This thread is partially inspired by the Where in the World? thread and by a conversation in chat. So, tell us about the place you live!

We have HP'ers spread all over the world, and I think a lot of people struggle to explain the place they live and what it looks like, what it's like to live there, etc. So, show us what it's like in your corner of the world!

Walk us through what we would actually see if we were to come to your place of living, and not what the brochures or stereotypes would show us.

I'll start!

I'm from Omaha, Nebraska in the United States. The Omaha metro area has about 1 million people. It's a very sprawling city, so it takes up a lot of land. It's in the Eastern half of the state, right on the river that separates Nebraska and Iowa. I live in the city, but right on the edge of the city limits. My house is in a subdivision, but we have a half an acre lot because we're right where one subdivision meets another one, so there are three hourses including mine with irregularly HUGE yards!

I grew up in a more historic neighborhood in Omaha, and went to high school downtown at the former site of the state capitol before it moved to Lincoln. The school had about 2500 students, and my graduating class was ~500 students by senior year. The building itself is HUGE (4 floors and 3 sub-basements), and super cool. It centered around a courtyard where we ate lunch, so all of the halls went in a square-shaped circle around the courtyard, on each floor. Contrary to popular belief, the building itself has always been a high school. People always think it used to be the courthouse, but that's not true. Here's are some pictures:

We have a HUGE zoo, which is one of the biggest and frequently rated the best in the country. Omaha also hosts the baseball College World Series every year (which is kicking off for the year this coming Saturday), the Olympic Swimming Trials, and in 2017 we hosted the FEI World Cup Dressage and Show Jumping Finals.

Omaha is sort of a quirky city! We have lots of great restaurants and bars, lots of live music, and tons of festivals. There are also lots of cultural events because it's an extremely diverse city. Despite being a relatively big city, there isn't a ton of traffic or anything, and the cost of living is pretty low! We are frequently rated as one of the best places to live in the US based on cost of living, amenities, and average salaries. We're also the home of Warren Buffet and Berkshire Hathaway who has their huge Shareholders Weekend here every year.

Here are some pictures of Omaha:

Weather-wise, we have 4 distinct seasons, with Winter and Summer being the longest. We have very hot/humid summers, and very cold winters with heavy snow. We are also in "Tornado Alley", and frequently have severe storms. It is rare for tornadoes to hit Omaha because of the river, but it's not unheard of. And with us living right on the edge of the city, we frequently get the brunt of severe storms since there are not as many buildings and hills over here to block the wind.

Most people think of corn when they think of Nebraska, but actually only the Easternmost portion of the state has corn and rich soil. The rest of the state is very sandy and mostly cattle ranches. Beef is our main export (Omaha Steaks, anyone?). We are not the biggest beef exporter in the US, but our high quality beef is what we're known for.

Here are some pictures of Nebraska:

And a couple years ago someone put together this video which is super cool! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fD_iSqmypfg

Your turn! Show us where you live!

I'm next! I think I'm the only one living in Finland (though I'm originally from Montreal, so I'll do two posts), so here's Oulu!

Here's a video that does a pretty good job of showing city life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxQsIr6fJrI

As for Oulu itself... It's a city founded in 1605 by King Charles IX of Sweden. Yep, Sweden. Finland was a part of Sweden for about 700 years. In 1809, it was ceded to Russia and was then known as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland. On December 6, 1917, Finland became a fully independent country, and celebrates 100 years in just under 6 months!

Oulu is an hour north of Helsinki by airplane, and is situated at the mouth of the river Oulujoki, near the Gulf of Bothnia. The metropolitan area is about 100,000 people, but the whole region is about double that amount. The city is known as the capital of Scandinavia because there are no larger cities north of it (except Murmansk, Russia, but I guess Oulu wins because it's big on technology - Oulu's main export is now IT and wellness technology). Did you know that the heart rate monitor was invented by Seppo Säynäjäkangas in 1977? He may not have been born in Oulu, but he did teach electronics at the University of Oulu from 1976 to 1994. Lastly, Oulu also has wood refineries, chemical plants, pharmaceutical companies, paper factories, and steel manufacturers.

