Where you live

[Deerie me]

As part of my education I want to learn more about other parts of the world. We always talk about home on the Misc. thread but some of the comments don't mean much to me as a Brit on the other side of the Pond from most of you.

I want you to tell me about where you live. Geographical location, climate, other DPers who live nearby, what your area is famous for, what's good, what's bad etc and where else you would choose to live (and why) if not there.

[kian]

I love this idea Tracy! I don't know much about New Mexico yet, still learning. Do you want to know more about Utah where I know more or about New Mexico?

I think you should start Tracy and tell us about your area.

[Deerie me]

I don't mind which Kian. Both if you like. Ok I'll start.

I live in a small rural village (200 residents) in Leicestershire between the market town of Melton Mowbray, famous for Stilton Cheese and Pork Pies and the city of Leicester traditionally known for Shoemaking and Hosiery. Leicestershire is in the East Midlands, about 100 miles from London and as far from a coast as you can get in this country. It does have a canal which is widely used and the river Soar. In the north where I am the countryside is slightly more rugged (slate quarries)although not very, than the rolling hills of the south of the county. The most famous Leicester people are David (naturalist)and Richard Attenborough (actor) and Graham Chapman (Monty Python). Leicester has sporting teams in football (Leicester City), Rugby (Leicester Tigers), cricket and basketball chiefly. Leicester is also famous for DNA fingerprinting which originated at the University of Leicester.

I love the area I live in but am ready for a change. Our village has a pub and a village hall. The only way to have anything to do is to organise it yourself hence I am on the village hall committee and the OH is chairman of the parish council (equivalent to Major in a bigger settlement). I am looking forward to living somewhere with a bit more life to it and a shop!Somewhere I don't have to get in the car to go everywhere. I don't like being so far away from the sea.

Climate wise Leicestershire and for that matter the rest of England is temperate. We have mild winters and mild summers and plenty of rain. We don't have very distinct seasons. Nothing exciting - no hurricanes, tornados, volcanoes. The occasional weak earthquake. We also don't have wildlife that can kill you. We have rabbits, hares, foxes, sqirrels, badgers and deer.

The closest DPers to me are Snoopygirl to the north and Paws For Thought to the south.

England has only one time zone and we are currently on British Summer Time until the weekend when we revert to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) which is USA Eastern time + 4 (I think).

[Sadie G]

Very interesting thread Tracy! I'll gather the info together so I don't forget anything and I'll be posting in here.

[Deerie me]

Very interesting thread Tracy! I'll gather the info together so I don't forget anything and I'll be posting in here.

I shall look forward to it Linda.

[Margie-Rex's Mom]

I love this idea!

Okay...I live in Northwestern Vermont, USA in the county of Franklin. The town I live in is exactly in the middle between Lake Champlain and Mount Mansfield, the highest peak in Vermont. My house overlooks the Lamoille River. We have about 2500 people in the entire town. My town isn't known for anything famous, but one of the US presidents was born in Franklin County - Chester A. Arthur (yes, one of the most obscure!). The county is the largest maker of Maple Syrup in the world. We definitely have 4 seasons, and our temps run from subzero Farenheit to 80s in the summer. This summer was rare with all the heat over 90 degrees. We can have the odd blizzard in winter and horrendous thunderstorms in summer. But tornadoes are most uncommon here. But as I stated in the chat thread, we had one go thru my town when I was 10. It was the scariest 10 minutes of my life.

As far as what Vermont is known for: Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, Vermont Teddy Bear Company, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Burton Snowboards, The Von Trapp Family (where they ended up after leaving Austria - Remember "The Sound of Music"?), William H. Macy(actor), and Phish. We are also the only New England state with no ocean coastline. The largest city in Vermont is Burlington - where I work, about 25 miles south of me. The Canadian border is about 20-25 minutes drive north. Montreal is less than 2 hours away.

I think the closest DPer is Kristen.

Hmmm...if I could live anywhere else? I fell in love with San Francisco when I visited there a few years ago. But...it is probably not hard for you to guess, I felt more at home in my travels thru England than I've ever felt anywhere. Perhaps someday...

