Surprise, surprise! A new housing trend is starting up. This time however, isn’t the unearthing and hipster-izing of some forgotten post-industrial neighborhood in the city. It’s not even mish-mashing and jamming of letters from the names of surrounding areas to create a name for the cool, new, up and coming area. In fact, it’s not even urban at all. The new phenomenon is urban flight to the exurbs where for $250,000 to $300,000 can score a nice big house with acres of land.
Karen and I have been discussing on and off about leaving apartment living and the pavements of New York City since 2003. Ideally, we’d move abroad, but if we must be confined to the land between the US borders, a great big house far away from civilization, and close enough to grab a good bite and still see our friends would suit us best. We’ve driven to Beacon, Westchester, Peekskill, and even to Connecticut to explore potential digs, but nothing has bowled us over. There was always something missing about these NY metro areas. An exurbia setting sounds mighty interesting, as it will satisfy our need for some open space for us to stretch our arms and Neena to run without having to be in a strip mall surburb. Maybe when we log in a few years in our 30s. For now, we’ll enjoy the conveniences of walking distance 24hour diners, YMCA, dozens of Mexican joints, and Prospect Park.
