Our public swimming pool- 1.5 blocks from our MHK home
We've lived in this neighborhood for seven years. For a while, when I would tweet from my bedroom it would say that I tweeted from City Park West. Briefly I thought about a City Park West blog. Many call this neighborhood Humboldt West, its within walking distance of the University, our central business district Aggieville, and the City Park complete with swimming pool, tennis courts, splash pad, playground, arts venue, ice rink, etc. When one thinks about moving to the midwest, one might think that the lifestyle is "pedestrian", boring, plane jane, middle America- but for us the move to the midwest was literally a move to a pedestrian lifestyle. We walked 3 blocks to work, 3 blocks to bars, resturants, coffee shops and just one block to the great City Park.
We bought this house, it needed help and we gave it some. We were very interested in the neighborhood, every time a house went on the market we were very interested in who would buy it, we watched as the city built the amazing swimming pool/water park that seemed too good to be any real public works project and we levied concerns about traffic on our street and the funeral home a couple blocks away that wanted to build a crematorium. Whenever a new business opened up, we sampled it, chatted with friends about whether they would succeed or fail.
We walked every where. We could go weeks without filling our cars with gas. And, while this community was relatively boring, it was also perfect. Perfect for our children, for us to lead an easy life. It was both literally and metaphorically pedestrian for us. We had a long term plan for our home and intended to stay forever. I envisioned my children walking to the elementary school around the corner with its instructional garden out back, I had visualized my 10 & 12 year old boys riding their bikes to the pool every day in the summer, competing on the Manhattan Marlins swim team and leading a good, safe life. We rarely even locked our doors. I had committed to this neighborhood.
For the last 3 months, I have been walking around the neighborhood like a zombie. Its a strange feeling to toss aside concern for the future of a place. A girlfriend asked me the other day what I thought of the new Wahoo Fire & Ice Grill in Aggieville and I simply replied that I didn't need to be concerned with the new restaurant in town because we'd be leaving so soon. Walking through the alley way the other day I felt both empty and relieved to not have to be concerned with who the new tenants were in a renal property down the way. And every time I walk by the pool I wonder if we've made the right decision. Will my children really have a better quality of life- is it a mistake to take them away from their ability to spend their tween years riding their bikes to the pool every day? Will the bigger city and bigger schools really be better? Will I ever be able to be as invested in a neighborhood again?
We quickly and easily sold the house and promptly rented it back from the new owners for a couple of months. All of a sudden it wasn't my house anymore. Not my house, not my neighborhood. This period of time, the layover if you will, here in Manhattan, KS is the most difficult. Not quite part of the community anymore yet simultaneously having not yet left. The anticipation of the new life awaits.
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