Nope, I've lived in small and big cities out West, and I still visit out there yearly, but I'll only keep it visits unless I get a substantial raise that's above and beyond. Growing up, my mindset was different, but I definitely appreciate Springfield now that I've moved back and I'm more involved in the community and have a group of similar-minded friends as a late 20s adult. Out west, like in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Denver, San Francisco, I see a lot of sadness in the permanent and growing homeless populations. Everyone is being priced out unless they have generational benefits like homes or pooling resources.

Springfield has shitty aspects of it, but that happens everywhere, including the far right&religious groups that pisses a lot of people off. But Springfield offers a great cost of living mixed with enough amenities that life isn't too bad. We've got some amazing access to the public outdoors, like Greenway trails, lakes, and rivers; and we have some really great hikes within 1-2 hours. We don't have natural resource challenges to the degree the West is increasingly having (water, energy, climate change effects). We have all the major consumer amenities (Costco, fancy whole foods type stores, movie theaters, decent accessible airport), and major concerts/shows are just a few hours away. Plus we've got a dozen decent breweries, a decent downtown that continues to improve, and a great restaurant scene if they can survive the coming recession 🙃

I have found that inserting myself into the community through volunteering and civic engagement really increased my feelings of wanting to fight for the good I see in Springfield. We have a lot of people in the trenches who are always fighting for a better Springfield.