The question of the year for us is: Where do we want to live? And beyond that, what kind of home do we want to have?
We both sort of don’t mind where we live now, but it’s definitely not our ideal utopia. Of course, we don’t know where that would be either.
I know I want to live somewhere with seasons. I need them all. This sort of puts the nail in the coffin of ever living near any of my immediate family ever again, but I guess I knew that already, even without the seasons.
I don’t want to be anywhere flat, like southern Illinois. I would like to be within driving distance of snowboarding mountains. Aaron likes water, as in lakes. I like the ocean, but I don’t know that I need to live near the ocean. But I know Aaron would love to live on a lake. Or at least have a vacation home on one.
So lakes, mountains, and seasons.
Beyond the geographic, there’s the usual: have jobs in our field, improved commute time from what it is now, lower cost of living, good school systems, safe…
And it seems like there’s really nothing in this country that fits that bill.
It’s those damn seasons that get you.
We’ve also been talking and decided we would prefer a lot of land, a good sized garage Aaron can work in, and not a huge house. McMansions look so impressive and sound so nice, but I really prefer a cozier home, and one that’s easier to clean. I don’t like to rattle around in places with bad acoustics, and buy furniture just to fill up a room. I grew up in a one floor, 3 (small) bed, one (small) bath house for 5 of us. It was warm, it was messy, it was crowded, but it was cozy and it was home. I like that feeling. I would rather have a few acres and a smaller house than a huge house with inches between us and the neighbors.
Yeah, so….I don’t know.
January 6th, 2010 at 8:49 pm
Please don’t leave us!
January 7th, 2010 at 6:03 am
*coughColoradocough*
We do miss having more land. Our next house will have much more land and be in the foothills!!!
January 8th, 2010 at 1:01 am
It sounds like AUSTIN. It’s 32 degrees here today and was 104 degrees a few months ago. Lakes, lower cost of living, good commute, good tech industry, plenty of space and land, safe, good (elementary) schools (bad high school, but that’s pretty far off)…. Think about it!
January 8th, 2010 at 4:56 pm
Believe it or not, there are gorgeous places within an hours drive of San Diego that have all the seasons. A town like Julian for example has a fall and snow in the winter, is right next to some awesome snowboarding in places like Big Bear which are smaller, but hell even Tahoe is only a day’s drive away!! It has tons of awesome beautiful hiking year round (you won’t find any flat land around there). The cost of living near the coast here is expensive but as soon as you move in-land and east it drops dramatically! And don’t let the newer developments fool you, there are some great areas inland that are exactly what you described, one level comfortable but cozy homes with big yards and room between you and your neighbor and lots of trees and “green”. Great tech industry, you’d probably end up with a drive the same distance as now, but the traffic isn’t as bad as DC. The school systems in Northern San Diego are some of the best in the country! Tons of lakes here, and even a river. A popular thing to do for the weekend in summer is to go to the river. I want to go to the river with you and Aaron!!
January 15th, 2010 at 5:25 am
Well…..what about Bellingham, WA? You can ski and swim in the same day! Near the San Juan Islands (sea) and plenty of lakes inland and mountains. It is supposed to be in the rain shadow, so not as much rain. Also, check out earthships at http://www.greenhomebuilding.com/earthship.htm -
totally sustainable living with earth loos and solar panels and vegetables growing inside. You could have sheep and rabbits and shear them and weave the wool and knit up a storm….. Well perhaps that’s not you really – not enough luxury living! Have you seen all the tiny houses? You could get one to live in and one for Aaron’s garage and drive them around to different places! http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/ and http://tinyhouseblog.com/
On the other hand, there is a whole world outside the US where living is quite lovely also….