Powerhousecreatives Contest: Moving Up Or Downsizing

My entry to @zord’s PHC contest. Check his post Herefor more info.

Housing has become a worldwide problem with the population of this planet skyrocketing to 7.8 billion people. That figure is double to what it was when I starting looking for housing after leaving my parent’s home.

Moving into new digs has different requirements depending on your age and family. Most young couple still want the lovely three bedroom house with the white picket fence. Often they envision an upgrade to a higher-end house or condo as finances improve or children leave the nest. Most desire a forever home comparable to what their friends live in.

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As in all things, a person’s life comes full circle and when the circle starts closing in, the prestigious forever home can become too much to look after - grass to mow in summer, landscape to keep looking good, snow to be removed in winter, walls to be painted and general maintenance inside and outside. There may be too many stairs for aging joints to climb.

If two people living together have reasonable good health then they can manage but, as the hair turns to silver, often thoughts turn to simplifying and revisiting priorities. One starts looking through the crowded closet, the messy garage and basement to see what can be donated or to have a yard sale and get rid of everything not used and ....downsize to moving into an apartment.

Downsizing would mean moving into a small home or an apartment. Never having lived in an apartment, the idea of living in one makes me uncomfortable. What about my two cats? Will pets be welcome? I’ve heard horror stories of noisy neighbors playing loud music all night and of cockroaches invading kitchen cupboards. What about a fire started accidentally by another tenant? Even if the apartment building is not burned to the ground, the tenants will be displaced because of smoke damage.

Even with my negative thinking about apartments. I think I could live in one a nice one with cement walls between the apartments and overlooking a lovely water view such as this one.

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On the plus side, downsizing to an apartment has allowed seniors to go South for the winter without worrying about a house and they can avoid the cold Canadian winter.

I grew up on a farm with open fields all around. Even going to the city I lived in a house with lots of open space between houses on the street. After retirement Hubby and I moved to the countryside to get away from city life and back to the beauty of nature I loved.

Moving is always an option but I’d like to stay In my modest country home, surrounded by a forest and the wonders of nature, for a few more years.

Photos & text are mine unless otherwise sourced.

#thealliance