[Oliver & Henry's Mum]

Even though I consider myself to be from London (Ontario), I actually grew up about 3 miles west of the city in the country. However, I am now a resident of London and have been for more than 10 years.

London has always been a big city in a small town package. The Labatt family (Beer royalty in Canada) started here in London as well as some of the largest Insurance Companies in Canada. At one time, there were more millionaires per capita in London, than any other city in Canada. London was also known, not only for its business community, but also for its University, especially in the field of Medicine.

The University of Western Ontario has one of the top Business School in North America, as well as being a pioneer in Transplant and Neurological breakthroughs. Sir Frederick Banting was from London and as we all know, along with Dr. Best, discovered Insulin and changes the lives of Diabetics world wide.

Industry has also been kind to London as we are located on the major corridor from Windsor (Detroit) all the way to Montreal. It is the most highly populated area in all of Canada.

We are located in the Great Lakes Basin which affords residents the ability to reach any one of 3 of the 5 Great Lakes within 2 hours (or less in most cases). We enjoy all four seasons and they vary considerably. Because of the lake effect snowfalls, we have had some terrific storms over the years. We also enjoy being quite close to the Niagara Escarpment, which is hilly, rocky and affords some decent skiing. Londoners enjoy being 2 hours from either Toronto, Detroit or Buffalo so travel to other places is relatively accessible.

We are known as the Forest City. London sits in a valley and trees are everywhere. We have some very beautiful old Victorian homes and for a relatively young country, London is one of its oldest cities.

In a nutshell, we are Beer, Insurance, Banks, Medicine, Education and Industry. London has long been used as a "test city" because of its broad demographic. The population of London is now approximately 350,000 people. It still retains a small town feel as everyone seems to know everyone else.

I think London is a pretty place. We have the river Thames running through it (apparently the founders were not original in their selection of names). I live in the most North West section of the city, so I can be in the country in 2 minutes, which I enjoy. I can also be downtown in 10 minutes, or to the shops in 5 minutes.

London also recently opened a venue called The John Labatt Centre and we now have top named acts coming to the city. We have a wonderful Theatre as well as a Symphony Orchestra, along with several Art Galleries. It's a terrific place to raise a family and not so exciting for the 20 something crowd.

The closest DP member to me is Michelle. One of our past members (Debra) lives around the corner from me almost. Other than that, I am close to RJM, Lynners, Ange (Orson & Emmett), and Kayt. I've probably forgotten someone, and I apologize.

[Sadie G]

I live in a small City south of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is a City, but is actually smaller like a town would be. The downtown area is about 3 blocks x 3 blocks and still has most of the original buildings. It has the small town feel. The population of the city I live in is approximately 36,000 and most of the area is rural farmland. The only thing our little city is famous for is our shopping mall which is the largest in the state.

Indiana is known for the Indianapolis 500, Indianapolis Colts (football), Indiana Pacers (basketball), and a large Pharmaceutical Company - Eli Lilly. There are many colleges, but the 2 major ones are Purdue University and Indiana University. There are Honda and Toyota plants in central Indiana now also.

Wildlife in the state is: Whitetail Deer, otter, fox, beaver, cougar (not many), wolves, eagles, hawks, rattlesnakes.

We are in tornado alley, and also have the occasional earthquake temor. There is an earthquake fault line that runs along the western part of the state. We have 4 distinct seasons, and usually snow and ice more in January & February.

There was a movie made here called "Hoosiers". My OH's brother and SIL were extra's in the movie. They were part of the crowd in the gymnasium. Be quick or you will miss them .

Our state flower is the Peony, the state bird is the Cardinal, and our state song is "On the Banks of the Wabash Far Away".

Residents of Indiana are know as "Hoosiers". This name is said to come from the pioneers who would call out when strangers came upon them saying "Who's There". They had a drawl to their speech and it sounded more like Hoosier, or whos shere.....

