Learning to Love the Neighborhood

When James and I started searching for a house to buy last year, we began in the neighborhoods we knew. We looked in Montrose, the Heights, and near the Museum District, and were quickly discouraged by the fact that we could not even afford an empty lot in these neighborhoods. We downloaded real estate apps, broadened our search, and looked into houses east of downtown. We found a cute little bungalow that was new on the market and thought that we would do what we’ve seen so many times on HGTV shows and lowball an offer. The agent in charge of the property actually laughed at James when he made an offer and told him that there were already many other offers on the property for well over asking price. This was the new EaDo neighborhood, after all, and property was desirable that close to downtown. We then decided that the only near-downtown neighborhoods we could afford to live in would be either north or southeast of the center of the city.

I don’t know how James felt when we first toured Southmore, but my main thought was “the price is good and the proximity to downtown is perfect. We should just go for it before we can’t afford to even live here.” 

I was practical in my thoughts, not romantic. I thought of all of the past remodels we would have to undo, thought about the backyard that we would have to uproot and reimagine, and wondered what our neighbors would be like. I began to love the house when I had to fiercely defend it from our friends and family that were worried about the neighborhood. It is so near the third ward, after all, and Dowling St. is less than half a mile away. People tried to dissuade us from closing on the house, but the more people tried to convince us otherwise the more fiercely loyal I became to our home and the neighborhood.

n the six months after we bought the house, I have made an effort to get to know the area by walking Sebastian down . I’m learning my way around, and each time a neighbor drives up and welcomes us to the area I come to like it more and more.