Where did you grow up?

Born in Chicago Il. but my heart has always been in Wisconsin where we lived for several years before ending up back in Chicago in the late 70's.
But it's way too cold there in the winter, so I've been in the swamps of Florida since the mid 80's and haven't regretted it a bit since.
 
I grew up in Pasadena, CA, home of the Rose Parade and Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
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I have lived most of my life in this area with the exception of living a few years in Chico CA which has a long history as home to Chico State University being a party school. Bidwell Park in Chico is where the original movie Robin Hood was filmed. This is Sherwood forest.
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I also lived in Palmdale CA for 10 years, home of Skunk Works, the Stealth Bomber, SR71 Blackbird and many other well known aircraft. It was a common occurrence to see the Stealth Bomber and Stealth fighter fly over head.
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I currently reside very close to my hometown of Pasadena in an area known as the San Gabriel Valley. I commute daily to Long Beach to earn a living. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!
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A little town in Western Illinois. About 15 miles from the Mississippi River. Population 3600. My bride and I both graduated HS there as did both our boys. 2002 the two of us (boys in college and out of house) moved to NE Illinois. Wisconsin border is only a few miles away. We moved from a county of 15000 to a county of 850,000. I miss small town life.
 
We moved just about every year between various crummy apartment complexes in northeast NJ until finally I started the 6th grade in Brick, NJ around 1975.
Aside from a few short term residences around this area as a young adult, I have been here since.
It is one town off the ocean and borders Toms River NJ where the moronic Jersey Shore show was filmed.

It is suburban sprawl but not nearly as tightly packed in / smaller lots / houses close together, as the towns in northern / ne NJ, which is an extension of the NYC metro area.
 
Well, I've visited a few of these towns - or if not, places close enough that I have a flavour. I can't really imagine an itinerant childhood, but I guess whatever way you live is what's normal. Kids are resilient. I guess Hackmaster was born in the home of City Blues, and has moved on to country blues (or whatever you call it in the swamps).
 
I grew up in Rockford, Illinois, just a few miles south of Wisconsin.

Rockford and Peoria alternate every few years as the second largest city in the state. I don’t know which city currently holds that title.

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Incidentally, the band, Cheap Trick, hails from Rockford. I actually knew Bun E. Carlos’s sister. She’s a good musician, in her own right. She plays violin.

I lived both in the city and country while there. However, most of my years from about 8 years old and upward I lived to the south of the city and was technically outside of the city limits, though we had a Rockford mailing address. We were surrounded by seemingly endless acres of very flat farmland which are covered in some of the most beautiful corn in the summer. The glaciers in the ice ages were very generous to that area. When they receded, they left some of the most nutrient-rich soil on the planet.

Today I live in southern Maryland. I’ve lived here nearly as long as I lived in Illinois. Maryland has its own charm. It’s not as agrarian as Illinois is, it has more hilly and wooded areas. There is also some rich history here. I also like that is close enough to the Atlantic Ocean that I can take the family to the beach without much hassle. I really like that.
 
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DonP said:
I was wondering what lands had shaped everybody here. I think that where you started out has a huge influence on what you are. I may live in London, but my origins are here, and it still calls me.

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Wow, so many interesting places!!! I have no such tales of incredible places. I grew up on a little ranch at the base of the foothills in Porterville, California. I've traveled a lot, but that's where I am from...

Here's a video somebody posted about my hometown. Please mute the music, it's awful, but some great views here and I could tell you a about a hundred 'easter eggs' in that video...

The family farm is just on the other side of the hill shown at 1:47 in the video

The old Zalud House at 2:27 is a perfectly preserved Victorian era home donated to the city by the family.

At 2:40, you are looking south towards Bakersfield (40 miles away) along State Highway 65

At 2:50, ducks in the pond at Murray Park

At 3:02, this is the dirt fire control road that runs behind the family's land

 
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Lake Mohawk home to Perch Brim -- small mouth bass........dirt bike trails--- water skiing -- ice skating --- basket ball--tennis--football-- sled riding-- fort building and doing shite OUTSIDE-- something alien to the youngsters of today -----
of course that was all in America "B.C." --- before computers---
 
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