[maistocars]

These days, absolutely nothing..........

[Mlundberg]

Taxes, taxes, taxes. Who would want to go back north?

[Spalumbos62]

It's really a shame the right person isn't reading this. Almost everyone from the north stated they miss the authentic food, ie; pizza, subs etc.
What a goldmine opportunity for the right pizza shop(s)
I grew up in Utica ny, better known as "little italy"....oh my you could get anything there. Got married and moved about 100miles away and ANY time we drove thru we had to stop at Napoli's for tomato pie, or hempstrauts for half moon cookies. Many of you may have heard of Wegman's, the unbelievable grocery store originally out of rochester ny, well they had everything and eventually could make ...anything! Let me tell you, they couldn't come close to Utica tomato pie or half-moon cookies.
Anyway, my thought is if an authentic shop went in down here...omg, what a killing they would have!
Bon appetite 😋

[toeser]

We still go back 4-5 months each year, and will continue to until I drop.

While we really like living in The Villages, our northern home does offer much better and more varied shopping, far more competitive grocery stores, and wonderful hiking and biking trails without the noise, pollution, and danger of golf carts.

[Marmaduke]

I sometimes miss the "era" of things we loved back then, but they are only heartfelt memories now.
Gone, but not forgotten. Sadly, no generation will experience anything as wonderful as we had.

Many of the Depression and Post-War Institutions that made the City of Pittsburgh great are no longer.

Of the bygone days, those of us who enjoyed them KNEW they we're really special. We didn't take them for granted.
It was a big city, small town atmosphere where everyone was friendly, quite like TV.
(Of course, there's always Some!)

Tailgaiting before the Steeler games at Three Rivers Stadium, the Boys of Summer Pirate Games on a warm Spring nights and the Penguins at The Civic Arena.

The Pgh. MARATHON and the Great Race.
The 3 Rivers at Point State Park, visited as often, as North and South Parks.

HOT Mancini's Bread, Sunseri and Primanti Brothers in the Strip, Donahues on 5th Avenue. The Original Oyster House in Market Square (est. 1933) FOR THE BEST Chowder and Fish Sandwiches.

Shopping in Downtown Pittsburgh during Christmas Season and marveling at their mechanical window displays.

Carnegie Libraries, Museums and the Duquesne Incline all visited at least once a year, as a tradition.

The Original HotDog Shoppe near Pitt.
The Pittsburgh Press. (My Dad set Page One as a Printer and brought home a Free Paper every single day for 30 years.)

My Testimony-
It was the Best Of Times....
And
You Can't go home again, but if you were from there, may your Pittsburgese stays with yens forever!

Go Bucs.
Go Steelers.
MARIO, Franco, and Willie.

[judyflorida]

I miss walks in the woods, swimming in clear lakes, apples from the tree, and good seafood.

[chrissy2231]

Originally Posted by Michael G.

What do you miss about your northern home state compared to living in Florida?
I think living in Florida is great at my age, but there are times I reminisce after 7 years down here.
We travel back, but it just isn't the same.

For me it has to be the 4 seasons, not the snow and cold, but the change in weather, the fall colors that never seem to last long enough.
The farm fields in summer watching the crops progress from month to month, or the smell of freshly cut hay and miles of corn fields.

ONLY snowshoeing & pizza

[chrissy2231]

Originally Posted by Chamo

The food especially and for sure the medical care.

I think Villages Health doctors are the best & glad I have Med Advantage.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by Marmaduke

I sometimes miss the "era" of things we loved back then, but they are only heartfelt memories now.
Gone, but not forgotten. Sadly, no generation will experience anything as wonderful as we had.

Many of the Depression and Post-War Institutions that made the City of Pittsburgh great are no longer.

Of the bygone days, those of us who enjoyed them KNEW they we're really special. We didn't take them for granted.
It was a big city, small town atmosphere where everyone was friendly, quite like TV.
(Of course, there's always Some!)

Tailgaiting before the Steeler games at Three Rivers Stadium, the Boys of Summer Pirate Games on a warm Spring nights and the Penguins at The Civic Arena.

The Pgh. MARATHON and the Great Race.
The 3 Rivers at Point State Park, visited as often, as North and South Parks.

HOT Mancini's Bread, Sunseri and Primanti Brothers in the Strip, Donahues on 5th Avenue. The Original Oyster House in Market Square (est. 1933) FOR THE BEST Chowder and Fish Sandwiches.

Shopping in Downtown Pittsburgh during Christmas Season and marveling at their mechanical window displays.

Carnegie Libraries, Museums and the Duquesne Incline all visited at least once a year, as a tradition.

The Original HotDog Shoppe near Pitt.
The Pittsburgh Press. (My Dad set Page One as a Printer and brought home a Free Paper every single day for 30 years.)

