If I would stay in the United States I would live right where I am living now in Western Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh. Even though I grew up in Ohio, it was a little town Martins Ferry right on the Ohio-West Virginia border, it was only 60 miles from Pittsburgh. You could say that I have been in this area for my entire life. A four year sojourn to Columbus to go to Veterinary School and a 6 month stay in Athens Ohio to finish my pre-vet curriculum at Ohio University and that has been all the places that I have lived. There are so many pluses to living in Western Pa. that you could write a book on the subject. Here is the short list. The cost of living is more than reasonable especially for such things as housing and recreation. There are lots of things to do culturally and recreationally. It is without a doubt the best place to play golf. There are around 90 to 95 public courses with 90 minutes from my house and most of them are very reasonably priced. The weather is better than what most people think it is. Our winters are not that bad, and the most important thing is we do not get that disastrous destructive type of weather, such as hurricanes and tornadoes. Over the years we have gotten what is referred to as a microburst that has caused some damage, and some flooding here and there, but overall compared to a lot of areas of the country we have been spared. We have very successful sport teams. In my lifetime I have been able to watch 6 Super Bowl champions, 3 World Series champions, and 5 Stanley Cup champions. Having said all that there is one drawback. Pittsburgh happens to be in the state of Pennsylvania. As I use to tell many of my clients, I love Pittsburgh, I just wish it was in Ohio. Not that Ohio is any kind of utopia, far from it, but Pennsylvania is one of the most backward states in the union. If something is good they are in the bottom 5. If something is bad they are in top 5. This does not say that this totally offsets all the attributes of living in this wonderful area. It just keeps it from being perfect.
If my family were not here, or if I had no family, then I would probably live in the United Kingdom. If you have to ask why then you must be living in such a remote area that you’re not reading this anyway. I would go into more detail, but I have to get ready to play golf. Check the calendar, its November 14th, I am going to play golf, and with the winter rates, it is going to cost me $16 with a cart for 18 holes. Beat that all you southern rebels.
The Goofy Game of Golf/Life Searching for the Answer 