Back to the Burgh?

Both times we moved to New York it was because we had taken a position with a company that was located in Utica. Now that we work for ourselves we don't have any limitations on where we live in relation to where we work and with that in mind we need to evaluate what resources we need to best be able to do our jobs.

On the business front we've come to a realization that the technology infrastructure of upstate New York isn't where we need it to be. At least not where we live. To get even close to "usable" internet bandwidth we had to have two DSL lines run to the house and even then because DSL is more of a shared technology we don't end up getting 1+1=2 in usage.

On a more personal front we've also realized that once you take out our former co-workers that we really don't know anyone here beyond our Accountant and Lawyer. Now admittedly we don't get out much but considering we'd need to drive about 30 minutes to get to New Hartford to do anything (if there was anything of interest) we don't have much incentive. I have been taking classes at MVCC and Harry is starting his Masters program but still... Finally, with Harry's food allergies we'd really love to be nearer to "real" shopping like a Whole Foods.

So the next concern is how do we address these "lacks". Well... We move. We've been considering both greater Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Both have good technology infrastructure, both have reasonable shopping (Whole Foods, etc) and entertainment. Pennsylvania is Pennsylvania as far as business "stuff" goes so from the business side it mostly works out even.

From a personal standpoint things aren't quiteas even but it is still very close. If you had to point out on a map where "most" of our relatives live you'd have to pick Philly/NJ for my mom's family and Allentown for my dad's family. For Harry it would be Uniontown, PA. That basically works out to Greater Philly and Greater Pittsburgh. Considering we have more friends in Pittsburgh we're leaning towards Pittsburgh over Philadelphia.

As far as process goes, we've already interviewed several Realtors and have picked our favorite. We're going to be listing our house soon and then basically we wait. We are building our own web site to help advertise (this can be found at The Roydhouse). Even with great advertising we're told that if the process takes less than 60 days he will be shocked so the likelihood that we'll be moving before the beginning of the year is slim to none. That's even assuming someone showed up tomorrow and said "We want to buy". Depending on the market it could, obviously, be longer.

Once the house sells we'll finalize where we are moving. We've already built a list of apartment complexes we are interested in so it will simply be a matter of running down the list in order until we find availability. We decided to move to an apartment for at least a year to cut some expenses and so that we aren't trying to house hunt from eight to nine hours away. As long as the house sells "at a profit" we're probably going to take the extra and get professional help moving to minimize our business down time.

And that's all we know at this point. Watch this space for updates.

Matt