After much drama surrounding our move date, we finally moved into our new home. We've now been here for about six weeks, and here are my first impressions.
Walking to everything
We chose this location because it was walkable but we continue to make discoveries about just how walkable it is! Within a one mile radius we have over 20 restaurants, a movie theater, a grocery store, three smoothie places, a Starbucks, two homemade ice cream places, a track, a UPS store, a post office, and two of my friend's homes. We can also walk to a farmer's market which has everything you can imagine, including freshly made bagels (my favorite!).
The walkability of the area far exceeds my expectations and Greg and I are enjoying discovering new places to walk to. It feels like we are on vacation and exploring a new area. I know this "vacation feel" will wear off soon, but I am soaking it in while I can. I've been getting loads more FitBit steps than I did in our previous house.
Finally, when we take walks for the sake of taking walks around the neighborhood, I enjoy the wide range of home styles and the greenery from the larger, older trees. It's not a cookie-cutter neighborhood. Each house is unique and they were all built at different times. Some as early as the 50s or 60s spanning all the way to today, as they are tearing down the older homes and building new ones.
The actual house
We are mostly settled in, but there are still a few boxes and backpacks that remain to be unpacked and sorted through. Just like the walkability has exceeded my expectations, so has the actual house. It's super open, modern, airy and fresh! Our basement gym is a walk-out with a huge window and two french doors. My home office gets way more light. The piano looks amazing in our living room.
The house is a blank slate and there is so much we want to do with it. It can be overwhelming to think about, but we are prioritizing our long list. About half of our artwork is hung, but there are still some pieces that don't quite match the color scheme of this house.
The community
Perhaps the biggest contrast between this location and the previous one is the community and how it "feels" walking around the neighborhood. This is a very active neighborhood and people are always out walking, running, or biking. Everyone waves and people strike up conversations. It feels like a community. Previously, I would be the only person out running - I would maybe see 1-2 other runners if I was going five or more miles. As I mentioned earlier, I have two friends who live within half a mile of me, so I meet up with them intentionally or unintentionally! Both are runners.
The running
I had all my running routes figured out in my previous location and I was a bit worried that I wouldn't find ones I liked as much. Even though the topography here is hillier, there are still routes I can run that are flat-ish if my legs are really tired from a previous workout. I found a hill that I love for hill repeats, a long run route, and a track. I haven't found anything I really like for tempos/threshold work, but that's fine. I might just have to suck it up and run those on hills. Or drive to Hains Point - which is a flat part of Washington DC.
What I didn't expect to appreciate so much was the running community. There are so many runners around here! I have been recognized a bunch of times from Instagram and I love it when they stop to chat with me. I was somewhat isolated in my previous area.
One of my favorite things to do is end my run at a coffee place or a smoothie place and then walk home. It's really motivating to look forward to that and then take a nice stroll home while enjoying my drink.
The negatives
There are only a few negatives and they minor in the grand scheme of things, but worth mentioning as to not paint a picture of a complete utopia! The first is that our garage is slightly smaller than our previous one (I thought all two-car garages were the same size!). We struggle to fit both cars in it and have room to maneuver around them. The interior of the house has more space than we need, so why didn't the builder allocate some of that space to the garage?
When we bought the house, the property had five huge trees in the backyard that blocked our view of our back neighbors. Unfortunately, the builder damaged those trees during construction and had to remove them so now we have baby trees and a view of another house instead of trees.
Finally, it's noisier than expected. Monday-Friday during business hours we hear noise from trucks backing in and out of a nearby facility. This facility will likely be replaced by a "green area" in 2035, but that is a LONG time to wait!
Final thoughts
I am thriving here more than expected. I feel like I am living my best life because of the walkability and vibrant community. I didn't realize just how isolating it was to be in my previous area for the type of person that I am. The house is gorgeous, lets in so much natural light, and it already feels like home because of Greg and all of the zebras that adorn it!