What's your town/city like?

[Debp]

I realize some might not want to mention the name of their town or city....but was wondering if you all would like to tell a little about where you live.

Some of you know, I live in Los Angeles.  It has some good points, and bad points, of course.  The good points are being near to good public transportation, church, markets, restaurants, banks and sightseeing attractions (many of them free).

One bad point the past several years....the rents are climbing dramatically (like $1200 and more for a single apartment....that means a one room apartment!  I even saw one listed for $1600!).  The reason for this is they are building alot of condos, lofts, and apartment buildings in and near to downtown (professional people are tired of commuting and are flocking to live in downtown).  The city does have rent control....apt owners can only raise the rent about 4% each year.  But it also means having to stay in the same apartment no matter what, since the other apartments are too expensive to move into.

[Shammu]

Well I live in a small rural area, in the mountains of Arizona.  Till the Rodeo-Chediski fire in 2002, this area was quite pretty. Though through Gods will the beauty is still there.  Everyone here knows their neighbors. Populatiion where I am is only 257 people.

Like you though, I was born and raised in Los Angeles (Carson, Compton, Torrance, and Long Beach) which I don't miss. 

[Soldier4Christ]

I live in a moderately large industrial town. Nothing the size of LA but for this area it is considered large. All the industries are fairly small but there are a whole lot of them. ADM is the only really large plant.

Rent here is $440.00 a month for a small 2 BR apt. in subsidized government housing. When I say small, It is small enough to fit into a small 2 car garage. A standard 2 BR apt other than that goes for about $600.00. A studio apt can be had for as low as $350.00 a month but that is down by the river where it frequently floods and in a house so old the floors lean enough that you can't use chairs on wheels.

Gas prices here just topped over $3.50 a gal. There is public transportation but it is too far for me and my wife to walk to get to the bus route and it is really difficult to get up those steps so I'll suffer with the expense of a car. 

[ibTina]

We have only lived here just less than 2 years ( moving in a couple of weeks ).  It is a small, but not tiny, area of 3 townships South of Chicago, about an hours drive  ( they are Kankakee, Bradley and Bourbonnais ) . The 3 towns are growing and have merged where each 'runs' into the other. I am thinking the population is some where between 3,000 to 5,000. The Chicago Bears Summer training camp is here and I guess that is a big deal to some folks.  Not a bad place to live. People are nice here.

[ibTina]

Well I live in a small rural area, in the mountains of Arizona.  Till the Rodeo-Chediski fire in 2002, this area was quite pretty. Though through Gods will the beauty is still there.  Everyone here knows their neighbors. Populatiion where I am is only 257 people.

Like you though, I was born and raised in Los Angeles (Carson, Compton, Torrance, and Long Beach) which I don't miss. 

What a small World.... we lived out in the L.A. area too.   Torrance, Lawndale, San Pedro, and Redondo Beach .. as well as up North in the Sacramento area and in the S.F Bay area. ( Alameda) ... our son was born in Torrance and daughter in Sacramento.

 and I DO NOT miss it!

[Debp]

Well I live in a small rural area, in the mountains of Arizona.  Till the Rodeo-Chediski fire in 2002, this area was quite pretty. Though through Gods will the beauty is still there.  Everyone here knows their neighbors. Populatiion where I am is only 257 people.

Like you though, I was born and raised in Los Angeles (Carson, Compton, Torrance, and Long Beach) which I don't miss. 

Well, first of all, thanks everyone so far for telling about your area. 

DreamWeaver, I have some family (2 uncles, 1 aunt and cousins) living in the White Mountains of Arizona....they live in Show Low; I think one cousin and his wife/family might be in Lakeside.  One cousin lives about 14 miles outside of Show Low in the wilderness.

My uncles used to live in PA (where mom and I are from, too....then they moved to CA.  So we moved to CA....but after the 1971 earthquake they moved to Phoenix, AZ.  Mom and I could never take the summer desert heat and didn't care too much for Phoenix....so we stayed here in Los Angeles.  Actually, in my younger years it wasn't so bad, but now with my mom much older and not so healthy, it's harder when one is alone.

