When I first moved to Murfreesboro for college in 1997, I heard that Davis Market, a fabulously ghetto market on the corner of E. Main St. and Tennessee (now Middle Tennessee) Blvd., was the “center of the cosmos.” Rumor has it that once you entered Davis Market, you would never leave Murfreesboro. Even if you were to move away, you eventually would return. And die here.

Obviously, I thought this was bullshit. But I kept the rumor in the back of my mind when I frequented the market for snacks (my freshman year I lived on campus in a dorm right across the street from the mart) and later for the coldest beer in town. They also sell crack pipes there (you know, the kind where you buy the rose in the little glass pipe), but don’t worry, I never had any use for that. Crack is whack.

Anyhoo, when I started working in Nashville a little more than two years ago, my mind immediately turned to moving to Nashville. Ian recently finished grad school and is now also working in Nashville. We have sought out advice from tons of people–friends and coworkers–in regards to where to move in Nashville. We were kind of bummed about how expensive it is to live there (i.e. not in cracktown), but a few months ago discovered the quiet and convenience of Bellevue, and were close to looking at two homes. But we started thinking, and since we don’t want to just give away our condo, we decided we’d wait. One more year. We’d make some updates in here—new livingroom furniture, paint some rooms, put hardwood downstairs, etc.—and be ready to list next spring. We would be ready for Nashville.

But then, something happened. I started looking around me, and saw the center of the cosmos. Well, my cosmos. I saw all of my friends. I saw my family (ok, Ian’s family, but they adopted me as their own a long time ago). I saw my old hangouts. I saw my new hangouts. I saw growth. I saw a town that held so many memories for me, and a town that is expanding so rapidly. I saw a town that took me in and helped me find my way. A town that grew with me.

And suddenly I wasn’t so sure I was ready to leave Murfreesboro.

I don’t really get it.

Mere months ago I was bitching to anyone who would listen about how I couldn’t wait to move. I was certain I would just die if I had to commute much longer. I was having panic attacks driving home. Seriously. I have had to pull off the road into a parking lot and calm my ass down before. But since Ian’s been working in Nashville we’ve been carpooling as much as possible, and it’s not as bad. Actually, it’s kind of nice. Someone to talk to, and we get to use the HOV lane legally.

And today, we found ourselves near the center of the cosmos again. We were downtown. LOOKING AT HOUSES. In Murfreesboro. Go ahead, people I work with who might be reading this. Take a moment and clean the beverage you just spit all over the keyboard. And don’t worry, we didn’t go in any.

But here’s the thing. Where we live now is about the farthest from Nashville that you can get and still be in M’boro. Sure, we’re about three miles from the interstate, but the traffic is so bad on our main road (Hwy 231 South, Church Street, which we can see back up from our bedroom window) that sometimes it can take 30 minutes just to get to I-24. There’s a colleague of mine who also lives in Murfreesboro, but whose commute is probably 10-15 minutes shorter than mine because he lives near the center/north end of town. If I were to try to drive to his house in the morning, even with just regular traffic, it would take at least 30 minutes.

So the houses we looked at today were mainly on the north end of town. I mean, shit, if we’re going to stay here I want to shave at least 15 minutes off my commute. I’m guessing we’d be looking at about a 20-30 minute commute from Bellevue. If we can save $15,000-$30,000 on a house here and have a commute that’s only about 10-20 mins. longer, that might be something to consider, especially when we take into account the other factors (friends, family, town that for some reason I feel attached to). Ok, and, if we have babies one day, wouldn’t it be so much easier if we have friends/family in town to help out? [Go ahead, clean up your keyboard again. You just heard Megan mention babies. It's a bit surreal.]

I know, I know, this is crazy talk. I can’t believe, of all people, I am even writing this down. Ian says he doesn’t mind if we move or stay, although I know he doesn’t want to live in several parts of Nashville (well, I don’t either, and there are several areas we just can’t afford. God damn Nashville is overpriced. Seriously), but I know he is more intrenched in Murfreesboro than I am. I mean, it’s his family that’s here. And he’s been here since he was in 8th grade, giving Davis Market and it’s crack-fueled cosmos much more time to get its hooks into him.

I just don’t know. We just don’t know if we should rule staying in Murfreesboro out quite yet. I know I don’t want to live where we are much longer (the location isn’t great for a Nashville commuter, and honestly, we’re outgrowing the condo). I would love to have an easy breezy commute to and from work, but I just don’t know that I’m ready to leave what feels like my hometown yet. Is that really all that nuts?

Sigh. Can’t someone just pick up the ‘boro and swap its location with Antioch or LaVergne?

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