Up for downsizing
We moved this week, and — like I say every time — I never want to move again.
I love the house we lived in on 125th Street. Jesse and I got there with Chile and Tripp when they were seven- and five-yearold boys. And in the ensuing three years, they’ve grown up to be 10 and 8 — still boys, but more like little people.
And of course they have their two-year-old brother, Indy, running after them all over the house.
My entire pregnancy and maternity leave happened in that home. I met some of the best friends and neighbours I will ever have in my life. There were three other babies born within six weeks of Indy within eight houses on my side of the street.
I love the neighbourhood of Westmount and am always in awe of the gorgeous golden trees hanging over the heritage homes.
But there were some things I didn’t love. The plentiful gardens that boxed around our backyard were growing vegetables and all sorts of gorgeous plants when we arrived in 2015, but adequately maintained and far from flourishing when we departed this week.
I didn’t love the front and backyard maintenance. We could never seem to get on a lawn-mowing or tending schedule. Paying for a lawn service to take care of ours cost about $120 a month.
The house — built around 1919 — was so charming. But it was built before closet space or openconcept living was a thing. And eventually, the beautiful moulding, original hardwood floors and high baseboards weren’t enough to make up for that.
The house was no mansion, but with three bedrooms, three bathrooms and a finished basement, it was fairly large. Sometimes we’d resort to a cleaning service every two weeks to keep it in decent shape when things got really crazy.
Our proximity to 124th Street was incredible, but every time Jesse and I walked around downtown, we longed to be back in the thick of it. Being able to walk from our old place on 104th Street to work downtown had been such a lovely way to start or finish a workday. At a 50-minute walk, Westmount was just a touch too far.
Jesse and I had been condodwellers before, and it was becoming increasingly clear that we were condo people after all. When one of my best friends sold her home in Forest Heights to live in the Fox Towers with her partner and stepdaughter, I felt a massive pang of jealousy.
The only problem? There’s no such thing as a reasonably affordable highrise condo that accommodates a family of five.
But there are ways to compromise, and increasingly so.
We found our dream home in a modern, three-storey townhouse in Queen Mary Park. There are no heritage homes as I look out my balcony. But there is no backyard to take care of. No gardens to make me feel guilty. Just a patio off the back and some fenced-in communal green space that we’ll share with the other four units (and that we won’t need to maintain).
A couple of people were totally confused by the fact that we were opting not to have a lawn. “But you have three kids! Where will they play?”
We’re a stone’s throw from two massive parks/playgrounds for the kids to get a bit of freedom and meet new friends.
There are tons of kids in our new neighbourhood. And they’re from an incredibly diverse mix of backgrounds, something we’re thrilled about.
And looking northeast from our master-bedroom balcony, you can see the highest, newest and shiniest of Edmonton’s towers. It’s not the entire skyline, but it’s downtown skyline to be sure.
There is less square footage but plenty of room for my family, and it’s used in much more practical ways.
And there is more familyfriendly development coming in the area, too.
A 23-storey tower is going to go up in Oliver. City Council approved it earlier this month after initially rejecting the 30-storey version of the project. One of the things the developers were told to do was design more family-friendly units. The ground floor of the design now consists of townhouses and bungalow-sized family units.
Like any tower going up in a mature neighbourhood, this one got mixed and emotional reactions. I don’t live in Oliver, but I approve of more family-friendly options close to downtown, whether that’s in the form of high-rises (where appropriate) or townhouse developments like mine.
Edmonton families are not all cut from the same cloth. Some want bigger yards in the suburbs. But some want smaller spaces and walks to work (which I can now do in 30 minutes or less).
Some want to downsize when they retire, we just chose to do that a little bit earlier.
Our developer decided to rent our units until the market improves, but we’ve got a clause in our contract that says we’ll get first crack when they eventually sell. So, we may actually never have to move again.
Unless, of course, a four-bedroom condo in the Fox Towers comes up.