The livin's easy - but not enjoyable: it depends..
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12/15/2007
Wow, Joanna, if I didn't see your picture here I could have sworn I wrote this piece. I felt EXACTLY like you. My point of view changed after having a kid, who is now 2.5 years old. As a couple without kids, my husband and I felt the same as you. After we had our son it is not that our opinion on the place changed much, but our focus in life and point of view changed. I still think that night life here sucks, cultural events (with the exception of "The Morris") are slim to non, crime rates are high (dang, four branches of the bank I work for, were robbed in the last 3 weeks, one of them twice!)and restaurants are ridiculously and unjustly expensive, BUT - as a parent, anyhow all the night life I get is checking up on my son when he is crying, and the area is kids friendly, lots of parks to take walks at, lots of nice playgrounds, wonderful (and free) public library system, free admission to museums (just pick up a pass at the library), close to Lake Michigan (we go there whenever we can in summer), 25 minutes drive from Fernwood Botanical Gardens in Michigan, and close enough for day trips to the attractions of Chicago, without the madness and price of living in the big cities. Oh, and I forgot to mention, real estate prices are LOW. Tough, you should only buy a house if you are sure you want to stay L-O-N-G T-E-R-M, since even if you buy a house at dirt cheap price, you can't be certain that you will ever be able to sell it at a profitable price. You will probably be lucky to break even, if that. We changed our tune from: "we are out of here the moment my husband graduates", to "we are going to stay if my husband can get a decent job in the area".
So - different strokes to different folks - and sometimes the same folk can be different when circumstances change.
Lily | South Bend, IN