I know, I know - a non-Hobbit-related poll! Get your head around that, and then tell us: where do you live? Is this by choice? If not, where would you prefer to live?
If you live in the suburbs, pick the size of the city those 'burbs are attached to.
(This post was edited by Annael on Dec 13 2014, 1:51am)
and specifically my corner of the city: South Minneapolis.
I shouted that out to our mayor as he walked in the May Day parade one year.
I guess it's a conurbation. From wikipedia:
Minneapolis–Saint Paul is a metropolitan area built around the Mississippi, Minnesota and St. Croix rivers. The area is commonly known as the Twin Cities or The Cities for its two largest cities, Minneapolis and Saint Paul, being the city with the highest population and state capital of Minnesota respectively, along with the surrounding suburbs. It is a classic example of twin cities in the sense of geographical proximity.
There are many different definitions of the region, many refer to the Twin Cities as the seven-county region which is governed under the Metropolitan Council planning organization. The United States Office of Management and Budget officially designates 16 counties as the Minneapolis-St. Paul–Bloomington MN-WI Metropolitan Statistical Area the 14th largest in the United States. The entire region known as the Minneapolis-St. Paul MN-WI Combined Statistical Area, has a population of 3,797,883 the 16th largest, according to 2013 Census estimates.
Despite the Twin moniker, the two cities are independent municipalities with defined borders and are quite distinct from each other. Minneapolis is somewhat younger with modern skyscrapers, while Saint Paul has been likened to a European city with quaint neighborhoods and a vast collection of well preserved late-Victorian architecture.
It is worth noting the differing cultural backgrounds of the two cities. Minneapolis was influenced by its early Scandinavian and Lutheran heritage and hosts the largest Somali population in North America. St. Paul was influenced by its early French, Irish and German Catholic roots and currently hosts a thriving Hmong population.
I am within walking distance of two lakes and one creek. Within biking distance of the Mississippi River and Minnehaha Falls. A very short drive to the Minnesota River and a half dozen other lakes. For being in a very urban neighborhood, we have foxes, coyotes, wild turkey, beaver, bald eagles, a variety of hawks and owls, rabbits, and the occasional deer that runs through an alley here or there.
South Minneapolis is generally progressive, eco-minded, and fairly diverse. The Twin Cities has tons of stage theater companies, micro-breweries, and professional sports teams. We have IMAX theaters, a second run 1950s vintage theater, and every thing in between. I never go a day without seeing someone biking for transportation and that includes days that are -10 F, 98 F, 2 feet of snow, or driving rain.
For some reason I was sure you were male. And I have looked at your profile page before. I looked again today - and indeed, it has "female" in the gender rubric in it! And I tend to pride myself on noticing details. Oh well.
I live in a town of 8,000 souls. A nice size. Actually I live a few miles outside of the town in a development where everyone has acreage, so it's like living in the country, but we're officially part of the town. Ours is the biggest town in the county - which includes Forks, a/k/a "Twilight" land.
Panhandle, about 2 hours south of the Canadian border and surrounded by forested mountains
My town is pretty small- about 27,000 people but that counts a LOT of people who live on the outskirts or up into the mountains, so it still feels pretty small. You can drive pretty much anywhere in town and drive past farms, mostly smaller ones but there are a few bigger ones.
Still, it's a bit frustrating that we're in the city (specifically, in a Homeowner's Association) rather than in the country. I'm a total farm girl at heart- grew up helping my aunts with their animals when we'd visit, and am vastly interested in 'agricultural science' to the point that I do everything my little 1/4 acre can do (save animals- thanks to HOA).
But we plan on purchasing a 20 acre farm once my husband finally finishes graduate school, and we'll finally have our animals and operational "mostly self sufficient" farm outside of town But that has to wait a couple more years, unfortunately...until then, I'M going to pursue self taught education in the form of agricultural activities (like canning, gardening, sewing, quilting, etc) so that once we do get it, I will already have the skills I need.
I have lived in 28 different places in as many years (lived in this house for four years so far), and in four different US states, and I can say without a doubt that this is my favorite of all of them! I LOATHE big cities with a vengeance- even ours is starting to feel too big!
Do I miss infrastructure at times? Sure- but I'd rather drive 12 miles one way to a Costco than live in a big city with it around the corner!
As to which town- I'd rather stay a wee bit more private on here than that Suffice to say that Viggo Mortensen lives an hour's drive (about 50 miles) north of me- I'll leave it at that
Was I the first? I wanna be the first.
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Remember that PM several months back? Thanks for "coming out".
I live in Boise, ID. About 250,000 incl a couple small edge towns. Boise proper is about 200,000.
Too big. When we moved here from Minneapolis in 1952 Boise was in the high 30,000. Amazing! Boise is called the City of Trees (which it has a lot of), but if you go 1 mile out of town you come to desert and sagebrush on 3 sides and mtns on one side. Good hunting, fishing, skiing etc. though.
Honolulu, Hawaii. About 80% of the population of Hawaii lives in Honolulu, whose population is just under a million. The towns on the other islands are pretty small.
small town. Really small... minded... town. I like the fact that we have open space around us, pumpkin patches and farms 5 minutes away, good theater and restaurants within 30 minutes, and large cities an hour away (Washington and Baltimore) with all the cool stuff that goes with that. It's not home home but it's... home. I've been here for 33 of my 51 years, my kids were born here. I've got roots here and roots back where I grew up in Western New York. Weird, huh?
And that's about right for me. The town I grew up in, just ten miles north of here, was that size when I was a kid, but it's exploded to 150,000, and that's too big for my taste. Though I do like having it nearby. Its downtown was one of the models for Disneyland's Main Street USA.
My town has the highest number of sculptures per capita in the country, or so I've been told. It's got a foundry, and lots of artists. It has a charming old theater downtown, with lots of events. The mountains are a short 45 minutes away. My only complaint is that it's pretty far-right politically and religiously, but there's also a live-and-let-live mentality. Personal fireworks are legal in the town, though illegal in the rest of the county, for example. And it, together with the town north of us, were ranked as the third happiest city in the US by a recent Gallup poll.
A city in the south of the Netherlands
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I live close to the city center, which is nice because our neighbourhood is quiet and green. And the center has historical buildings, a theater, shops, restaurants all within bicycle distance.
I'm surrounded by fields and a few farms
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And I love it! Out my front window, I can see over a miles before a line of trees stop me. Trees and fields with a small river a few steps away.
I don't like trying to drive out of it in the bad roads of winter and it takes 20 minutes just to get to any stores, but the rest of the time... it's wonderful!
I've lived in many cities and towns; but the only one I've visited and would love to move to is... honestly... Wellington. It's magical. If I could winter in NZ and summer here in Michigan, I'd be a happy camper :)
One of the biggest of the Megalopolises! :P
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I live in a Megalopolis! (Tokyo, Japan) Lived here for five years now... But my hometown is a VERY small town (population: 2,000). I can't say how much I miss the countryside, even though Tokyo has anything one could ask for. I often find I need to retreat to some place green to recharge, haha~