Day: October 17, 2016

New Jersey

Nancy

Have you lived in or visited New Jersey? Tell us about it!

ROCKAWAY, Morris County, New Jersey, USA (North America) — May 2019 –The name of the town i live in right now is Rockaway NJ i just bought my house here about an year ago the zip code is 07866 its a suburban it comes under Morris county it has a population of 6438. I personally like it a lot so far my experience living here has been very good because i find it to be very peaceful and beautiful you get to see a lot of deer’s and bears. There are very many restaurants,stores,malls close by so it a fun and the down town close to me is so beautiful both in winter and summer the local ice cream shop is so crowded during summer. Every thing is close to each other meaning it is very convenient to get grocery or go for a good meal or go out to the mall you will have to drive for maximum 15 minutes and you will get to you sport. I also find the people in the stores more friendly than what i have experienced before (more calm). Very less sound pollution its very quite . I really enjoy leaving here so far my experience has been great i do not have any negative thing to say about my town we have a mixed community.

New Hampshire

Nancy

Have you lived in or visited New Hampshire? Tell us about it!

GOFFSTOWN, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, USA (North America) —I love my city. It is set in the woods with wildlife all around, but is also close enough to surrounding cities and stores for convenience. I have lived here for about 5 years, and it has been the best move. One of the selling points to choosing to live in Goffstown was the neighborhood we are a part of. It’s a new neighborhood with mostly other young families. Now that I have 2 children of my own, I can now watch them grow up and become friends with the kids down the street from us. Also, this town is known for quality schools that are highly rated. Especially the high school is known to be a great school. In addition, there are other convenient amenities, such as the local YMCA which offers fantastic athletic programs, and children’s camps throughout the year. We have already participated in numerous programs at the Y and have been very pleased with the quality of programs and instructors for our kids. There are also farms nearby, so that my family and I can pick our own blueberries and apples. So much to do and see! The only thing that bothers me about living in Goffstown, or any other small town in New Hampshire, is the lack of diversity.

MILFORD, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, USA (North America) — May 2019 — Milford, NH, is a fairly small town in southern New Hampshire. The population is around 15,000 but feels smaller and bigger at the same time. The center of town, which is basically a traffic circle (affectionately called “the oval”) with small businesses and cafes surrounding the circle, was clearly built during a time when there was less through-traffic. As the nearby cities of Nashua and Manchester have grown, the increasing traffic on the oval has overwhelmed the small streets and it is now difficult to take a leisurely stroll and visit the cafes and stores, but people continue to support the local businesses in spite of the changes. This shows the tight-knit atmosphere of the community, which is part of why I am proud to call Milford home. I also feel connected to the town whenever I hear the town bell ring. The historical bell was cast by Paul Revere and rings every hour on the hour as well as on special occasions, such as the death of nearly every President of the United States. I have lived in Milford for several years but continue to discover more fascinating facts about the town and region. Just recently I learned that the neighboring town of Amherst used to be part of Milford but split off into its own town in the late 1700s. I look forward to learning even more in the future as a resident of Milford, NH.

Nevada

Nancy

Have you lived in or visited Nevada? Tell us about it!

HENDERSON, Clark County, Nevada, USA (North America) — July 2019 — I live in Henderson, NV. The zip code is 89002 and it’s referred to as “old Henderson”, that’s because other parts of Henderson have grown in size and popularity over the years. I’ve lived here for about ten years and now and it seems that every year, the traffic as well as the lights and wait times at those lights, increases. It takes about five minutes just to get out of the neighborhood because, almost immediately, you’re faced with three lights back to back, probably not even ten feet apart from each other. It’s sort of a pain to go anywhere because it’s light after light just to get to the first store from where I live. Several stores in the area have closed in recent years and there aren’t a lot of options nearby to run errands. I like that it’s far away from the big city (Las Vegas) but I don’t like that I have to venture out so far away to get anything done. The heat in the summer is pretty miserable and there aren’t a lot of options for leisure activities in this city in general, but especially in the summer, unless you enjoy the misery.

