State your city, and briefly talk about it (Pros/Cons)

Blue and Gold wrote:

Why do I get the sense that you are actually the d-bag and not the young men and women who decided to take a harder road than most kids their age and serve the nation

The harder road? free education of the highest quality. Do you ever wonder why it is hard to get into those places and you need you member of congress to recommend you? Because it is free quality education and a lifetime of promise

Dbag wrote:

Blue and Gold wrote:

Why do I get the sense that you are actually the d-bag and not the young men and women who decided to take a harder road than most kids their age and serve the nation

The harder road? free education of the highest quality. Do you ever wonder why it is hard to get into those places and you need you member of congress to recommend you? Because it is free quality education and a lifetime of promise

It's not free. It obligates them to five years of service, more if they get specialty training (pilots, submariners, etc). I agree that it's a good deal if you are inclined to military life, but it's not easy. Most midshipmen could have gone to civilian schools of equal or better quality, and would have been very successful in other walks of life.

Several graduates have died in Iraq and Afghanistan in the past ten years.

Even people who went to lesser institutes died in war so that is not an exclusive sacrifice. The academies are not the harder road.Others who go to normal schools are mostly under years of school loans (more than five years of debt for many). I was arguing about claiming that they are choosing the harder road, when they are going to excellent, ultra selective schools

Blue and Gold wrote:

[quote]Dbag wrote:

[quote]Blue and Gold wrote:

It's not free. It obligates them to five years of service, more if they get specialty training (pilots, submariners, etc). I agree that it's a good deal if you are inclined to military life, but it's not easy. Most midshipmen could have gone to civilian schools of equal or better quality, and would have been very successful in other walks of life.

Several graduates have died in Iraq and Afghanistan in the past ten years.

Buttzville, New Jersey

If you like a**, this is the place to be. Moved here 10 years ago, never left, never will leave.

Chicago

Pros: Lakefront path,the el, affordable living

fun things to do for free if you know where to look-there's good events at millennium park, museums, story telling events, and other random stuff. The other week I went to a free rowing clinic put on by a boating club that also offered free stand up paddleboarding classes for the day.

good running culture- it's not weird for people to run. Most people will ask if you are training for the marathon. There's plenty of sub-elite runners to hook up with for training runs.

Cons:

Although there are some trails nearby, there are no large state parks, camping, or backpacking within a two hour drive (I've lived in three different states in which I've been within a 10 minute drive to the Appalachian trail). Unions are corrupt, police are corrupt, city officials are corrupt, state officials are corrupt. In line with that, all the gov't budgets are bankrupt and crime is significant. Topography is boring.

I'm glad someone else came to my defense, but I'm the one who made the original comment about Naval Academy kids. When you've seen them drunk and fighting, your view might change. Or when you read up on all of the sexual assaults and drug use they partake in right here in Annapolis, your view might change.

I acknowledge most Naval Academy kids are upstanding young citizens, but a lot of them turn this town into piss- and puke-filled alleys. They're arrogant young pricks who have a sense of entitlement I rarely see. Come here and hang out on a bar night. You'll witness it firsthand.

Regards.

Annapolitan wrote:

I'm glad someone else came to my defense, but I'm the one who made the original comment about Naval Academy kids. When you've seen them drunk and fighting, your view might change. Or when you read up on all of the sexual assaults and drug use they partake in right here in Annapolis, your view might change.

I acknowledge most Naval Academy kids are upstanding young citizens, but a lot of them turn this town into piss- and puke-filled alleys. They're arrogant young pricks who have a sense of entitlement I rarely see. Come here and hang out on a bar night. You'll witness it firsthand.

Regards.

They are still college kids after all. It would hardly be better for Annapolis if the University of Maryland moved its main campus there.

Having been a mid myself (many, many years ago), i know there were a minority who behave badly at times.

I still think having the Academy in Annapolis is a net positive for the city. Hardly a con, as you claim. The Academy is an integral part of Annapolis' character as a city.

People love living in Georgetown even though rich Georgetown undergraduates stumble home drunk at night.

I can't believe nobody from Portland has been on.

