It's Called Downsizing

My wife and I recently relocated, heading from Knoxville, Tennessee to her hometown of Frederick, Maryland. Not that the move changes our perspective on "renewal" all that much. We've essentially jumped from one neighborhood that might be called "transitional" to another. From one racially mixed block with rental on either side of us to another. And, while the new house isn't condemned as our first was when we bought it, it is older, circa 1870 as best we can figure, compared to 1889 for our previous Victorian.

There is one big difference in jumping from Red to Blue America, however. Our fixer-upper in downtown Frederick cost almost as much per square foot as finished lofts do in downtown Knoxville. Or about two and a half times per square foot what we sold the Knoxville Victorian for. Which explains why we've gone from 2800 sq. ft. to about 1500.