What's the worst thing about living where you do?

[merrywidow]

I live in a small town in nw Mt. Our winters have grown milder during the 90's & 00's so I'm not going to complain about the temperature. The worst thing is lack of transportation to airports or trains. You have to travel by car to go anywhere. There is 1 bus that comes through town once a day going north & 1 bus a day going south.

 

[Ptichka]

Wow, Johar, that's rough. You make it sound like there needs to be a very good reason to live there. Kind of reminds me of when I went on a business trip to Sioux Valley. And not having a Starbucks within a 2 mile radius! Ouch! (At least nowadays there are excellent espresso machines for home use. Frothing the milk is still not too easy but the espresso in a $250 range machine is exquisite!)

 

[JOHIO2]

Johar, you've pretty much summed up what I disliked about where I grew up! I live in the city and every day I give thanks for public transportation, sidewalks, our "Emerald Necklace," aka the Metroparks, the Cleveland Orchestra, the art museum, the libraries, etc. The best part of my street, which I call "Junk Food Central," is I can walk to 2 24 hr drugstores, 3 24hr restaurants, and 2 24 hour supermarkets! For awhile, I could even visit Home Depot 24 hours a day (although why you would want to visit Home Depot 24 hours a day is another question. that experiment didn' last. guess not many people wanted to!)

The good news -- Lake Erie is cleaner and the Cuyahoga only caught fire one time, years ago. The bad news -- all those steel mills and manufacturing plants that polluted the water are gone and along with them the jobs.

The best part of living less than a half mile from Lake Erie is its moderating effect on the weather. Cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. And all that "lake effect snow" is on the other side of town!

 

[JOHIO2]

Moonpie, we must have been siblings in a previous life!

I just finished complaining about those people who block entrances and exits and aisles in the pet peeve thread!

 

[RealtorGal]

6. No available quality guys to date. Most people in this hell hole are married by age 23. I don't know of any single guys to even ask out. I'm 35 so people either think I'm a lesbian or I have something really wrong with me because I'm not married.

You didn't list a single positive aspect. So, why do you live there? BTW, that breaded chicken comment was

 

[mariana]

What I hate:
- That COI and SOI don't come to Buenos Aires (Argentina)
-The amount of litter at some crowded streets
- The noise of a big city
-That we can have a 100 degrees day in the mittle of winter and a 40 degrees day in the mittle of Summer
What I love:
-It's easy to make new friends
-Dispite the fack that Buenos Aires is a big city you can get pretty fast to any place you want whith public transportation
-That the best college of my country it's here and it's free.
-That it's full of museums and libraries
-And that I'm allways discovering something new about my city

 

[bronxgirl]

Mariana- I've always heard such fascinating things about Buenos Aires, - it's one of the cities on my list of have to see some day!

 

[Johar]

Moonpie, we must have been siblings in a previous life!

I just finished complaining about those people who block entrances and exits and aisles in the pet peeve thread!

Mm and dad are sick and need the help.

 

[amazonprincess]

while it's all nice and pretty here, the busses stop at 7:30. I currently lack legal driving ability. Also, in order to have some semblance of a "night life" (if you're under 21) it's an hour or so drive down to SF.

Other than that, I do like it. It'd be really hard to leave the county (allthough that's probably because I spent the bulk of my life here)

 

[mariana]

Mariana- I've always heard such fascinating things about Buenos Aires, - it's one of the cities on my list of have to see some day!

Let my know when, so I can show you all there is to be seen. Spetially all the places that aren't usually shown to the tourists do to lack of time or because no one thinks will interest them!

 

[Johar]

Wow, Johar, that's rough. You make it sound like there needs to be a very good reason to live there. Kind of reminds me of when I went on a business trip to Sioux Valley. And not having a Starbucks within a 2 mile radius! Ouch! (At least nowadays there are excellent espresso machines for home use. Frothing the milk is still not too easy but the espresso in a $250 range machine is exquisite!)

Mom and Dad are sick.

 

[Mathman]

I'm sorry to hear that your parents aren't doing so well, Johar. My best wishes to your family.

