What place did you hate living in? And which did you love?

[Coffeetree]

Have you ever lived in a place you just couldn't get along with?

For me it was Seattle in the 90s. Beautiful city with loads to do, good job, but when my then-partner and I moved there we could just not get comfortable. Lots of very cool people, so hard to make friends. More of a "scene" than a community. We had a party with RSVPs and no one showed up. That sort of thing. Never happened before or since.

Conversely a small village in Cheshire was the warmest and most genuinely welcoming community I ever lived in. I felt at home from the day I arrived.

Should say, I mean north-east London, Zone 2, close to 'town' but villagey.

Loved - Village in the Forest of Dean, really welcoming neighbours, lovely walks and countryside, overall feeling of space air. Underrated so none of the snobbery I've experienced in some villages in Somerset/Devon, mainly families escaping more built up areas.
Hated- None really, but lived in Madrid and other cities and enjoyed them for short term but definitely proved that cities are not my first choice of where to bring up a family. Also found Bournemouth underwhelming.

Loved Hull and Bristol. Didn't love small commuter town in Herts

Hated: The suburbs

Loved: The City

Hated Boston and Dubai equally but for different reasons.
Loved Singapore and the Philippines

@TheGratefulBread

Hated London. It's where I grew up, and first settled after graduating, but was never happy there.

Love where I'm living now, in the Lewes area, with Brighton on the doorstep. Love this area. Love East Sussex.

Any recommendations for villages nearby?

Loved Newcastle, hated Colchester

Hated Coventry and Leicester - the midlands basically

Loved Bristol and Plymouth- the south west is my home 🏡

Hated:-
Milan - apart from the main square/Duomo it’s an ugly, industrial place. Locals are snooty, racist, homophobic and sexist. See also Rome.

Midlands - small village in the middle of nowhere with shitty public transport links. Absolutely nothing to do and nobody my own age (was a teenager). Would probably love the peace & quiet now.

London - too many fucking tourists and too much pollution. Costs a bloody fortune (all my wages went on living expenses in a shitty neighbourhood). Imagine it’s amazing if you earn a lot though.

Loved:-
Middle East - grew up here a loooong time ago. Was amazingly unspoiled back then. Had a wonderfully free, outdoorsy childhood with friends from all over the world. You couldn’t pay me to visit now.

French Alps - absolutely gorgeous. Would live there again in a heartbeat.

Tuscany - fabulous but only in the short term (lived there a year). Wouldn’t want to settle here permanently.

Home Counties - lovely village with real sense of community. Peaceful and quiet. Lots of wildlife/beautiful walks. And the biggest draw of all - I can finally have a dog!

Hate hate hated living in East London. Dirty, expensive, too many people/cars, felt oppressive with how grotty everything was and I missed real fields.

I currently live in a boring, provincial town in North Essex, the kind of place families have lived for generations and I have never felt so at home anywhere

I found it very cliquey, unfriendly and too small. It only came alive for me during the festival in August, and it was a long 11 months waiting for that to come round.

Also, at the time I lived there, it was not very diverse. Don’t know if that’s changed.

I’m sure if I’d have gone for a mini break, I’d have loved it.

@sarahtalkstoomuch

I found it very cliquey, unfriendly and too small. It only came alive for me during the festival in August, and it was a long 11 months waiting for that to come round.

Also, at the time I lived there, it was not very diverse. Don’t know if that’s changed.

I’m sure if I’d have gone for a mini break, I’d have loved it.

I was attempting to reply to a PP about why I hated Edinburgh, not just random musings!

I lived in Slough for 14 years. For the first 10 years it was great but gradually, over time the place really changed and after that I couldn't wait to leave.
I loved living in Bath (but that was 20 years ago when I was young, carefree and single).

I hated Canberra, the most boring capital city in the world. It felt like it had been deliberately designed to be as dull as possible.

Hated - Staines and Reading. I found both incredibly dull and not very friendly. I didn't love Brighton either. I don't hate it, but I can't understand the over-inflated house prices for somewhere that isn't that marvellous. Great for a holiday though!

Love - Central London. I'd live there forever in a heartbeat. Also the Fylde coast. It's just beautiful, peaceful and people are so lovely (for the most part!)

Hate Cornwall, loved Yorkshire.

Hated: Menorca. Full of peculiar ex-pats, who banded together, but had nothing in common except the fact they were ex-pats.

Loved: many places, but in particular Edinburgh in my twenties. Like a PP, I am English too but my experience was very different from theirs. No anti-Englishness at all, unless jokey banter.

Loved Bristol, Valencia and Granada

Really wanted to love Hampstead - the reality was traffic, narrrow/cobbled roads and lots of steps, wet sludge from fallen leaves 4 months of the year, rubbish tube line, fortnightly bin collection, the heath was a waste of time - just more mud and sludge. And dog poo everywhere!!! Also lots of car crime. So all in all - hated the place.

Loved Knightsbridge and Chelsea. Just clean and everything on the door step yet the road was tucked away and very peaceful/quiet.

Hated Bristol

@Touty

Hate Ibiza, but great for a holiday

Out of interest, what did you hate about living there? @Touty

Loved London. Hate absolutely everywhere else. It makes for a miserable life to be honest and I wish I could change it.

Hated Leeds, found it very boring unless you like shopping not many quirky art galleries etc for the size of the city. Loved Newcastle.

Hated: Holt and Norfolk in general. Great for holidays but no fun with a young family and found the locals really difficult. Unless you’d lived there for 20+ years you were an outsider.

Loved: Leeds. Would go back in a heartbeat. Friendly people and possible to find a small community in a big city. The countryside on the doorstep was incredible.

@Coffeetree

Salsalove, you loved living in Washington DC?! You have to say more. It looks like a dreadful place to live. You've really intrigued me!

I lived there in the 80s, 90s and early 2000s. It was fun, vibrant, loads of things to do with music, museums, sports. Great restaurants. Short drive to the Atlantic beaches. Great Metro, and the train from D.C. to NYC is only 4 hours. Loads of wonderful days out in Maryland and northern Virginia.