How far did you move from where you grew up?

[Goose]

Wags

My parents moved to Sarasota in the mid 90's and great place to live. I have chosen Naples as my go to spot in FL, but a soft spot for Sarasota. If I were to live in FL fulltime, I would definitely look hard at Sarasota.

[brewcity77]

I don't get Florida at all. My parents moved to Florida in 1997. It was always my dad's dream but personally, I think it's miserable. The weather and humidity is disgustingly uncomfortable for 9 of the 12 months of the year. I can understand the Carolinas, or Arizona, or the Pacific Northwest, but why people want to retire to Florida is beyond me.

[Uncle Rico]

I don't get Florida at all. My parents moved to Florida in 1997. It was always my dad's dream but personally, I think it's miserable. The weather and humidity is disgustingly uncomfortable for 9 of the 12 months of the year. I can understand the Carolinas, or Arizona, or the Pacific Northwest, but why people want to retire to Florida is beyond me.

To go to bed at 5

[MUBBau]

I have only ever lived in Milwaukee. Currently live less than 5 miles from where I grew up.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

I think a TON is dependent on the years between 18 and 25.  If you're still living where you grew up, for a significant portion of time during those years, chances are you won't leave.

I grew up in a nice Milwaukee burb at the kind of HS with 98% college admittance and flinging kids to schools all across the country.  But it was interesting to see on FB the number of kids who flamed out at whatever school they were at and ended back at a school in the Milwaukee area, or transferred back from home sickness or whatnot.  Those kids, or those that moved back for a job in Milwaukee after, all inevitably end up staying.  I can only recall 2-3 people Ive ran into or seen who moved elsewhere after college and ended up back here.

As for me, I'm the pseudo exception.  Born in Indy, but my Milwaukee and Sheboygan born parents brought me back to the MKE burbs before I turned 3.  Lived in the burbs till I went to college.  Then I moved to Oxford, OH for school (305 miles), then to Chicago after graduation for a decade or so (95 miles).  Then split my time between MKE and NYC (911 miles) until Covid.

I made a mid-career change to work with my Father in the business he started when I was a teen, so I ended up in the burbs intermittently.  But my parents have moved to Florida and the business will follow so I will be migrating that direction in the next 18 months or so.  If not for the unexpected career change and COVID, there's no chance I would have ended up back in Milwaukee.  I consider Chicago more of my adult home than Milwaukee and, even after exploring a bit since Ive been back, I know and can speak to Chicago far better than I can Milwaukee.

Amusingly, my first child, arriving in September, will like me have a birth certificate reflecting a place he never really knew.  While he will have more of a connection to Milwaukee, due to extended family and family history, than I do to Indy, I don't imagine he will live in Wisconsin for any longer than I did in the Hoosier state.

Congrats on the impending child.
Condolences on Florida.

[JWags85]

I don't get Florida at all. My parents moved to Florida in 1997. It was always my dad's dream but personally, I think it's miserable. The weather and humidity is disgustingly uncomfortable for 9 of the 12 months of the year. I can understand the Carolinas, or Arizona, or the Pacific Northwest, but why people want to retire to Florida is beyond me.

You could say the same thing about Wisconsin.  I'm "used" to it and the weather still sucks from October to May.  The "all 4 seasons" stereotype is a joke.

I personally don't get Arizona.  Ungodly hot from May to September, and then winter is nice but you're wearing a jacket once the sun goes down...and a backyard of rocks.

I'm not thrilled about Florida but the majority of people who mock Florida are living places where people aren't clamoring to move to, for any reason.  Like my wife's second cousin who lives in South Bend or my Mom's cousin who makes fun of all her Florida pictures on Facebook yet she and her husband live 30 minutes from Champaign.

[dgies9156]

I don't get Florida at all. My parents moved to Florida in 1997. It was always my dad's dream but personally, I think it's miserable. The weather and humidity is disgustingly uncomfortable for 9 of the 12 months of the year. I can understand the Carolinas, or Arizona, or the Pacific Northwest, but why people want to retire to Florida is beyond me.

