A freelance home where the buffalo roam?
A friend sent an email about his wonderful new house in Oklahoma. "We bought
a 2,200 sq. ft. home on two acres for $120,000, with property taxes totaling
$1,400 per year."
Where I live, outside of Boston, my wife and I spent more than four times
that amount for our somewhat smaller house. I sometimes wonder, would I pursue different sorts of stories if I weren't paying Boston-baked bills?
Moving is a fantasy for me; my wife has a good job here, as well as
family. But if I were less attached, I could see moving some place like Las Vegas. The housing bust means property is cheap, and the airport features flights to all sorts of interesting destinations. It's also an epicenter of the U.S. populace's westward shift. A place like Pittsburgh offers cheap, solid neighborhoods and puts me in between the two publishing capitals, New York and DC. Or, as a former Michigander, I might move to the Detroit area. I found a 2,000 sq. ft., four-bedroom, two-bath house selling for $200,0000 in tony Grosse Pointe. There are far cheaper areas around Detroit than Grosse Pointe.
Another writer friend just did leave New York (well, New Jersey) for
Bozeman, Mont. He bought his dream house for about what his modest house
sold for, he dramatically lowered both his taxes and his living expenses, and
there's plenty for the kids to do.
True, none of these places would allow me to regularly rub shoulders with
editors. But I've found that editors tend to make time for a cup of coffee when
writers come from out of town. It's clearly possible to have an established and
successful freelance career outside of the major coastal centers. I have long
possessed real estate envy for a friend who freelances from Durham, N.C. He
doesn't make as much income as I do, but he probably lives better.
I'd love to hear what freelancers think about what it would mean to move
away from pricey publishing centers like New York. Would it help your career or
hurt it?