H&F Related: Do you like where you live?

[sadlebred]

I'm with tuggyruns. Most of the ATL is great. I can drive 30 minutes outside of the city and be on roads with no cars to ride my bike on or be at some great mountain bike trails in 30-90 minutes.

[lb2006]

clseale - eye of the beholder, right?  To me, it feels close enough....for others, not so much!

[ktzmoh]

YES! I adore the weather where we live - it's relatively mild all year round. We get grumpy when it gets into the 50s or the high 80s - with some occasional exceptions, the weather fluctuates between those 'extremes' all year round. Within 3 hours we can be in Tahoe, Monterey or the redwoods (and a little more time in the car gets us to Yosemite).



We bought a house that is a short walking distance to a giant regional park with a lake and miles and miles of trails for running and cycling. I love that I can go out for a long run and get passed by people on 50 mile ultra races.



The weather and quality of life were absolutely a factor in where we decided to settle and the park was a huge factor in our choice of where to buy a house

[katyintx]

Jun 3, 2014 12:26:38 GMT -5 emuni04 said:

Do you like where you live? Do the quantity and quality of trails, parks, and other fitness options factor into your like/dislike?

No, but I know I'm saying that because I've been spoiled.  We just moved from a suburb of Denver to a suburb of Houston 1.5 years ago.  In Denver we had bike and running trails that went on for MILES, hiking trails, access to a lap pool for free, a track right across the street, I felt safe biking along the road, and the mountains weren't far at all.  The weather didn't bother me too much either.    

Now in our neighborhood we do have running trails,  but because of where my neighborhood is those are our only trails unless we want to risk it on a busy road with a small-to-nonexistent shoulder for a mile or so.  Same with biking - we have to risk it on the small shoulders for a couple of miles until we get to a more bike-friendly area.  And if I want to do hill work or a long (12+ Miles) run, I might as well just drive the 15 minutes to get to a park, unless I want to run 47 laps around the neighborhood lakes.  

Our lap pool has finally opened though, which is perfect timing because I am about sick to death of running the same trails day after day!  

[clseale]

Jun 3, 2014 14:34:33 GMT -5 lb2006 said:

clseale - eye of the beholder, right?  To me, it feels close enough....for others, not so much!

Exactly, but mostly, I'm just difficult right now.  

[chw57]

Yes, it's just really damn expensive.
We are a mile from a HUGE network of trails on a mountain, less than an hour from the Marin headlands which have amazing trails, one block from a regional bike path with 25+ miles. Plus the weather is pretty much perfect all the time (and if it isn't, San Francisco with it's always-60ish temps is like 30 minutes away)

[G22]

I do love it here for the most part (Montana). Spring/summer are absolutely gorgeous and there are so many trails within 30 minutes or less to go hike or run on. The views are pretty awesome too. Its a great place for any outdoor fitness stuff. That said, winter sucks! It drags on, I have to brave single digit weather for a run or be stuck on the treadmill for months. Snowboarding is about the only fun fitness thing I do in the winter.

I enjoy it here, but the nice thing about my H's job is we move every few years. So next year is a moving year and there will be things I miss about here and things I won't mind leaving behind.

[emilyinchile]

Jun 3, 2014 13:34:17 GMT -5 clseale said:

Sometimes I also just think that I'm burnt out & restless. It's possible that I'm hard to please right now. I'm reading the responses that are saying "It's great! Close to the beach & mountains" and I laugh...because close to me means within an hour or so...which basically puts me in CA. No other place is actually truly close to both. That also puts us in very HCOL and as far as we could get from all family...so here we sit.

Santiago, Chile! Seriously though, reading these responses reminded me that a big H&F plus is our weather. I bitch about winter here because we, like many, don't have central heating, but it's rarely below freezing and doesn't rain that much. Summer we'll get 80s for the most part, but it's a dry heat. I'm from CA, so this is just normal to me. I've been totally spoiled and may never be able to live anywhere except Chile or CA because anywhere else would probably be worse.

[dragonfly08]

I'm in the DC suburbs.  A major area trail maintained by the park authority runs right behind my house. It was a huge selling point for DH when we first saw it, and he makes use of it all the time.

We have a large county parks and rec system so plenty of opportunity for weights, swimming, classes, trail walking, boating, golf, etc.

As far as private options go there are lots of gyms - both big names and smaller local places - and several very active running clubs.

