Are you happy where you live?

I live in Columbus, OH. It's fine. Certainly better than any other part of Ohio and one on the best cities in this part of the country. It's growing and has a great economy. Still relatively cheap for its size. West Virginia isn't that far away for when I want to get out into nature. I can't stand heat so moving further south isn't an option for me. It's a good fit.

What?! I’d say that where you live is going to be one of the strongest determinants of happiness. Your external surroundings and community are huge, before you even start to consider the tangential things like economic opportunities, weather, housing, schools, etc.

Saying that “where you live shouldn’t impact happiness” is some total BS.

You don't want to be another one of those miserable sheep who lives in the same place and hate it or thinks they're "stuck" living in a place they hate because they won't quit their job, move away from friends or family. The world is a big place with copious options that offer unique experiences. If you don't like where you live, do something about it or continue to be miserable. Those are your options.

bIf you look literally at the thread title, it's asking if you are happy IN the place you live, not are you happy WITH the place you live. That opens the possibility of being happy with your life despite not being keen on where your life is unfolding. Imagine you have a job that allows you and your family to live securely and comfortably, your wife and kids are doing well at work and school, have friends that you like and think are good influences on your kids, etc..I think in this scenario you'd be more likely to be happy in the place you aren't keen on than you'd be in a location you loved but were in worse financial circumstances with your wife and kids clearly unhappy with their friends, schools, etc.

This may be a much too semantic take on this question but as a writer and one time English teacher I can't always help myself. Literally, a thread title of "Are you happy where you live" is asking a different question than "Are you happy with the place where you live?"

I live in a nice, first ring suburb of Minneapolis, its kind of hybrid between city and suburban. There have been no places that I have traveled to that I would really want to move to. There are travel destinations that do contribute to my happiness in the moment, but for long-term happiness and living, I think I have it really good.

Minnesota consistently rates highly in health, education, and happiness type of metrics. And winters, they just are not what they used to be and I'm only 42.

Yes, I am happy where I live and feel that where I live does contribute to my happiness.

Have lived on both coasts, briefly in the South, overseas and now live in the Rust Belt. I love the change of seasons and ease of living where I am. Quite a few cities in the industrial midwest still enjoy legacy cultural institutions (museums, symphonies, architecture) but have suffered notable decline for 60 years, especially in the city cores.

Still, for a mix of things to do and see, ease of movement, diversity, cost of living, running trails, high-quality park systems, vestiges of big old money, all of the things that make quality of life for me, I've found nowhere I'd rather be than here.

Mrs. DanM and I are happy here 11 miles west of Boston Common. However, I have grievances about living in Massachusetts. I would like to move to the White Mountains of New Hampshire (Conway/Jackson/Bartlett), but Mrs. DanM won't go.

People change their minds also. Grass is greener. Ive lived in all areas of the country except NE. Currently have access to mountains, trails, desert, ocean but the politics and leadership is absolutely horrible. Hard to give up on the environmental/geographical advantages to dwell in a flyover state.

Live in NYC, make enough money to pay rent, groceries, commute, and put away a little extra to maybe perhaps one day own a home. It's awful.

I live in Rochester, Minnesota. It isn't bad, but it's pretty forgettable and pretty cold in the winter. It's also very windy which I don't like.

perhaps best to rip a page from Tolstoy and just say that happy people are all alike, unhappy people are unhappy in their own way - and location can certainly play a part!

I don't particularly like where I live. It's so crowded and congested - but no culture. It's where all my friends are. Every time I think about moving away, I can't imagine leaving so many people.

One of the great motivations to bust your arse at work early in your career is to be able to live wherever you want.

Columbus native here. I grew up in and lived in Bexley a lot of my life. It's a nice area but NE Ohio has a lot more opportunities if you're an outdoors person. No area of the state has as many good places to hike and run. The trails in SE Ohio, around Hocking Hills, are more dramatic but there aren't as many of them. The trails in NE Ohio, in the Cuyahoga Valley and all of that, are also better suited for running.

I'm around the Chagrin Falls area now - an outer ring suburb of Cleveland. For every nice area of Columbus, like Bexley, Upper Arlington, etc, the Cleveland metro area probably has 10 more. If you think that Columbus is the best area of Ohio, you really need to get out more. And being a Columbus native, I am certainly not biased. My parents still live in Bexley and I have a kid at Ohio State. It was a great place to grow up and I really do like it but it is hardly "certainly better" than any other part of Ohio.

In terms of the 3 largest metro areas, Cleveland would probably be the best, Columbus not far behind, and Cincinnati a distant 3rd. I've spent some time in Cincinnati for work and it iss really dirty and there is not a lot to do. It is just sort of "blah."

I am very happy where I live, and having lived in several different places, I appreciate my current home for what it is, I live in a major city and one that is diverse and accepting.

This is important to me in particular because I grew up in a small town and being a minority, I was always an outsider. And to be clear, I was made to feel like an outsider, and suffered discrimination and harassing.

It did teach me to be tough and independent in a very big way. But frankly, I had a big portion of my childhood and teen years stolen from me and I can never get that back.

I don't dwell on it, I moved on. And I truly appreciate that I found places and people that live their lives and allow others to do the same.

I think Philly has everything I need to be happy, been here 10 years. Not that expensive, decent amount of good jobs, good food, weather is nicely varied and not usually to extreme. NYC, DC, pretty nice mountains, passable skiing and mediocre beaches all within 3 hours. Lots of great places to run depending on where you are (Fairmount and wissahickon/manayunk are probably ideal). And if you're living and working anywhere near center city you don't have to rely on driving too much.

Downsides are trash and increasing culture of fed up a-holes, especially the past couple years. Philly has potential to be a top tier city, but the government is corrupt and many citizens are angry jerks. Thinking about moving to a smaller city with a more relaxed culture that values the environment, and more readily accessible trails or remote gravel roads. But not really sure where, maybe somewhere on the west coast or further northeast

are you inside or outside of 95?

Austin TX. Hate it. Came here for the promotion in my job that came with a big pay bump. Im relatively new here but I can tell the city grew far too big for its footprint and is bursting at the seams…too many people trying to milk the same cow. The housing here is insane and traffic is overwhelming. It’s got fun stuff to do but everything is either insanely crowded or sold out for weeks in advance. It’s stuck in the worst of both worlds—all the fun stuff doubles as the tourist hotspots so you get everyone at all the same spots. Running around the lake downtown would be cool but it is a jogfest if the weather is nice, it’s absolutely packed to the brim. It also doesn’t help that in the summer it might actually be cooler to set up a treadmill inside a sauna.