My town: Portland

Pro's: Nike World Campus, Forest Park, Ton's on trails, beautiful weather June through early October, great restaurants, great airport, farmer's markets, mountains, trees, waterfalls, no sales tax, huge running community, endless summer days

Con's: Cloudy and rainy late October thru May, higher cost of living (not as bad as Bay area by any means), high income tax, and gets dark early in the winter

Rochester, NY

Pros:

- Good running community

- Always a road race on the weekend

- Plenty of trails and parks to run

- I feel like I will never need to leave the area for medical care thanks to University of Rochester

- Handful of decent colleges/universities

- Lots of nice suburbs around the area

- Fall makes for absolutely beautiful XC season

- Prices of homes aren't bad (see tax comment later)

Cons:

- It snows ALOT

- Winters are brutally cold

- Summer feels short, with Spring nonexistent

- Taxes in NY are high

Overall a good place to live, as long as you can handle winter from the beginning of November to the end of March (give or take a month).

skinnywolf wrote:

I can't believe nobody from Portland has been on.

My town: Portland

Pro's: Nike World Campus, Forest Park, Ton's on trails, beautiful weather June through early October, great restaurants, great airport, farmer's markets, mountains, trees, waterfalls, no sales tax, huge running community, endless summer days

Con's: Cloudy and rainy late October thru May, higher cost of living (not as bad as Bay area by any means), high income tax, and gets dark early in the winter

Looking to move there from Chicago, none of the cons listed here would make me reconsider!

Geneva

Pros: parties held on public transportation. unreal hiking/running trails you'd have to pay admission to even look at in the states. more diversity than i ever imagined (kenyan, tajik, costa rican, white, indian). right next to CERN. home of the UN. lake geneva. short train ride to france, italy, germany.

Cons: must learn french.

Sooo True except the "snow" might be an understatement. Lived there for 25 years. Great place but that snow.

Trondheim, Norway

Pros

Extremely high average wage. Great selection of bars for only 180k people. Light all night (right now). The "average" girl would be a bombshell in every other city. Easy to get em on a fri-sat night. Cute historical eras. Scandinavia's most impressive medieval cathedral (imo). World's best cross-country skiing milieu. Pretty.

Cans

Most expensive city in world's most expensive country (ie. 10 square meter dumpy room in a share is around 700 -900 usd). 7-11 coffee for 6.5 usd, and a beer for 11. Slush for 2 months, deep ice for 4, then slush again for 2 more months. Norwegian fears of the unknown, foreign and unconventional. Loneliness, longing for love or just the notion that someone would notice if you croaked. Oh wait, thats probably just me. Anyways, its very safe and comfortable for families. Lots of technical-academic jobs.

Louisville, jewel of the north wrote:

Cons: we're close to Indiana

The funny thing about this is that Louisville is way more like Central Indiana than it is any part of Kentucky.

Pittsburgh.

Pros; Steelers, finally progressive running paths (rails to trials) When I started running in the 80's it suuucked living here. Now, great bar scenes Carson st/South Side and Strip District, Primanti Bros. Great sport's town. Great universities. tons of hospitals (and tons of female hospital employees)

Cons; The winters suuuck! here. Very steep and curved hills. Very very steep. Bad road surfaces, potholes are everywhere.

Austin, Texas

Pros: great weather 9 months, solid nightlife downtown, UT girls, business friendly, breakfast tacos, BBQ, good beer scene, Town Lake, active population, relatively low cost of living.

Cons: summer heat, hipsters, homeless people, limited running options, no pro sports teams.

Providence, RI

Pros: good size, awesome Italian food, Brown University, close to Boston, low cost of living, nice summers, water fire, largest carpeted mall in the northeast.

Cons: sloppy winters, very little natural beauty for being on the water, annoying cops, RISD students.

South Bend, IN

Pros: Notre Dame Football in the fall, low cost of living, nice people, good pizza, 2 hrs from Chicago

Cons: food isn't spectacular, people aren't attractive, bad nightlife, tough to train outside of ND

gunzblazin wrote:

Austin, Texas

Pros: It is slightly less of a shithole than the rest of Texas.

Cons: It is still in Texas.