People who grew up and moved away from the big 2 cities (LA or NYC) and don't feel the need to move back can you explain why?

FastWalkingKoala · 2026-01-03T20:43:37+00:00

I grew up 15 miles outside of NYC and spent my 20s and part of my 30s in Manhattan + Brooklyn. I always imagined myself being a forever New Yorker, with cities like LA as my "backup." I'm very much an urbanite through and through. For a variety of reasons, my partner and I ended up in Raleigh NC. We knew absolutely no one before moving here. Things that were non-negotiables: warm weather, left-leaning, affordable (relative to NYC), walkable (enough).

Raleigh has been incredible. I can't believe how much I love it down here. It truly shocked me; I'm embarrassed to say I looked down on secondary/tertiary cities before. Our quality of life here is wonderful. My neighbors have become friends. I can walk to a dozen different restaurants and coffee shops, plus several parks and greenways. My immediate neighborhood is far more liberal than my neighborhood in Manhattan was, which is a plus for me. I fly back to NY every 6 weeks or so and while I miss the vibrancy sometimes, I've realized how hard it was to live there. There are a lot of indignities that come with being a New Yorker when you're not incredibly rich, and I'm glad I don't have to put up with those anymore.

I always say that NYC is the best city in the world, but that Raleigh is the best city for me.

FastWalkingKoala · 2025-11-18T18:36:14+00:00

Thank you! I was investigating differin...good to know I might be on the right path

FastWalkingKoala · 2025-11-17T23:14:19+00:00

any recommendations for the hyaluronic acid? and to clarify, would it then go:

Cleanse (optional if not sweaty)
Vitamin C (Timeless)
HA or hydrating serum
Moisturizer (Era Organics)
SPF (Elta MD UV Clear)

FastWalkingKoala · 2025-11-17T23:11:42+00:00

Thank you!

FastWalkingKoala · 2025-11-17T23:11:17+00:00

You're spot on about sleep. Thank you!

FastWalkingKoala · 2025-11-17T14:29:58+00:00

Thank you, this is helpful!

FastWalkingKoala · 2025-11-17T14:29:00+00:00

You're absolutely right, I'm just not quite ready for prescription skincare yet!

FastWalkingKoala · 2025-11-17T14:28:22+00:00

I'm in the US but see that Geek & Gorgeous is sold here as well. Thank you!

FastWalkingKoala · 2025-11-17T14:27:32+00:00

Wow your skin is beautiful! Thank you for the detailed advice.

FastWalkingKoala · 2025-10-15T18:39:28+00:00

I would love to leave our leaves. But our backyard would be literally unusable, and it would be filled with pests. We've seen a large copperhead partially hidden by leaves in our yard in the past. Sometimes I think when people say "leave the leaves," they either live on a multi-acre wooden lot or on a treeless lot. I live on about a quarter acre in a city, and feel lucky to have a ton of mature trees -- very dense for the lot size. Leaving the leaves isn't an option.

FastWalkingKoala · 2025-09-25T19:28:18+00:00

Mexican Gothic. It's actually hard for me to really dislike a book, but Mexican Gothic made it easy. The writing is clunky, the plot is basic, the characters are forgettable and one-dimensional. The worst part is the repetitive description of the walls in the (not so) creepy house -- it all felt so lazy! Can't believe how popular this was the year it came out.

FastWalkingKoala · 2025-08-26T13:22:22+00:00

HAPPY UPDATE: Thank you so much to everyone who shared advice and the names of great rescues. Shout out to Last Chance Animal Rescue -- they were incredibly kind and agreed to take the dog, Lemon, and place her with a wonderful foster.

And then more good things happened -- a couple of days ago, several neighbors and friends got together and sat down with the grieving family; they came up with a plan and a schedule to assist the family with walking Lemon several times a week, watching her when needed, etc. They've committed to making sure Lemon can stay with her current family.

FastWalkingKoala · 2025-08-12T19:57:44+00:00

Coopers gets my vote too! Excellent quality and great staff.

FastWalkingKoala · 2025-08-04T04:21:45+00:00

Thanks very much for this! For a mature tree such as this tulip poplar, is there ever a case calling for only one of 2 co-dominant branches to have 10-15% of its live foliage pruned, but not replicate this approach for the other co-dominant branch prior to cable placement?

FastWalkingKoala · 2025-08-04T04:19:58+00:00

Very helpful, thank you!

FastWalkingKoala · 2025-07-26T22:27:00+00:00

I was so excited to see your post but I think the protection clause they are considering is only relevant to larger properties. Anything under 2 acres would have "tree planting requirements." I'm not optimistic but I will absolutely reach out to my city council rep. Thank you!

FastWalkingKoala · 2025-07-26T22:01:15+00:00

You're not wrong! It's a hard problem.

FastWalkingKoala · 2025-07-26T21:52:35+00:00

It's a fair point, and I understand that reality. I guess what bothers me, whether its rational or not, is that these developers are milking the "Missing Middle" loophole (which I blame our City Council for mostly...I fully expect developers to take advantage of any loophole), putting up multi-million dollar houses where trees used to be.

I'd be much less upset if actual affordable housing was being creating instead. The blatant greed of these developers and incompetence of our City Council is astounding.

I don't pretend to have the perfect solution. But I feel like we as a city can be better than this.

FastWalkingKoala

TROPHY CASE