Where do you live??? and What is it like living there???

[Felix4067]

I live just outside Grand Rapids, MI. Once upon a time, we were the furniture capital of the world, and we still are the home of Steelcase, Kindel, American Seating, Haworth, Herman Miller, and Grand Rapids Chair. We are also home to the corporate headquarters of Gordon Food Service, Meijer, Alticor/Amway, Wolverine Worldwide (Hush Puppy, Merrell, CAT, and Harley Davidson shoes/boots), Bissell, Spectrum Health, Spartan Stores, MC Sports, Universal Forest Products, and Schuler Books and Music.

The new thing happening here is medical stuff. Michigan State University just opened a branch of its medical school here, and we've got two state-of-the-art cancer and heart centers. We also just built one of the most amazing children's hospitals I've ever seen. We have a health/science research institute that I'm not even sure what they do, as they have hugely high security.

Culturally, we have the only professional ballet company in Michigan (Grand Rapids Ballet Company). We also have Opera Grand Rapids, the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra, and Broadway Grand Rapids (which brings in touring Broadway shows). We also have the country's biggest volunteer theatre (Grand Rapids Civic Theatre) as well as nine other community theatres. at the Frederik Meijer Botanical and Sculpture Gardens, we've got more sculptures and flora than I can begin to list, including one of only two existing statues of DaVinci's horse. Downtown we have a convention center (with a theatre inside) and a 10,834-seat arena. In outlying areas we have another convention center/concert venue, a concert venue which is more of a large nightclub with a balcony, and several churches and performing arts centers associated with area high schools and colleges. Every June, we are home of the Festival of the Arts, which is a three-day celebration of all aspects of the arts (music, food, sculpture, painting, photography, theatre, mime...everything). It closes downtown for the entire three days and encompasses seven stages and a total of about 20 square blocks.

We are the home of the Grand Rapids Griffins, which is our AHL hockey team, primary affiliate to the Detroit Red Wings. We also are the home of the West Michigan Whitecaps, which is our minor league baseball team, primary affiliate to the Detroit Tigers.

One thing we are not short of is churches. The central offices of the Christian Reformed Church are here, but there are churches, synagogues and temples for all religions. Pretty much you can't walk more than two blocks in any direction without running into some sort of religious institution.

As for actual life here, I love it. I could do without the stupid cold winters, but spring, summer and fall make up for it. We are less than 45 minutes from the Eastern shore of Lake Michigan, we are barely a three-hour drive from Chicago, two hours from Detroit, and four hours from the Mackinac Bridge. It takes a mere 20 minutes' driving from downtown to reach country. Actual country, with farms and fields and wide open spaces. We are at the intersection of three major freeways, but we maintain a small town attitude and atmosphere. Picture a Norman Rockwell town 20 years later, and you've pretty much got it.

And then there's my little village on the outskirts. Our population is just over 10,000 people (which is funny for me every time I work a sold out show at the arena downtown). We are STILL the Norman Rockwell town you pictured earlier, and show virtually no signs of changing.

Geez...I got long-winded! Sorry!

[foxysnana]

We lived in Phoenix for a year when I was in 3rd grade and I cried when we left and moved back to Missouri. I LOVED it there! I have always wanted to go back. The food, the culture, the weather...yes, I appreciated that as an 8 year old I'm sure it's very different now. Loved the mountains, Superstition....and was it South Mountain?

South Mountain, good place to view the whole city at sunset

[LindasBusyKitchen]

We live just outside Hilton Head, SC. It's 7 miles to the ocean from here, which we love. We're at the beach whenever we can be. It's beautiful here, I love it. Very quaint here in our area. We live in a subdivision with lakes, but it's only 5 minutes to bars, restaurants, shopping. There is just about anything you want to do here, from golfing - there is a golf course on every corner - to charter fishing to kayaking on the river. We are surrounded by water. Like Kim, it is VERY hot and humid here, I think we were hotter and more humid here than in Florida. There was one day last summer that the heat index was 123. Yep, 123. It was fascinating But we only have about 2 weeks of "winter", if that. We have been down to 32 at night twice this year, both in January. Our coldest daytime temp so far has been 50 degrees and only a few of those. Today in the 60s, in the 70s over the weekend. The spring, fall and winters are stunning. Makes up for that nasty summer humidity It is VERY touristy, of course. Traffic can be horrific during the season, but you just take the back highways, the tourists aren't hanging out anywhere but the hot spots. I just love it here, it's so laid back and it's like being on permanent vacation.

