having moved to over ten different locations in my life for various reasons, my anxiety has followed me to each respectively. while some places proved to be much more alleviating than others, ultimately the problem lies within myself.
location ( i.e. being around positive influences/people, a personally favorable environment) can and may help, but it won't be an overnight miracle, as there is much more to it than what is external.
I'm always scared to bump into someone i know and haven't seen for a long time , so if i was to move somewhere else my anxiety would be a bit less , and depending on the number of people , the group of age , my anxiety changes alot , right now i live in a really big city , and i used to know alot of people around here , it's really hard for me to go out !
So does your attitude. Those bad memories don't have to rule your MOMENT. =) Moving and changing your location only is an initial patch in the process. But we can control and change how we VIEW the new location. It can be the perfect catalyst for difference. IF we work at it - Physical change--> internal change --> physical. That cycle can be positive and work together if we let it. Else the cycle will repeat wherever we are unless we ultimately fix the internal. All easier said then done, to be sure!
I thought college was going to be different for me. Then in college, I thought working and living in a different city would make it better. When it never changed, I got very depressed.
I think an essential part of progress revolves around building new, positive experiences and thereon memories that will lessen the impact of old ones that may hinder.