My Testimony-
It was the Best Of Times....
And
You Can't go home again, but if you were from there, may your Pittsburgese stays with yens forever!

Go Bucs.
Go Steelers.
MARIO, Franco, and Willie.

That's it, I'm going home! Actually, most of those things are still there, along with cleaner air and other improvements. The Strip, the Bucs, the Stillers, the Pens... (Our son, a mariner, has taken his Terrible Towel all over the world.) The inclines, the museums. Good restaurants, excellent family pizza places, not chains. Light Up Night. The people never changed, still friendly.


At least at the old Horne's they still put up the Christmas tree on the corner of the building. Kaufmann's clock is still there. I do miss the big three department stores, though.


But we can and have gone back.

[Larchap49]

Originally Posted by Michael G.

What do you miss about your northern home state compared to living in Florida?
I think living in Florida is great at my age, but there are times I reminisce after 7 years down here.
We travel back, but it just isn't the same.

For me it has to be the 4 seasons, not the snow and cold, but the change in weather, the fall colors that never seem to last long enough.
The farm fields in summer watching the crops progress from month to month, or the smell of freshly cut hay and miles of corn fields.

Moved to Clearwater area in 93 and to Villages in 2020. Left CT and never looked back. When we visit it feels like that state is stuck in a time warp, people my age have aged more, I don't really miss the acreage and barn I had anymore because I just think of the work to maintain it would be. My wife misses the Tampa Bay area shopping but not the North. Surely don't miss the weather. FL is the best thing we did for our health and longevity.

[Taltarzac725]

A number of neighbors or dog park friends went back north. Often to help family members with their medical problems. One woman moved out of the Villages and now is back again in the Villages after down- sizing her properties here. A larger house in the Villages is too much work so she moved into a Villa.

[tophcfa]

Good health care and beautiful lakes to swim in.

[Regorp]

Originally Posted by Michael G.

What do you miss about your northern home state compared to living in Florida?
I think living in Florida is great at my age, but there are times I reminisce after 7 years down here.
We travel back, but it just isn't the same.

For me it has to be the 4 seasons, not the snow and cold, but the change in weather, the fall colors that never seem to last long enough.
The farm fields in summer watching the crops progress from month to month, or the smell of freshly cut hay and miles of corn fields.

I don't miss snow, ice, cold.....sorry wrong direction, so I don't miss anything living here in paradise.

[HJBeck]

Friends and memories

[paminix]

Originally Posted by ThirdOfFive

My wife has a t-shirt with the logo "Its weird being the same age as old people".

To us, that says it all. Back home in Minnesota, living less than an hour from George Floyd "Ground Zero", the living situation was far less than ideal. Feeling that you had to carry a pistol every time you went anywhere near the MSP metro was a real pain in the bleep, but that is where the best restaurants and shopping (outer ring suburbs, anyway) were. The problem was that the ground zero mentality and environment spreads; even our sleepy little town was not immune.

Other than that the physical challenges were enormous and were getting more so as the months and years went by. Living in a four-bedroom rambler with a huge yard and deck meant maintenance and upkeep that I was progressively less able to do, not to mention having to shovel snow for six months out of the year and driving in conditions that most southerners cannot even imagine let alone cope with. High taxes on income, property and just about every other thing you can imagine. Law enforcement that was becoming pretty sketchy, even in our sleepy little town. All in all, being a senior citizen in that environment was becoming a challenge that was getting progressively harder to meet. It is HARD being old in Minnesota.

But here? I love those "severe weather warnings" when the mercury is supposed to plunge to (gasp!) THIRTY DEGREES ABOVE ZERO. Golf and tennis year round. Anything you could possibly need or want within a 15-minute golf cart ride. Environments tailored to the needs of Seniors. Flowers blooming year round. Excellent law enforcement for the most part. A tan that I don't have to buy. Folks who offer you a ride when you're walking in the summer. NOT having to constantly look back over your shoulder. Clubs for any interest you can possibly imagine. Not having to wake up at 2:00 AM to a strange sound coming from the vicinity of the garage. Lots of people of our age group. Arthritis pain nearly nonexistent for the most part. And so on.

Sure, family is back there, but it is a short airplane ride in either direction and we see a lot of them. Other than that? After three years here I cannot envision myself back in that situation. It's not whether or not you can go back. For us, we don't want to.

I grew up 5 blocks from the George Floyd incident in a house my grandfather built. We then moved to the "new" suburb of Richfield. My parents bought a house for $13,500 that recently sold for $350,000. I visit my best friend from jr. high once a year. Her daughter teaches Spanish at Richfield High to students who struggle with English. She spends most of her time breaking up fights among the blacks, hispanics and hmong students. She has 4 caucasian students. No longer are there carefree days and firefly lit evenings for children to enjoy without fear. I go back once a year and love the lakes, fishing, and friends. But the world is different now, and as they say, "There is no there, there."