She Planned to Live in Boulder Forever. This is Why She Left.
Auri Penner and her husband own online businesses that give them the freedom to live anywhere. So they bought and remodeled their mountain dream home in Boulder, CO. Having a child made them reconsider. The life they were living did not fit with the day-to-day realities of child-raising.
On a trip to visit her parents, they discovered Pinewood Forest, a walkable town being built on New Urbanist principles in Fayetteville, GA near Pinewood Studios Atlanta. They decided life would be better living near grandparents, and finding Pinewood Forest helped them make the move.
In this interview, Auri discusses why she moved to Boulder; the realities of living in a mountain home; childcare; New Urbanism; and why living near family works better for her. You can find links to the businesses she and her husband own here: Penner Jewelry , Powder & Jade, For the Maids. Her husband’s latest venture is Penner Footwear.
Why did you move to Boulder, CO?
We got married in college and then lived with my parents in Fayetteville, GA for about eight months while we started a business selling handmade jewelry on Etsy. Once we started making money, we wanted to move somewhere fun and warm. We could take our business anywhere, so we decided to live in San Diego.
We thought we would stay in San Diego, and we had an office and employees there. But at the same time we thought about other places to live long-term. The area where we lived was kind of isolated. We couldn’t walk anywhere, the house was bigger than we needed, and we didn’t have a lot of friends. We also wanted to reorganize the business.
We took a trip to Banff in 2015, and I was so excited about the mountains. I was like, “We have to move to the mountains. This is what I want.” So we looked for places in the mountains, and Boulder was the best option. We could live in the mountains and be close to a town we really liked.
We visited Boulder for the first time in September 2015, bought a house a few weeks later, and moved ourselves and our entire business to Boulder by the beginning of November. That was kind of crazy. We actually didn’t see the house we bought in person. The realtor just took a video, and we were like, “Okay, let’s buy it.”
Describe your mountain home in Boulder.
It was a basic builder-grade modular home in the mountains. It felt very remote, but it was only 15 minutes from town. We loved that. We had an amazing view, and we did a ton of renovations: new flooring, new kitchen cabinets, new countertops, new hardware, remodeled bathrooms. We built a deck off the house and turned the living room wall into a giant window with a door going out to the deck. We also added a bathroom in the basement so that it could function as a fourth bedroom. We thought we were going to live there forever, and we really made it our own.
What changed that made you decide to leave your forever-house in Boulder?
We had a baby. It was something we were planning on, but we didn’t really grasp how much it would change our day-to-day lives. Boulder was great for just me and my husband. We could hike all the time, be up in the mountains, and live in this cool city. But the day-to-day reality with a baby and then later a toddler made us realize that there were better options for us.
What was difficult about living in a mountain home with a child?
We didn’t have any place where we could just go outside. That sounds funny since we lived in the mountains, but we really didn’t have a clear, safe place to be outside with a baby/toddler. We had to drive into town if we wanted to take our baby on a walk. We had to carry him if we went on a hike, and both of our backs couldn’t handle that for different reasons. And I was always afraid of wild animals. I was like, “What if we run into a mountain lion or bear while I’m alone with this baby?” It sounds stupid, but they are definitely there.
Driving into town once a day was fine. It was about 15–20 minutes. But if I needed to go multiple times a day, all of a sudden, my baby was in the car for hours. That wasn’t ideal.
We also felt a little isolated, even though we had some great neighbors, because we did not have the kind of network that comes from working as employees. We invited people over, but we were not seeing people every day.
How did childcare factor into your decision to leave Boulder?
Childcare was a big reason. We are lucky because my husband and I both work at home and split the day with our toddler. I have him six-hours a day; my husband has him six-hours a day.
Our ideal situation, however, would be to have him around other kids and give us time to really focus on work.
Our toddler is kind of a mamma’s boy and can be very clingy. So it’s hard for me to work when we are both home. I can’t just go down to the kitchen for a snack or something, because he’ll be all over me and crying.
I really wanted part-time, every-day daycare, which wasn’t really an option for us in Boulder. Daycare in general is really expensive in Boulder and difficult to get into. As for babysitting, we were able to get some good babysitters for date night, but it was tough if there was something like a snowstorm. Commuting to school eventually would have been doable but difficult.
How did you reach the decision to leave Boulder and move back to Fayetteville?
We really thought about what our daily life would look like in Georgia versus in Boulder. I thought, you know, life would probably be better in Georgia even though we have this really cool town and beautiful mountains.
We had designed our living situation based on not having kids, but now that we had a kid, we realized our current living situation was no longer ideal and something else might be better. Where we had chosen to live in the past said more about my identity and what I wanted to be like and what I wanted to experience. This choice was about what I wanted my day-to-day life to look like.
How do you feel about this choice being based more on your day-to-day reality than identity?
I think it’s a good way to make these big decisions. It’s very tempting to make these big decisions based on the identity of a city and how we want to see ourselves, especially in the age of social media, but I really think that making decisions based on your day-to-day lifestyle makes life better overall. I think the same thing is true when you are choosing a career. Also, I just want to say that I realize that I am extremely lucky to even be able to make the choice of where to live and what I want my daily life to look like.
How did you discover the Pinewood Forest development in Fayetteville?
Several years ago, they built a big movie studio — Pinewood Atlanta — about ten minutes away from where my parents live. It’s where they film a lot of the big Marvel movies. Fayetteville is just another Atlanta suburb, but because of the studio they decided to build this development called Pinewood Forest.¹
We first heard about the project around a year ago when we were visiting my parents. It hadn’t been built yet, but it sounded really cool. Many of the amenities still aren’t built yet, but there will be parks, trails, restaurants, shops, a movie theater, a swimming pool, a hotel, a wellness center, a co-working space, and a school. Even when we first got married, I liked the idea of living in a community that was more than just your regular neighborhood.
