So you're trying to impress people? Exactly who cares? stay where you are happy!

Made me think of all of the "wrong" areas that suddenly became the "right" areas. Are you living your life as you want or are you living to other's expectations. If you are trying to do the second you will be the loser every time.

1. Be happy in your house and neighborhood that you love

2. Be such a kind, friendly, caring, enjoyable person to be around that you make people question whether they've been judging your neighborhood wrongly

3. Find yourself some better friends who care about things that are important in life

4. Keep yourself involved with things that are important in life (like working to make life better not only for yourself but for the rest of the world, including and especially those who are less well-off than you)

5. Feel sorry for those people who never got beyond high school and take time out of what could be productive and enlightened lives to taunt people for living in a certain neighborhood

Give a thought to people who actually would say something so shallow and ignorant.

My mother had a great way of handling any remark she considered irreverent…”I’m sorry, I'm not sure I heard your comment correctly. Would you repeat it?” Silence usually followed.

From my dad: “Two cars pull up at a red light…one a Bentley and the other an old VW Beetle. The driver of the Bentley powers down his window and, with a sneer, asks the VW driver why his car is making such a racket. “Oh,” says the VW driver, “the rattle isn’t from the car, it’s from the $300,000 of change in my pocket”.

Do people actually make those kind of derogatory comments, or do you just assume that's what they're thinking? I ask, because I don't have to tell my actual friends where I live (they all know where, and why) and I don't really give a darn what random strangers think. I certainly wouldn't allow their opinions to force me into selling my house.

This is a good time to share what is happening in my “neighborhood”. Older folks now want to downsize. Done with all the “stuff’, they (I) realize what is and isn’t important in life. All the wrong side of the track neighborhoods are in demand. We are buying well loved smaller homes and refreshing them.

OP, stay where you are, enjoy, decorate, plant, paint. The critics will soon be at your door asking if you will sell to them.

Somerville.MA, once referred to as “Slumerville” is a perfect example of “laughing all the way to the bank”.

If you like / love your house... stay.

If others turn up their noses, it reflects on them. Not on you.

Further to what Judy is saying, my neighborhood is, quite literally, on the wrong side of the tracks. The railway (abandoned 30 years ago) used to run behind our house! Our side of the tracks was all workers' housing (there are still a few surviving cottages). Now, it's a highly desirable area (walking distance to Main street, the beach, the medical precinct, etc) and is being redeveloped at pace. And not for peanuts, either.

this should not be an emotional forum for hurt feelings

If you have children, are you happy with your schools? If so and you like the house, who cares?

One life down earth, live for yourself, enjoy every moment. Who cares what other thinks. You probably saved a lot on property tax, and have more money left to buy shoes & clothes.

Why on earth would you dodge the question when asked what part of town you live in? Just answer, I live on a street in the------- neighborhood, which ever street and neighborhood you live in. Its so nice there, and I have great neighbors. It sounds like a decent neighborhood, since you like it there, and you say the street is pretty, so answer the question proudly.

I live in a suburb which is not ranked very high in the snob appeal rankings and I have recently moved from a very desirable neighborhood to a more mixed neighborhood. I just smirk to myself when people look askance at me because I know how much money I have saved. I like my house and my two closest neighbors and I like the convenient location. One advantage of our neighborhood is no one is trying to keep up with the Jones

When my children were in elementary school, we once toured the model homes of an upscale subdivision in a fancier suburb. My kids thought it would be wonderful until I reminded them that we would have to give up our relaxed lifestyle. I would probably need to return to full time employment to pay for that neighborhood. Life was more interesting in our neighborhood because it is populated with other refugees from McMansion Land subdivisions.

Well written JudyG Designs!

OP I hope this thread prompted self-exploration; if you love where you are then then it's so easy to bloom where you are planted.

Very nicely said JudyG. I see nothing in the OP that should have warranted such a snide, unhelpful response.

But, the sourrounding area is a suburb that a lot of people make fun of for being tacky and cheap!

As long as the neighborhood is relatively safe to live in and the neighbors basically nice, who gives a darn what others say?

