Why do Americans live in cold states?

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I cannot understand why Americans choose to live in parts of America that have terrible winters, when they could live in a warm state like Florida or Hawaii? Do any of you live in somewhere like Chicago, Seattle or New Jersey etc? If so why not move?

Some people have to live in those cold places. Otherwise the warmer places will get largely overpopulated.

Why do you live in England if you could move to Bahamas?

Preference. Some people actually like cold. Besides, not all (but some) warmer states have summers where the temperatures get up to 38 degrees Celsius or higher...not nice!

Also, things other than weather might be a factor. You might choose to go to your top choice of university or get a job at an institute in a certain state.

I would do anything to live up north

In some cases, they've lived there for so long that they've adapted to that sort of climate. Some northerners will go out in 32F weather in shorts and a light sweater due to how accustomed they are to it. On the flip side of it though, they do not see the warm weather to the extent that southerners are exposed to, and as such find anything above 80F to be too hot, and as such cannot handle the summer heat of the warmer states.

tl;dr: They are better adapted to the colder states and can't handle the heat of warmer states.

That's like asking why anyone lives in Canada, which I find personally insulting. But not as insulting as when they tell me to go back in my igloo.

Also I don't get why Americans live in states where it's so hot. My parents once went on a trip to Vegas, where it's hot but everyone says "at least it's a dry heat". But because the heat is so dry my mom's lips and throat were always dry and she had to drink a lot of bottled water while the locals poked fun at her.

My uncle and his family must not mind the cold because they live up in the NWT, although my mother said in the summer it gets quite warm because of all the extra daylight.

Why insulting? Igloos are cool!

There is a big difference between living on an island just off the Continent and one in the middle of nowhere. While the weather is better, many people never get used to all the annoyance can move back to where they came from after two or three years. Emergency medical care is a big issue. On Nantucket, where a lot of rich people vacation, they just put you on a helicopter and get you to someplace with real doctors.

I moved as there wasn't much in the way of jobs outside the tourism industry.

New York is where family is and where I have adjusted somewhat to the "culture". The fall leaf changes and the snow are pretty.

I washed my car today. Can't do that in some warm climates due to water shortages.

If I could live in the Bahamas I would. It gets so grey and gold here.

If Canada had a warmer part wouldn't you want to move there?

the main reason people mention “at least it’s a dry heat” is due to heat index. high humidity at high temperatures equate to a higher temperature endured by the body, despite not looking as hot upon the thermometer. high heat along with high humidity is rare here, but is rather dangerous... some die during power outages at such times.

it can get up to 46c during the summers in southern california... have gotten used to traveling on foot and using buses in the heat. though, one has to be careful to time everything meticulously, and drink much water to avoid heat exhaustion. as for painful skin, and bleeding lips... yeah, lip balm, hand/body lotion, and sunscreen are necessities nearly year round.

areas percieved ideal are arizona, california, oregon(portland), and coastal washington... would also like to try living in alaska, as all the photographs of grandmother and grandfather’s boating trips there looked absolutely ethereal.

want to visit new mexico and hawaii... new mexico for having grown up during key developmental years in arizona, and having developed a fascination for the old west. hawaii, because... volcanoes, and there’s much curiosity about their food.

Would you want to live in a warm place that is extremely overpopulated because everyone moved away from the cold places?