HENDERSON, Clark County, Nevada, USA (North America) — May 2019 — I live in Henderson, NV in zip code 89015. I have lived here for almost 13 years. Henderson is a large suburb that is right next to Las Vegas. We are about a 20 minute drive to the Strip. We are also about a 20 minute drive to Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam. I would say that the most unique thing about living here is the gambling. All of the bars and restaurant/bars have gaming, and even the gas stations and grocery stores. So you can pretty much gamble anywhere that you go. I thought this was strange when I first move here but I don’t even notice it anymore. Because of the Casinos that are everywhere, there are a lot of people that work in that industry. So a lot of people that live here do not work that Monday through Friday 9-5 job. It is very common for people to work nights, weekends and holidays. Another aspect of living here that is different from most places is our weather and the lack of green trees and grass. Everything is very brown, although the mountains are very pretty. Our summer weather is pretty unbearable, with highs around 105 to 115, and it only cools off to the upper 80s at night. Most people that live here are from somewhere else, and it is pretty common to not even know your neighbors. Most houses have giant walls between them. One thing that I really do not like about the state of Nevada is how bad our education is. We pretty much have the worst education in the county, which makes me sad and angry.

Nebraska

Nancy

Have you lived in or visited Nebraska? Tell us about it!

Ogallala, Keith County, Nebraska, USA, 69153 (North America) — April 2018 — Its a smaller town, but right on the interstate, with plenty of things to do and to eat at. Plus we have lake mac. Its the cowboy capitol of the world, and has lots of historical info. There has been many food places added, but not many stores added. Alot of small towns around here have closed down from lack of people shopping there. I think its due to online shopping and they not being able to compete with low prices. Nebraska is one of the states that I think most people forget about. It is a great place to raise a family, and to always know what is going on in your families lives, as well as what is going on in your community. I like to believe that most small towns in Nebraska are all the same. I think its an awesome state, and I could not imagine living anywhere else.

Montana

Nancy

Have you lived in or visited Montana? Tell us about it!

Shelby

Toole County, Montana, USA (North America) –June 2018 — Shelby is a very small town in North Central Montana, about 20 miles from the Canadian border, with a population of about 3000 people. It’s the kind of small town where everybody knows everybody, there isn’t a single stoplight, and you have to drive an hour and a half to get to the nearest Walmart. I was born there in the late 1980s so reflecting on my childhood in the 1990s, I have some great memories. Much of my time was spent outside, while we did have a television, we only had 3 channels, sometimes 4, if the wind blew just right our rabbit ears would pick up a Canadian channel. I was fortunate enough to live next to an elementary school with a big play ground, I spent much of my time there. Even in the winter when it was 20 below, we would walk two blocks over to the big sledding hill, spending hours in the cold, and coming home to some hot cocoa. As I got older, into the 2000s I became active in many school and community activities. It was important to participate in many things to keep boredom from setting in. It was a great place to grow up.

Missouri

Nancy

Have you lived in or visited Missouri? Tell us about it!

St. Louis, Missouri, USA — March 2018 — St. Louis is located in the state of Missouri and the country America. I have mixed feelings about this town as it is definitely one that warrants different reactions. I have fond memories of growing up here. Our sports teams are pretty consistently good. It is sad that we have lost our football team though. The police here are terrible. They treat black people completely awful. This was especially apparent when you looked at the wake of the ferguson shootings and how people here responded to the police presence. They showed up at a candle light vigil in full swat gear with dogs. Completely disrespectful and uncalled for. Definitely the one thing people think of when they hear St. Louis is the arch though. I think the arch is over rated and honestly, I barely even notice it anymore. It just stands there and we can barely even see it most times. The city is extremely wide spread and going from one end of it to the other can take hours, depending on the traffic. Potholes are everywhere. The city is kind of falling apart. It is like a dirtier version of kansas city. However, it is my home, and I love it and the people that live here.

