In the west I have only lived in one place, San Diego, and I can say that I was not happy there and in spite of their strong economy and the moderate weather, I found that the quality of life was exceedingly poor. What really ruined it for me is that the whole city and culture is based around cars. There was hardly a day when I didn't spend at least an hour in the car, and on a typical day I'd spend much more. In spite of the fact that I was getting outdoors more because of the nice weather, and exercising more, I quickly gained about 15 pounds--and I'm almost positive this is because of the time spent in the car; there's no other logical explanation. When moving back to my hometown of Lancaster, PA, within a month I lost the weight.
I also find that this greatly affects the sense of community. Living in cities in the east, such as Lancaster, PA, Cleveland, Ohio (actually two of its suburbs, Cleveland Heights and Lakewood), New Haven, Connecticut, and also, the small college town of Newark, Delaware, I was always able to walk to everything that I need. You can walk to the bar and not worry about having to have a designated driver. If there's a snowstorm and your car gets snowed in, you can still walk to the store and buy food. You can walk to a neighborhood coffee shop and run into people you know.
There are "communities" in places like San Diego but they're so spread out. You might find a group of people but one friend will live a 20-minute drive away and one a 40-minute drive. And even though some neighborhoods are locally walkable, the way people choose to live their lives and build their communities does not lend itself to meeting people that live close by...people will drive long distances just to do something simple like going out to eat.
Not all cities in the west are car-oriented, however...San Francisco, the Pacific Northwest, and even some of the small cities like Prescott and Flagstaff, AZ have walkable areas.
Maybe there's some truth in this article, but...if you're going to move to the west, heed my advice and stay away from Southern California, Phoenix, and other sprawling cities built around the car.
Comment Reply
In the west I have only lived in one place, San Diego, and I can say that I was not happy there and in spite of their strong economy and the moderate weather, I found that the quality of life was exceedingly poor. What really ruined it for me is that the whole city and culture is based around cars. There was hardly a day when I didn't spend at least an hour in the car, and on a typical day I'd spend much more. In spite of the fact that I was getting outdoors more because of the nice weather, and exercising more, I quickly gained about 15 pounds--and I'm almost positive this is because of the time spent in the car; there's no other logical explanation. When moving back to my hometown of Lancaster, PA, within a month I lost the weight.
I also find that this greatly affects the sense of community. Living in cities in the east, such as Lancaster, PA, Cleveland, Ohio (actually two of its suburbs, Cleveland Heights and Lakewood), New Haven, Connecticut, and also, the small college town of Newark, Delaware, I was always able to walk to everything that I need. You can walk to the bar and not worry about having to have a designated driver. If there's a snowstorm and your car gets snowed in, you can still walk to the store and buy food. You can walk to a neighborhood coffee shop and run into people you know.
There are "communities" in places like San Diego but they're so spread out. You might find a group of people but one friend will live a 20-minute drive away and one a 40-minute drive. And even though some neighborhoods are locally walkable, the way people choose to live their lives and build their communities does not lend itself to meeting people that live close by...people will drive long distances just to do something simple like going out to eat.
Not all cities in the west are car-oriented, however...San Francisco, the Pacific Northwest, and even some of the small cities like Prescott and Flagstaff, AZ have walkable areas.
Maybe there's some truth in this article, but...if you're going to move to the west, heed my advice and stay away from Southern California, Phoenix, and other sprawling cities built around the car.
February 17, 2010 - 9:11amThis Comment
Reply