Yesterday's post involved me having to type with a stylus instead of a keyboard, so it was painful and slow going, and thus its brevity. Today I'll go into a bit more detail about why I was feeling like I was missing out yesterday. Part of my problem is my nomadic tendencies. I start getting a bit restless after living somewhere and doing the same thing for too long. I know that if I did, in fact, move to a place like Decatur, that I'd end up longing for something more rural or closer to the wild in a couple of years and I'd be writing posts here about my longing to move somewhere with fewer people.
But what I did this weekend is what I really miss about living somewhere that's densely populated. Last night we took MARTA to Lindbergh station, took a $7 cab ride to Sweetwater for the Cask Ale Festival (some seriously interesting beers there this year) and then headed back to Decatur for dinner at Brick Store. All within walking distance of Brick Store are a couple of Thai places, a Taqueria del Sol, a high-quality brewpub (Twain's) and a couple of other good beer bars. This morning we got up and went to Sweet Melissa's where they make killer breakfasts, including pancakes that seriously need nothing extra to be perfectly tasty. After that we took a walk over to The Java Monkey for a coffee before finally having to head back to Marietta to pick up the kid and head home. Before making the long trip back home, we stopped off at Harry's Farmers Market to get some produce and pick up some shrimp (they had a killer deal on jumbos) and headed home. If K and I had a house in one of the little neighborhoods ringing the downtown area of Decatur, we'd never have to drive to the store, restaurant or bar as all are within walking distance. If we found work near a MARTA station, we'd never even have to drive to work. Of course, it's also very likely that those little houses are way beyond what our budget would allow, but it's nice to pretend otherwise.
Where we live now, we can't do any of that. The stores and restaurants near our house find Sam Adams too exotic to stock and most of them make food that is far inferior to what I can make at home, mainly because most people here are more interested in eating cheap than eating well. I can't walk anywhere. The closest store is nearly five miles away if you don't count the gas station about two miles away. The school where I work is about double that distance. The produce sections at the three grocery stores in town are depressingly bad and the surrounding towns can boast nothing better. Wal-Mart is actually the nicest of the three stores by a decidedly noticeable margin. That sentence should never be allowed to be true, but it is.
But there were reasons we moved, and good ones. We moved here to save money. With our 15-year mortgage, we cut our housing payments by nearly $200 a month compared to our old 30-year mortgage even after taking out a $20,000 home improvement loan on top of the cost of the house. I don't have to worry about my neighbors. I was never comfortable living in subdivisions and being close enough to someone else's house that I could throw a rock through their windows from my front door. I'm able to grow my own produce if I want to, my dog is able to have plenty of space. We're close to family, which really helps with E. The cost of daycare is far lower than anything legitimate we could find in a more urban environment and the small nature of the town makes it easy to know that the woman who keeps E is a safe option.
What's worse is that those things we spent the weekend doing would make the money situation even worse if we lived there. There are just too many temptations there that I don't have here. Instead, when I finally do move it'll likely be somewhere like Adairsville, a small town on the fringes of a rural area that is the last stop before housing prices rise too steeply and those temptations are far enough to not tempt me every day, but close enough that a Saturday drive down doesn't require an overnight stay because of the distances involved. It may not even be Atlanta that I migrate toward, but some other city city large enough to be worth being near, but more compact to make it easier to live closer without giving up some of the benefits of a rural life.
4 comments:
You should think about a city like Knoxville or Chattanooga or Asheville. They all have the best things about an urban environment, but the subdivisions give way to the country after just a few miles. You could have the best of both worlds.
Also, your mention of food quality and growing your own produce made me think of the book I'm reading right now- "The Omnivore's Dilemma," by Michael Pollan. It sounds like a book that's probably already on your radar and you should definitely check it out.
I second that (about the moving to a small city, not the book - not that I have anything against the book, I just haven't read it.) Knoxville is a really good size city - not too much traffic, affordable cost of living, and enough to do without being overwhelming. Asheville and 'Nooga are the same way.
Move here! We'll be moving in three years, which is around the time you'll start getting restless anyway.
Actually, Asheville would be spot on. It's got the cool food and beer of a much larger city, but isn't really all that large of a town. The Noog is a little smaller than I'd like, but Knoxville seems really cool. Too bad I don't like Orange all that much.
I really want to move to the Pacific northwest. Portland is my goal right now. Not so cold like Anchorage, but vastly cheaper than Seattle (and smaller). Great beer scene, surprising foodie town, and really big on local food producers.
I should move to the outskirts of Portland and start a goat cheese and mushroom farm or something.
I'm not sure Kim would dig that idea too much. Something about moving too far from family. I say if you're on the same land mass, you're close enough. That's not commenting on her family, by the way. We just see them more now that we're 4 hours away than we did when we were less than one.
And I have been interested in that book as well. I haven't bought it, but I've seen references to it a lot.
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