 

St. Louis, Missouri, USA — January 2018 — I grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. I lived here from 1994 – 2013 This has been my foundation for furthering my education and goal of attaining a meaningful life. I especially liked the sports teams that were present in this town. We have the St. Louis Blues and the St. Louis Cardinals. These provided a way for my family and I to enjoy something together. The one thing I don’t like about the place I grew up was the high crime rate. Although the city is very near and dear to my heart, it still definitely has a high crime rate. As such, we had to be careful whenever we went somewhere by ourselves. I do not live there anymore, but I still go back to visit. It seems as though not much as changed, honestly. One story I can recall about St. Louis is when my sister and I did a 5k in downtown St. Louis close to Christmas. This was a great opportunity to bond with my sister and with the town. This is a memory I will cherish forever.

Mississippi

Nancy

Have you lived in or visited Mississippi? Tell us about it!

Iuka

Tishomingo County, Mississippi, USA (North America) – December 2018 — I live in a small town called Iuka, Mississippi. I have lived here all my life, and I cannot imagine living anywhere else. The people are usually friendly to each other, and when disaster strikes we all come together for each other. There are not too many places that the people can say that about their small town. My town has people that come to make their retirement home here. It does have it’s problems like drugs and killings, but by fat I think we are a lot more safer than a lot of other towns or cities. I would recommend anyone to come to Iuka, Mississippi. They will not be disappointed.

 

Jackson

Hinds County, Mississippi, USA (North America) — April 2018 — There are some nice things about Jackson, Mississippi 39211 where I lived for many years. You can enjoy great places to eat for a southern home style cooking and places for delicious desserts or treats. We have festivals whether its the arts, food festivals or do a movie and a theater My state is famous for good tasting farm raised catfish and music museums with our two new additional museums; the civil rights and mississippi history museums to enjoy as well.

We take it easy here in Mississippi and pretty much laid back enjoying life little pleasures everyday. We are a community of caring people who love helping one another and those in need through our shelters, community outreaches and community fundraising events or silent auctions. I do enjoy our red beans and rice festivals one of our favorite fundraisers for the shelters and great food as well. Come down and visit our art museum european style bakery with many mouth watering sweet treats to eat. Over the years came hardships for my state as well as my city economically but my city always survive even in bad times. As show of strength given up we as Jacksonians. One of the things I like about my city and people.

Gulfport

Harrison County, Mississippi, USA, 39501 – April 2018 — My city is fairly large (second largest in Mississippi) but feels like a small town. We have beautiful white sandy beaches and great fishing. I love that our weather is mild, it’s hot and humid in the summer time and the winters are not harsh. Gulfport is a welcoming city with many people that were not born here, I love the diversity. We have one of the two Naval Construction Battalion Centers in the United States, this base brings people of all different backgrounds to our area. I have lived here for about forty years. I have seen more people move from the beach area to places more inland. The city has grown through annexation over the years. The downtown area has new restaurants and live entertainment at night. The hurricane Katrina has created more rentals within the original Gulfport area and the price of insurance has created a migration to the north of the city. Mississippi is an unusual state the three coastal counties are more diverse than the rest of the state.

Louisiana

Nancy

Have you lived in or visited Louisiana? Tell us about it!

I currently live in the city Metairie. I like that Metairie is a very suburban part of Louisiana. The only thing that I do not like about Metairie is that there are not many close convenience stores and grocery stores around the this area that is within walking distance. It is quiet and not as active and noisy like other parts of the state like in the busy city section New Orleans that is located downtown. Metairie is a somewhat isolated part of Louisiana and has less crime. Many people from New Orleans are moving towards this part of town because the crime is getting bad downtown, and housing is affordable in Metairie. The state of Louisiana is very country-like. There is a lot of open land with swampy areas. This state is known for having a lot of alligators in the swamp and has a lot of pelicans. This state has very strict hurricane evacuation orders when a category 3 and above is close to hitting close this way. Many times residents in this state have to consistently watch the weather around storm season (June through end of October) and evacuate and leave town every year. It can be somewhat frustrating to stop your quality of life to travel temporarily to another state, or reestablishing yourself permanently in a new state with a new job and home because the conditions back home in Louisiana have been sabotaged from the storms. Many residents have to deal with this on a yearly basis and it is very expensive to go through this many times.

