Choosing a Town to Live In
I’ve been away from this blog for a little while but as you can see I am back. There are big things afoot over here and those thank you cards are finally o-u-t!
We’ve been house hunting up in New Paltz, NY. I just love it there. We had some pretty rigid requirements when trying to decide on where to live.
Hubby needs an office and I am aching for a creative space to call my very own. To paint the walls pink or even plaid if I so choose. To sit with a cup of coffee, learn to sew again, sit and write letters, read a book, do yoga (have to learn it first), be creative for my clients, all the while having romantic comedies or reality shows about fashion, decorating, and weddings on a loop. So now we’ve got a need for a house, with 2 rooms that are not bedrooms that are to be used only by one person each. This imaginary house is getting bigger and bigger. I don’t want to be greedy but it would be wonderful if those 2 office/creative spaces had a window each…ouch, if you live in NY like us tack another 50,000 on to your purchase price at least.
If all things were equal, and our families, and jobs would follow us anywhere we would probably be on our way to North Carolina.
We went there for a conference over the summer last year and fell in love. I love the affordability of the houses, the public education system is top notch (I am opposed to private schools because we are a mixed religion couple and I don’t want to put our kid in a Jewish or Catholic school), Raleigh was a really fun town to go to and hang out in, and its in the middle of NY and Florida so you get a nice combo of weather. And my main thing is ample parking.
I imagine us on Sundays driving into town, throwing the car in a lot (and it not costing $60.00) and walking up and down the streets with Charlie. Sitting outside and having our coffee and reading the paper. Or even taking mini laptops with us and writing, answering emails, browsing the Internet. Soft southern accents greeting us hello; maybe we know some of the people and we chit-chat for a little while. I’ve morphed into a southern belle and carry a chic paper fan with me for when it’s just too hot. Seersucker suits abound. Lemonade in the summertime.
But all things are not equal and we are too family oriented to be a plane ride away. Especially with kids in our near future. I’ve heard its essential to be near at least one set of grandparents.
We would want the town we live in to have:
- Action – I want to belong to things. We want to go out to dinners, see shows, and attend music festivals, book readings, and shop. So it must have a vibrant feel.
- Education – We will be having kids in the future and I want them in public schools without having to worry about overcrowding, quality of education, and crime.
- Parking – In a word. I can’t circle the block endless times to get a container of yogurt. It’s just not an option anymore. I want to be able to commit to attending an exercise class and not have to worry about missing the first 15
minutes because of parking. Last night it took me 20 minutes to find a spot at the gym. Or freeze my buns off while walking to said class because I had to park 3 or 4 blocks away. Or look for parking on a Saturday night heading out to dinner for a longer amount of time than it takes to actually eat the meal. - Cleanliness – I want to live in a community of people that would actually hold litter in their hand for the extra 5 minutes it takes to reach a garbage can instead of simply tossing whatever it is on the ground. It’s an eyesore and it makes me feel defeated.
- University or Adult Learning Center – I want to take classes in things that interest me. And have them be taught by individuals that have met with reasonable success in that area.
- Social – It would be nice to have young couples around that are in the same stage in life as we are.
- Reasonably Priced – What I’ve described above can easily be attained in any town if you’ve got money to burn. But I live in America. I want where I live to at least have some correlation to the national average. For example, if the average home in America is $250,000. I would have a hard time justifying paying more than $500,000 for an “average home”. A palace should cost what a palace is worth of course. But a decent home in a sweet neighborhood should not be $900,000. What about the American dream? And if it costs that much more than the national average to buy a regular home, what’s happening here? What’s going on in this country that the AVERAGE is that low if it’s not realistic?
- Safety – When someone smashes in the window of my car and steals the GPS system and then proceeds to stab it with a screw driver just for vandalism’s sake, it would be nice to have a police officer take a report. Maybe, even if its half hearted, can they actually attempt to look for the guy?
And really, it’s just got to feel doable. It has to be a place where I actually want to raise children, leave my house, and take part in activities. When I walk the dog I want to not have to worry about irresponsible owners that have their dogs off leashes that attack my puppy. I have to want to be a part of it.
We took my mom up there to check it out and get a feel for the town. She seemed into it. At one point she said it’s “her kind of town”. I just feel very free when I am in New Paltz. It’s not that far from where our office is located.
Anyone who is reading this lives somewhere. How did you wind up where you are geographically? Are you from there? Did you move there for a job? School? Are you where you are because of opportunity or loyalty to family? Are you there because it’s where you started and you like it?
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