Not Gathering Moss, aka "Moving Up-City"

The Stone family is on the move again.

104th St, c. $650/mo
When Shirra and I first met, we were living in Manhattan. We were both living with our parents at the time, actually, but within months I found myself in a large one bedroom apartment on 104th St just east of Broadway, and not much later, Shirra was living there, too, along with our cat, Mocha. Eventually Iggi, Krishna, and Stanky joined us. The kids came a bit later.

114th St, apt 47, $105K
Soon we moved to 114th Street, where I bought a nifty one bedroom for what seemed, at the time, like a lot of money.

...apt. 64, $140K
But before long, Shirra was pregnant, so we took our worldly possessions (except for the stuff we had left at our parents' apartments) and moved up to a pseudo-two bedroom apartment in the same building. We still owned the smaller place, but we sublet it for a couple years, making heaps of money as mini landlords.

...apt. 47 redux
Once again, Shirra got pregnant, and once again, it was time to move. The place we were planning to buy fell thru, but at the last second, we found a much nicer two bedroom on 93rd Street just west of Columbia (and for a lot less). We sold the other two apartments (having moved back to the smaller apartment for half a year), making a killing on the big one.

W. 93rd St, apt 4-F, $325K
This building had a laundry room in the basement, and I learned to wheelwalk between many loads down there. There was a kid room/lounge, too, and I worked on other skills like freemounting a giraffe (which I still can't do). World-renowned juggler Cindy Marvel, a friend of mine since high school and of Shirra's since grade school, once entertained Fiona down in that basement, juggling seven balls despite the extremely low ceilings. I started the NYUC while living in this building. At the time, I was working at the Dalton School, but after just two years there, I took the job at Packer, where I am in my 7th year. This move pretty much necessitated moving to Brooklyn, a borough I had been to only about five times before in my life. We sold this place for nearly $500K, tho of course it would be worth over a million just a few years later. New York City real estate tends to double every five years, doesn't it?

Union St and 7th Ave, above the nail salon, $2700/mo
I don't recall the exact address, maybe due to the acetone fumes that nearly choked us during the first six months of Emmett's life. We became familiar with the wonderful Park Slope Food Coop at the time, and we endured some hairy times in this apartment (like a near break-in) before finding a house in Prospect Park South, a nabe we'd never heard of until an article appeared in New York Magazine touting some cool, underpriced places to live.

Prospect Park South
We happily moved our stuff (and kids, and 4 cats) to a big house in a quiet neighborhood. We have a backyard and a driveway and lovely neighbors...but not for long.

Moving "Up-City"
We've decided to move again. It's not exactly 'up-state' because it's only just over an hour from Manhattan. So I'm calling it 'up-city.' At this point, it looks like we're heading just outside of New Paltz, but we haven't put our place on the market and certainly haven't found a place up there (nor even a town).

There were certain requirements for this move: Price, proximity, and pulchritude were all big factors, as was the educational system (for the kids) and employment (for me). We wanted to treat this move like an early retirement: Erase the credit cards, reduce or eliminate the mortgage, and live to work (rather than work to live). I really love spending time with my kids, and even tho I get to do that a lot already, I welcome the chance to do it even more. Shirra is looking forward to opening a knitting shop. I suggested a name for her shop (Funky Ulster County Knitters), but the acronym didn't appeal to her. The entire area is gorgeous, and we're hoping one day to raise alpacas on our own land. New Paltz has a great school system, but it's also appealing to have the kids attend the school where I'm working. I interviewed at a great school called Mizzentop, in Pawling, and if all goes well, I'll be teaching there next year and the kids will be attending the school.

How does all of this connect to the world of unicycling? Well, that's where the proximity comes in. We wanted to find a town within 90 minutes of Manhattan. That way I can still attend most of the NYUC meetings and the kids can still see their grandparents on a regular basis. I am planning to put a muni course down wherever we move, and I'd like to do some trials work, too, so maybe my home will become a unicyclist retreat for anyone in the area (and if you take the train, we'll pick you up, too). Now we just have to sell our house for a mint, and we'll be good to go.