Monday, March 09, 2009

City or country?


Well glad to know it's not just me that feels strongly about my Mexican food. :) Thanks so much for all the recommendations!!! Can't wait to try 'em.

Can I just say how much I heart living in the city? This morning I drove through downtown, past the state capitol building, past the US Mint, various museums etc. I love the energy and the people and the big huge buildings. Our neighborhood isn't in a super urban area but we're only 10 minutes from downtown, and I love that. We ARE within walking distance of a historic old street filled with quaint shops, boutiques, bakeries, pubs, coffee and ice cream shops etc. I love anytime we get to go there.

This is the biggest city I've ever lived in, by far. And I've decided that I'm both city AND country, but NOT in-between-y. I grew up on 12 acres and LOVED it. I love the idea of living in the country. But I love living in the city too. I DIDN'T as much like living in towns that weren't near any big cities but weren't rural either (we lived in Santa Barbara, SLO, and Santa Maria when we were in California). So I think if we ever wanted to move out of the city, it would be to live on a bunch of acres or something. But I don't see that happening, because we are quite happy here!

It's been nearly a year that we've been in Denver and it cracks me up to think we made an offer on this house sight-unseen (hey, we could rescind the offer once the house was inspected if we wanted) in a city neighborhood we didn't know a ton about, save for some research I did. Okay, I did a lot of research. But still.

Turns out that so far, we couldn't be happier with our choice. Really. The house has been a lot of work but we've added some value to it and the location is great. The neighborhood is wonderful and we feel like the "culture" of Denver is a good fit for us overall.

So three cheers for the city! And how about you--are you a city person or a country person or an in-between person?

16 comments:

Mama Mote said...

I'm a SLO person. And I hate the thought of moving to THE BIG CITY OF LA....BUT, I think about what's down there, mainly, my daughter...but there are a lot of things to a city. I lived in San Francisco for 7 months and I still miss that city. But I'm looking forward to seeing what God has in store for us and getting involved somewhere AND just the fun stuff I see we can enjoy. Of course, my thing is sports, so we will be where some pro teams play. If I can afford it, I'm hoping to go to a Lakers game or two, to a Dodgers or Angels game. And, of course, there is Disneyland, where my daughter and her husband go to frequently, especially when friends come around. So, we'll figure it out and make the best of the time we are there, especially since I don't know how long we will be there. I don't think it will be the rest of our lives, but you never know.

Lindsey said...

LOL, I'm the opposite! I love the suburbs... close to strip malls and parks! I love both the country and the city, but only for day trips! I'm a true Southern California valley suburb girl (why do I suddenly feel ashamed to write that? :)

Brianna Heldt said...

oh robbin i bet you'll love being close to your daughter! so glad dan won't be having to commute anymore. growing up i ALWAYS wanted to live in los angeles, i always thought it seemed like fun. :)

ha lindsey you crack me up! no shame there! i don't know if i told you but my aunt and uncle live in temecula now and they LOVE it. i do love the parking in the suburbs...i'm HORRIBLE at parallel parking!!!!

Shana said...

I think I might be an in-betweener. I love that from my house I can go one direction and be just minutes from the city. Or I can go the other direction and be out in the sticks. I don't know if I could fully commit to one extreme or the other. The city is fun, but I need room to roam. And I don't know about the country...can you wear designer jeans on a farm??

Rachel said...

I guess I am an in-betweener, but everyone north of me thinks I am in the country. :) I love Castle Rock and know that God had his hand on this move. It grieves me to think we won't always live here. We might, of course, but only God knows for sure. The only move I could see would be way out in the future once our nest is empty. Then again, I've never lived anywhere much longer than three years in my adult life. Too much to ponder for me today.

Priscilla Rynning said...

We have been in SLO for 26 years, but before that we moved 14 times in 11 years---east coast, west coast, Alberta and Quebec provinces in Canada---apartments, mobile homes, condos and houses---no big cities (after all who builds nuclear power plants in the middle of a large city-LOL)I have only moved 2 times before Peter and I were married so all that moving was different, but I found that I loved exploring new places and making new friends (I send out 120+ Christmas cards!!!) SLO is definitely home for us, but we love to go visit our kids and everything inbetween!!

Kristen Borland said...

small town. so not comfortable in a big city.

writex3 said...

Denver's a great city - enjoy. I hope you're Bronco & Avs fans by now as well (-:

I dropped you an e-mail on your contact hotmail address - did you get it?

Anonymous said...

I live in a small town in the middle of central British Columbia, Canada. It's very nice here but I still enjoy visiting the city with all its sights and fun things to do.

Kristen said...

I'm gonna go ahead and change the topic back to mexican food for a sec...:) Besides Jaliscos, which is just awesome, what other places in Santa Maria did you enjoy? We live in SLO and don't hesitate for a minute when it comes to driving 30 miles for a good dinner, ha ha.

Brianna Heldt said...

adventures, YES i got it, SO sorry for not responding yet! i'm so behind on emails (among other things, like laundry :) ) but i definitely want access to your blog. i'll write back today.

erica, honestly that was the best mexican restaurant we found. there's one out by the airport but it's not that great (very gringo) and we didn't find any others. good luck!

joy said...

i guess i'd be an in between person, because i really want the best of both worlds. i'd love to live on not more than 5 acres, maybe 3 would be perfect, but live within easy driving distance to some city stuff. i don't think i'd like city life all the time, but....i've never tried it. and i love to visit the city.

shell said...

i go back and forth. we have always lived inbetween, except in college which was city. we will be moving more like where you are, a few minutes from the city (if south bend can be counted as a city!). i always wanted to own a bunch of land, but then listened to TIm Kellers sermon series about 'the city' and when he simply said trees are nice, but do they need to hear the gospel? i realized that i need to be around people so i can be sharing my life and living in community!

Brianna Heldt said...

yes shelley i love tim keller's stuff. so far i really do love living in the city even though i miss having an attached garage. :)

Jeannett said...

I'm a total in-betweener...having grown up in various suburbs of L.A. and even just have to drive THROUGH the "city", I hated it. Too many people, traffic, smog, crime, grime, graffiti...granted, there is a ton to do, but to be honest, in 18 years of living 15 miles of downtown, I have yet to ever have gone to many of the museums and "attractions" of the big city...it was just too crazy and busy and frankly, a little too dangerous if you got lost and went down the wrong street inadvertently.

I do, however, love the comforts of nearby shopping and restaurants...so I wouldn't much like to be too far out in the country either. I need a Target and a Del Taco! And I don't want to have to drive 30 minutes to get to it! So, surprisingly, I'm kind of a suburb girl...although ideally, I'd love a few (3-5) acres for the kids to play and get dirty and for Andy to have plenty of space for junky cars and whatever other toy he finds on craigslist...so, yeah, I'm picky. Shocking. :)

Brianna Heldt said...

Yeah Jeannett I can imagine the LA traffic was a bit much. Denver's not bad at all (though Colorado natives think it's horrible, which cracks me up...clearly they're NOT from California!)

 

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