My husband and I are in the process of looking for new housing. At this point, we are keeping absolutely all our options open: house, townhouse, condo, treehouse, RV parked in someone's backyard, etc. and most locations within a 30 mile radius of our metro area are fair game. My emphasis from the start was on walkability. I didn't care where we ended up as long as I could walk to the market, coffee shop, library, restaurants, theaters... most things I'd need to access in a week. I've primarily been focusing the search on condos in the middle of our downtown, as this is where my husband works 3 days of the week and would obviously be very walkable.
I keep running into the same thought, though, which is: If we live in the middle of a bustling downtown area, blocks from expensive coffee and meals, good theater, bars, sporting events, and on and on, am I going to be spending not only hundreds of thousands of dollars for a shoebox-sized condo, but also surrounded by temptation 24 hours a day?! Yes, I'll be close to free things like the library and parks, but it seems a questionable trade-off to me. Furthermore, it's great to be able to walk to the supermarket, but groceries in the city are expensive! Am I going to be driving to the suburbs to buy food that's reasonably priced anyway?
Perhaps this is just an issue of willpower, but it seems like living farther away from fun, expensive activities might also have its own benefits. Thoughts?