The Where I Live series aims to showcase our diverse city and region by spotlighting its many vibrant neighborhoods. Each week a local resident invites us over and lets us in on what makes their neighborhood special. Have we been to your neighborhood yet? Get in touch to share your story. If your story is selected and published, you will receive a $250 stipend.
I have lived in Ridge Creek in the Great Northwest two separate times. First, as a pigtailed 4 year old and currently as a business owner in my 40s. And both times it has truly been, as the neighborhood’s marketing mantra says, “great to live in the Great Northwest.”
I moved from San Angelo to San Antonio in 1981 with my parents, Jacque and Doug, who chose a brand new NPC two story home with a fireplace in a cul-de-sac. It was our first foray into suburbia, and we quickly acclimated to the easy lifestyle it afforded us.
Everything we could want or need was nearby: an H-E-B (where I won the Electric Youth Debbie Gibson look-alike contest in the ‘80s); my elementary school, Timberwilde, and the adjacent parking lot where my Girls Scout troop had its fundraisers; and the Great Northwest Community Center with its annual trick-or-treat party and the two large, sparkling swimming pools where I spent many fun-filled summers.
Although we had a large backyard, the cul-de-sac became my playground, where I joined my besties, Shea and Meredith, in roller skating, riding bikes and pushing our highly prized Cabbage Patch dolls in their strollers. When my brother, Morgan, arrived 3 years later, he became the prized possession in the stroller that I helped mom push around the cul-de-sac.
Returning to Ridge Creek in 2017 after living in Houston during a career move, I chose a house six blocks from mom’s with a big backyard with room for a hot tub and for my treasured rescue dogs, Sophie, Whiskey and Tula, to romp. It helps enormously that their vet and groomer are five minutes away.
I was thrilled that not much had changed in the neighborhood since my idyllic childhood. Although the original H-E-B is no longer, a newer one is nearby. The mature trees are larger and grander than before, giving the neighborhood a sense of stability and much-needed shade. My non-through street is wonderfully tranquil, and the neighborhood has a multi-generational vibe, with its mix of retirees, young families, and professionals. There are dog-walkers, people walking, and families pushing children in their strollers. As a dog lover, I get a special thrill from the parade of fur babies and their adoring owners.
The two swimming pools have been well-maintained, and when my nieces and nephew visit, they enjoy “dive-in-movie nights” and endless trips up the stairs and down the slides. The recreational facilities have been expanded and there’s a farmers’ market, Gladiator Camp, line dancing, and many other ongoing activities in the Great Northwest Community Center.
As a business owner, I value having room for a home office when I need to catch up on work from my dance studio, Class Act Performing Arts. There is even a sunroom where I can practice tap dancing on my tap board when I’m not at the studio. And it is a direct shot from my house to the studio, making my frequent comings and goings less stressful.
While Thomas Wolfe philosophized that you cannot go home again, I am so glad I did. I feel completely at home and grateful to be back in my old neighborhood where it’s still great to live in the Great Northwest.
