Finding the Right Home (part 1)
Today, I ran across an article titled, “20 Great American Cities for Writers–That Aren’t NYC.” (Sure, the online article is click-bait, a list with photos, but it is still fun to read!)
And Ann Arbor made the list! Hooray!
Natalie’s making her living by being a full-time writer, a dream she’s had since she was in middle school. She also LOVES living in Ann Arbor.
This year, Natalie and I visited New York City for one of my gigs. We enjoyed our four day visit, but we agreed that our enjoyment of NYC as visitors only increased our love of where we call home; Ann Arbor just feels right for us.
The same feeling happened when I was on tour through Chicago and Nashville this month; and when Natalie and I honeymooned in Toronto last year.
This isn’t an account of one place being better than another; instead, this is an account of trusting emotions that say, “this is home.”
Ann Arbor has that quality for us. Here are a few reasons:
- While small, there is a music and writing scene, supported here.
- It’s close to our Michigan relatives.
- The large university brings bustle to the downtown.
- Ann Arbor is a college town that still features families and neighborhoods and professionals.
- Ann Arbor is known for it’s variety of unique restaurants.
- Three farmer’s markets a week, folks!
- It’s tree city! It’s beautiful here!
- It’s well located for traveling to other gigs in Metro Detroit, Lansing, even West Michigan.
- This is a town that loves to read, a town that houses Michigan Radio, a town with book stores and record stores and music stores…
- Michigan breweries! Local coffee roasters! Independent businesses!
- We can ride our bikes to many spots, or drive and park without fighting insane traffic.
- Here’s a big one: We can afford the rent of a house and writing studio for what we could afford an apartment in a larger city.
Nat and I couldn’t picture ourselves growing our careers and our lives together anywhere else.
It’s hard for one with a creative career to pick a home, but we don’t need to pick our homes because of an idea, a myth, or even a list of “best places to live.” Pick the place that feel right.
Natalie's editor emailed the edited copy of Nat's book while we were in Greenwich Village!
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