I don't make resolutions, those are too prone to failure. The weight loss, good habits to take, those are usually Lenten tasks, with a start and possible end. To take one something new for 365 days, is too much. Anyway, since I am a planner I figure measurable goals would be a better.
For the blog I'm hoping to do a date night post once a month as I'd like to hit some of the restaurants on U Street, in Logan and random places along the bus routes and within a decent cab ride back home.
There has been something else on my mind, and it may come out a little bit in my postings. Since getting married, the Help and I have been talking about creating a family. I love my neighborhood and would like to remain. I like my house but it's small for the size family we want. We can only squeeze in 80-90 more square feet if we renovate. So as a long term plan (5 years out) I'm paying attention to the housing market in Truxton, and surrounding neighborhoods. The thing working against the area isn't the schools, or the lack of representation, or government corruption, it's price of more square footage.
My hang up is I don't like the idea of paying half of a million dollars for a house. Half of a mill ey on dollars. Could we afford it? Possibly, maybe. Do I want to pay that much? No. So, angling to stay close to where we are now will require long term planning, and patience. There are houses that pop up on Redfin now and again that are under $500K, and they give me hope that as our needs change we can continue to call this city home.
For the blog I'm hoping to do a date night post once a month as I'd like to hit some of the restaurants on U Street, in Logan and random places along the bus routes and within a decent cab ride back home.
There has been something else on my mind, and it may come out a little bit in my postings. Since getting married, the Help and I have been talking about creating a family. I love my neighborhood and would like to remain. I like my house but it's small for the size family we want. We can only squeeze in 80-90 more square feet if we renovate. So as a long term plan (5 years out) I'm paying attention to the housing market in Truxton, and surrounding neighborhoods. The thing working against the area isn't the schools, or the lack of representation, or government corruption, it's price of more square footage.
My hang up is I don't like the idea of paying half of a million dollars for a house. Half of a mill ey on dollars. Could we afford it? Possibly, maybe. Do I want to pay that much? No. So, angling to stay close to where we are now will require long term planning, and patience. There are houses that pop up on Redfin now and again that are under $500K, and they give me hope that as our needs change we can continue to call this city home.
Honestly, there are larger houses available for MUCH below half a million dollars in the city. In your neighborhood? No. That's why I moved from Bloomingdale (as a renter) to Trinidad (as a homeowner). You could get a really nice, fully renovated 3 bedroom rowhouse in our neighborhood for $350K, or one that needs work for $100K less.
I would wager that Trinidad's crime is statistically better than Truxton Circle's was when you first moved in there.
One of the few other and possible other neighborhoods I can look at is Brookland, and this is based on my commute. If we decide that I can stay home and raise babies, there is little need for us to remain in the city if I have no where to commute to. Also if I go to the duty station where apparently all my agency's new [& higher $$$] jobs seem to always show up, we also leave the city and both mine and the Help's jobs are in one particular Maryland town. Love the city as I may, I love a good commute even more. Any other spot in DC must have a direct bus line that drop me off in front of my agency's front door. This morning was less than 10 seconds from the bus door opening to the guards checking my ID. That kind of commute is worth money to me.