Indiana

Nancy

Have you lived in or visited Indiana? Tell us about it!

Anderson

Madison County, Indiana, USA (North America) – December 2018 — I live in Anderson. It is a city in Indiana located about 35  North of Indianapolis. I have lived in Anderson off and on since around 1989. The only time I left Anderson was when I was in the Army. I moved around the country for about 4 years, but other than that, I have lived in Anderson. When we first moved there from Indy, it was a thriving city due to the GM factories still being open. Several years ago, all the GM factories shut down and sent the worker overseas. This has seriously affected the city both economically and in appearances. The city has much higher crime, drug, an unemployment rates than ever before now. It is for the most part, dirty, run down and over ridden with drug addicts and there is a relatively high rate of crime compared to how things used to be. I do not like living here, even though we are employed and function in society well. Every time I go out into the city, I am approached by people asking for money and other things. It makes me uncomfortable to go out around town here now because of this. I have seen people attempt to rob others in parking lots and such. If it were up to me, we would have moved out of this area a very long time ago, but my husband is originally from here and does not want to move. There are employment opportunities here, but many of the residents rely heavily on government assistance and in my opinion, lack the drive and the skills to seek out these jobs. I really want to move.

Elkhart, Elkhart County, Indiana, USA – January 2018 — The town I am writing about would be Elkhart, Indiana. I was born close by, in Michigan, in 1983. I lived in Elkhart from when I was in 3rd grade until 11th grade, this would have been throughout the entirety of the 1990s. The area in general is what I would call working class, to poor class. I’m sure there are pockets of “money” just like there are rich folk everywhere, but the city, and whole North-Centr­al Indiana landscape, is dominated by working class folk, and the “culture” of the class of drug is unfavorable, it’s all about methamphetamine’s and crack-rock (cocaine). I started working for a pizza place when I was 16, and stayed there until I was 20, advancing to the level of shift manager as soon as I was of age to do it for the company.

After staying 4 years and maxing out at less than 9 dollars an hour, I moved into the factory/manufacturing setting there for work, which is vibrant in the area. I worked for a couple of different factories, and at both it was the same as far as drug use goes: every break a good third to half of the workers would be smoking meth or snorting something. Every lunch the same thing. It was nearly impossible to take a #2 at work, because the stalls were always “occupied”. Definitely widespread, and not restricted to the places I personally worked for. Theft, property crimes, invasions, assaults, muggings, all prevalent. After dark, (going back to being a child again) it was definitely an area that you did not wander too far from home.

Idaho

Nancy

Have you lived in or visited Idaho? Tell us about it!

Sandpoint

Bonner County, Idaho, USA (North America) — May 2019 — I have lived in Sandpoint, Idaho for the past five years. It is located in the Idaho panhandle sandwiched between Washington State and Montana. Living in this location has its advantages and disadvantages. It is located in a remote area of Idaho, but the climate is fairly mild compared to other places. I like the remoteness of the area, but because of the remoteness, it does not offer a lot of amenities like most places with a decent size population. Most employment in the area is near-minimum wage, but there is plenty of it if one needs something to do. Most people that live here usually work two jobs to get by or are in households where two different sources of income are needed to get by. As far as scenery, it is one of the most beautiful places in the country. One can take a scenic drive in the panhandle itself, or cross the border over to Montana to experience that scenery over there as well. The scenery attracts a lot of tourists to visit this area. Sandpoint offers the Schweitzer ski resort for winter skiing and snowboarding as well as lake Pend Oreille for fishing, boating, and swimming during the summer. Silverwood, another attraction, is a theme park located south of Sandpoint going toward Coeur d’Alene. While my family is located here, I am looking to relocate to Boise as I feel it is in proximity to what I want to do with my life. As I mentioned, there are limited opportunities up here. While I could go to Spokane nearby, I would prefer to go to Boise as it is home to a tech manufacturing company I am interested in working for in the near future.