So, the shooting occurred July 30th. For the following two weeks I went through a whirlwind of emotions and feelings about things. I was anxious, and paranoid. I thought for sure something was going to happen to me. That sparked off a manic episode that only lasted a short while because I suddenly crashed into depression.
But yesterday as the mate and I got to talking, I noticed I was feeling much better. We went for a walk for the first time since the shooting happened. We'd been doing research, to see if there were any other cities we'd maybe like to move to, but we both agreed it wouldn't be until it was time for us to go somewhere because we wanted to, not because we were running from somewhere else.
The apartment manager evicted the person on our floor that had been involved, so I feel a lot less scared to go down to pick up a package or food delivery. And if you stay out of the bad areas, don't go out at night, and keep a watchful eye, you should be ok. My mate's mother got us some alarm key chains. When you're being accosted, you pull the pin and it emits a high pitch alarm that drives you crazy and alerts anyone who hadn't been looking before. And hopefully scares away the perpetrator.
We decided though, to keep on doing research.. St. Louis is definitely not going to be our life forever. But somewhere else will be and we'd like to plan it early and keep an eye on the cities we like. So far here are my top 3:
Cincinnati, OH : Great walk score, friendly people, lots to do, the biggest Oktoberfest outside of Munich, lots of breweries, bars, restaurants. The only downside, currently, is there is some crime happening there, not as bad as St. Louis (No one is as bad as STL) but something to keep an eye on.
Indianapolis, IN: Sports galore! WNBA, NBA, Football, NASCAR, and much more. Great place to go for concerts, and tons of fun things to do. A canal, lots of parks. Again crime is the reason we're putting this on hold.
Des Moines, IA: Smaller, quieter, reminds us of an up and coming Denver, huge State fair, nice people, bars, restaurants, breweries, great traffic. The downside is that it's not really close to anywhere else within driving range like the above two cities. Oh, and... tornadoes.
Some that we've looked at that had deal breakers were:
Pittsburgh, Jacksonville, Albany, Columbus, Spokane
Some that we still need to research are:
Kansas City, and San Antonio.
So I feel much better about things. I really was having a hard time. I felt like, also, looking for places in our price range was a big bummer because our company never gave us a cost of living increase. So the only places we can afford are in the crime-y areas. Which made me super sad and got me thinking I'd like to go to a 2-year school for something, that would help me get a job and make more money for us. But then I thought, god I am 43 I've peaked already and haven't done anything, it's too late for me, etc. And that was a very sad thought. But I think my mate has helped me to see it doesn't matter how old you are, you can still do whatever you want, and in the long run it may be a good idea for classes later on, but first to watch YouTube videos about it, and maybe take one introductory class for an hour to see if it is something I would really like to do, because I took 90% of a UX Design course from Google before decided it wasn't for me. I didn't really like it.
So I think I'll be ok here for a while. Wish me luck.
UPDATE 9/24/22:
Ok, fuck this place. Someone busted the window of our car and went through all our crap. Didn't take anything because we had nothing in there.This was in a gated lot, by the way. And then of course there was a sexual assault in the building last week. So.. as soon as our lease is up here... we OUT.
