Since we are talking real estate, are you ok with your current home/community?

[ahorsewithnonam]

Built our first home in 1981 and our second and final home in 2004. Daughter husband and 2 grandkids live behind us. We love it. Golf course community, playgrounds, pool, high school, elementary and middle schools within a mile. Restaurants and shopping less than 3 miles away. Tennis courts now 8 just a short walk. Medical Center fairly close. Our first house, we were just 23, worked out well,but not well thought out as the area changed around us.

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[RP]

The last time I owned a home was in the mid-90s, and I've been a very contented tenant ever since. I've been in my current home since January 2011, the longest I've lived anywhere as an adult. That probably says it all regarding my contentment. It's a two-bedroom cabin in the woods at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains about 15 miles west of Charlottesville in beautiful Albemarle County. Laurelwood is the best of both worlds, rural with mountain views and access to a vibrant college town which continually gets rated very high among Best Places to Retire. For an incredibly reasonable rent the following are provided: lawn care, road plowing, trash pickup, sewer, water and semi-annual chimney cleaning. I refer to it as a 55+ community of 33 similar cains on 66 areas without the age requirement. The property's owner likes to maintain stability among residents and charges some of the lowest monthly rents in pricey Albemarle County. I've got both a nice front deck and a screen porch from which to enjoy the wooded surroundings. Bears, deer and hummingbirds abound - in short, I'm extremely happy where I live...

[Dru Edwards]

Two years ago I had a house built and moved to rural Nova Scotia. This is where I plan to spend the rest of my days.

[raysachs]

Home by Ray, on Flickr

Almost 30 years ago, we moved to this small town between Philadelphia and Wilmington, DE. We first lived basically where you see the smaller white dot in the upper center portion of the map, on a cul-de-sac , but still within the urban grid of the town and easily walkable to anywhere in town. We moved here with our young daughters who both grew up in that single family house. Then, almost 14 years ago, when our youngest was leaving for college, we downsized to a townhouse where the blue dot is shown just above the more concentrated downtown area. Our townhouse is about half a block from the Farmer's Market, and within 2-5 blocks from a LOT of restaurants, shops, pharmacies, a post office, etc. We're an easy bike ride from two grocery stores, and for many years I worked just outside the frame of the map, and rode my bike the two miles to work and back almost every day.

Bottom line - we LOVE IT HERE! Just being able to walk a few blocks to a nice restaurant for dinner, to walk up to get take out or stop at the pharmacy or Post Office, to run into people we know on the street and stop for a quick visit - to ME, that's the ultimate quality of life. It's a lovely little town, a County seat, with a state university in town.

The only reason we'd ever leave is if our two daughters ever live within a couple hours of each other - we'd love to be closer to them and their now growing families. But as they currently live on opposite coasts, that seems like a very remote possibility. And if it doesn't happen, I'd be very happy to live the rest of my life in this town where I've lived far, FAR longer already than I've ever lived anywhere else. I mean, the same guy has been taking care of our cars for 30 years - now his son who was a little guy running around the shop when we first came here, is taking over the place. We know shop owners who've been here the whole time we have. It's home, the roots have gotten pretty deep...

-Ray

[Steve DeRosa]

Nope - can't wait to get out of both...

[joe white]

Moved to our current home a couple years ago and I like the house and the property but I don't like the location. Even though it has 16 acres, there are too many homes nearby and even a couple small sub divisions that just create too much noise and traffic. Our old home only had 7 acres but was located in a very sparse area so it was much more peaceful. I'm still working on the old home before listing it to sell and have honestly considered moving back. In the satellite images below, the one with the single yellow arrow is the new place and the one with the double yellow arrow point to the shop and home at the old place.

[6L6]

Where I live (in the heart of Silicon Valley), you sacrifice (greatly) square footage for location. But what a location!

I've been in my home here for 43 years now and just love this area to death. We ain't going nowhere and my kids will be getting a very nice inheritance one day.

[CoryB]

We’re outside of Richmond, VA. We built our house a little over 3 years ago. We went from a two-story plus basement to a rancher. I have a bad knee which helped in the rancher decision. Overall I love the house but I miss having a basement. On the plus side, I added a dedicated guitar room to the plans when the house was built.

We’re on 50 acres on a private road, and my nearest neighbor is about 25 acres away. We get along great with the neighbors and have had more conversations in 3.5 years here than with the neighbors when in our last house for 28 years.

The closest grocery store is over 6 miles away. The road is dirt or mud with occasional gravel mixed in. I can’t get cable TV or DSL. Internet is through a 4G/LTE connection. There is no gas service here so we run propane.

I plan to stay here until I die.

[Nymuso]

Yes. We live on a lake, easy driving distance to goods and services, so away from it all but not far.

Right now I’m sitting on the screened-in back porch looking at the lake with an iPad in my hand. But since it’s Mother’s Day I have to get up and get my own beer.

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

Nope - can't wait to get out of both...

Steve, where are you planning on moving to?

[KenL]

Yes. No more cities for me, and I love the American west.

[Mbroady]

We went from the sirens, boom boxes and car horns of NYC to the cows, donkeys and birds of Western NC. Once in a while I do miss the energy and intensity of NYC but we are now in the perfect location to raise my daughter.

[Methos1979]

Very much happy. New Hampshire has been on the top (if no THE number one) of every list of best places to live/raise kids/retire for decades. We're in the Seacoast area. The mountains are an hour or so north. Boston is an hour or so south. The ocean is 15 minutes south/southeast. Lakes everywhere. Very close to great medical including some of the best in the world. Clean air. Very low crime. Four complete seasons. We live in the woods but near everything in the same small ranch we bought 29 years ago. We thought about moving but at this point we'll just retire here since the grandbabies are close by. Great motorcycle riding, plenty of summer and winter sports. Art, culture, airports, restaurants, major sports, everything is just so close by. We really do have it all.

[David Eastwood]

House? Yes, really happy here. We’ve been in this house for 26 years, and are finally getting it to how we want it

Community - local? Yes, very happy. We have all the amenities we need close by, great neighbours, and an extensive trail network for walking and biking.

Community - further afield? It’s a mixed bag. I don’t care if I ever go to downtown Minneapolis (or St. Paul, for that matter) ever again. Forum rules forbid me from going into why, but anyone here in the US should at least be aware of the possible reasons.

Regardless, Minnesota is a beautiful state, and there are lots and lots of places to visit and enjoy without having to deal with the nonsense.

I retired a year ago. My wife and I had every intent to move out of state at some time within the next couple of years. Right now, that means selling at peak, and buying at peak, which makes no sense at all. I think we’re going to stick around here for a while and see how things settle. The grass is not always greener.

[buddyhu]

I’ve been OK with just about every community and every home/apartment I’ve lived in, except for a few (didn’t like living in a second floor apartment behind a Taco Bell, thought the neighborhood wasn’t too bad; didn’t like the two basement apartments that I lived in when I was a rather poor student). Some of this is just luck, some of it has been a number of blessings (I’ve often gone to schools in nice cities, often gotten jobs in beautifully areas), and some of it is that I find it relatively easy to appreciate the sometimes subtle beauty in places and people.

It love my current home (living on one level with a view of a pond), my current neighborhood (best neighbors I have ever had), and community (smallest town I’ve lived in...most people are really good to one another; only a handful are seriously self-centered, or are exploitive).