Home Town
Home Town
Home Town
29 Sep 2003 —
Texas is the land of typical homes. We won't go so far as to say boring, but they are typical. Brick box, standard roof lines, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1.5 children. And they build them as far as the eye can see.
The lovely wife and I moved from Chicago last spring, realizing that we were giving up the glitz of the Windy City for perhaps less traffic, less rent, and a more relaxed way of living. Family played a role too. So we traded the sub-zero winters for the don't-even-think-about-going-outside summers, and headed to Fort Worth.
We were confident we would find a suitable home or neighborhood in which to build, and after some unpleasant weeks in our apartment with our neighbor not picking up after her two German Shepherds, we were ready to move. We quickly found a floor-plan we loved, but sadly the lot we wished to build on has been delayed months by the developer. Even more disturbing, the nice lot we had been admiring was quickly becoming a victim of the suburban-sprawl.
With time running out on our lease, we began searching for other options last week. Amazingly enough, a tip from Dad led us to a sparkling North-Texas oasis. Okay, well maybe that's an oversell... But hang with us here.
Welcome to Home Town. (Cheesy site, I know.)
Upon first glance, our mind conjured up visions of Maybury or It's a Wonderful Life. Wide sidewalks, parks, antique streetlamps... People, even. I had forgotten people live in homes. Every home has a porch. Many more have garden patios. The planned development calls for commercial and retail within half a mile of every home, so we can all walk to work. Or we can work on our patios. Was this Dallas/Fort Worth, or was I stuck in the Truman Show?
Further investigation of the facts confirmed the latter as Home Town's development company is responsible for the real-life Seaside, Florida (aka Truman's Seahaven Island). We'll be the first to admit we were an easy sell on the location, but we still held out for the extra 5k of "upgrade options" from the builder. Our Grandfather always told us that it was a good deal if both parties are happy.
We'll be anxious to report more of our new Home Town in the weeks to come. And in case I don't see ya...
Good afternoon. Good evening. And goodnight.