Mathman

 

[Antilles]

I'm in south western Ontario. I like my city, but hate the weather in this whole region. The summers are sickeningly humid, and the winters can be long and cold. We don't seem to have much of a fall or spring anymore, my two favourite season.

 

[~tibia venifica~]

Sometimes I get an impression that everybody but Pole knows how bad it's in here. That's when you hear some sweet sixteen saying "He treated me just like men treat women in Poland" lol:sheesh: Anyway, that's what I think:
-prices of CDs
-lack of subway in my town
-lack of good English teachers in public schools
-and... the only rink in my town is small and closed in summer

If you forget the politics, corruption, etc. the place isn't really that bad. Again, if... As for Polish people I truly hate them sometimes, but deep inside I know there's nothing I would miss more than that blend of specific humour, scepticism and curious hidden patriotism that we have

~flute~

 

[Ptichka]

Buenos Aires
Mariana, I get most of my impressions of Buenos Aires from Borges and Cortazar, who both loved the city deeply. I was supposed to go there this past November, but it didn't work out.

Poland
Tibia, where in Poland do you live? I've wanted to go to Warsaw and Krakow myslef... Though my main fascination about Poland perhaps comes from two of my favorite directors -- Wajda and Kislowski, sort of representing two very different aspects of Polish character -- the passionate and the cynical.

 

[~tibia venifica~]

I live in Gdañsk, by the sea. Oh boy, I love this town! So unpretensious and stylish, of dramatic history...
Kraków is a lovely place, but just a little bit overrated. I mean, tourists should not compare it to e.g. Prague, but it's still beautiful. I think it's rather the University, artistic bohema that make this town so important. I'll tell you something - people coming to Kraków expect to see the capitol city of Polish Culture and History. Unlikely, it's a description of... Lviv. Yes, this now Ukrainian city is the historic heart of Poland! I'll shut up at this moment - I could be talking about Lviv for hours...

And finally - I'm delighted to hear about your favourite directors! But surely, there's a trape in relying on a picture they convey. The Polish are introvertic kind of nation, they bear a burdon of disillusion, they are individual inside, average outside. BUT - it's not that Wajda and Kieœlowski falsify the Polish character! We DID fight for freedom in a way that "The man of steel" (title???) did. And there were lots of desperate killers of taxi drivers lol. But you'd have to live here for many years to read between the lines that we ARE this heroic nation of our literature and our past.
We live when we have to conspire and fight, otherwise we're dead.

 

[Ptichka]

Ah, Gdansk! I imagine it would have a very unique culture, as often cities on the shores differ greatly from their inland neighbors; if I recall, Gdansk is the only major Polish city on the shore, right? Anyway, I've been to Lviv a long time ago. It certainly is a very unique city. As to its culture... the whole of Galicia is very... hmmm... let's just say diverse. It is perhaps among the most culturally eclectic places I've been to.

 

[mariana]

Buenos Aires
Mariana, I get most of my impressions of Buenos Aires from Borges and Cortazar, who both loved the city deeply. I was supposed to go there this past November, but it didn't work out.

As I said to bronxgirl, just let me know when you're coming and I'll show you my city.
I complain about it, but I don't think I could live anywhere but here. I find allmost unbelivable how Buenos Aires changes every day, and at the same time it stays the same as always. It's hard to explain, but every day the city looks a bit different when I go to work, it's like ... as if the city reflected the emotions of the people, and at the same time you still recognaise the city you have always known and loved. I know, it sounds crasy, but it's what I fell.

 

[starshinexavier]

I live in Southern Ontario, in a city that in the summer is full of smog. It's disgusting. The drinking water gets full of algae, which makes it smell horrible, and taste interesting. Winters aren't fun due to lake effect snow, yet the school boards in the city rarely close schools when it snows really bad. Thankfully, I only live here for 4 months of the year, since I'm away at school in a city that, although is in the snow belt, has weather that isn't as bad, and with no smog.

 

[~tibia venifica~]

Christ, now I see how pompous my post was I just wanted to make my response complete. I'm insane even for a Polish standard
Ptichka, what are your favourite films of those two?