Oulu is known for the now-defunct metal band Sentenced, as well as the Air Guitar World Championships. There is also a yearly Irish festival that's been going on for quite a while now! Famous people from Oulu include Saara Aalto (X-Factor UK), Keke Rosberg (F1), hockey players (Mikael Granlund, Joni Pitkänen, Kari Jalonen, and Reijo Ruotsalainen), and football (soccer) players (Aki Lahtinen, Antti Niemi, and Mika Nurmela). Of course Oulu has its own ice hockey team, Kärpät, but it also has a few soccer clubs, a football team (a.k.a. American football!) called the Northern Lights, and a Gaelic football team called the Irish Elks.

To avoid too many pic links, I'll link the Sights section from the Wikipedia page for a few looks at Oulu: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oulu#Sights

We also have a beach, Nallikari, which is about 15 minutes by car from my house

We have a viking restaurant called Harald

An appetizer plate from Harald's

The main part of downtown, the town square

And finally, an aerial view

I'm third!

I'm from Daytona Beach, Florida, known as an iconic city due to being the birthplace of NASCAR and home to the legendary Daytona 500 and World's Most Famous Beach. It is also considered the "hub" due to its perfect location of neighboring several counties including Orlando, New Symrna Beach, Deland, Ocala and Cape Canaveral to name a few. Daytona has many stigmas that surround it due to the fact of brochures, advertisements and Hollywood movies; when many people think of Florida they think of white sandy beaches, perfect weather and mega cities with lots of attractions.

Contrary to this popular belief of expansive cities there is also many expanses of flat, sawgrassed country fields or quiet subdivisions. My particular stomping ground is this country expanse, which is on the border of New Symrna Beach, Daytona Beach and Deland. One of the most common sights for me is various horse/training farms {Quarter Horses, Friesians, Paso Finos, Arabians and crossbreeds}, multiple cattle ranches {though we are not known for any sort of beef exportations} and Alpaca Farms. I also live right next to a showing facility called Silver Sands Bridle Club {SSBC} that regularly hosts various shows every year on the weekends. Below are some pictures:

Daytona Beach and several of its surrounding counties are very rich in its history, so if you're a history nerd, this place is for you! There is a beach side city that is just across from the Causeway is what is known as Old Daytona or South Beach Street. The home to many Mom & Pop or hole in the wall shops that you knew as a kid reside here along with the Halifax Historical Museum. It's amazing for looking for antique clothing, buying hand-crafted chocolates, looking through art galleries and overall learning about the history of Daytona Beach & the sport of NASCAR. It is also right across from the Jackie Robinson Ballpark and the Riverfront Park that are divided by the Halifax River.

Stepping away from Daytona you can go to the Horse Capital of the World, which is Ocala, Florida. As the name suggests, it is known for its equine farms and it is the winter home of Thoroughbred horses that are exported from Lexington, Kentucky. One of the most famous non-TB related farms that currently resides in Ocala, however, is the Gypsy Gold Breeding Farms, which is home to several famous Gypsy Vanners who were the first born in the United States {Fun Fact!: This farm was the inspiration for my GV lines here on HP!}. In New Symrna Beach, there is an old Historic town known affectionately as Canal Street, which hosts car shows on the 2nd Saturday of every month by the East Coast Cruisers Club (ECCC) and home to the well-known traditional Flea Market & Art Show. Finally, in Cape Canaveral, there is the Seashore National Park that is home to various native wildlife, Playa Linda Beach {which is great for beach- combing} and also talks about the native indians that used to live here, such as their Turtle Mounds.

Now for Montreal!

This is the city in which I was born and raised. This year, Montreal is 375 years old. It's the biggest city in the Province of Quebec. The city is an island, but if we count the offshore area that makes up the Greater Montreal Area, the population is about 4 million (much bigger than my precious Oulu! lol).

Most people, including myself, are bilingual, at least to some extent. Most of us have either English or French as a first language, and many others have a different mother tongue. Some of us (like yours truly) speak more than two languages.

 Montreal is a very diverse city with a rich culture. We have more restaurants per capita than New York City! Our nightlife is raved about by tourists all the time. Of all the largest cities in Canada, Montreal is the most vibrant and the most affordable to live in! We are known for our obsession with the city's hockey team, the Montreal Canadiens, affectionately nicknamed the Habs. They have won the most Stanley Cups out of all the other teams, a whopping 24! I just wish they'd win one again soon...