After living in the big city for so long (been in L.A. for 40 years!), I don't know about moving.  I guess that would happen if our apartment bldg tells the tenants to move (some bldgs are converting to condos)....and if we couldn't find an apartment we could afford.

I've never been to Show Low (mom has)....but I don't drive now so think I would have difficulty getting around there.  (My uncles are senior citizens and my cousins are busy with their own families.)  I also have 2 cousins in Ft. Walton Beach, FL...it's probably very pretty, but the hurricanes are too much for me.  So as it stands now, I'm just going day by day with the Lord's help.

[Faithin1]

I live in metropolitan Washington, DC, in the Maryland suburbs about 5 minutes from Alexandria, VA.  I can reach downtown DC in approx. 15 minutes (non rush hour).  I am a couple of blocks from the Potomac River, unfortunately I do not have a river view.  The National Harbor Project is currently under construction on the bank of the river.   It is being built by the same group that built the Grand Ole Opry Hotel in Nashville.  There will be a convention center, hotel, restaurants, stores, bike trails, condos and single-family homes.  Gas prices are averaging $3.30 for regular, and continue to climb. 

I am on the landing path for planes approaching National Airport (Reagan) and although they are 'supposed' to fly down the river, they fly over the houses.  There are times when we are sitting in the backyard, the planes fly so low we can actually see the passengers looking out the windows.  On one occasion, people were waving at us.  Rush hour traffic is an absolute nightmare, and people are becoming increasingly inconsiderate and rude.  However, the positives of living in this area, far outweigh the negatives.  Although I realize DC is a prime target for terrorists, I don't worry.  I have Jesus!!!

[Soldier4Christ]

I don't worry.  I have Jesus!!!

Amen!

[Shammu]

DreamWeaver, I have some family (2 uncles, 1 aunt and cousins) living in the White Mountains of Arizona....they live in Show Low; I think one cousin and his wife/family might be in Lakeside.  One cousin lives about 14 miles outside of Show Low in the wilderness.

I don't live in Show low, I'm outside of it.  

Show Low has gotten to big, for its pants.  They have a habit of thinking they are a big city, when they are a small country town.  I first moved there (1977) the population was a little over 2,500. I went there to open Sambo's Restaurant, # 741  Now the population is over 10,000.

[islandboy]

The area I live in is rural, but not far from Fort Myers, Florida. Many inland communties are starting to feel the crunch of more new developments of gated communties building up where once was  vancant farmland and woodlands. Just had in paper recently a new Walmart has been approved to go in not far from us. Goodbye to more mom & pop shops. The average rents are $800-$1200 a month and more. I have considered moving back up north to Pennsylvania, but not sure I could stand the cold weather. Plus it makes getting around a bit more difficult with the snow and them there hills. Anyways, the towns around us are getting more people from other areas that weren't happy where they were so they moved here and are changing our area into what it was like back where they moved from. Our property taxes have gone sky high. When property is bought & payed for, for much more than its worth, and then a big expensive home is built on that property it causes surrounding property values to increase which also raises land taxes making it really hard for poorer folks to afford to keep there homes. Plus, along with that comes new shopping centers, and attractions. While yes it does create more jobs and recreation. It robs us who moved here to a quiet country town of the peacefulness of country life. We would move but can not afford to do so.

[Debp]

We just got a rent increase (get one each year) and it was quite a shock.  This year they raised it 6%...next month we will pay an additional $46 a month, plus some other nominal city fee.  I know the Lord promises to supply our needs but it seems like in a few years we'll be paying $1,000 a month!

[Soldier4Christ]

My rent just went up by $72.00 per month. This is the first increase though in two years.

[Shammu]

I know my property taxes went up in 2006, from 86.15 a year, to 93.57. 

[Soldier4Christ]

Rub it in brother.   

[Shammu]

Rub it in brother.   

Okay brother I will, my home here paided for already.................

My other home was also paided for, by the blood of Jesus. Thank you Jesus