~Robert Southey
Every year we idly chat about moving back to South County. The area in which we lived our adult youth also know as the college & post college years. We have mostly fond memories of our lives there both together and separate and it always feels good to go back and visit the old haunts with our friends from that time (who are still our friends at this time!). Well, this year topic of moving has risen once again and I think that we may actually take the conversation to the next level. We might actually see if moving will be possible financially as we are both ready emotionally.
Living where we are now has been quite fine. We are in our home town surrounded by familiar people and sites. Boring, really. I have always felt that this town is a place of utility. It has what I need day to day such as restaurants, general stores, gas stations, a very few interesting shops and close friends nearby. However the energy of this town is dull, droll almost non-existent. Things happen because they are supposed to and that is that. The energy that came from living in both South County and metro Boston is what I long for, what I crave. I guess I enjoy the ebb and flow of the ever changing population of the college kids and the out-of-towners. They provide inspiration for creativity within the shops as well as in the restaurant and bar scene. Of course there are the staple businesses which cannot change or the locals will rise against, but the juxtaposition of old and new is refreshing. Unlike here, stale, unchanging.
~
So I seek out the feeling of home. A community, a new adventure. I went looking at houses today. Really I searched the Internet, wrote down some addresses and drove past the properties to see what property size really looks like (what the hell is .32 acre anyway?) and if the photos on the web reflect real life. So drive I did and I am happy that I did! In my search I am beginning to realize what is actually important in a home to me.
At first, my base criteria looked like this:
- At least 1100 square feet, don't care about land size
- Does it have a fence to contain the dogs?
- Central air?
- New: roof, siding, boiler, burner?
- NO LESS THAN 1.5 bathrooms
- No less than 2 bedrooms
- How is it heated?
- I'm sure I should know something about the foundation
- Reasonable price
What I learned today is that the above is very important but I also need:
- To NOT be on a main road, what if the dogs get out of the yard?
- To be near some sort of general store or pharmacy, just in case
- To be in a neighborhood not just in a house plopped somewhere
- To have privacy
- To be able to join the hustle & bustle but also to escape
- To not be ON TOP OF the neighbors
- To have a house with some character, cookie-cutter doesn't work for me
- To continue having friends near by
- To have some land in which to spend time outside
- To feel home again
What do you think? Am I asking for too much?
1 comment:
That's the thing I thought when you said land size is not important, that if you don't have a big enough yard you will be on top of the neighbors! Like we are and which is really bugging me. Also, maybe think about what you would like if money were not an issue and put that on your secondary list. Couldn't hurt if some of those things were on it too! Good luck with the search - stressful business afterall!
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