Many famous people came from Indiana: (sorry I did shorten the list and only went with the most well known!)
Anne Baxter (actress), Larry Bird (Basketball), Bill Blass (designer), Hoagy Carmichael (songwriter), James Dean (actor), Virgil Grisson (astronaut), Jimmy Hoffa, Michael Jackson, David Letterman (Late night TV here in the US), Carole Lombard (actress), Shelley Long (actress), Marjorie Main (actress - Ma Kettle! - she grew up not too far from us), John Cougar Mellancamp (singer), Cole Porter (songwriter), Ernie Pyle (Journalist), Dan Quayle (former Vice President), James Whitcomb Riley (poet), Red Skelton (comedian), Booth Tarkington (author), Twyla Tharp (dancer, choreographer), Forrest Tucker (actor), Kurt Vonnegut Jr (author), and Wilbur Wright (Wright brothers fame - inventor).

The DPer's closest to me. I'm surrounded by them except to the south. We need someone from Kentucky to join!
Brenda in Illinois to the west, RJM in Michigan to the north, and Richard from Ohio to the east. I can't forget Deb & Michelle not that far away in Canada.

Where else would I live. There is no place like home, but if I could afford to live there, it would be hands down San Diego. That is the most beautiful, perfect weather area that I have ever been. The earthquakes would scare me a bit though.

[ellarae]

really enjoying this thread - i look forward to more! It sounds like everyone so far is pretty happy with where they live aswell. I'll post mine when I get a chance to type it...

[kian]

I am enjoying reading this and learning more about the towns, cities and countries. I will do mine in the morning

[Oliver & Henry's Mum]

Margie and Linda, yours were great. Mine sounds like a Tourism Brochure. I was trying to be succinct.

Linda, there have been a lot of very successful, famous people from Indiana. I would have been disappointed if you had left out John Cougar Mellenkamp. I finally know why people from Indiana are called "Hoosiers".

Margie, I have always wanted to visit Vermont. A dear friend of mine, who lives about 45 minutes from Montreal (where I used to live) took a trip there with her husband, on Motorcycles, a couple of years ago. They just loved it. I hear it is just so beautiful there.

The most ironic thing I've read today is that Margie said she could see herself in dreams living in England, and I had a dream last night that Tracy and I lived next door to one another in England. I also wanted to live there in my dreams. I find that ironic.

I can't wait to read everyone else's vision of where they live.

[RubyJeansMom]

Michigan is the only state in the U.S. to consist entirely of two peninsulas. The Lower Peninsula, to which the name Michigan was originally applied, and the Upper Peninsula, often referred to as "The U.P." is separated from the Lower Peninsula by the Straits of Mackinac.

The southern parts of the Lower Peninsula have a warmer climate with hot summers and cold winters. The northern part of Lower Peninsula and the entire Upper Peninsula has a more severe climate, with warm, but shorter summers and longer very cold winters. Tornadoes are common in the extreme southern portion of the state. Farther north, in the Upper Peninsula, they are pretty rare. We also have four seasons, they are all beautiful in their own ways, but autumn is my favorite.

I live in the Lower Peninsula. The town I live in is located about 45 miles due north of Detroit. It’s a small community, which consists mainly of horse and dairy farms---and lots of corn fields. The neighbors are close enough, but not too close and always there if I need them. The only notable person from my town, and I don’t even know that I want to admit this, was the founder of Muzak. See, not much goes on here...LOL!
Other famous Michiganders are Tim Allen, Kristen Bell, Sonny Bono, Christie Brinkley, Curtis Armstrong (Booger from Revenge of the Nerds), Casey Kasem (America's Top 40), Charles Lindbergh, Jamie Hyneman (the mustache guy from Mythbusters), Madonna, Ed McMahon, Harry Morgan (Col. Potter from MASH), Iggy Pop, Gilda Radner, Steven Seagal, Bob Seger, Tom Selleck, Danny Thomas, Lily Tomlin, Uncle Kracker, Robert Wagner, Stevie Wonder

Michigan’s state flower – apple blossom, state bird – American Robin, state stone – Petoskey stone, state animal – Wolverine (although there haven’t been any spottings for almost 200 years), state nicknames are Wolverine State, Great Lakes State, Mitten State, Water-Winter Wonderland
Residents are also called Michiganders, or more recently Michiganians. But I prefer the former.

I'm also surrounded by DPer's...Alina, Brenda, Linda, and Richard and pretty close to Deb and Michelle in Canada.

I haven’t traveled much, but if I ever had to relocate, I would have to choose Oregon. I’ve been there three times and have absolutely loved it.