I agree with everyone above (except for grdnbeth). I once thought it would be great fun to live on Beggarman’s Lane in Sandy Hook, CT.

I used to live in what still has the image of being a swanky part of town -- except it really isn't. It used to be but isn't anymore -- the perception hasn't caught up with the reality.

Recently one of DH's friends was over, and since I barely know him he was trying to make small talk and asked where I used to live (in the context of asking how long I've lived at this house). When I told him, his half-joking reply was "Oh, you must be rich".

I tell this story not so you guys can comment on someone's awkward comment (hey, we've all been there done that...), but to reinforce that it may just be a perception - I'm not rich and the houses in that area don't cost as much as people think they do. More to the point, what mattered most isn't that people knew I lived in what they thought was a posh neighborhood, it was that I never really liked that house nor the neighborhood -- bought it because of the logistics of DH's job and was constantly dreaming of the day I could finally get a house in the area where I really wanted to live in.

So who cares what other people think? If YOU love your house and neighborhood, it's safe, and property values aren't sinking like a ship -- enjoy what you have and don't give what you think others think a second thought!

I moved from a high end, high snob appeal private community to a working class community known, by the uninformed, for trailer parks and sod farms. I found a beautiful home in a lovely neighborhood for hundreds of thousands less than similar homes in my previous suburb. I’ve gotten a few weird looks and comments including surprise that there was any decent housing stock in my new city and another comment that there must be a lot of rednecks here. From my perspective the people who should be embarrassed are those that made these comments.

I have never cared what others think about where I live. Hopefully you can get over it.

I struggled with whether to post this, but ultimately if there is any meaning to come from life’s experiences it is that we can learn and benefit from one another’s experiences. OP, I hope this finds its way to you.

Time is too precious to spend it worrying about what others think. Letting the judgements of others dictate how you feel about something takes away the chance to live as yourself.

I am in my late 40’s and not too long ago was diagnosed with a very rare and extremely aggressive cancer. Of the small number of people who have had this type of cancer, less than 1% are alive in three years. Typical survival is less than a year. Twenty months after diagnosis, I am doing remarkably well and defying expectations! I don’t share this information with everyone, but I am doing so here only to give context to frame my perspective.

I spent much of my life making decisions by asking the question, “What am I supposed to do?” At a certain point, I had the epiphany that living by that question was about pleasing others or living by their “should.” I realized the question on which to be basing my life choices was, “What do I want to do?” Now that my health is compromised, more often than not the question is “What can I do?” because what I want to do is no longer physically possible, but I still make the answer my own.

I think many people are unknowingly driven by “shoulds” for a whole host of reasons - in an effort to conform, garner approval and praise, or an unconscious desire to engender envy from others, not to mention attempting to match a carefully curated presence on [insert type of social media here]. The other side to all of that is looking down at a different way and then calling it “cheap and tacky." There are always going to be people who judge you. About everything and anything. That is life. Whose opinion counts and matters is up to you.

As long as you are not hurting anyone, then choose what you want, what you like and what makes you happy. If you are living based on who you are and what works for you, embrace and celebrate the fact that you have found what so many others are seeking – your true self.

May your home bring you much happiness and joy!

So true. Too many people never reach the point that they do not follow the should. Not good that you reached this point only when you became ill but it will help you make your own decisions on the rest of your life without following the should's of others. When the time comes as it does to everyone may you go in peace.

We moved to an area we were not familiar with. Turns out that, even though we bought a modest house, the town we lived in was considered very desirable. I found this out when I started my first job at a local hospital--someone asked where I lived and the person, visibly impressed, said, "Oh, Fabulousville!" (Not the real name, but you get it). Then we moved out of town. Now when people ask where I live, they just say, "Oh." in response. I realized that I just came to expect a fawning response and I kind of miss it. Ha ha, though--we are very happy with our new location (out of the suburbs and into the woods). That's the important thing.

Gra8tfulgal, that was so very kind of you to share. Thanks for putting things into a broader perspective, and for reminding everyone of just how precious and short our stay here is - too short to be worrying about such insignificant matters. Sending you much love and healing thoughts.

Thank you Gra8tfulgal. May you continue to do well, thrive and live your life on your terms.