A thread for people to give some love to where they live, whether it's the biggest city in the world or a village with three houses.

I'll start, shall I?

I live in Norwich.

I love it because it's a city, which means I have all the conveniences of city life, like shopping...



... a massive, state of the art research hospital...



... and a decent university (ranked ~20th in the country). Yes, it's that university. The one from Climategate XD



But as well as that, we have stuff like this:





That's Norwich cathedral. Christian or not, you've got to admit it's beautiful. And it's just one of the two cathedrals in Norwich. Here's the other:



And here's our castle:



And as a contrast to that, here's the city's main library:



And this is where you find yourself 15 minutes drive south of the city centre.



It's such a perfect pairing of urban and rural. I love it. On top of that the population is very liberal (highest proportion of atheists in the UK, around 25%) and environmentally conscious, the food is good quality and locally sourced (the county is famous for its farming) and employment prospects are good.

Now, tell me all about your city/town/village.

 

Well, alright then.

I live in Rome and I only moved here recently from the Netherlands, specifically because I loved the city so much.

We have, of course, things like this:



and this,



and this.



I love history and the idea that I could see all of this every single day if I wanted to is pretty awesome.

There's more though. It becomes a completely different city at night. Even the biggest squares somehow turn into these cozy, old Italian piazzas.



But maybe you just need a place to relax, to get away from it all. Well, that's easy, because there are several great parks in the center and outside it and some of them are huge.



Or maybe you'd rather just hop over to the beach.



We can't, of course, forget about all those great museums.



Or the fantastic collection of art in the hundreds of churches.



And then there's the great food everywhere, the massive shopping malls, the old neighborhoods, the football, the universities, the markets and so much more. I could fill this whole page and several more with pictures of this city.

But what I honestly like most of all is the energy in Rome. The history and culture in this city make it so I never tire of it and there's always more to see. I can just walk through its impressive streets and small back alleys for hours. It's fantastic.

 

I live in Mexico Texas, and I love my city because it feels awesome walking into a store and being yammered at in some bizarre form of Spanish and broken English - that you still can't understand.

Oh, and don't forget the drug runners that come over the boarder in boats and crash their stolen cars back into the river if it doesn't look like they're getting in clean.

A.K.A.: I don't like my city at all.

 

I like my village because going out for a walk is like living in Baghdad.

 

I love my home of Flint, Michigan, despite all of its scars, problems, and mistakes.

Flint has been the incubator of the driving forces in 20th Century America. Flint innovations made industrialization in the US possible. From providing raw lumber for frontier expansion and building the carriages that transported people and goods nationwide to the founding of General Motors and the modern labor movement through the Sit Down Strike of 1937, Flint played a large part in building American economic success and developing the middle class.

Flint was a large part of the Arsenal of Democracy. Flint's factories built the tanks and bombers that helped win World War II. Yes, globalization has kicked us hard in the balls lately, but sometimes you have to hit bottom before you can find your way back to the top again.

Where else can you find a city of 100,000 that boasts a top 25 engineering school, a top 10 community college, the largest satellite campus of the University of Michigan, and soon a Medical School Annex for Michigan State University. Also, we possess a planetarium, art museum, and top notch music school. In addition, Flint isn't more than 30-45 mins from a Great Lake, a casino, or a Canadian strip club. Finally, we got, IMO, the best hot dogs in the world...that's right, suck it Detroit, NYC, and Chicago!

Is Flint perfect? Not on its best day. But I love it warts and all.

 

I gotta say, as a former resident of Genessee County, who went to two of those schools you mentioned and participated in the music and art schools, I agree with most of what you said. HOWEVER lets not forget that it's also one of the most dangerous cities in the entire country to live in with was is essentially a part time police force. Say what you will about the law/government but you need SOME form of protection in a urban city of over 100,000.



After moving out of the frozen gutter that was Mid Michigan,

I live in Tarpon Springs, Florida. Which is a suburb of the Tampa/Clearwater/Saint Petersberg area.

Tarpon has a huge Greek history as well as the historic sponge docks, where as im told record setting amounts of sponge are harvested from the waters. Don't ask me more about it, I really have no idea. But apparently it's a big deal. Google it if you really give two shits.

I live roughly 10 minutes from the Gulf of Mexico, 30 minutes to a major international airport and Amtrak station if I ever want to take 2 days to get to the Northeast, 20 minutes from I-75 and about an hour and half from Disney World/Universal Studios. (of which I have annual passes to both and go around 5-6 times per year)

I have a large freshwater lake within walking distance, a county park across the street (which said lake is in) with frisbee golf and numerous other rural activities.

