Back in the saddle

After a month+ of headaches, phone calls, meetings, and hemorraghing cash (of which I'm probably still not done), we finally own our cute little 1955 central Austin home. It feels good to be living in the city again and out of the suburbs. Within the space of the weekend, my boyfriend went from fixing to have a nervous breakdown if one more soccer mom cut him off in traffic with her Expedition to just smiling all the time. We'll see how long it lasts.
We only lived in the suburbs a little more than a year to save up enough money to actually purchase a home in central Austin, but it was a very trying year. Our new house is only 14 miles away from the suburban one, but it seems like a different world in many ways. No more HOA rules that say you can't put any decorations in front of your standard-issue beige and brown house. The houses come in all sorts of styles and colors, though mostly they stick to the 1950's look. Some of my neighbors are artists and have their sculptures on display in their yards. A lot of people are apparently into cars, and there are restorations of everything from muscle cars to big-finned boats going on up and down the street.
On the weekends especially, there are people walking, working in their yards, sitting on their front porches and watching the world go by. In our suburban neighborhood, houses didn't even have front porches! My boyfriend laughingly pointed out how many of the Saturday morning shoppers at Target were tattooed, hipster sorts and said, "God it's good to be back with our people again."
Both he and I have been warned in ominous tones by co-workers who willingly live in the suburbs that we have moved into a "dangerous" neighborhood. There is, in fact, more crime in the neighborhood, a higher chance of stuff getting stolen out of your yard or getting your car broken into. But it's not like I felt free to leave my car or house unlocked in the suburbs so what difference does it make? But I wouldn't rate "car stereo getting stolen" as a mortal danger, so I have to wonder exactly what people mean by "dangerous". Possibly it's just that we have actual bus stops in our new neighborhood.
Safety can often be in the eye of the beholder. I was supposed to feel safer in the suburbs but I usually couldn't walk down the street to the store in suburbs without getting shouted at or even having cars with 2 or 3 young men in them slowing down behind me so as to more effectively make obnoxious comments about my body. Not that street harassment isn't a problem in the urban neighborhoods, but much less so. I guess the young men of the neighborhood aren't surprised to see young women out taking walks so they don't feel any great need to make a big deal out of it.
Before I make it sound like the suburbs are a complete hellhole, I will have to say that most people in my old neighborhood were perfectly nice and quiet, or at least those that I knew were. The housing is newer and cheaper, so it can be a much lesser drain on the wallet. And it's not the fault of the people in the suburbs that the neighborhoods are badly planned out and seem to actively discourage people from coming out of their homes. Stores are spaced too far apart, houses don't have front porches, and there are no sidewalks, so suburban dwellers can hardly be blamed for not walking or even going into their front yards.
But I'm just thrilled to be living in a proper urban neighborhood again. Though I fear we're going to gain weight due to living near restaraunts that actually serve good food again.
Thanks for the good wishes, all!