[mrs.jacinthe]

Yes! I live in NorCal - I'm less than two hours from the ocean and an hour from the mountains. Our area is great for outdoor activities and we have literally hundreds of miles of trails within walking distance. Within a 1.5 mile hike from my house, I can swim in a pool, swim in the river, hike a canyon, go for a *really* amazing road or mountain bike ride, go kayaking or whitewater rafting, or just take an easy walk with the dog in my neighborhood.

We also have a very active endurance community, so there are lots of volunteer opportunities, as well.

[kams]

Mostly and yes. I wouldn't have chosen to live here initially, but I have grown to love it in large part for H&F reasons.

I think it was outdoor mag that named us in the top 10 cities for mtn biking and trail running. Great cycling, great multiuse path system for running. 360 days of sunshine, mild temps. High altitude, low humidity. We have one of the most famous trail races, La Luz. Stunning views. The only downside is that we are 45 minutes from the closest open water.

[enfuego23]

I'm in Columbus, OH and I love it here for the most part. We bought a house close to campus but we did because we love to walk to restaurants and shopping. Tons of trails, metro parks, and bike paths in the city. This winter was awful but the past 3 winters have been mild enough that I didn't have to use a treadmill. Races are plentiful and it's only a short drive if we want to head off to the country side.

[woowoo]

Yes and yes from April - Late October.
No and No from November through March.

I'm also in the city of Chicago, and about 2.5 miles from the Lakefront trail and right off the major highway for quick easy access to the suburban trails/routes. I love that we walk everywhere (even in the winter), we have great gyms all over, and I love how active people are here. I never realized what a large endurance sports community there was here until I got into Triathlons. Now I've met a ton of new people that exercise to drink beer...just like me. =)

But the winters are the suck. I hate Chicago all winter long, people get grumpy, everyone hibernates, there are piles of dog shit hidden in the snow everywhere and I want nothing more to move somewhere where I never have to see snow ever again.

Then April comes around, and we have a 70 degree day and I'm all "I loooooove this city" all over again. It's a vicious, vicious cycle.

[Deleted]

I wish we lived near real mountains. That is my retirement dream.

Getting even pickier, wish the community we live in today was more bike-able. I can bike safely to a few places but its not like we have tons of bike trails.

Other than that, we love the parks, trails, and access to fabulous national parks within a reasonable drive. We have several kayak put-ins by us, which are super fun, too. Being near the water is lovely.

[reginaphalange72]

Yes!!! I love love LOVE Boulder! There are SO MANY amazing reasons to love this place. The only down side is the HCOL, but even then, I don't care. It's totally worth it.

Amazing views, hundreds of miles of bike and running paths just within the town alone, reservoirs and lap swimming pools galore (indoor and out), climbing, hiking, great (healthy, and NOT healthy) foods everywhere, pro athletes living here and socializing with our tri and running clubs, not to mention the badass Boulder Tri Club, Boulder Aquatic Masters swim group, and running groups galore. Also, SUPER mild winters!

ETA: There's also an overabundance of races to choose from every single weekend.

Uhh... wait... forget I said that. It's terrible here. We don't want the word to get out.

[Deleted]

Now that I'm more connected with the fitness community, I'd give it a solid yes even with the heat and the bad air.

I've lived places I'd rank much, much higher, though (MKE and Boise.)

[zoidberg]

Honestly? No. Not at all.

I loved where I used to live, and the availability of trails and opportunity to do outdoor activities did factor into that.

[labbie]

Yes, for the trails and gym / community center availability. One of my criteria for moving to the burbs was to have trails and there's a 40 mile system that goes right through my neighborhood. There is a beautiful community center with gym pool and indoor track that I'm planning to bike the few miles to for swimming when my sprint tri training starts.
I wish the weather was better ( western nys) but I do love the winter and an planning to try snowshoe running next year. Our LRS is great and is how I got into running and met my long run partner.

Sent from my XT1080 using proboards

[gncorman]

My initial thought was not really but after reading the posts, I would say yes. I live about 20 minutes away from a large university. They have some bike and walking trails throughout the town. You can also run campus easily. We are a 15 minute drive to the mountains for hiking and mountain biking. I just get frustrated always having to drive to run, hike or bike. I have to "trespass" into our fairgrounds when the gates are open to run any sort of distance and that still means looping the grounds (anything over 2 miles). We can ride our bikes on the back roads but not ideal some weekends. Sometimes I wish I lived in a community that had a trail out my backdoor. But it is affordable, close to our families, and the same commute for each of us. So just being picky!