Edit to Add - Restaurants? There is one on every corner, it seems. Everyone here has outdoor dining and all restaurants have daily happy hour. Love it.

I lived in Durham NC for 5 years, from 2003-2008 and I loved it there, but the humidity was a killer. With the asthma, I was in much of the time, and couldn't enjoy doing the things I wanted to, because it bothered my breathing so much. I have heard Nags Head is beautiful, and I always wanted to go there, but never made it. Sounds like you really enjoy it there, and I am sure there are lots of things there to keep you busy! Thanks for sharing your part of the world with us Denise

[LindasBusyKitchen]

I live just outside the city limits of Phoenix AZ, but I can be in the city in 10 minutes or less. As the 5th largest metropolitan area in the US, it is very crowded and busy here. Everyone in every area can have easy access to any of the freeways, but still freeways and city streets are always crowded. It is very culturally diverse here, with us being so very close to the Mexico border, and so many Canadians that have winter homes here. Many so called "snowbirds" are now permanent residents but we are in the thick of "snowbird" season right now. We are in a valley surrounded on 3 sides by mountains, so the desert is very hot in summer (a solid month of 120+ temps in July or August, this year we had over 100 nearly every day from mid-May thru mid-Sept). This year we had the over 100 temps plus 30 to 40% humidity, so it was awful. The winter here is pretty mild, a couple of weeks of 30's at night, and 50's in the day time, the rest of winter is usually upper 40's at night upper 60's during the day. every business and car has A/C here, and nearly every home and every apartment building has swimming pools. I live in an apartment in a very busy area, so restaurants, bars, stores, all within 10 minutes of where I live. Excellent Mexican food here, also some other ethnic foods that are excellent as well. We have 4 major sports teams here, so plenty for every fan (AZ Diamondbacks baseball, AZ Cardinals football, Phoenix Suns basketball, & Phoenix Coyotes hockey). Lots of shopping in the area, any type store or restaurant you want can be found here, along with any type bar or club. Lots of hiking, biking, ATV and motorcycle riding. We are about 2 hours from the White Mountains, so lots of people escape there for fishing and cooler activities in summer, there is snow in winter so skiing, snowboarding are available then. Phoenix is a 2 hour drive from Tucson, another hour to the old wild west town of Tombstone, so an easy drive to go walk back in time, see what Tombstone is all about, or even go thru the ghost tours if that is what you want to do. Phoenix is also about 3 hours from Flagstaff, which is the gateway to the Grand Canyon, so that is on a must see list. There are several lakes in the mountain areas, so there are lots of opportunities to fish, camp, swim, water ski. As far as theater and other live entertainment, there are a lot of opportunities for that as well. Several theaters, plays, concerts from the garage band to country, from rock to classical and more. There is always something to do here, but it is quite expensive.

I visited my friend in Phoenix back in the late 80's and the whole time I was there is was 114 and the humidity was like a steam iron hitting you in the face. You couldn't even take a breath outside. Even going in the pool didn't refresh you, and my friends air conditioning was on the fritz, so her apartment was about 95 inside all the time. It was like living in hell.