ANYWAY. Montreal is also known for pharmaceuticals, aerospace, design, commerce, and finance. It has been named a UNESCO City of Design, that's how fancy and pretty Montreal is. It was the host of the 1967 International  and Universal Exposition and the 1976 Summer Olympics. It hosts the Canadian Grand Prix of Formula One, the Montreal Jazz festival, and the Just For Laughs festival annually.

Picture time!

A view of downtown from Mount Royal

Bonsecours market

Place Jacques Cartier (downtown/Old Montreal)

The Basilica

Beaver Lake at Mount Royal (this mountain is very popular area all year round)

Place des Arts

Saint Joseph's Oratory


My team!

I'll go fourth!

I live in the United Kingdom (West Midlands) thirty minutes south of the medieval town of Shrewsbury. Shrewsbury is famous not only for the Ditherington Flax Mill which was constructed in 1797 and is the very first iron framed sky scraper in the world (known as the 'grandfather of skyscrapers), but also for being the birthplace of the evolutionist and naturalist, Charles Darwin.

Shropshire is one of the most beautiful counties (in my opinion) in the UK and boasts a number of AONB's (areas of outstanding natural beauty) and construction works. For example, The Iron Bridge in Ironbridge Gorge was the first bridge in the world constructed amidst the industrial revolution in 1779 and is the worlds first major bridge to be made out of cast iron.

I have also lived in Warwick, Warwickshire. Another beautiful county that boasts a beautiful medieval castle which was developed by William the Conqueror in 1068.

ok so as most of you know im aussie and i live near the beach so why not make you all want to come visit me lol cause my part of the world is one of the most beautiful lol

this is the overlook over sunshine beach dog beach the one closest to me, this pic is taken fom a head land called lion rock.

this is our beautiful river always blue and you can see the bottom up tp 10 meters deep.

this is a little beach in the national park just before granite bay.

and an overview of the main noosa area, noos district itself is way to big to show lol

I am currently in Sydney NSW and you all know what the opera house and harbour bridge look like.

But next week we're moving back home to Bathurst NSW which is approx 2 hours from Sydney. The most iconic thing about Bathurst is the Mount Panorama motor racing circuit.







It probably doesn't mean much to you guys but i'm a huge V8 Supercars nut and I love it there :P

Me next! I live in southern Minnesota.

Minnesota is known for its long, cold winters

and short, hot summers

Minnesotans use every ounce of summer up, though! Minnesota has 11,842 lakes. And if we used the criteria that our Wisconsin neighbors followed, we would technically have 21,871 lakes!! (We only consider our lakes that are 10 acres or larger while they consider any lakes 5 acres or larger.)

1 in 5 Minnesotans owns a boat and and probably 1 in 3 owns a cabin or stays at a lake in their RV over the summer months haha

While our state capitol is in St. Paul

Our largest city is its next door neighbor, Minneapolis

Much of where I live, south central Minnesota, is farm land, because of the rich, black dirt. I live on a farm as well and my dad grows corn, soybeans and raises beef cattle

Minnesota farmers also grow other crops such as wheat, sunflowers, and sugar beets!

Sunflowers are mostly grown in the north western portion of the state, while corn and soybeans are usually found in the more central to southern portion of the state. Wheat is grown throughout the state as it can grow in most any soil.

Most farms and country places have a windbreak around the property. Trees are planted along the north and west side to keep the cold northwest winter wind out. 

This is our farm (and windbreak) from above - google earth really needs to update though as this picture is over 5 years old haha

 Other iconic areas in Minnesota include Duluth, along the North Shore of Lake Superior

Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis

Grand Portage Falls, along the northernmost border of Minnesota next to Canada

Minneopa Falls in Mankato, which is about 30 minutes from me 

Some of the most genetically pure American Bison in the country reside at Minneopa and Blue Mounds State Parks 

Lastly, some of the most beautiful fall colors occur alll over the state, but especially in southeastern Minnesota, as well as along the Mississippi, Minnesota, and St. Croix rivers!