That's true for most places: "Tourist: oh, this is such a great place to live in!"; "Person actually living there: not really". When you live (read years, not just a few months) there are many small things that you didn't think about or didn't have to deal with if you only lived there for a short span of time.
I don't understand what's the big news here. It's pretty obvious if you also think that by your late 30's you have a lot of experience on your shoulders, and you can use that to plan what's ahead.