One of the things that really stuck in my mind was our trip to the Grand Canyon. We went from dessert with cactus and tumbleweed, to miles and miles of wheat fields, like little house on the prairie, to desolate land, baron, with a few cows here and there, to woods with beautiful trees that looked like silvery birch trees, with greenery, to the forest with huge pine trees, thickly settled with bushes, and on into the mountains. It was like a trip in time, that I have never forgotten. The Grand Canyon is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, and it really is indescribable. Breathtaking doesn't even grasp the feelings you have as you look at it... I was so thrilled to have gotten the opportunity to see it. And Oak Creek Canyon and Sedona was awesome as well. I loved the red rock ledges and the scenery was awesome. So many fun things to do... We stopped at the Montezuma Well and Mayan ruins on the way home too. Such memories and sights there to remember. Such a great place to visit. You are right about the Mexican food, it was awesome, but the Chinese was the worst I ever had in my life... I never forgot that either lol... I didn't get to see Tucson and the ghost towns, which I would have liked to have seen, but it was a great trip and thank you for sharing your home town with us!

[LindasBusyKitchen]

I live on the Canadian side of The Great Lakes. I live in a village that is known to be one of the three oldest in Canada. For most of you I would like to say that Canada is "vaste". I am centrally located & it would take me by plane to go West 7 hrs. & East 5 hrs. We have many things here that you would enjoy but we also have the cold temps & snow. I am fortunate that I have two homes. The one I live in today is my Mother's home which I acquired after her death. I have what I think is a very lovely property on Lake Erie, I have many friends who visit me from this or others sites over the years.

I love the lake, so this would be right up my alley for the summer Your home on the lake sounds wonderful. I bet you enjoy it a lot! How are the temps there in the summer? Is there a lot of humidity?

[LindasBusyKitchen]

We live in Gainesville, Florida. It's primarily a university city of about 100,000 people. It's about 90 minutes for Jacksonville and St. Augustine. It's about 2 hours from Tallahassee, Tampa and Orlando.
When I first arrived, in 1992, from Beverly Hills/Century City, CA, it was a huge shock. I, mostly, got used to it.
There are cultural activities going on- 2 community theaters, lots of concerts of all kinds of music, museums and art fairs. There are nature programs, lakes, etc.
The winter doesn't get that cold. The summer is very hot. I just make sure to stay inside with an air conditioner and many fans. Some of the people who have to come around and check things like smoke alarms try to stay in our apartment as long as they can because we keep it extra cold in the summer.

I didn't realize Gainesville was such a large city... The cultural activities are always fun and can keep you busy for sure... Air conditioning is good when it's hot, but I am allergic to it, so to be in it all the time is a nightmare for me... It is so much fun having asthma and allergies to so many environmental things... I turned on my air conditioning here this past summer for a week straight and I had face and cheek pain the whole time. My jaw felt like it was going to fall off... Shut it off and the pain went away... very strange! If it weren't for that I could live anywhere!

[LindasBusyKitchen]

I live just outside Grand Rapids, MI. Once upon a time, we were the furniture capital of the world, and we still are the home of Steelcase, Kindel, American Seating, Haworth, Herman Miller, and Grand Rapids Chair. We are also home to the corporate headquarters of Gordon Food Service, Meijer, Alticor/Amway, Wolverine Worldwide (Hush Puppy, Merrell, CAT, and Harley Davidson shoes/boots), Bissell, Spectrum Health, Spartan Stores, MC Sports, Universal Forest Products, and Schuler Books and Music.

The new thing happening here is medical stuff. Michigan State University just opened a branch of its medical school here, and we've got two state-of-the-art cancer and heart centers. We also just built one of the most amazing children's hospitals I've ever seen. We have a health/science research institute that I'm not even sure what they do, as they have hugely high security.

Culturally, we have the only professional ballet company in Michigan (Grand Rapids Ballet Company). We also have Opera Grand Rapids, the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra, and Broadway Grand Rapids (which brings in touring Broadway shows). We also have the country's biggest volunteer theatre (Grand Rapids Civic Theatre) as well as nine other community theatres. at the Frederik Meijer Botanical and Sculpture Gardens, we've got more sculptures and flora than I can begin to list, including one of only two existing statues of DaVinci's horse. Downtown we have a convention center (with a theatre inside) and a 10,834-seat arena. In outlying areas we have another convention center/concert venue, a concert venue which is more of a large nightclub with a balcony, and several churches and performing arts centers associated with area high schools and colleges. Every June, we are home of the Festival of the Arts, which is a three-day celebration of all aspects of the arts (music, food, sculpture, painting, photography, theatre, mime...everything). It closes downtown for the entire three days and encompasses seven stages and a total of about 20 square blocks.

