I lived in Venice for 3 years and I miss it every day. Some of the other answers pointed out many flaws of living here and I’ll try not to repeat myself but I also want to point out a couple of things:

• I’m no Venetian and probably a true Venetian would see me as a foreigner;
• I was there studying so I probably had a more relaxed schedule than say someone who has a job but still had a schedule to respect;
• I lived for a year in Dorsoduro and then for 2 at Lido.

That being said, I’m gonna start with something odd: most of the times, I really didn’t mind the tourists. Living in Lido meant that more often than not, I would get off the ferry in San Marco stop (it’s definitely faster to walk than go by ferry) but I really didn’t mind to walk through the crowd for basically just 10 minutes a day. Tourists often stay on the classic path (Rialto-San Marco area) so it’s really easy to avoid them and enjoy the “authentic” part of the city.

Yes, it’s odd (to say the least) to see some of them sitting pretty much everywhere and if I were a tourist I wouldn’t do that (neither in Venice nor in any other city in the World) but that’s more a matter of proper manners than anything else.

As someone pointed out, there are many many tourists every year in Venice so, of course, the town gets pretty crowded but one shouldn’t forget that the town basically lives because of its tourists. Yes, there are a lot of students in Venice but we’re not really known for indulging in luxurious restaurants and hotels so I wouldn’t say tourists are evil because the city is basically still alive because of them. Also, Venice is so peculiar and special that it’s understandable everyone’s desire of seeing it: it’s not an amusement park so it’s not like one could set a limit of daily entries!

That being said, I condemn people walking naked, swimming in canals (canals are Venice’s roads: would you walk naked in the street or walk in a highway?), sleeping on monuments (again, it’s a problem of manners!) but I really didn’t mind if one stopped in front of me suddenly to take a picture or simply admire the view. Venice is full of hidden treasures: if you don’t stop every 10 seconds (of course I’m exaggerating) to admire the view, then you’re not really enjoying it.

Someone pointed out that living in Venice is expensive. Well, let me tell you something: my rent in Dorsoduro (single room) costed 300€ in an apartament with 4 rooms and 2 bathrooms. Not so bad, considering that I now live in Milan and pay 500€ for pretty much the same. A spritz (a cocktail with Aperol and white wine) usually costed me between 1 and 2€, again not so bad considering that in Milan I pay 5 for the exact same thing! Of course, it’s silly to want to eat say in San Marco Square and wanting to pay a tramezzino just 1,50€ but again it’s really easy to scout places around the city when it doesn’t cost that much. Of course, being a student money are always an issue but in Venice I could get away spending 50€ or less per week for all my expenses (rent and bills excluded of course) without feeling like I had to cut on expenses or I had to stay home one night because I had no money left.

It can get flooded but in 3 years I only experienced one really bad flood when I was already living in Lido. My parents were coming to visit and in Cannaregio water arrived at the end of my thighs!! Before picturing terrible scenarios, I must say that I’m petite (1.58) but still it was pretty bad. On this matter, I want to say that I would have appreciated if the city would put broadwalks in all streets and not only the ones where tourists are most likely to walk. But other than that, it’s not really this big a deal.

Often I’d put rain boots because I was afraid the city would get flooded (if you sign up, the city sends you texts when this happens) but then it didn’t and the only problem was often that I put on rain boots for nothing and they’re not exactly the most comfy shoes one would wear. (NOTE! Floods have little to nothing to do with rain: they happen because of tides.)

I never really get tired of the water because it’s not really an issue. It’s like one would get tired of higways: it’s not really possible! Of course, you’re afraid of water, I wouldn’t sugget moving or visiting the city but other than that you should be fine. I remember that my mom was always afraid I’d fall in a canal when I first moved there but unless you’re really really drunk I don’t think that’s possible!

And finally, I want to say I love that lifestyle. I’m not the kind of girl who like to go to discos and dance until morning but I do enjoy going out to drink something with friends and talk. Venice is perfect for truly enjoying friendship: you can go to a bacaro (small kind of bistros that serve appetizers and probably some main dish but that’s not always the case), order a glass of wine and some cicchetti and talk all night. During the spring/autumn, I loved going to one of the campos and simply hang out with my friends while drinking some wine. It’s a much more relaxed lifestyle and I loved it and enjoyed.