Monday, February 12, 2007 11:50 AM
City or Suburbs?
by Katie
DH and I live in a small apartment. And by small, I mean it's about 450 square feet. There isn't a conversation we can have privately, without the other hearing. There isn't a TV we can watch quietly without the other seeing. It's insane. I think living so closely has made us closer, but it's been 2 years in cramped quarters -- and I'm like "give me some space!"
Needless to say, I'm ready to move.
Now that DH has finished going to school part-time, we can start our new project: Finding a new place. But here's our problem: I want to become invested in my next house or apartment. I want to take all my wedding stuff from my mom's house and use it! I want to decorate without knowing that it's a temporary place. Overall, I want to be there for at least 5 to 10 years.
But I know that in 3 or so years, we will want kids and a yard, and a more suburban lifestyle.
The thing is: I don't know if I can do the suburbs right now. It's far from my friends, and from work, I love the convenience of a city (my grocery store is next door) and I don't want to be the only one in the neighborhood without kids. I'm also afraid the suburbs will make me feel older. Am I crazy?
So anyway, whether my fears are legit or not, it forces us to make a decision: Stay in our small apartment for 2 more years and then go suburban -- buy an apt that's a little bigger, knowing we're going to move again -- or go more suburban now.
Right now, I'm leaning toward staying in our small place (We own it and going through the NYC buying process for just a few years is too painful.) Maybe I can try some of these tricks on making a small place look bigger. But the idea of a car, a yard, more indoor space, and the bar-b-q lifestyle is really tempting. Maybe I could be ready for it sooner than I thought.
Do any of you live in the suburbs -- without kids? How do you get your city friends to come to you? How did you make new friends? How hard is your commute? Do you miss city-life?