We are the home of the Grand Rapids Griffins, which is our AHL hockey team, primary affiliate to the Detroit Red Wings. We also are the home of the West Michigan Whitecaps, which is our minor league baseball team, primary affiliate to the Detroit Tigers.

One thing we are not short of is churches. The central offices of the Christian Reformed Church are here, but there are churches, synagogues and temples for all religions. Pretty much you can't walk more than two blocks in any direction without running into some sort of religious institution.

As for actual life here, I love it. I could do without the stupid cold winters, but spring, summer and fall make up for it. We are less than 45 minutes from the Eastern shore of Lake Michigan, we are barely a three-hour drive from Chicago, two hours from Detroit, and four hours from the Mackinac Bridge. It takes a mere 20 minutes' driving from downtown to reach country. Actual country, with farms and fields and wide open spaces. We are at the intersection of three major freeways, but we maintain a small town attitude and atmosphere. Picture a Norman Rockwell town 20 years later, and you've pretty much got it.

And then there's my little village on the outskirts. Our population is just over 10,000 people (which is funny for me every time I work a sold out show at the arena downtown). We are STILL the Norman Rockwell town you pictured earlier, and show virtually no signs of changing.

Geez...I got long-winded! Sorry!

Wow, you have lots of manufacturing jobs up there! I can't believe all the companies in one place... Sounds like there are lots of things going on there to do with the arts. I love going to plays, and the theater is great when you can find a good show to go to.

Your little town sounds fine to me. I love going to the city to do things, but I am a country girl at heart who likes to get her traveling shoes on every once in awhile and take off on a road trip or grab a plane to some exciting place. Thank you for sharing your part of town with us!

[Ninner]

LindasBusyKitchen, the Lakes here are lovely. Lake Erie where our cottage is has many sandbars & you can walk out into that lake a very long way. In September when the water recedes the sandbars stand out above the water line & we have parties on them. This is a summer cottage only, as it is not winterized.

The weather in the summer is very nice not a lot of humidity like down south.

[Laury]

Linda'sBusyKitchen, I do understand about asthma. I have it very severe and we can't turn on the heat at all without my having breathing problems. In fact, right now doctors are not hearing any breathing sounds out of my right lung. I have been tested for many things all of which basically showed nothing. The only time I leave our apartment is when I have a doctor/dentist/beauty appointment. Other than those times I am inside our apartment.

[Felix4067]

Wow, you have lots of manufacturing jobs up there! I can't believe all the companies in one place... Sounds like there are lots of things going on there to do with the arts. I love going to plays, and the theater is great when you can find a good show to go to.

Your little town sounds fine to me. I love going to the city to do things, but I am a country girl at heart who likes to get her traveling shoes on every once in awhile and take off on a road trip or grab a plane to some exciting place. Thank you for sharing your part of town with us!

We have a TON of arts stuff! A few years ago, we were listed among those communities having the most cultural/arts venues and companies per capita. Basically, if you can't find a play or music event to attend on any given day of the week, you're not trying. It's made it really easy for a theatre kid like me to turn my childhood obsession into a career.

As for my little town...it gets worse (or better, depending on your perspective). My family on both sides has been here since God was a boy. Even though we've grown so huge (seriously...over 10,000 people is at least twice as big as it was when I was a kid, when driving the ~6 miles to downtown GR was an adventure), to this day you can mention my family name and everyone knows exactly who we are. My paternal grandmother taught biology at the high school from the time she graduated college until 1974. There is still an award (for outstanding senior female athlete) named after her at the high school. We're kinda like royalty here.