I’m a native Californian and proud of it! I’ve lived in Northern CA since 1951. (when I was a new bride) We have great weather…..all nationalities of people (which I love). Silicon Valley…….lot’s of very smart people live here. I read last week that San Jose was considered the richest City in the Country. I’m not one of the richest but a very happy Citizen. We have great parks……fabulous Resturants and any kind of entertainment you want. I never dreamed when I was a little girl that I would some day live in a beautiful home with a swimming pool and spa…..I also love my trees, I have 10 redwoods and a total of 23 trees in my yard. We are close to the Mountains and closer to the Ocean. This (in my opinion) is the BEST place in the World to live. One major draw back……..It’s very expensive, housing is out of the world. I’m grateful I bought my house years ago, I couldn’t afford to buy it now.

I was a gypsy but the last 32 years have lived in the same house in a small town in N C. For all these years the state never felt like home. But the kids were here and still are. The thought of moving all our junk gives me hives. I want to go out of this old house feet first. Husband one day said “Lets move to Spain for 5 years” and so we did. It was irrational , turned out to be the best relaxed years of our lives. I became a US citizen in 1967 , my choice to live in this country , my heart belongs here but my soul belongs in the old town of Ghent in Belgium. I go there whenever I am able and soak up smell of the city and imagine all my ancestors are walking with me.

I live ,and have lived, most of my life in my little city on lake Erie, near the Welland Canal. In fact my apt is about two blocks from where my maternal grandparents lived and where my parents had an apt across the street. It’s relatively safe here, is any place totally safe anymore? I love seeing the Canada goose fly in and out during the spring and fall. I like the relative friendliness of a small city, everyone used to know your business but now it’s changed and people cocoon as much here as they do anywhere. When I went to university to get my B.ED I lived in London , Ontario a very lovely university town and I could probably live there again. When I lived in rural Alberta I missed the maple trees we have in town, the trees there looked like scrub. I missed the “ahoogah” of the fog horn, plus I really missed my family and friends.Small village Alberta wasn’t known for its western hospitality. I’ve been to the suburbs of Cape Town South Africa where my friend lives and I actually very much like South Africa, at least the winter’s are better than Canada’s but I find I miss my small city alot when I’m away. I think deep down inside everyone feels that way about where they call “home”.

Grew up on a ranch in central California…married and lived in the Sierra Nevadas for five years, then husband was transferred to Texas, then to Utah, then Southern California. Hated shopping for my Christmas tree while wearing shorts and sandals…bought a little house in the San Bernardino mountains and loved living there until husband was transferred to Virginia. I fell in love with Virginia! Divorced husband, bought my dream house on eight acres on top of a mountain. Lived there until the upkeep and remoteness got to me. Sold it and bought a smaller home in town…in 05 I met the love of my life. Rented out my house and moved to his in Northern Virginia, where his two wonderful little boys go to a great school. We will stay here until the last one goes to college, then we’ll move to the other place that holds my heart, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. I’ve lived a lot of places, but Virginia will always feel like home to me.

I find it interesting that most of you talk about yourself personally. I live in the midwest, only about 15 miles away from the house I grew up in. My husband is also from near here. We have lived in the same house for 28 years. But we live here not because of the house or the amenities of the neighborhood but because we have two children and I think it is important for them to live near family. So they grew up seeing grandparents on both sides every single week. Their cousins live close by as well. Holidays are spent all together. We own a little lake front cottage very near our house and the entire extended family comes out on weekends when it’s nice. I love the serenity of my house and its surroundings but I’m not wedded to it. I am wedded to the ability to see my sister frequently. To be able to stop by and check up on my mother-in-law whenever I need to. To have lunch with the kids and my dad/their grandpa every single Saturday. My dad still lives in the house I grew up in, my in laws in the house my husband grew up in. We tell our kids stories about things we did when we were growing up and they can go over and see the places we talk about. We’re near enough to large cities and universities that we can go to museums, theatre, concerts, etc. but there is nothing like the permanence of a happy family near by.

I love South Texas (Corpus Christi) ……. now! In 1970, we left Northern Virginia (Great Falls) for Texas after my parents’ divorce. I absolutely hated being in Texas and couldn’t wait for my mom to get the “traveling bug” in hopes of finding our way back to Virginia. We traveled a great deal. After being transplanted seven times in seven years; my love of Texas finally stuck! At the age of 18, I took a bus back to Texas! I got married, had a son and have lived in the same house for the past 20+++ years. As kids, both my husband and I moved around a lot and did not want that for our son. Our son has now had the experiences that his dad & I never had…. life-long friendships! By the way … my mom returned to Virginia!

