Moving to the Suburbs
Next Tuesday I close on a townhouse in West Des Moines. After about a year of ruminating on where to live and if I wanted to buy a place at all, I found a place I’m satisfied with. At least I think so– I haven’t lived there yet! I’m going from a decidedly mediocre 1 bedroom apartment to a 3-bed, 2.5-bath, deck, patio, central vac, 2 car garage townhouse. I feel a bit guilty for moving to the suburbs. Aside from losing whatever hipster cred I have, my annoying and meddlesome conscience reminds me of all the people in the world who don’t have a place to live. The Haitian foreman for the Builders International team I worked with lived in a one-room cinder block house with his wife and child, and he was doing well by the standards of most people there. On the other hand, I think my choice of housing would be sustainable if it could be adopted on a massive scale by everyone currently in substandard housing. Also, I think the result I reached after weighing the options is a pretty common one, even for those who want to stay in an urban neighborhood, and though being common doesn’t make it right, I can shed some light on why many people choose to move to the suburbs.
