phaedrus

What are the best and worst things about where you live?

I'll start.

Best: I live in Soho, so the best thing is all of the beautiful women. I once chatted up Josie Maran a block from my apartment. Nothing came of it, obviously, but it was still an amazing moment.

Worst: Trying to be monogamous. There is just some much temptation.

Strange Famous

Oh, must be horrible...

Worst - crime (been burgled three times, car broken into three times, brick thrown through window of my flat, someone murdered last year in my street, someone stabbed (but didnt die) last month. The Ipswich Serial killer took the women he killed from a couple of streets away also (one of the dead women I went to school with)

Best - near the rail station, so convenient for travel at least

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"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

The Gospel of Thomas

Manic_Skafe

Best - 24hr public transpo and there's always something to do.
Worst - Everything is so damned expensive.

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"Porn is a zoo of exotic animals that becomes boring upon ownership." -Nersesian

Fremen

Best: Living out in the country means there are no prying eyes when you just want to water the shrubs.
Worst: No good access to markets with exotic ingredients when I feel like cooking exotic fare.

Just reading my answers above makes me realize how spoiled I am, if that's really the worst...

Edit: I live in East Texas.

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ColonelSpecial

Best: Smaller town means getting around is super quick.
Worst: Smaller town means less variety for entertainment.

I love where I live and had to stretch to find the worst thing.

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"Using the pull out method of contraceptive is like saying I won't use a seat belt, I'll just jump out of the car before it hits that tree."

Sara

fresnelly

Best: A wild ravine with a creek to muck around in runs through our neighbourhood.

Worst: Oversaturation of dollar stores.

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Fotzlid

Best: Large yard with about 20 acres of woods/marshland behind us. I can sit in the back yard and not look into someone else's back yard.

Worst: Its a narrow main road with fairly heavy traffic.

Grasshopper Green

Best - The city founders set the streets up on a grid system and makes it damn near impossible to get lost, unless you go out to the suburbs.

Worst - Everything else.

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"They say that patriotism is the last refuge to which a scoundrel clings; steal a little and they throw you in jail, steal a lot and they make you king"

Formerly Medusa

PonyPotato

Best: The economy doesn't crash and burn like some other parts of the country (so I still have a job).

Worst: The traffic. Oh jaysus, the traffic.

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"Without passion man is a mere latent force and possibility, like the flint which awaits the shock of the iron before it can give forth its spark."
— Henri-Frédéric Amiel

Xerxys

Best: 4 Minutes to work. I do drive like a maniac so ...

Worst: Errr... no public transpo and no car is not an option. Besides that I'm Kosher!

Charlatan

Best: Where to start? Excellent and cheap food at all hours. Warm weather, year 'round. Can travel all over Asia with no more than 5 hours travel or less in any direction (Bali and Phuket are about an hour's travel in opposite directions).

Worst: Very far from the rest of my family and friends. National work culture is a bit much at times. Long work hours with not enough vacation time can be draining (but you're only young once).

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"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

Halanna

Best: The beach, boats, watersports and the great outdoors.

Worse: Hurricanes, brush fires and the traffic.

Reese

Best: Small town atmosphere, everyone is friendly and knows everybody.

Worst: There's nothing to do which leads to small town meth abuse. Pretty sad seeing old friends strung out like that.

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“It is better to be rich and healthy than poor and sick” - Dave Barry

Craven Morehead

Best: mostly middle and upper middle class, clean, safe and quiet, about an hour from downtown Chicago

Worst: winter

Wrexify

EDIT: I'm in Upstate NY.

Best: Winter with lots of snow, great winter sports season.

Worst: It's only NOT winter for what seems like <1 month, during which it's raining and cloudy.

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Destrox

Best: Cloudy Days/Rain are about once every 2 months, Beautiful place.

Worse: It has been over 100 degrees all month just about.

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You bore me.... next.

The_Jazz

Best: great neighbors, great bars and restaurants within easy walking distance, a long walk from Wrigley, lots of nearby green space and oversized lots, spring and summer in Chicago are like nothing else.

Worst: suspected gangbangers a block away, winter, drivers who don't seem to care about pedestrians (especially very young pedestrians).

