a great childhood, plenty of friends, liked my teachers, school... all of it. Just HATED the terrain and geography of where I grew up. I hated the "flatness" of everything. Flat as far as you could see... for miles, and miles. The only thing that would stop the wind from blowing was the occasional fencerow dividing cotton fields. I didn't see my first basement until I went away to college. Seriously. It was so flat everyone just built on a slab. I love rolling hills at a minimum. Upon graduating college, I moved deep into the Ozarks with my first job as a newspaper editor and lived on a lake in Arkansas (Greers Ferry), which was about four hours away from where I grew up. When I went to graduate school later, I moved two hours NORTH of where I grew up because that's where the rolling hills began. So... from the perspective of being on the "just starting out side", it was easy for me to follow through on my self-promise of not living in a terrain I despised. But... from the "other" side now, with my parents both getting older... I'd spent six or seven years trying to convince my parents to move up north with me. Dad is a high-school sports fanatic. We have like seven high schools within the city limits or within 10 miles of our town's borders... There's a small D-1 university here where I used to teach and could get him into the sporting events for free. A mall for Mom to shop in... The list goes on. They wouldn't budge; their town with one redlight and a Walmart was everything to them. I gave up. My second son was born (I'm an only child so my kids will be their only grandchildren) and they surprised me by moving up here. It had been a year or more since we'd even talked about it. You could have knocked me over with a feather when Dad broke the news to me... Flash-forward a few years... until just like three years ago. My wife and I are lying in bed late one night and she asks "Why do we live here?" I'm like, "I thought you loved this house?" She's like ... "No, not here... HERE. As in, why Missouri? With you being so passionate about hunting, and I like camping and hiking... if we lived in Colorado or Montana or somewhere, you could hunt mountain lion, sheep, elk, mule deer, antelope..." I lay there in stunned silence. We'd never even talked about it. My mind started spinning... and then reality slapped me in the face. "If we up and move NOW... after me spending six or seven years trying to convince my parents to move up here with us... and then they finally DO? Dad would kill me!" So... I've been on both sides of your question, a little. Mine's a bit different because I asked my parents to move to me (even though I wasn't actively doing so when they DID move...) If it weren't for that... yeah, I'd be a CO resident right now.
Who is this!? Greg, that is a pretty neat story ... Ima give you another 2 years before you convince your Dad to move to Colorado :D Man, do it before the boys become adults ...hard to get the Wife to move away from the grandbabies...