We are moving to the Treasure Coast of Florida -- Vero Beach to be precise. Our community is a combination of charming Old Florida and upscale new Florida. The arts community is excellent, as is the recreation and restaurant scene. Everyone here is from someplace else so it is incredibly easy to make friends.

We bought a home in 2014 and upsized this year as the new home will be our forever home.

The weather is a myth. January actually is fairly cool -- highs in the 60s or barely breaking 70. We may get one or two days of frost as a consequence of cool night times. February through May and October to Christmas is delightful. June is iffy and July through September is like living in a sauna.

Our expectation is that we will rent through AirBnB or VrBo in July, August and September (and maybe early October). We hope to spend a month a year with our daughter in the Denver area and the remainder of our time in Chicago with our friends and our son.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

I don't get Florida at all. My parents moved to Florida in 1997. It was always my dad's dream but personally, I think it's miserable. The weather and humidity is disgustingly uncomfortable for 9 of the 12 months of the year. I can understand the Carolinas, or Arizona, or the Pacific Northwest, but why people want to retire to Florida is beyond me.

I would never live in Florida full time.  But I would certainly like to be able to spend about four months there.

[lawdog77]

I personally don't get Arizona.  Ungodly hot from May to September, and then winter is nice but you're wearing a jacket once the sun goes down...and a backyard of rocks.

In terms of Arizona, artificial grass has evolved.

[Uncle Rico]

You could say the same thing about Wisconsin.  I'm "used" to it and the weather still sucks from October to May.  The "all 4 seasons" stereotype is a joke.

I personally don't get Arizona.  Ungodly hot from May to September, and then winter is nice but you're wearing a jacket once the sun goes down...and a backyard of rocks.

I'm not thrilled about Florida but the majority of people who mock Florida are living places where people aren't clamoring to move to, for any reason.  Like my wife's second cousin who lives in South Bend or my Mom's cousin who makes fun of all her Florida pictures on Facebook yet she and her husband live 30 minutes from Champaign.

There won’t be water to live in Arizona in a decade or so.  It’s a terrible idea to plan on retiring there or really anywhere in the SW United States

[brewcity77]

The weather is a myth. January actually is fairly cool -- highs in the 60s or barely breaking 70. We may get one or two days of frost as a consequence of cool night times. February through May and October to Christmas is delightful. June is iffy and July through September is like living in a sauna.

It's really not. I've been there in every month multiple times. December through February are okay. But even March and November get humid and into the 80s/90s regularly. Not to mention that half the year is hurricane season.

You could say the same thing about Wisconsin.  I'm "used" to it and the weather still sucks from October to May.  The "all 4 seasons" stereotype is a joke.

Probably down to my preferences, but I think Wisconsin is nice from March-June and September-November. And even in the hot summer months, Milwaukee is nice down by the lake when all the festivals are going on. Winters are also a lot milder than they were when I was growing up. You still get the occasional cold or snow, but they aren't nearly as common now as they were in the 1980s/1990s. The true summer months are very hit-or-miss, with plenty of humidity and heat. Not Florida bad, but once you get out of the 70s it's too warm, and anything in the 90s sucks, IMO.

For me, the biggest appeal to Wisconsin and Milwaukee in particular is the lack of expected traumatic weather events. We don't have hurricanes, or massive (12+") snowfalls, or tornados, or earthquakes. And as climate change has made the winters shorter and milder, the main downsides have been significantly limited.

[dgies9156]

It's really not. I've been there in every month multiple times. December through February are okay. But even March and November get humid and into the 80s/90s regularly. Not to mention that half the year is hurricane season.

Brother Brew, love you man, and I kinda wish you were right about January.

Not sure where you were but Vero Beach is about 150 miles North of Miami along the Atlantic Coast. We're generally in the center of the state's peninsula and it is cool. In Northern Florida, count on frost in January.

While June to November is hurricane season, hurricanes are rare before August or September. In order for hurricanes to form, you need very warm water in the Central Atlantic and, for humdingers, the Gulf of Mexico. In Vero Beach, in the eight years I lived there, we have been threatened by one really bad hurricane. It was supposed to make landfall as a Cat 5 storm at the beach 1/4 mile from my house. Fortunately, the steering currents pushed it up the coast and away from us. It made land as a Cat 3 hurricane.

