Do you live where you want to live?

This may make me a journalism snob, but I refuse to take a job in a location I don't want to be in. I've done the move-across-country-to-a-place-where-you-don't-know-a-soul thing and I have learned that my sanity will be in jeopardy if I do that again. It's not worth it, no matter how fantastic the job.

That said, I live in a one-grocery store town that lacks even a Walgreens. Nearest Target is an hour away. Small-town mentality causes parents to call in asking where the middle school track results are. Get me out of here!

 

I've lived in great towns but had a crappy job. I've in crappy towns with crappy jobs and I'm currently in a good town with a great job. It'll take a lot to make me leave here, probably a job that will put me within 3-4 hours of my parents in Maryland. Otherwise, I think I've landed where I want to be.

 

I'm in the general area I dreamed of living in when I was a kid. For years, my career arc suggested that it would remain just that, a dream. But when a certain set of circumstances allowed it -- the right girl, the right time, the right job -- here's where I ended up. It's difficult to imagine the scenario that would lead me away from here, but then, I've been around long enough to know that plotting out one's life can be a foolhardy pursuit.

 

I never knew slappy had a romantic side!

 

If you're living somewhere where you're happy living, there's no reason to move or look elsewhere. It should be personal happiness (in terms of living situation) first, job prestige second. Only reason to move away from a community/region you're happy living in is if a Top 10 (or 20) paper comes to you. Been at the same paper just shy of 18 years (it will be 18 in Sept.), living in the same county for all 18 and I wouldn't want to move anywhere else. There are a ton of dailies within an hour of me, so moving up to a bigger paper might make my commute longer, but if I was looking for another job, it wouldn't be outside my general area.

 

I've worked for two papers. The first was my hometown paper. It was nice for a while, probably because I was getting acclimated to the biz. Around year five, I desperately wanted out. I'm at my current stop only because the paper is helping me pay for college. Once I'm finished, I'm out. This place isn't bad for people raising a family, but it does nothing for the under-30 crowd. If I have to spend more than two years here, I might lose my mind.

 

Ha! My current boss has moved 11 times in 19 years. I'm headed down quite the same path, I do believe.

 

I've moved three times in 22 months.

 

In fairness, the question in the thread title is VERY different from the question in the poll.

 

I'm still a prick. Now leave me alone.

 

Was a vagabound early on, but am going on 30 years at my current gig. It's got everything I need and want. I ain't leaving (at least of my own volition).

 

I've lived in three cities for my entire life and I cannot imagine moving anywhere else.

I have turned down two jobs - both several states away - because I want to be where I'm at now.

Way I see it, my family is within a short drive and you cannot replace or substitute spending time with your family.