How lucky are you?
You live in an amazing place. There are a lot of places that are just as beautiful. But what makes them so beautiful? Hill Country and lakes? Canyons and parks? The ocean? Mountains? Sure, those all make a place beautiful.
Places that are beautiful are places that are worth checking out — and people like to figure out how to move to these beautiful places.
I’ve been there. I moved to a small mountain town in Colorado in the early 90’s. About five years after I moved there the place started to get discovered. At least in my eyes. Talk to a local that has been living there for twenty years and they would say it started to get discovered about five years after they moved there.
Developers move in and take over places that were once quiet. But the reason they move in is because the demand is there. One condo project goes up and sells out before the slab is poured. Other developers join in. Next thing you know you have more condos. Apartments. Homes. Walmart. People. Traffic. Your world changes.
This is the world we live in. Cities grow. They expand. Beautiful places get developed. It’s hard to stop development. You can keep moving further from it. But that’s hard too. Especially when you want to live close to the people and things you love.
Depending on where you are in life, you may be able to pick up and move. Find the next small town. But other times, stages of life don’t give you that option. You have a family. A job. A home. Friends.
This is where you live.
And there’s something that I keep hearing about living in the Lake Travis area. I’m not alone. Maybe you hear it too. I talk to other people that feel the same. Locals that have been here all their lives and people that move here.
From Spicewood to Bee Cave to Lakeway. From Apache Shores to Hudson Bend and across the dam to Steiner Ranch and River Place. All along the 620 corridor and around the North Shore of Lake Travis into Jonestown and Volente. Every home, neighborhood and subdivision around the lake. These places are occupied by some of the friendliest people you will ever meet. I hear it again and again.
Sometimes, people that move here aren’t used to it. But it’s contagious. You might be used to getting home after a long day’s work and pulling into the garage and closing the door. But now you find yourself stepping outside. Saying hello to your neighbors. Your neighbors come over and say hello to you.
I had a conversation — over a beer — with a local. Why do you love living here?
I left for a week and came back home. As I left the airport and came back, you start to get through the city and work your way out towards the lake and Hill Country. First you travel along 360 and go over Pennybacker Bridge and see Lake Austin. Then you head up through the hills of 2222. As you take the turn down 620 and crest the hill at Comanche Trail, you see it. And feel it. The view. The Hill Country. Lake Travis. The homes in the hills. All the people that live here. This is the place to be and it’s a beautiful place to call home. We live with some of the friendliest people in the world.
There it is again — “We live with some of the friendliest people in the world.”
Surrounded by the hills. The lake. The sunrises. The sunsets. All of the scenery that makes up this beautiful place we get to call home. Take it all away and what are you left with?
You are surrounded by some of the friendliest people in the world.
This is where you live.
How lucky are you?
Post image via Creative Commons, Umberto Salvagnin on Flickr.