Oh and lets not forget the original Hooters 15 minutes away.

On the upside my county hasn't been majorly hit by a hurricane in almost 100 years. The large body of water known as Tampa Bay tends to funnel the hurricane away from us. We just get bad wind and rain while the rest of the state goes into survival mode.

On the downside we have the largest number of pain clinics and prescription medication abusers in the country. Forget Miami, forget California. You want heroin? Come to Pinellas county and our corrupt docs will hook you up with oxycodone 240 pills for 28 days. For those that can't do math that's over 8 doses a day. If you dosed 8 times a day or more...you'd be catatonic or worse. You're welcome Kentucky Tennessee Ohio and Massachusetts. Your oxy epidemic comes from right here.

But other than that, I love where I live. It never gets below 50 for more than a night or two. And while summer can get warm and humid you get used to it pretty quickly. The no snow thing works out great.

 

I hold some mild affection for where I live. Tennessee is beautiful, in some places. The outdoors is what I love here.

It's quiet, too. This was my backyard.
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff176/Iztiak/DSC00116-1.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff176/Iztiak/DSC00217.jpg

The people are nice too, nicer than anywhere else I've lived, but the good ol' boy accent can drive you absolutely insane.

 

I was going to start a new thread when I found this one, so I'm resurrecting it instead.

So I'm actually from Brisbane, Australia (and I might make a post about that city later), but I've spent most of my twenties in a small German town, where I'm likely to remain for a while yet. The town is called Menden, and it's located in Sauerland, a hilly and forested region of North Rhine-Westphalia. The link is for a (German) song about the area.

​

I like living in Menden for all the same reasons that cause many of the locals to dislike it. It's rustic, idyllic, and a bit old-fashioned. Having grown up in a big city in a young and arid country devoid of winter, Menden and its surroundings are a welcome change of scenery.

I love to hike in the forests around here. I often find strange and unexpected places, such as old war bunkers, decaying castle ruins, and morbid statues recalling dark times. For example, this is a photo of the Hexenteich (Witches Pond):

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It's where witches used to be drowned in the 17th Century. It's now a popular barbecue spot. Note the macabre memorial on the left.

As you can see, there's a lot of history around here. During WWII, the local hydroelectric dam was destroyed by the RAF's 'Dam Busters' which caused the whole area to be flooded. It's since been rebuilt. This was one of the first old structures I saw in Germany when I got here:

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While wandering about one day, I found a grimy old war memorial that looks like no one's ever tended to it. I think that only adds to its visual potency, though:

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I just realised the above pictures are all a bit... glum, but Menden does have a lighter side. The medieval parts of town are very cool just to walk around in and absorb the atmosphere:

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There are a lot of large caves in this region, and one of them is used for hosting music concerts, or better yet, for watching Germany win the World Cup in true style:

​

There are beautiful lakes where I often go camping in the warmer months:

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And we also have some castles nearby:

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In addition to all of the above, the regional beers are all tasty, there are a ton of great pubs everywhere, and the local Turks make a mean döner. I've always had plenty of work here as an English teacher, so I can safely say my time in Menden has been good to me.

 

I love my city, Antalya. Because I don't think there is any place more beautiful. If you manage your time right, you can swim, ski, sunbathe, dive, shop, sight see, and go rafting all in the same day- you'd be tired as hell afterwards but you'd still love every second of it. Okay I admit doing all of that would probably take your 2-3 day and you'd still not have experienced everything Antalya have to offer.

http://acarhoca.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/antalya3.jpg

Kaleiçi (I think you can translate it as Innerkeep) is the old center of the city.

http://www.antalya.bel.tr/UploadedItems/antalya (1)_.jpg

Then there is old amphitheaters to sight see.



See Karpuzkaldıran(watermelon-lifter ) Waterfall flowing into the see.

http://www.tourexpi.com/images/urlaubsbilder/0007/01.jpg

Sunbathe upon the golden sands of the Lara Beach.



See the place where Bellerophon smited Chimera upon his Pegasus. (Olympos)



Go skiing in Saklıkent (Hidden-city)



Go rafting on the Manavgat River

As our greatest leader Atatürk said for our city before:

http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/static.panoramio.com/photos/original/17802746.jpg

"Antalya, is without a doubt the greatest place on earth."

Okay, I admit I may have gone a bit overboard there, but like I said I love my city and everything it has to offer.

Also, I thought there was a way to make a picture not stretch a page, I seem to have failed to find the related post.