The Move: Pros & Cons of City vs. Country Living

Since this blog has become my journal I wanted to post about our decision to move back to Cedar City and also record my Pro/Con list for moving and Sandy vs. Cedar. I want to write it all down so in the future when we have to decide where we want to live I can look back and remember what I like and dislike about living both places.

First of all, when we bought our house almost 4 years ago we really had no plans of leaving Cedar City. I guess no one really plans on losing a job and having everything turned upside down, forcing you to make a move that you really didn't plan for or even want. I think too much change in a short period of time is hard, and combined with the hormonal shifts of just having had a baby made it even more difficult.

Bryan found a condo for us to live in and I was very nervous to move into a place I had never seen. When we first got there I didn't think it was too bad...until all of our stuff was moved in and I realized we couldn't fit everything in such a tiny space after having a house.

Condo Cons:

1. The kitchen--it was more of a kitchenette you see in a hotel which made it very difficult to cook and move around.

2. The paint--it was ugly, drab, and everything was painted the same color including walls, doors, and baseboards.

3. The bedrooms--way smaller than our house with tiny closets and hardly room to walk around once you put a bed in them.

4. Storage space--there was hardly any storage space througout the entire place and they wasted a lot of space.

Condo Pros:

1. The washer/dryer--we had a nice front-load washer that cleaned our clothes great and was super quiet. I liked it so much I can't wait to save up and get one for myself.

2. The view--I loved looking out the window and seeing beautiful mountains; also from where we lived we could see 3 temples!

3. The location--close to everything and right in the heart of the Salt Lake Valley. Also, less than 2 miles from Bryan's work!

When our renter told us he was going to be moving out in May we first started trying to find a new renter to move in. I half joked/half seriously started talking about moving back to our house and having Bryan commute because he had only been working in the office 2-3 days a week so we figured he could just work up there Mon-Wed then be home the rest of the time and it would have been cheaper to rent a place for just him and make our house payment than it was to rent our house and pay rent up there. As Bryan was discussing his dilemma at work, his supervisor suggested he just move back to Cedar City and work from home and told him if he only saw him once every couple months in the office that would be fine with him. So instead of searching for a renter for Cedar we began advertising for someone to buy the remainder of our contract in Cedar. Here is our Pro/Con list:

Sandy Pros:

1. OUR WARD! Cresent 16th Ward has been the best ward we have lived in since we've been married. The people were friendly and welcoming and we felt more at home the first week there than we ever felt in years at other wards. We made friends easily and felt wanted and appreciated; and we really enjoyed our callings

2. Shopping. I'm not a huge shopper, but when I need something I love having options. And with so much competition I could get great deals on just about everything. It's also very nice to be just down the street from Costco and several other awesome places to shop.

3. Closer to Bryan's family. Even though Bryan's parents were about the same distance away, we saw them more because they came north for appointments and family gatherings. Also, we were able to see some of Bryan's siblings more often.

Sandy Cons:

1. Time. Everything took longer. There may have been more places to shop, but getting there, shopping, and getting home took 3 or 4 times the amount of time it takes in Cedar. I hated sitting in traffic and the fact that I couldn't go grocery shopping in less than 3 or 4 hours.

2. Cost of Living. Our rent for a tiny condo was more than our house payment in Cedar. And rent is only going up. Even though things like gas and groceries are a bit cheaper there, you have to buy gas more often because of sitting in traffic and the distance and time it takes to get from one place to another.

Cedar Pros:

1. Time. We can go to 3 stores, the library, play at the park and be home in less than an hour. It makes me feel like I can spend more time with my kids and not feel like I'm rushing around all the time.

2. OUR HOUSE! We get to live in our house that we love, that we can fit everything in, that has a garage, that has a yard for me to grow a garden and let the kids play outside. Even better is not losing money to rent and putting that extra money toward the house which will help us pay it off faster so we can be debt free!

3. Closer to my family. With 9 kids and 1/2 of those still at home, there is always something going on with my family so it's nice to be close so we can be there for family gatherings.

4. Size. We really like the size of Cedar City because we were small town kids and enjoy the comforts of country living. I like going places and seeing people I know, and I like being familiar with the town.

Cedar Cons:

1. The Ward. There are a lot of great people in our ward, don't get me wrong; but I have had a hard time fitting in and finding friends. Perhaps it's because we live on the wrong side of the ward in the smaller houses, or maybe it's because everyone has small kids and are just too busy to make much of an effort. Mostly I think it's because people associate most with those in their neighborhoods and not much outside of that. Whatever the reasons, I wish our ward had the same feeling as the ward in Sandy. I'm hoping to just make a better effort to make others feel welcome and maybe in return I'll find some friends and feel more comfortable.

2. Shopping. With only 2 grocery stores now and 1 Walmart, it's hard to get everything you want/need especially when it comes to coupon items. But so far I've been able to still get great deals and find most of what I need. Luckily we'll be heading north quite often so we can stock up on some things then.

After considering everything we decided that the obvious choice was to move back to Cedar City. We prayed about it and felt like it was a good choice for our family at this time. We might move back north after we are able to sell our house, but when the time comes we'll have to weigh the Pros/Cons again and see which place wins.