I know probably most of you live in the country, and would never have it any other way. But in the last year I’ve discovered that I positively love life in an apartment in the middle of town, and I’d like to tell you why.<\/p>\n
One. I don’t have to mow a yard, because I don’t have one. Instead, I can walk a few blocks to the town park, which is much bigger than any yard I’d want to maintain, free to use, and perfectly lovely. It comes with picnic tables for cookouts, fields for sports, and trails for\u00a0 Two.\u00a0The Factory Coffeehouse\u00a0is right around the corner from me, since I live in the middle of downtown. I can pop down on Saturday mornings, or week nights when friends are there. It’s basically my living room, and if I want to go introvert, I can excuse myself politely and go home, which I couldn’t do if my friends were actually in my house. Win win.<\/p>\n Three. Walks are the best in town. I enjoy country walks too, don’t get me wrong. But I am hooked on having a sidewalk to saunter along instead of having to plow through the ditch whenever traffic drives by. Besides, there’s so much to see! Lyn and I like to make up stories about the houses as we pass them, and what kind of people we imagine live there. “But noise!” you cry, “And exhaust-filled air!” Well, remember that park I mentioned with its trails? Long, lovely, quiet tunnels of green.<\/p>\n Four. Whenever I go grocery shopping, I get a free workout, to counteract all the calories I just bought. I wrangle the groceries out of my car, through two stubborn locks, and up a steep and narrow set of stairs. And then I can sit down and eat ice cream guilt-free.<\/p>\n Five. I enjoy the sense of community I get by seeing the same neighbors every day, and being around for the town events. I nod at the music store owner as I go past her shop. The ice cream shop proprietor knows me embarrassingly well. The neighbor down the hall always has a cheery greeting\u00a0when we run into each other. I’m right on location for classic car nights and the annual bike races and bed races (which you totally should come see) and family festivals.\u00a0 I’m part of this town, and I love it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I know probably most of you live in the country, and would never have it any other way. But in the last year I’ve discovered that I positively love life in an apartment in the middle of town, and I’d like to tell you why. One. I don’t have to mow a yard, because I don’t have one. Instead, I can walk a few blocks to the town park, which is much bigger than any yard I’d want to maintain,…<\/p>\nromantic<\/del>\u00a0friendly walks. \u00a0And I don’t have to do anything to keep it up. (Except pay my taxes of course, since I like to believe that all my tax dollars go towards keeping up our parks.)<\/p>\n