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"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - B. Franklin
"There ought to be limits to freedom." - George W. Bush
"We have met the enemy and he is us." - Pogo

Xazy

Best: Live in downtown NYC, I love it here, it is a real community area (you actually know your neighbors), with parks which is amazing in NYC. I have great friends, family here, lots of restaurants. I live near 2 of the biggest Rabbis in the world, and have access to them everyday. Stunning view, great food, culture, quick transportation, easy parking.

Worse: Need more space. And snow in NYC sucks.

LoganSnake

Best: Short drive to downtown Chicago, lots of bars, restaurants. College town (Northwestern) right by me.

Worst: South Side is moving up...

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Maturity is knowing you were an idiot in the past. Wisdom is knowing that you'll be an idiot in the future. Common sense is knowing that you should try not to be an idiot now. - J. Jacques

lostgirl

San Francisco, California.

There is so much to do and see. From crazy events, hiking in the great out doors, clubs, bars, and the ocean is right there. Plus the temperature is perfect.

The worst is the summer fog, but I can live with that.

Edit: I forgot to mention the other bad thing, it is expensive to live here.

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We always arise from our own ashes. Everything returns later in its changed form. - Children of Dune

dlish

best - 70 degree F winters

worst - 130 degree F summers

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An injustice anywhere, is an injustice everywhere

I always sign my facebook comments with ()()===========(}. Does that make me gay?
- Filthy

nomcat

Best: Vibrant city, great atmosphere, the coast, 1 hour from London, 10 minutes from the countryside

Worst: Expensive to live/eat/drink, often wet and windy, hippies

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There are many powers in the world, for good or for evil. Some are greater than I am. Against some I have not yet been measured. But my time is coming.

k_day64

Best - There is no shortage of good places to eat.
Worst - There is no shortage of ugly women here

ametc

Best: The weather and most of the people are usually real chill here in San Diego. We have a lot of interesting food that, for some reason, you can't find anywhere else. (Not even in LA.. weird!)

Worst: For a big city, there's not a lot to do here. We also get too many illegal immigrants since we're touching TJ to the south. It's hard to find a job.. illegal immigrants or not. This place is too crowded.

noodle

The weather, the beach, and that my important people are here.



The weather, the bugs, and the higher percentage of ignorant/racist/rabid-religious/narrowminded people than I would prefer.
Yay, south.

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ItWasMe

Best: Weather and landscape. We get enough rain to keep things green, and usually enough sunny days to keep plants and people happy. Half the year, anyway. And the green hills and mountains are beautiful.

Worst: Weather and landscape. When we get a couple of hot days, it's usually followed by rain. Which makes the roads slicker than snot. We get a little snow almost every year. But if we don't already have packed ice from freezing rain by the time the snow comes, we get the ice immediately afterwards. Which makes the roads slicker than snot. And it's a pain if you have to travel around the hills or mountains on slick roads.

edit: very Northwest Oregon. An hour from the coast, less than that from Washington.

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"Ok, no more truth-or-dare until somebody returns my underwear" ~ George Lopez

I bake cookies just so I can lick the bowl. ~ ItWasMe

Grancey

I love reading these, but I don't know where most of you are so it would be nice if you could also tell us the area that you are describing without being uncomfortably specific.

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levite

I live in Venice, in Los Angeles.

Best: I live like six freaking feet from the beach/from the Venice Boardwalk, there's amazing farmer's markets near here, I love the mix of cultures, the restaurants and markets, I love the music and theater scenes, all the museums, I love the film industry and living in the world heart of movie-making, and I love the huge and diverse Jewish community. Did I mention living feet away from the beach?!! I can hear the surf at night, and watch the beach bunnies frolic during the day-- when the future Mrs. Levite lets me....

Worst: It gets too hot too often, the smog is getting way better but still kinda sucks, it can take a long time to get anyplace in this town-- I just mean like freeways and traffic and everything being real spread-out, thanks to global climate fuckage there's nowhere near enough rain here, and the cost of living is through the goddamn roof-- just the price of housing is enough to give you a heart attack....

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Dull sublunary lovers love,
Whose soul is sense, cannot admit
Absence, because it doth remove
That thing which elemented it.

