Life in the mid-west?

rapidth21

I know its a vague question about a huge geographical location, but does anybody have any experience living in the Mid-west.
Might have the oppourtunity to move to one of several locations up and down the mid-west, likes of Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky etc....Have heard it can be quite boring!!

ProudDUB

Nothing boring at all about living in Chicago or Cleveland, but if you are in a small town out of the middle of no where, its a different story. I think that you need to give some more info about where exactly in Ohio, Illinois or Kentucky you may be moving to, seeing as you are talking about an area that is about 3 times the size of Ireland.

Ruu

If you like big city life then there is loads to do in Chicago, further south than that you hit smaller towns and more cornfields.

athtrasna

It also depends on where you are in life. A lot of the towns would seem dull to a single twenty/thirty something but great places to bring up a family.

Friend (Irish) is married over there and lives in Illinois about an hour from Chicago. The sense of community there is phenomenal and when their son got cancer the entire community, not just in their town but also in neighbouring towns rallied around them. It's unlike anything I've ever seen here. I've visited upwards of a dozen times, love the area, love the people but it's not compatible with where I am in my life.

InTheTrees

My ex was from St.louis (Missouri) and my current GF is form Minnesota.

I've never lived in either place but I've traveled around those areas a fair amount. Boring? I think those comments are more about the landscape which tends to be pretty dull. Obviously in a big city that wont be much of a factor.

I've always loved driving around the small towns. Its the Heartland of america but its the mindset and attitudes that tends to drive young people away I think. The country can be very conservative christian.

There's a reason people call them the "fly over" states.

Where specifically are you being considered? The difference between city and country is Huge.

TheBrewMeister

I'm from the Cleveland Ohio area. I can tell you anything you want to know.

But, whatever you do, don't move to Chicago. The city itself is practically a war zone, and the State of IL has some of the strictest laws in the country. They have a prison-profit system in that state. And any smart person can see the dangers of a system where a man or a small group of men can profit from your incarceration...

rapidth21

indianapolis, In. columbus, oh. lansing, mi. pittsburgh, pa. newport, ky.

They are a few of 10 8 different locations. Chicago isnt one. again i know its a very hard question to answer because of sheer size of mid west but i was just looking for any info at all.

SBWife

I went to university in Pittsburgh. It's a good town. Big enough for a symphony, ballet, etc. good local music scene, plenty of local non chain resturants, professional sports teams in baseball, football and hockey. Nice parks both in town and in the suburbs.

spideog7

SBWife wrote: »

I went to university in Pittsburgh. It's a good town. Big enough for a symphony, ballet, etc. good local music scene, plenty of local non chain resturants, professional sports teams in baseball, football and hockey. Nice parks both in town and in the suburbs.

Pittsburgh is barely in the Midwest, but since it was mentioned...

It's a nice little city not too big but not so small that it's 'boring'. The cost of living is cheap and getting out of the city into more rural areas is easy and fast. Seems to be plenty of good jobs, big tech companies and the shale gas boom right now. Stacked with a bunch of good Universities too. The landscape here is generally more interesting than a little further West also, it gets pretty flat once you get past Pittsburgh, but we're still in the Appalachians.

Winter can drag sometimes but the summer is nice, Autumn (ie right now!) is my favourite time of year!

TheBrewMeister

spideog7 wrote: »

Pittsburgh is barely in the Midwest, but since it was mentioned...

It's a nice little city not too big but not so small that it's 'boring'. The cost of living is cheap and getting out of the city into more rural areas is easy and fast. Seems to be plenty of good jobs, big tech companies and the shale gas boom right now. Stacked with a bunch of good Universities too. The landscape here is generally more interesting than a little further West also, it gets pretty flat once you get past Pittsburgh, but we're still in the Appalachians.

Winter can drag sometimes but the summer is nice, Autumn (ie right now!) is my favourite time of year!

Pittsburgh is nice except for those hicks they call "Steelers fans." An obnoxious bunch they are. The whole country hates them. It's weird.

mikemac1

Known as "yinzers"

Comes from the accent

rockonollie

I live in rural ohio (but only half hour from Cincinnati) and life is far from boring here.......but as someone said, it depends on your idea of entertainment....

Just be prepared for the weather.....the seasons in Ohio are almost winter, winter, still winter and sun

CompositeJohn

TheBrewMeister wrote: »

Pittsburgh is nice except for those hicks they call "Steelers fans." An obnoxious bunch they are. The whole country hates them. It's weird.

Whole country except all the Steelers fans here in Kansas!! Weird eh!

Pittsburgh is East coast as far as I'm concerned and a nice city by all accounts.

I've been 2 years here in Wichita, KS and don't think I'll ever get used to the conservative way of life. If you're not a gun toting, truck driving, deer hunting, bible thumping republican you're going to be at odds with many out this far in the mid-west. Yes that's a generalization but just look at the voting in the last election and you will see its 99% accurate :P

Myself and my girl (east coast girl) make regular trips out to Denver/Boulder and Colorado in general to get our normality fix if you want to call it that. That said Kansas City and Omaha are fun cities to visit also, KC has a nice Irish community if that matters too and one or two nice Pubs, which I truly miss here in Wichita.

That said, as others have pointed out, I can see the benefits to those with families, Wichita has everything one would want when it comes to a comfortable standard of living, 400k city and a relatively property low costs (mid-west in general) ensure that. Country dwellers better beware of the hicks though!

Right now where I am in life, late 20's, I need mountains for the skiing, biking, hiking and just general scenery which can sometimes be a drag without here in Kansas.

CompositeJohn

rockonollie wrote: »

I live in rural ohio (but only half hour from Cincinnati) and life is far from boring here.......but as someone said, it depends on your idea of entertainment....

Just be prepared for the weather.....the seasons in Ohio are almost winter, winter, still winter and sun

I'll take some winter from you! This year hasnt been too bad actually until recently up beyond the 100F again lately though, last year was insane with a record amount of days above 100F and touching 113/114F pretty regularly!

Just to add also to my previous post, my main piece of advice to anyone considering a move to the mid-west would be to pick a city with decent airport and good direct flight options, for me that is critical and makes such as difference, as if you do live here, I find one travels far more frequently than if living on the east coast.

Its a minimum of one stop if flying to the east coast from Wichita which adds to travel time significantly, whereas Kansas City for example has many more direct options. Cant beat an east coast city for a direct flight home either, unless you're living in Chicago or down south in Atlanta.

Hells Kitchen

I live in Indianapolis myself. It would be my pick of all the places you mentioned. Living in the middle of nowhere in the Midwest would be boring just like living in many parts of rural Ireland would be boring. Indy is a major city and has everything that goes along with big cities. There's nothing I did in Dublin that I can't do here in Indy. You're welcome to ask me more specific questions if you want?