I used to read those children’s books that let you choose your own adventure, picking whether you take one fork in the road, or the other.
Real life is the same, just a little scarier. One of our biggest, and our most recent adventure, was deciding to move across country, back to Austin, Texas, when we were living in upstate New York. The decision to change our location so dramatically was made slightly easier by two bomb cyclones bringing deep snow shortly after receiving being laid off. We knew we didn’t want to live there anymore, but weren’t sure whether it was a good idea to move the kids again, in the middle of a school year, again. We did it, and we haven’t looked back.
We picked Austin after living in seven different cities over the prior 10 years, with multiple relocations for work. Suddenly we didn’t have a planned relocation ahead of us, and we chose to move to Austin, Texas for our own reasons: for the culture (Keep Austin Weird!), livability, walkability, climate, lower climate risk, friends already living here, and the achievable cost of living. We’ve been back in Austin for three years now, and are now seeing a mad rush of others coming to this city.
Austin is on the climate corridor for Houstonians that want to get away from the increasing flood risks of coastal Texas. We expected to see more demand from people moving further inland from the Texas coast. We weren’t watching the California wildfires as closely, though, and have seen increasing numbers of Californians also moving to Central Texas in recent years. Wildfires aren’t the only drivers for the CA moves; state income taxes and technology headquarters relocating are also drivers for the moves, but the multiple reasons are likely interlinked. This certainly affects the achievable cost of living and housing prices, but we’re here now, and are still living this adventure.
Austin, TX certainly isn’t the only city worth moving to; similar consideration should be made as you choose your adventure. Will you be happy with the local culture? Are politics important to you? Will you be invigorated or distracted if everyone local to you votes loudly and differently than you? Do you want to hike nearby, or take daily jumps into the ocean? If you must be near family, can you get them to move with you, or will you phase your adventure into stages, with planned segments of travel?
Choosing your city is important and life affecting. It affects your children’s life choices, it affects your ability to recycle your household waste or take public transportation. Your choice of city will determine if you can ride a bicycle to work or if you will need to use snow tires to get through the mountains for half the year. Many of your sustainability choices will be affected by your initial choice of location, and your ability to optimize or change this environment. Don’t overlook your options for change.