Coordinating Factors
This is an unordered list of how we got to our next. Why leave Nashville and why Rochester?
Politics
Here’s an elephant in the room. Politics in Tennessee is crazy, performative, Trump-centric and more extreme than we can stomach. We’re a state that had anti-vaxers try to shut down school board meetings and a US senator who appears on Fox News a few times a week. We’ve had anti-trans bills and a state legislature that is determined to keep Nashville from passing its own laws. I guess local rights are for me and not for thee.
Finances
The past year has seen our home increase in value by about 50%. It’s a great opportunity to reap the rewards of what we’ve put into the home and let another family enjoy our beautiful space.
Racism
We pass three confederate flags on the way to visit our friends in the next town over.
Pandemic
Juice has gone full remote during the pandemic. It’s working for most of our folks and we have people spread out over 5 states.
European-style living
From our trips abroad, we’ve learned how much we love walking to a small local store a few times a week to pick up food for just a meal or two. That easy, relaxed pace of life suits us so well.
Rochester Real Estate
The market feels pretty darn affordable coming from the relatively high cost of Nashville.
No Tornadoes
Gin has no tolerance for Dorothy-type situations.
Less land
We moved from a postage stamp in Reston to a full acre here in Nash. We’ve enjoyed spending the last two summers making a nature preserve in the back but we’re ready to put less time and money into maintaining outdoor spaces.
Wanderlust
Gin gets itchy after five years in a place. We’ve been in Nashville for eight. Her sell-by date is waaay past due.
Snow
Rochester is the number two city in America for snow after Anchorage. This is the season our kids have enjoyed most. Anti-freeze runs in their veins and they can spend hours outside in the cold. It’s the sun that zaps our vampires.
We’ve always been big believers in when an idea feels it’s right, it’s right. We tossed around several places; Madison, the Bloomington twins (Illinois, Indiana?), Utica, Syracuse, Buffalo. The criteria; city-living, no tornadoes, affordable housing, diversity, sane politics and snow. The Roc won.
