1 year anniversary

Matthew — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 08:36:00 -0700

As of tomorrow I’ll have lived back in DC for one year. K. has me beat by a few days as she flew out ahead with the cat while I drove our car across the U.S. of A. A fair number of people on both coasts have asked me about the neighborhood, the house, living back on the East coast, working remotely, etc. Do I like it? Do I hate it? I usually give the usual wishy-washy “Yeah, it’s great” answer because the honest answer would take longer than the amount of time those asking really want to spend delving into the specifics. Not that “great” is inaccurate or misleading but, it is a complicated situation and I tend to waffle a bit. So here is the long answer which I put here mainly to get myself clear on how I feel and so I can look back in a year and see if my opinions changed.

The house
We still only have one room painted and the basement isn’t finished. The windows are not replaced and the dubious extension on the back of the house is still there. There’s a long list of eco-related improvements I’d like to make and once we start looking for a general contractor again (we might go with Jorge again, we might not) we’ll probably make some progress. All of that aside, the house is mostly a source of joy. If feels wonderful to not be paying rent. We were paying more than our current mortgage in San Francisco for one floor of a house. Now we get to have an entire house. We got a lot done in the first year and I enjoy being in the house. Possibly too much. Some weeks, because we both work at home, we barely leave.

Working at home
Pros: We always get our packages. We can have contractors and workers come by at any time of the day so work keeps progressing on the house. I can get up and work, break for some exercise, do some more work, make lunch, work, etc. The flexibility is a huge perk. Some of that is my relaxed job situation more than being a remote worker.
Cons: I start working the minute I get up and there is no place to retreat to. My job is frustrating. I yell at the computer. This bums K. out. I wish the basement (my future office and recording studio) were finished, sound proofed, and ready for my quality time. I don’t like to fly and I go back to CA 4 times a year. But, that’s also a perk.

The neighborhood
This aspect is the most complex. We are in a unique situation in that we live right next door to our best friends and that’s why we picked the neighborhood and house. It is a great situation but, we just moved from a great neighborhood in San Francisco that was a few years ahead of Petworth in terms of development of shops and services that are useful to us. Thus I have perhaps unrealistic expectations for Petworth.

That said, change is happening. A lot of young couples and new families are moving into the neighborhood (an assortment of different races and ethnic backgrounds; mostly white but, not entirely based on the folks I know who have moved in over the last year). Petworth is as diverse as the whole of DC and I suspect it will soon better reflect the diversity of tastes and needs that the people living here are looking for.

When we lived in DC before moving to the SF Bay Area we lived in Mount Pleasant. Each time we came back to DC we’d notice how Mt. P had changed. I don’t feel as though that neighborhood has lost character or charm. However, it does appear to have lost affordable housing.

There is a lot more to comment on but, this will have to suffice for now.

a barrel of this: house: 1 year anniversary

1 year anniversary