On this day when some feel it is necessary to celebrate something people are supposed to do, I am thinking of going to grad school and finish this time. Finally all of my parental units have died and I have money to pay for grad school. That sounds more bitter than I intended it to sound.
I have lived where the teams are either too expensive (U of I for people not associated with the university is/was outrageously expensive) or there has been no team for too long. I want to do laps with others who want to do laps. I don't want to do laps where people don't complain about me swimming in there way as the piddle (my father's favorite word) down the lane doing something that looks like a *** stroke.
Here are the choices. I want to hear opinions -both good and bad.
Indianapolis (have friends)
Cleveland (as a kid a big Indians fan)
Phoenix (Did everyone see that they increased both their football & baseball budget? How does Ms. Love justify that?)
Northridge, CA (quaint)
San Francisco, Ca (looks like it might be more fun than it really is)
Portland, OR (Seattle-want-to-be)
Kansas City, MO ()
Denver, CO (Good friend lives there)
(The statements are from some one else not me)
The furthest west I've ever been is Iowa City, Topeka, San Antonio. I've lived in a small towns (Galesburg, IL the center of the universe and home of the Ferris Wheel), university/intellectual towns (Champaign/Urbana & Topeka, when Menninger was still there) and center cities with lots of suburbs. (DC, St. Louis, Houston). I've never lived in a suburb.
I think of the list only Northridge, CA is a suburb. I think Kansas City, MO is considered central city. To do this I am also thinking of buying a car. I'm 50 & never had one. I've been to Indy, Cleveland (it really has become a beautiful city), and Kansas City, MO (not the center of the universe as LDSers think).
Any response will be most welcomed.
Thanks a bill,
Craig
Former Member
Any place that does not have hurricanes, tornados, floods or earthquakes. Near a body of water preferably the ocean. Where there are no mosquitos. Where the prevailing winds are westerly. It never gets too hot or too cold. Where university are not costly.
My grand daughter has selected Prince George BC, it does get cold in the winter but for value the school there is almost free. It is not on the ocean but the Fraser River runs close by.
Any place that does not have hurricanes, tornados, floods or earthquakes. Near a body of water preferably the ocean. Where there are no mosquitos. Where the prevailing winds are westerly. It never gets too hot or too cold. Where university are not costly.
That settles it. Sounds like he's moving in with you, George. :bolt:
Personally, I'd go for Portland, OR. You have the ocean about an hour away, the mountains all around, great swimming sites, great LMSC, good colleges, no sale tax, good climate, good people. Should I continue?:rofl:
Craig -
Since you've never owned a car, you should cull your list down by looking into the public/mass transit options and availability (location and times) in the areas where you are interested. Also, moving away from city-centers to the burbs almost always removes the option of simply walking, and adds to your transit times, unless the burb is an older, established town in it's own right that was swallowed up by the megalopolis it is near.
Also, I would be interested in how many minutes/hours/days a week you find the car eats up if you make that transition wherever you may be bound.
As to San Francisco, here are some quick pros and cons that I can think of off the top of my head:
Pros: San Francisco is a great city and Pacific Masters is the largest LMSC in the country, meaning there are many good teams to swim with around here (though not a ton of options *in* San Francisco--USF Masters seems to be the biggest) and pretty strong competition. There are great suburbs in and around San Francisco (like Marin, for example) which I would highly recommend if you don't like living in a city (I don't either). The city and its surrounding environs are beautiful. The city is metropolitan with diverse arts and a robust night life. The weather is very moderate all year round (never too cold in the winter, but never that warm in the summer). It doesn't rain almost at all from May through November (and not any more than any place else in the winter--it's not Seattle or Portland, which get dumped on during the winter). Most of the pools are outdoors (and heated) year-round, which is a great thing that only took a very short time for me to get used to. It's a very outdoors (and healthy) lifestyle around here. Open water swimming and triathlons are a very big deal. And some great skiing is only about 3.5 hours away at Lake Tahoe.
Cons: It is still super-expensive to live here. Rents have been going up and housing prices (in San Francisco and the closer suburbs, at least) have not been coming down much, if at all. Overall, the cost of living is high too. We may have some of the highest gas prices in the lower 48. If you like the ocean, San Francisco might not be for you. The water here is COLD. Like in the 50s cold. Even in the summer time. The beach itself is also usually very cold--like in the 60s and windy (and foggy). Not pleasant for sun bathing or swimming. Never mind the rip tide currents... (I understand the surfing is good, though, so long as you wear a wetsuit.) In fact, 60 degree days are not unusual all summer long, and that takes some getting used to. Earthquakes are somewhat of an issue, but no more so than hurricanes, tornadoes and flooding are elsewhere in the country.
I really don't see why Austin TX is not on your list.
Several long lasting Masters teams of course.
Great quality of life for people of all ages. Everything from rural country space to urban high rise condos.
Cost of living low on a national scale. Warm of course most of the year. Fantastic music scene, artistic, and tech-geek at the same time. You can ignore the Longhorn t-shirt fans and overdone burnt orange all around town.
Nice airport... or drive 2-3 hours to San Antonio, DFW, and Houston.
It's not where you live, it's how you live.
Denver is good--grew up there. Only place I've lived where you could golf and ski in the same day.
Phoenix is good--Truly God's country (I saw Him today as I was finishing my bike ride in 112 temp this afternoon). Year around outside training is nice (bad for skin cancer). We are all kind of rude and impersonal here. I don't miss chipping ice off of my cars from Michigan winters.
California typifies the problems with all places--too many people. Nice place to visit--too expensive and crowded to stay--makes my adrenal glands swell.:)
Went to school at CSU Northridge...ewww. Cross that off your list as quick as you can. Any area in L.A. can never be definied as "quaint", no matter how thick the gates are.
Why are you even considering any of these places? For quality of education and quality of life, there is only one place: Penn State.
www.psu.edu
Roar, Lions, Roar!
-LBJ