[bullygirl979]

Yes and no. I wish I was in a bigger city but at least there is a fair amount of variety where I live. We have plenty of lakes and are close to the Adirondacks. The winter sucks, though. There are plenty of hiking places and running is really popular here. We fall short in terms of being bike friendly, though (unless you are mountain biking).

[sunshinejoy]

Like the other MN girls have said...the winters get long but then you have days like today...sunny, beautiful 75 degrees and you know it's what you put up with the winters for. I saw so many people out when I was walking today...biking, rollerblading, running, etc....it is a really active area to live in!

[chw57]

Jun 3, 2014 17:08:29 GMT -5 reginaphalange72 said:

Yes!!! I love love LOVE Boulder! There are SO MANY amazing reasons to love this place. The only down side is the HCOL, but even then, I don't care. It's totally worth it.

Amazing views, hundreds of miles of bike and running paths just within the town alone, reservoirs and lap swimming pools galore (indoor and out), climbing, hiking, great (healthy, and NOT healthy) foods everywhere, pro athletes living here and socializing with our tri and running clubs, not to mention the badass Boulder Tri Club, Boulder Aquatic Masters swim group, and running groups galore. Also, SUPER mild winters!

ETA: There's also an overabundance of races to choose from every single weekend.

Uhh... wait... forget I said that. It's terrible here. We don't want the word to get out.

I think the only places I would leave the Bay Area for are boulder and bend.

[reginaphalange72]

Jun 3, 2014 21:05:49 GMT -5 chw57 said:

Jun 3, 2014 17:08:29 GMT -5 reginaphalange72 said:

Yes!!! I love love LOVE Boulder! There are SO MANY amazing reasons to love this place. The only down side is the HCOL, but even then, I don't care. It's totally worth it.

Amazing views, hundreds of miles of bike and running paths just within the town alone, reservoirs and lap swimming pools galore (indoor and out), climbing, hiking, great (healthy, and NOT healthy) foods everywhere, pro athletes living here and socializing with our tri and running clubs, not to mention the badass Boulder Tri Club, Boulder Aquatic Masters swim group, and running groups galore. Also, SUPER mild winters!

ETA: There's also an overabundance of races to choose from every single weekend.

Uhh... wait... forget I said that. It's terrible here. We don't want the word to get out.

I think the only places I would leave the Bay Area for are boulder and bend.

DO IT.  :-)

[runaways]

Mostly, and sort of? I'm still feeling really restless and not completely content that I'm staying here for another 4 years, so that's definitely coloring my perspective. In a lot of ways this is a great city to live in though (especially food!), but I can't wait for a change. I do have access to one nice path literally right across the street from me, and there are others that I can run to. That said, I get kind of tired of running the same route all the time. I'll probably start doing some runs out on the sidewalks around town just to keep some variety.

[shauni27]

100% yes. I love rural vermont. There are tons of outdoor and active enthusiasts, lots to do without it being crowded (I hate city life, sorry y'all). Mountains for skiing, boarding, biking and hiking. Trails. Fun runs and bike events. Warrior dashes. We have four very distinct seasons and all of them are great to experience outdoors '

Plus, VERMONT. We have maple syrup, most brewers per capita, burton snowboards, the most olympians per capita, ben and jerry's and a beautiful landscape

[emuni04]

Jun 3, 2014 14:00:01 GMT -5 breezy8407 said:

Jun 3, 2014 13:30:53 GMT -5 emuni04 said:

I love MPLS. I would live there in a heartbeat.

Join us!

I wish! I took H there for the first time last summer for my BFF's wedding (I've been a bunch of times). He quickly became obsessed. Unfortunately, his job will never land him there, but we hope to move closer so we can at least visit more

[InBetweenDays]

The active lifestyle and outdoor opportunities are probably the main reason I love living in Seattle. Lots of beautiful areas to run within the city, less than an hour from the mountains with amazing hiking/backpacking trails, skiing, camping, etc. We are also steps from the salt water of Puget Sound (true open ocean is a few hours away). We could ski in the morning and go running, biking, or paddle boarding in Puget Sound in the afternoon.

[dmxm]

It's not as glamorous as a lot of the places where you guys live, but N. NJ is A-OK with me. 1/2 hour from NYC, an hour from the ocean, an hour from the mountains (albeit, smallish mountains), and lakes not too far away. My town is actually awesome when it comes to H&F. I think if there's any sport you want to pursue, you can find it here. A great tri club and plenty of folks to run and bike with. We've got a great 50m town pool as well. I fear that if I spent a lot of time in San Fran or Boulder I'd be kissing NJ goodbye, but it is a good place to be.