David from My Two Dollars wrote a post last week about how his new neighborhood is much easier-going than where he used to live in the city of angels. In his words, his new neighbors “don’t give a crap what kind of car we drive.” I felt very at home reading his post. My husband and I live in a great little neighborhood where people don’t seem to care at all about what the Joneses are doing, much less try to keep up with them. In our city, the median house price is $449,000. But our house is worth less than half of that, and it fits perfectly into our neighborhood. Our next-door neighbor drives a Geo Metro of about the same vintage as our early 90’s cars. People mow their own grass and work on their cars in their driveways. We know all of our neighbors, and feel happy to be raising our son here. There are so many things about this town and this state that make us glad we live here. The best part about living in one of the lowest-priced areas of a relatively high-priced city is that we still get all the benefits of living in a nice town (great library, tons of parks and open spaces, great rec center, etc.), without sending our whole income to the mortgage company every month. Our neighborhood has had a bit of a face lift this year. The HOA lit fires under a lot of us to paint, re-roof, fix fences, etc. So things are looking well-cared for around here. I love our neighborhood. It’s quiet and peaceful, the houses are small and cozy, and there’s nothing pretentious around here at all. And it’s nice to live among people who don’t give a crap what kind of car we drive.
david says
So glad my post resonated with you, sounds like you guys have a great setup as well!
neimanmarxist says
i live in a low-key neighorhood too and i’ve got to say, it’s just great to live somewhere friendly and unpretentious. we actually once drove to a senior colleague’s house for dinner a couple years ago and the man hosting the party (in a mc.mansion, of course) made fun our our 10-year-old vehicle! Having been a grad student for so long, the idea that anyone would even notice what kind of car one drives (much less CARE!) is kind of beyond me. My theory is … you own a CAR? dude , can i have a ride ? ha.
Miss Thrifty says
Aha – I was trying to remember where I’d read [David’s] post about the car! it inspired me to write this:
http://www.miss-thrifty.co.uk/2008/09/01/introducing-the-thriftymobile/
Your neighbourhood sounds great. The best of both worlds. I think that if a neighbourhood is cared for, it makes all the difference.
bleh bleh says
count me in. my house cost 63k six years ago, and may be worth 80k now. most of my peers are in 200-300k houses, and have to keep up appearances in order to fit in.