Why do you like the neighborhood that you live in?

Recently, my pastor asked “Why do you like the neighborhood that you live in? How do you interact with your community? What makes it special to you?” It was a question that called for contemplation.

I gathered my thoughts and considered where my family and I live. We chose to reside in the heart of the entire community – downtown Augusta on Broad Street. Some call it the epicenter; some call it Augusta’s front porch. We believe downtown is the heart – the place where it all starts – and if the heart is healthy, the rest of the entire community will be healthy. This philosophy has proven true across the United States as more cities are turning their attention to revitalizing their downtown districts. The concept is working – consider the massive changes in Charleston, Savannah and Greenville.  

It was this belief that drove us to relocate to the downtown district three years ago with two teenagers and a toddler in tow. To date, it’s been a fantastic journey that has provided our family with more positive experiences than we could have ever imagined. Here are our top reasons we like our neighborhood – downtown Augusta:

What do we like about our neighborhood? For starters, we like the variety of our neighbors. Being in a mostly urban environment, our neighbors are a bit different. Our neighbors are the business owners that line Broad Street, the employees at New Moon Café, the crew that gathers at the Metro Pub to swap talk, the UPS man and the Georgia Power meter reader. Our neighbors are the folks who choose to shop downtown often, the ones who choose to live here and the university students who escape to downtown to study and relax.

We also love the convenience. Our home is just steps away from restaurants, coffee shops, art galleries, theatres, music venues and shops. The arts culture thrives downtown and we are in the midst of it. In fact, we walk more than we drive our car. We go to a downtown church and our daughter attends a downtown school. Plus, we have a huge backyard to play in – the Augusta Common is our soccer field and the River Walk is our playground.

The greatest blessing about living downtown is the relationships we are building. Being in the midst of people all day – and often the same people – we are able to connect. We hear their stories. We find out their dreams and visions for our communities. We share in their successes and grieve in their losses. Downtown has become our extended family. A day does not pass that we don’t see our neighbors. 

This is a community downtown that watches out for one another. These neighbors keep an eye on our daughters and mark our son’s milestones. We are a tight knit family that cares for, nurtures and believes in one another. This is what makes our community great. Every day I walk down the street I see our neighborhood bustling with our neighbors coming and going. It’s like “Busy Town” – too cool.

So, that’s what we like about our neighborhood in which we live, work and play. We’ve found that what makes a neighborhood special is the connection to community. It’s the connections that causes roots to grow and gives us a strong sense of place.

I’ll turn the question back to you. What do you like about your neighborhood? What is your neighborhood? Are you connecting? Are you getting out there and meeting your neighbors and truly getting to know them? 

Of course, we’d be happy for you to join us – there’s plenty of room in the heart! See you in our backyard or we may even see you out enjoying yours.

Matt