(From "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" by John Donne)

percy

I live in Ottawa

Best thing(s) - Very Clean and low crime (and a good 4 hour drive to shithole Toronto - sorry TO nians,...just like sticking it to Charlatan once in a while - all in fun)

Worst thing(s) Cold winters and a federal bilingualism policy that is dividing a city because of stupid language.

mrklixx

I live in St. Louis, Missouri

Best: I was born here. Familiarity. The traffic is nowhere near as bad as say LA or Chicago. We have a really nice zoo and some nice museums, and they are all free (for now). We have a couple of pretty decent sports teams.

Worst: We get the crap end of all weather extremes from 100 degree days with 95% humidity to bitter sub zero days. It takes forever for trends/innovations/technologies/chain restaurants to get here. Our public transit system is all screwed up. Alot of times concerts and events completely bypass us altogether.

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Charlatan

By your standards, it used to be even better. Before they finished the 416 to the 401 it took almost an hour more to get to Toronto. Ottawa is definitely going downhill.

You also left out the canal in summer is beautiful and in the winter you can skate on it.

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"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

Fohur2

Halifax, Canada

Best- Nightlife, great food, music and the coast .Huge university population
Worse- Substandard Public Transport, limited growth

spindles

Are you sure this should be in worst?

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who hid my keyboard's PANIC button?

snowy

ItWasMe covered the weather portion of where I live

Best: I'm right on the bus line (bus system goes all over town), right on a street with a bike lane, two blocks from a hippie food co-op with awesome coffee, and ten minutes on foot from campus. And I swear we have more ethnic restaurants--more restaurants period--than any other town of this size that I've seen; that is definitely one of the upshots of living in a college town.

Worst: There's little regulation on rental housing here; some of the neighborhoods look downright seedy.

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If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau

spindles

Northern edge of Sydney, Oz.

Best: I live literally 5 minutes walk from train, shops and school/s (for the kids). I can walk to my local golf course, though dragging the buggy that far is a *bit* of a pain. 45 minutes on the train into central Sydney. I work from home, so no commuting for work! . We've been here long enough that we know lots of locals and that community side of things is hugely important, especially with young kids.

Worst: You have to travel a fair way to get to a decent restaurant - Sydney has heaps of them, but not really too many close to us. The local council/municipality wants to rezone my house for Townhouses

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who hid my keyboard's PANIC button?

SabrinaFair

Louisville, KY

Best: Very unique city, always some sort of festival or picnic for cheap, interesting entertainment, small-town feel, gorgeous scenery, accessible to other great cities, also near the country.

Worst: If you didn't go to high school here, you'll never be "from" here. When someone asks you, "Where did you go to school?", they don't mean college or professional school. They mean high school.

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"With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy."
-Desiderata

savmesom11

St. Paul, MN

Think typical suburban townhouse development (co-op style):

Worst: No privacy, your home is connected to the person next to you. Everyone knows your business or pretends they do and it always feels like your home is being watched.

Best: Everyone knows you and is always watching out for you and your home.

double edged sword?

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* I do not believe that struggles are a sign of life falling apart, but rather a step of life falling into place. *

dlish

northern beaches? im thinking palm beach areas? if theres one place lacking a few decent eats, its that place! i was there a few months ago and couldnt decide which one of the two mediocre but way overpriced places i wanted to eat at!


my place in sydney -

best - the multiculturalism
worst - the crime

__________________
An injustice anywhere, is an injustice everywhere

I always sign my facebook comments with ()()===========(}. Does that make me gay?
- Filthy

percy

Not if you went through Tweed, where apparently there is an Elvis Sighting Society.

And the canal is great as is Bluesfest. Check out this years line up;

Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest - Scheduled Performers

Gotta see Jeff Beck and Joe Cocker. Hope the weather is good.

Dammitall

Best: Small city with authentic historic flavor and a surprising wealth of cultural activities, lots of good restaurants, access to public transportation, close proximity to natural outdoor spaces

Worst: Lack of bike friendly road infrastructure (they're working on that, allegedly), inexorable spread of suburban sprawl, being on the "iffy" end of town, the whore/flop house two doors down with obnoxious-as-hell yappy rat dogs that stay outside barking all day long

Location? Frederick, MD

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If one million people replaced a two mile car trip once a week with a bike ride, carbon dioxide emissions would be reduced by 50,000 tons per year. If one out of ten car commuters switched to a bike, carbon dioxide emissions would be reduced by 25.4 million tons per year. [2milechallenge.com]