[Deerie me]

This is going great. I'm learning lots. Keep them coming.

[SookDog]

This is such a terrific idea, Tracy!

Well, I grew up on Long Island in New York. It's not known for much except the Hamptons and being the home of Billy Joel, but it's just east of Manhattan. Now I live in Hoboken, NJ, which is across the Hudson river from Manhattan. I've spent my entire life living just east and now just west of NYC

Hoboken is nicknamed "the mile square" because, well, it's only one square mile. We pack a lot in though, there are about 40,000 residents (as of the last census). The entire eastern border of the city is on the Hudson river, so we have beautiful views of the city skyline - one day I'll post some of my pictures that I've taken from the pier. Hoboken is known for a couple of things - Frank Sinatra grew up here (just a few houses away from me, in fact!) and it's the birthplace of baseball. Edgar Allan Poe also spent some time in Hoboken, and wrote "The Mystery of Marie Roget" after a visit to Sybil's Cave. We're also home to Stevens Institute of Technology, one of the oldest in the U.S. Hoboken is a fairly young city, though that's more of a recent development. Most of the people who live here are just out of college through mid-30s. There are tons of young families here with little kids, but because the public schools in the city aren't terrific, many people move out by the time their kids get to be around 11-12.

After WWI Hoboken experienced a huge flux in immigration, mostly Italian and Irish families. The Italian influence is still strongly felt in the area. During and after the second world war Hoboken experienced another flux, this time mostly economic. Factories were built and women went to work and when the men came home, they made Hoboken their permanent home. Through the 1950s many of the same industries were keeping the city going including Todd Shipyards, Maxwell House, Lipton Tea, and Hostess. Interestingly, a lot of the residential buildings in Hoboken have incorporated those businesses into their names (they were financial backers): The Shipyards, Maxwell Place, the Hudson Tea (where Eli Manning lives!). Because of our proximity to NYC and the water, Hoboken has always been a major shipping port, though as of late it's less shipping and more of a people-mover.

In the 1980s and 1990s the face of Hoboken changed again - it went from being blue collar to being much more gentrified. Condos started to spring up; as rents were driven higher in Manhattan, living in Hoboken became very desirable because it was less expensive and a 10 minute train ride away. In 2001 when the World Trade Center was hit many of the big financial houses moved their operations into Hoboken and Jersey City, because they were afraid that Manhattan would never be a work-able place again.

I'm afraid I've carried on a little more than I planned - but of interest to all of you is that in our little square mile city we have THREE dog parks! We're a very dog friendly city, they're allowed in almost every business except for places where they serve food. I think the closest DPers to me is Kristen in Mass., but I'm pretty sure she has family in New Jersey.

Can't wait to hear about where all of you live!!

[lucky&babesmom]

I'm not good at writing but here goes

I live in Illinois. It is bordered by Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri and Kentucky.Il. also borders Lake Michian.
The name illinois came from a native american word meaning tribe of superior men



I live in sothern Illinois ,somewhere in the red area.

We live in the country with few neighbors. Lots of corn field alll around.It's nice here, lots of room for my furbabies to run(in a fenced yard)

The capital of Il is Springfield.
Nicknames ; The pairie state or land of lincoln
State bird Cardinal
State animal whitetail deer(which we have lots of)


Flower violet
Tree whiteoak
State flag


Famous Illinosians
Walt Disney ,George E Hall( astronomer), Arbrham Lincoln (wasn't born here but practiced law here before he became pres.), Ronald Regan (former Pre) was born inj Tampio,il, them raised in Dixon,il Then Burl Ives (singer songwriter and also voice of frosty the snowman)

Sports teams Chicago Bears (football) Chicago Bulls(basketball)and chicago white socks (baseball).

We have sears tower in chicago which is the tallest building in north american continent.
Chicago also is home to the worlds largest cookie and cracker factory where nabisco made 16 billion oreo cookies in 1995.

We have a varity of weather tornados, snow storms hot wind days and all inbetween.

We raise cattle, hogs ,corn and much more.

And we seem to have terrible luck with governers, two of the last three has been had corruption charges brought agains them . One in jail one waiting to go.

I guess Linda is the closest Dper.