Apart from rent or roommates, what do you like most about where you are
living?  What do you dislike most and how would you change it if you could?

19 responses total.

I like the fact that I can go downstairs, be alone, and not listen to stupid
questions.

I like living close enough to Ann Arbor that it's easily accessible, but far
enough from it that I've grown up able to escape to "the country" and able
to be familiar with deer and various other critters.  

I'm not particularly fond of the surrounding community's lack of variation
of religion, race, beliefs, etc.

i like being close enough to downtown ann arbor to walk and still be able to
get there in a reasonable amount of time, yet not in the student ghetto.  i
like being right near the washtenaw dairy (yummy homemade ice cream).

i don't like thet fact that my house is a duplex with a very apartment-like
feel to it rather than a regular house with the associated uniquenesses.

i do like that all the other houses on the block are actual houses, so it just
feels like a nice residential neighborhood and not like a sardine can.

I like that I'm a block from the river and various parks, even though I don't
take advantage of that as much as I should.  I like that I'm within walking
distance of downtown, although I don't take advantage of that much either.
I like that Ann Arbor isn't yet another boring endless Detroit subburb, but
that I can be at my office (in a boring Detroit subburb) in a half hour.  I
like that I can look out my back windows and see a nice grassy back yard, and
then woods beyond that.

I like that it's quiet here, although that's largely due to not having a
downstairs neighbor.  When the downstairs apartment was occupied it was pretty
noisy.  I like having enough space.  I like the way the floor plan is set up.
I like being able to put the computers off in a separate room, so that I can
close them off when I don't feel like dealing with them.  I like that the
phone wiring and electric wiring are both good.

I like that it's my own place, so I can do whatever I feel like doing,
whenever I feel like doing it, without having to worry about bothering
somebody else, or about somebody else bothering me.  I like that I can be
alone when I want to.

All the same, dealing with the landlords here could be a full time job if I
had time to make it one.  I will be looking for some place with the things
I like about this place, but with reasonable landlords, when the lease expires
here.

I like living one mile from downtown.
 
I dislike living in a very small house, with very inadequate closet
space.  If a family with children ever lived in this three bedroom
house, they had much less stuff and a much simpler life.
We are considering moving

I like being surrounded by Leslie Science Center, Traver Creek and the golf
course (with a dirt road) yet still being five minutes from my office
downtown. I even have deer that stroll through my parking lot! Its like living
in the country, but with all the benefits and convenience of living in the
city!

I like that  my building is very secure, and that they haven't caught on to my
having a cat. So no pet fees, yet.

I like that I am in a central location, so it's easy for me to get everywhere.
No place to walk to really, but driving is convenient.  I like that there are
squirrels scampering about my apartment grounds, and that most of my neighbors
are real nice old people. I like that I live on the 2nd floor, so I can look
out and see the street. I like that I hear the train behind my apartment and
street noises, so I feel I am in the city but without all the smog and constant
noise... it's pretty quiet at night. I like that my one bedroom is big enough
for me and has a high ceiling. I like that my cat can perch in front of the
door/window (which opens but doesn't go anyplace) and watch the birds all day
long.

I like being on the western edge of town, just a hop-skip-and-a-jump from my
parents and Adrienne's parents (she's my wife)

I like being only a short distance from the expressway.

I like the jacuzzi in our clubhouse.

I dislike the small closet (it seemed larger when we looked at the place, but
realized that it isn't a very functional closet).

I dislike the gated entry immensely (even though my car fits quite nicely
between the gates!)

I like my location, about 3/4 mile from downtown, and up on a hill.  I like
my big yard with trees.  I don't like one of my neighbors, and I wish I had
a garage or a basement.

I really like having my house, so I can work on it without getting permission
from a landlord.  I also like what the mortgage interest deduction does to
my income tax refund.  I also like having my own space, bathroom, kitchen,
etc.

(This item now linked to Dwellings conference as item 19)

For some reason I wish I had a nice front porch ... I have a deck but
something about setting on the front porch in the summer is cool.

I like living somewhat close to work.

I absolutely hate that our plumbing sucks and I hate that our landlords suck
and will not fix the plumbing.
,

I have a wonderful landlord who keeps the rent very low for us, so most of
us try to do our own minor repairs, and a lot of us do stuff like repaint and
repair cracked walls.  And he even offers to pay for our time as well as our
materials, instead of getting upset at someone for putting in a new ceiling.
I like my neighbors, in my triplex, which is an old house that was split up
into apartments in 1956, and in the triplexes on either side, owned by the
same landlord, so we tend to move between buildings and tell our friends when
there is a vacancy.  I like being close to downtown and the river, but still
having trees and parks around.  But there are a few problems with living some
place not designed as apartments.  I would, if I could, replace the very
creaky floor in the kitchen over my bedroom so  I did not hear the neighbor
feeding her cats at 6:30 a. m. before work, would put back the living room
ceiling light and add a 3-way switch at each door so I did not keep stumbling
into things in the dark, and maybe paint the kitchen walls, ceiling, cabinets
and floor some color other than the current grease-stain yellow, however
practical it is for hiding dirt.  And a bathtub would be nice.

I have lived in several places where there is only one light bulb in the
kitchen. It is placed such that no matter which counter you work at, you are
always working in your own shadow. I would go nuts if it were not for the 
salvation of the range lamp.

I want a requirement, an area lamp, and a lamp over the sink minimum. If there
are two counters, then a lamp over the counter that does not have the sink.

Many people do not like to cook. The lighting contributes to the hassle of
preparing a meal.

I like the big backyard and the woods behind my house.
I like being close enough to walk downtown (app. 1-1/2 mi, 30 min.).

I dislike the poor construction.  The house is not well-insulated, 
and the wiring could have been better.
It could also be a bit bigger, but I can live with it.

...in it. Or, is it *really* small?

I live in a 4 bedroom house on 120 acres of farmland.  The land is in a 
government program so it can't be farmed, or sold off, or used for 
anything but recreation.  A private 120 acre playground.  It's near 
Clinton, 2 miles from my in-laws house, and my mother in law is almost 
always available for babysitting.  Those are all things I like.

We don't own it; we rent.  It's 1 mile from a boy's home called 
Boysville, which is for violent youths.  Occasionally one of them breaks 
out, and steals a car or something.  We're in GTE land for phone 
service, which is vastly inferior to AT&T.  No ISDN where I live.  Those 
are things I don't like.

We can't get cable TV, though we could get a satellite dish.  (Can you 
get cable modem type service through a DSS dish?)  I'm ambivalent about 
cable TV.

Overall, I live in a great place.

You can get satelite Internet service, which has high throughput and high
latency.  You use a phone line and a regular modem for the uplink.
I'm guessing the latency would be too high for telnetting to work well, but
I haven't tried it so I don't know.

I like that I live on 65 acres of the most beautiful land a person could lay
eyes on...I like to watch the changing of the seasons and the changing of the
weather and views.  I like it that only those who really want to see me will
make the effort to come to my house since it is so isolated.  I like the new
addition, new roof, and new outbuilding we have erected.  I dislike the job
of redoing the wiring (which is almost finished...thank goodness), hauling
water during droughts and deer constantly eating my gardens.  However, we are
working on those problems a little at a time...almost have the spring ready
for a pump which will eliminate the water hauling.  I also dislike taping and
spackling sheet rock...but will be happy with the finished results a few
months from now.  **singing**  Almost heven, West Virginia...

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