Best Places to Live

If you log on to www.findyourspot.com, you can take a fun survey about geographic and cultural preferences. The site will then provide you with the top 25 cities for you to live.

I took the survey about two years ago and ended up with quite a few WA cities. This time around, the following cities made my top eight:

1. Greenville, South Carolina
2. Clarksville, Tennessee
3. Chattanooga, Tennessee
4. Tulsa, Oklahoma
5. Tuscaloosa, Alabama
6. Olympia, Washington
7. Johnson City-Kingsport, Tennessee
8. Lynchburg, Virginia

Take the quiz and post your results here!

Right Next Door

Two days ago I was hanging out with my friend Ashley. We were talking about master-planned communities and how much we would like to live in one. I said that, if one opened on this side of town, we might consider moving. She said, "...and we'd move in right next door!"

And I thought - that would be absolutely wonderful! I'd love to be able to go walking, to make dinner together, to hang out during the day, to stop over if I was out of milk, and to put our kids in strollers and meander to the local cafe or swimming pool (all in the master-plan, of course!). I vote YES on that dream...

5-Mile Radius

A co-worker recently told me that her goal is to be able to go everywhere she needs to go within a 5-mile radius of her home. I concur.

I want to walk to the grocery store, the cafe, the park, the swimming pool, a friend's house, my workplace. I want to pedestrianize my life - to save time, to save money, and to savor the moments of my life with my family.

The Cool House

Remember the friend that you had growing up who had "the cool house"? You know - the one with the swimming pool, the big screen TV, the ping pong table, the dart board, the green lawn, the volleyball court, the stacks of board games, the karaoke machine, the den that was perfect for slumber parties, etc. It was the house where the pantry shelves were always stocked with snacks and the low-key, yet highly involved, parents didn't hesitate to order pizza or make pancakes for breakfast. It was the house where you and your buddies somehow always ended up.

That's the kind of house we want to have - "the cool house". Not, of course, for the sake of coolness alone. No, we want it so that our kids will have a safe place to hang out with their friends - so that we can be a part of their lives as they meander through the sometimes-treacherous highways of childhood and adolescence.

Master-Planned Communities

I admit. I absolutely love master-planned communities. I am especially a huge fan of the new and exciting trend of mixed-use developments, wherein commercial and residentials sites are intermixed in a giant pedestrian-friendly neighborhood.

The idea of meeting a friend for coffee, taking the kids swimming, going for a 3-mile walk on a paved trail, picking up a few groceries for dinner, or participating in a book club or pilates class without even getting in my car is extremely appealing to me. I am especially attracted to this option now that I have children as cars provide a bit of an obstacle to getting anywhere - packing the diaper bag, buckling in baby to carseat, worrying that the baby will cry or throw up or stop breathing while out-of-view, etc. What a relief it would be to simply walk out the front door with baby in tow.

My dream neighborhood? A safe, clean, modern, trendy, affordable, pedestrian-friendly community with parks, swimming pools, cafes, grocery stores, restaurants, family activities, and more. Examples: Sienna Plantation, The Woodlands, Verrado, and Rancho Sahuarita.