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memories / Oak Lawn

Moving out of the gayborhood

Lightning above the Trinity River in Dallas

I finally moved out of the gayborhood.

This move was yet another tedious experience in which I was confronted by dog hair balls, poor purchasing choices, and clothes that no longer fit.

One unexpected aspect of this move was the rain — I was leaving Ilume Park with a carload of stuff when the sky just collapsed all around me.

Here’s what it looked like in a video posted by a local weatherman:

A video of a "rain foot" over downtown Dallas.

A video of a “rain foot” over downtown Dallas.

The technical term is a “rain foot” or downburst, but it really felt like the hurricanes that I left in Miami.

I then made the great life choice of getting on the Tollway during the downpour. Several of the low points in the highway were flooded and traffic was reduced to a single lane. One guy driving a beamer attempted to blast through the flood waters and got stuck. I made it to the new apartment however.


The suburban lifestyle

The move out of Ilume Park was a long time coming — many of our closest friends have moved away and my early work schedule means that we can’t go out as much.

The new management company has made significant improvements to the building in recent months, but we couldn’t justify the nearly $3,000/month rate for a short-term lease.

My new apartment is in Far North Dallas and about half the price of our Ilume Park apartment. The new pad is also close to the Thomson Reuters office in Carrollton, where Michael works.

Although our new area is very suburban, there are a lot of young professionals who live in our area. That’s probably why many of the trendy Uptown Dallas restaurants have second locations in the neighborhood.

Far North Dallas is also significantly cleaner and safer-feeling than the gayborhood. I sometimes worry that my affinity for the suburbs is a sign of aging. I might be getting less adventurous, or just too tired of the inconveniences associated with living in a club district.

The lack of distractions in the burbs is also useful for my continued bar prep — something that’s leeching my free time this summer.

More on that later.

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