In my 20s I wouldn't have wanted to live here. I lived in a big cool city. Had a lot of fun. Had to live in tiny, expensive apartments.

In my 30s it's a pretty good place. Has it's problems but it's relatively affordable, plenty of quiet, calm places to walk around. Very good restaurants in a close vicinity for a city it's size. People are laid back. It's got an international airport 12 minutes from my house. I can walk to shops and restaurants without having to buy a $600,000 house.

It has a lot of eyesores but also a lot of really nice areas like the falls downtown, Manito, and some other really nice parks, especially for a city this size. Old houses with character, decent architecture, non-grid roads which is good and bad. The local government puts in a lot of effort to improve the place.

It isn't flat here. The bugs are small and tame compared to a lot of the country. Weather sucks in winter but it's not too bad, while spring, summer and fall are amazing. And I've never lived in a place where so many people have nice gardens.

Everywhere has pros and cons.