We had one other year where we were strafed by a hurricane. I remember watching on my computer the Lovelies Kelly and Ashleigh from WPTV tell us whether we still had a house. We did!

[brewcity77]

I've spent far too much time in central Florida, about halfway between Orlando and Daytona. I've spent time visiting Miami, Cape Coral, Naples, Tampa, Jacksonville, Orlando, Daytona, Tallahassee, West Palm, and Lake County. My folks (in Lake County, a small town near Eustis/Umatilla/Altoona area) are inland, but have had to put hurricane shutters up at least every other year for as long as they've been down there, though they've used them less in recent years, not because of fewer hurricanes but because they are pushing 80 and the effort is too much.

For context, I think 60-75 with low humidity is ideal weather. I am far more comfortable in the 40s and 50s than the 80s and 90s. The combination of humidity and heat the vast majority of the year is gross, IMO.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

In terms of Arizona, artificial grass has evolved.

The Brady Bunch had artificial grass and they were mowing it?

[tower912]

Every time I suggest The Villages, my wife suggests divorce.

[MU82]

Every time I suggest The Villages, my wife suggests divorce.

Smart wife.

[brewcity77]

Every time I suggest The Villages, my wife suggests divorce.

You married a wise woman.

[HouWarrior]

My parents seemed to have a big say in where I lived during my youth.
I was born in Edina,MN
they moved us to Madison WI
then they moved us to Milwaukee WI

At MU I got my first chance to move somewhere I wanted, so I went to Madrid, Spain ( Aug77-Aug78-4326 mi )
Finished MU and immediately went to Houston TX (1174 mi)
I sampled a year in Dallas TX
promptly back here to Houston TX (43 years and counting)

If it involved my choice, there was always one factor: COLD. I may have been born into it and forced to live it, but I never liked the cold, When I got older at MU I spent my winters indoors, in" bar rooms and bowling alleys"

 BTW this is only my personal preference, as I do not wish to stir the auto debaters/insulters here over one's preferred climate

Its sort of odd but I consider Houston more my "home" than any other place while growing up

[Scoop Snoop]

Every time I suggest The Villages, my wife suggests divorce.

Yeah, but think about all those "(gran) dad jokes" that you could load up on daily to add to your collection.

[MuggsyB]

75 miles. then 140 miles, now 2100 miles. 

[rocket surgeon]

   "I personally don't get Arizona.  Ungodly hot from May to September, and then winter is nice but you're wearing a jacket once the sun goes down...and a backyard of rocks."

  i beg to differ

what do we do when it's minus 10 and/or a foot of snow on ground?  when it's 110-115, i'm in the pool


 

[Uncle Rico]

   "I personally don't get Arizona.  Ungodly hot from May to September, and then winter is nice but you're wearing a jacket once the sun goes down...and a backyard of rocks."

  i beg to differ

what do we do when it's minus 10 and/or a foot of snow on ground?  when it's 110-115, i'm in the pool


 

Arizona won’t have water in a decade or so

[Marquette Fan]

Marquette is 400 miles from where I grew up - I first left my hometown for college.  I returned home for a few months after I graduated but then moved back to the Milwaukee area where I've been since.  I was one of the few in my graduating HS class of 120 who went to college out of state and most of my classmates are still living in my hometown.

[Judge Smails]

I’m from the Chicago area. Besides four years at MU, I lived in London from 2016-2018. Back in Chicago area now. I loved London. Oddly, I felt very “at home” there. Would’ve stayed bite wife and kids wanted to come back to Chicago.

[warriorchick]

The WSJ had an article awhile back about Milwaukee that said among major cities, it had the highest percentage of residents who had never lived anywhere else. Some of the responses in this thread seems to support this.

I was born in Germany on a US Army base. After that, I lived in Belleville and Decatur in Illinois, and then Nashville.  Went to Marquette, lived there a few years afterwards, then Boston for a couple of years, then suburban Chicago over 30 years after that.

Now I split my time between Las Vegas and South Central Wisconsin.

And contrary to what DGies says, I would never ever encourage any young person to move to Chicago, or anyplace in Illinois for that matter.  In the past decade or so, the entire state has become a dumpster fire.