How I Chose a New City
Spring 2015
For the first time in my life I was able to choose to live anywhere
in the country, budget constraints non-withstanding. I was ready to leave
Albuquerque and the desert southwest for literal greener pastures. Our daughter
was graduating from high school soon. Our family home felt much too large. Pending
a housing market rebound we were ready to sell. My husband’s work had shifted
remote. He telecommuted to his job, a position he could hold anywhere with
internet connection and a decent airport for work related travel.
We started to mull the possibilities. We decided we wanted
to find an ideal neighborhood. Winthrop Quigley, columnist for the Albuquerque
Journal, accurately describes the city as “a collection of mostly nondescript
subdivisions connected by monotonous commercial strips, a concrete desert of
very wide streets and hectares of parking lots.”
While the surrounding deserts and mountains are
breathtaking, the city itself is endless miles of road paving, requiring the
use of a vehicle to get anywhere. Rare is the Albuquerque neighborhood with
people outside walking around. We were ready to find a neighborhood where walking
is a normal daily activity, instead of having to go to a designated recreation
trail.
We weren’t as concerned about our living arrangements, other
than a commitment to downsize from our 1600 square foot house. We also noted
our two car garage collected quite a bit of junk. Clutter seemed to
spontaneously generate inside.
We pictured ourselves in the kind of place people talk about
wanting to live these days. Somewhere we could comfortably walk to a nearby
grocery or drug store. We would be able to ride our bicycles to run errands. We
discussed getting rid of our only car, which would mean being close to other
transportation options, allowing us to afford a more expensive place.
My husband’s checklist was short. He wanted to be near a
major airport. Nearby Santa Fe was out, despite many other positives to
recommend it. We also took into account air quality due to his asthma. That
took places like Southern California off the list.
I was fussier. My biggest requirement was a body of water
large enough for sailboats. Somehow three decades had slipped by without me
sailing. Some more cities, such as Denver, were ruled out due to the lack of
significant water.
As we discussed the possibilities in the summer of 2014,
before her senior year, my daughter decided she wanted to travel across the
country by train. She and I looked at the various Amtrak routes. She wanted to
experience as many American cities as possible before starting the college
application process. Since I was also conducting a search of my own, we decided
the two of us would spend a couple weeks on the road.
My daughter contemplated whether she wanted to travel the
East or West Coast from Albuquerque. We’d made some overnight train treks to
Los Angeles and Chicago in the past. Both cities were almost equal distance
from our home. However, while LA’s downtown is starting to revitalize, the city
doesn’t have much in walking distance from the station. Either we’d need to
rent a car or spend at least an hour on a bus or train getting to other areas of
the city.
Traveling from LA we’d need to head up the coast for hours
before we’d get to San Francisco. Portland and Seattle involved greater
distances. Away from the coast the West has a whole lot of nothing to get
through. My daughter decided we should head east.
Later, after our train trip, I would narrow our list of
favorite cities down to a final three for my husband and me to choose. We have
used the same method to pick a car. We decide the criteria, my husband
researches the specifications, then presents me with three models from which to
choose. We reversed roles for moving.
Seattle made my final three best cities list. On paper it
seemed to have everything going for it, except one insurmountable problem. It
was too far away. The travel distance was too great from our home, family, and
where it looked like our daughter was most likely to go to college. While I’ve
traveled most of the country, to this day I’ve never actually been to Seattle.
No comments:
Post a Comment