I protect my love and passion for city living fiercely. And admit to being a little too evangelically “pro-city” when having dinner or a play-date with my dear suburban friends.
What I love about the Twin Cities is that there is a great place to live for everyone and every taste – from inner city lofts, quaint city living in older homes, inner ring neighborhoods, the quiet suburban home on a cul-de-sac, and commutable country residences. And so many reasons as to why you live where you do – close to family, great schools, your dream home, coffee down the block, culture at your doorstep, the character of an old home, privacy, affordability, or a dream neighborhood.
I bought a home in the Grand Avenue area of St. Paul when I first moved to the Twin Cities in 1998. I was young(er), single, wanted a place that was very central to everything in The Cities, where I could walk to coffee and the store, where my neighbors were close, my yard was small and manageable, and I felt safe as a single woman.
Now – 16 years and three kids later – I have a hard time imagining raising our kids anywhere else in the area. I mean sure, Costa Rica would be awesome – but if we are staying in the Twin Cities – we are St. Paul/City people. Over the course of having babies, we have seen many of our friends move to the suburbs – for many reasons like more space, schools, to be closer to grandma, or for a bigger yard or even for sports. I’ll admit that sometimes I go to their homes and think “Wow, a master bathroom would sure be nice. Or an attached garage. Or wouldn’t it be nice not to be able touch my neighborhood’s house while touching mine.”
But every time we pull up to our 100 year old home, I know why we live here. Why we compromise not having the big closets, the master baths, the central air, the big yards…. It’s because I love this city and the people that live here. I love the diversity of our neighborhoods and that my neighbors do live so close- they watch our home – as we do theirs. Our public schools are good(some great even) and we have so many choices to fit each child. We might be in the city – but this is still a small and quiet city with charms to be found at every turn. We know our neighbors, our small corner grocers, our coffee shop owners, and even the college kids who move in and out of the apartment building on the corner. Our kids can ride bikes safely on the sidewalks and we have bike lanes and trails for the whole family to enjoy just steps from our homes. We have parks we can walk to, restaurants(where we know the owners) down the street, and shop owners who give treats to our kids because we shop local and small.
Nothing feels big city here. And everything feels cozy.
And if we want to leave our idyllic city life- well almost everything in the Twin Cities is just minutes away as we are so centrally located.
Sure we complain about our high taxes and some struggling schools and crime in the area. But there are pros and cons about every area we could choose to live.
But I feel safe here, and love raising a family here, and cannot imagine anywhere else(except maybe the tropics..) being a better fit for us as a family.
I’m glad we have so many excellent choices for where to live here in the Twin Cities. We are so lucky to live in one of the greatest metro areas in the county. But I will probably always call myself a St. Paul(city) girl.
What about you? City, suburbs or country?
9 comments
I’ve always lived in a city. Though the idea of the suburbs or even the countryside is appealing at times 🙂
I’m glad you’re happy where you are, that’s awesome!
We have a lot in common, my friend!
We live in an inner-ring suburb (in a house that is WAY too small for our family of 7), so it is a lot like the city to me. Although I grew up in the suburbs, or maybe BECAUSE I grew up in the suburbs, I would never go back.
If we ever left the city, it would be for the slow and simple country life…but while the little ones are little, our family needs the community we have in the city.
I love where you live Sundee – and love the community too! Sometimes Jed talks about moving to the country – and I just don’t know if I would love it because I want to get out and do things and see people quickly.
I’m a city girl through and through. I’ve tried to be the country mouse but it’s just not for me. I lived in a suburb during high school and detested it. While I enjoy visiting a friend in NC because of its slower pace, it’s the temporaryness of that visit that I love more than the pace. Living in the nation’s capital I know all the nooks and hidden treasures of ice skating that’s a pool in summer or really good pizza in a nondescript place or how to get ANYWHERE in the city (once I venture into MD or VA though, all bets are off). I wouldn’t change a thing (except closet space in our 70 year old home. That I’d appreciate). Even when I do consider moving, it’s always just to another part of the city.
Talk to me about closet space – seriously – where is my closet space??? I love that you are a city girl too!
Tracy – I love this post! We are in Mac-Grove and I’m constantly thinking of things like attached garages, a master bedroom, real basements, laundry on bedroom level, etc., etc. But I absolutely love our neighborhood and the charm of our old house. I grew up in a small town and St. Paul reminds me of it as I often run into people while out and about in the neighborhood.
We must live pretty close to one another. We love it here!
I love this post! My husband and I grew up in Eden Prairie and now live in Chanhassen. I enjoy living in the suburbs for many of the reasons you described, but we spend a lot of time in the city and I often think about moving from the suburbs for city living!