title: Can I change the default directory on my local drive for all Git activity?
body: <p>So I just started using Git and GitHub. It's still a steep climb, but I'm starting to enjoy it. One thing I've noticed from when I clone a repository is that it always downloads to my home folder <code>/users/username</code>. Is there a way to change this?</p>
  
  <p>I went searching through the Git manual and thought I might be able to use <code>--git-dir=GIT_DIR</code>, but I know I'm using it incorrectly because when I try this out what returns in Terminal is</p>
  
  <pre><code>       git --git-dir=New/Directory/Path/
  usage: git [--version] [--exec-path[=GIT_EXEC_PATH]] [--html-path]
             [-p|--paginate|--no-pager] [--no-replace-objects]
             [--bare] [--git-dir=GIT_DIR] [--work-tree=GIT_WORK_TREE]
             [--help] COMMAND [ARGS]
  
  The most commonly used git commands are:
     add        Add file contents to the index
     bisect     Find by binary search the change that introduced a bug
     branch     List, create, or delete branches
     checkout   Checkout a branch or paths to the working tree
     clone      Clone a repository into a new directory
     commit     Record changes to the repository
     diff       Show changes between commits, commit and working tree, etc
     fetch      Download objects and refs from another repository
     grep       Print lines matching a pattern
     init       Create an empty git repository or reinitialize an existing one
     log        Show commit logs
     merge      Join two or more development histories together
     mv         Move or rename a file, a directory, or a symlink
     pull       Fetch from and merge with another repository or a local branch
     push       Update remote refs along with associated objects
     rebase     Forward-port local commits to the updated upstream head
     reset      Reset current HEAD to the specified state
     rm         Remove files from the working tree and from the index
     show       Show various types of objects
     status     Show the working tree status
     tag        Create, list, delete or verify a tag object signed with GPG
  
  See 'git help COMMAND' for more information on a specific command.
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>So it must be wrong...</p>