I live in a small farming community in western New York State…we are about 3 miles from beautiful Lake Ontario. There are many apple orchards, dairy farms, and produce farms in the area. I am the 4th generation to live in this township, so the family tree has roots that run deep in this area…every member of my immediate family is 8 miles or less away. I am a country “mouse”. I love the quiet, the open spaces, and the sights and sounds of country living. There are no lights outside when the sun sets. The peepers in the nearby creek sing on warm, spring evenings. Fireflies perform a light show most of the summer in the nearby horse pasture. Winters are cold, windy - Currier & Ives on a Christmas card. Autumns are pumpkin-orange and apple-red. My home is a quaint little cottage about one-tenth of a mile from the road. I have lived here for 8 years. I can’t imagine living in the city (the nearest would be Rochester). I am home.

I have lived in Midtown East since 1977 when I fled the suburbs after getting divorced. I am very attached the the neighborhood and have no intention of moving, but I recently realized that I could live on the West Side where I swim or in Harlem where I do my own volunteer work. The key to it all is access to Central Park. There is nothing like it.

I live in southeast florida…….. too crowded, too expensive and too overbuilt… am here because I raised my kids here (grown now) and it was the subtropical climate from philadelphia that wooed me in the late 70’s… now its lost the appeal yet a bad (did I say very bad) housing market has me firmly planted til it turns around. Here’s my dream…….. at 62, I have raised the kids, fulfilled all obligations and want the next move to be all about me. Nature, not too crowded, not too expensive and a sweet little bungalow. Its my dream and I will fulfill it. I know it because I am focused on the plan. Interestingly enough, my favorite dwelling to date was a little cottage on the New River in Fort Lauderdale. Sweet and simple… no mc mansions here. A pretty little environment for garden, family, friends …. and a nice glass of wine. Yup….. there’s another move in me! And small so I have money to hop on a plane and visit every country I’ve never been to. Dreams are good!

Grew up in suburban Chicago ‘till 12. Catholic School, summer daycamp at the nearby park, vacations in Eagle River Wisconsin. Then Dad took a job with a new computer company out in San Jose, CA, 1972. We lived in nearby Saratoga: Swimming pools, outdoor Shakespeare classes, my own horse to ride in the hills, perfect weather - the good life. I spent 16 months in the jungles and cities of Guatemala - forever altering my beliefs about humanity. Then Rappahannock, VA farms, estates, more HORSES! Then my husband went from high tech at Apple Computer in Cupertino, CA to ultra-low tech running a nature and survival school in South Jersey in the Pine Barrens - 1.1 million acres, which acts as a filter for the 17 trillion gallon Kirkwood aquifer underneath. We live on the edge of the official boundary but within the forest itself, and it is very tranquil, with white collar, blue collar and entrepreneurial neighbors in a 50 house tract. The kids ride their bikes at will, have dozens of friends so they can hop from house to house - all reminiscent of my own youth. Our teenage girls work down the road at the local deli founded in 1887. We love the people, and the neighborhood, but the taxes are the highest in the nation, and the schools can be run like totalitarian institutions, colder, harsher - and ruder than the schools in California. Many people are leaving due to draconian taxes; senior citizens regularly are forced to sell their homes when the properties are reassessed. (My first time voting in CA a at 18, I voted for Prop 13 which froze property taxes until the properties were sold. My grandmother was able to stay in her condo for 30 years even though the value went from $32K to $600K because her taxes did not go up.) In a recent survey 50% of NJ residents say they want to leave, mostly due to unaffordable taxes - and Gov. Corzine says the worse is yet to come - taxes will have to go higher to pay for state employee retirement pensions. We are planning to leave within the next year or so.

I live in New York City. I have always felt at home here and currently can’t imagine living anywhere else. In the mid 1700’s John Adams wrote on New Yorkers, "They talk very loud, very fast, and altogether. If they ask you a question, before you can utter three words of your answer, they will break out upon you again — and talk away." I believe this still holds true today and is one of the many reasons I call this city home. However, my roots are in Danbury Connecticut (D-Block). I grew up there. High school at DHS - this is where I learned to be independent, unique, smart, brave, and powerful. The friends I made there are the ones I will have forever. Although New York City is my home, Danbury is my heart.