We learned about Pinewood Forest around the time I was feeling a bit frustrated with having a toddler in a mountain home, and I just felt really good about it. I realized all the benefits of such a community and of living close to my parents, who adore our toddler. I also found a Montessori preschool that takes kids as young as one, and it’s part-time Monday-Friday, which has been perfect for us.
Did finding Pinewood Forest make it easier to leave Boulder?
I don’t think we would have moved back if we had not found Pinewood Forest. I still think moving would have been a good idea, but without Pinewood Forest I would not have considered it. I never thought I would move back to Fayetteville. Like never. It kind of seemed like this old, random suburb that would be going backwards.
Finding Pinewood Forest made it seem like moving back could be a step forward. And now I’m noticing all the great things that are here in Fayetteville, which is probably a reason my parents moved here in the first place.
How is Pinewood Forest being marketed?
The website talks about “creators, entrepreneurs and storytellers.”² With the studio nearby, I think that’s the vibe they are going for. But it all just depends on who moves here. It’s in the early phases of development.
The development is definitely focused on lifestyle. There is a big emphasis on community, creativity, and wellness. They also focus on being eco-friendly. It’s very branded.
Does the town have an ideological slant?
We are in a conservative area, yet there are a lot of ideals going on here that we think of as being liberal. I feel like the marketing is geared towards more liberal, artistic city-dwellers. But I went to the groundbreaking for the wellness center, and it seemed much more conservative and religious than I expected. Not that these ideals are mutually exclusive (you might be politically conservative but also care about wellness and the environment). It will be interesting to see how it plays out.
How do you feel about living in such a thoroughly planned town?
It is a very well thought-out, planned-out community. It’s designed to be very walkable and have everything you want right here. Which is awesome. It’s like this utopia. But I’m also going to live in a bubble.
I want to make an effort to be involved in the city outside of the bubble. I want to know other people and be a part of the community and have our kid get that experience. It’s actually really cool, because Fayetteville is in the middle of other diverse, interesting cities.
They are going to have a small, unique school here where kids engage in self-directed learning. It’s called the Forest School. It sounds pretty ideal to me. But then I am thinking, “Man, our kid will only know this small, privileged environment.” So we will see if we end up doing that.
A similar development, Serenbe, was recently profiled by Mimi Kirk at CityLab. She noted that Serenbe embodies certain progressive ideas but does little to address certain other social justice issues. What are your thoughts on these contradictions?
I think that’s true, and it does make me feel slightly guilty. It is a very privileged way to live.
I have read that Pinewood Forest wants to offer some more affordable options, and I think it would be great if that would be a priority, because then you get different perspectives and a more well-rounded community.³
What is your house in Pinewood Forest like?
Working from home impacted our choice, because we need a bigger house. I think we could have chosen a more affordable, smaller house otherwise, but we need room for an office. The house we bought has four bedrooms, three bathrooms, and a yard. We absolutely love the design, materials, and layout.
What about the house’s design works for raising a toddler?
We use one of the rooms that’s by the kitchen as a playroom, and it also has a bed so that we can turn it into a guest room. That’s worked out really well, because I can be in the kitchen and he can stay there. Our yard is right off the living area as well, and we are putting up a fence so that he can go outside. I really like that.
Many affordable or urban housing options rely on vertical space and limited yards, but such features can be difficult with young children. How can we balance values like walkability and environmentalism with family-friendly design?
I don’t know how society does it. This house works for our family, but if we had more than two kids and still needed an office it would be more difficult. And our house is one of the most child-friendly models in the town, because it has a little yard and is one of the bigger houses. It is difficult to find housing that is good for kids that is not a suburb with a lot of sprawl.
Which features of the town have you most enjoyed?
I love that everything is planned and beautiful. Most of the amenities aren’t built yet, but just being able to walk out the door and be outside is a big thing. We use the parks every day, multiple times a day. We like taking our child out there, and he loves it. There are trails and a little lake you can walk around.
I am excited about the amenities that will come. I like the idea of having my husband walk across the street to get food when I am pregnant again. Or going swimming. Partly because we work for ourselves, I love the idea of getting to know our neighbors and having opportunities to run into them at the park, the mailbox, or the restaurant. Everything just seems easier and more accessible.
Has childcare been easier since moving?
The preschool we found has probably been my favorite thing about moving here. They had an opening, and it just feels like such a good fit. He loves it. It is not an all-day thing, and it is so much cheaper than childcare options in Boulder.
Access to the type of childcare that you want makes a huge difference. It’s been so much easier to create separation between work and parenting now that I can really work while he is at preschool.
What has living near your parents been like?
Awesome! I see at least one of my parents almost every day. Some people might find that annoying, but it is great for us for now. My dad, for example, will come over after work just to see his grandson. Or I will call my mom and invite her to come on a walk. My parents offer to babysit about once-a-week for date nights.
Being around other adults who can take turns caring for a child is really, really nice. I also think we will be able to enjoy traveling a lot more, because we can leave our child with my parents. We love to travel, but traveling with a toddler is awful. I’ve regretted almost every time we’ve gone on a trip with him. I know some people are amazing at traveling with young kids, but it’s just not something we love to do. This summer, we are going to go on a Mediterranean cruise that we have wanted to go on since we got married, because we can leave the toddler with my parents.
Working from home has given you freedom to live anywhere. What enabled you to start a business?
I would not have done it on my own. I’ve taken advantage of my husband’s possibly unjustified level of confidence in doing absolutely anything haha, which has enabled us to do all of this.
We realized that we both liked the idea of having a business and doing it together. Jewelry is something we stumbled upon and decided to try out. We experimented with other things, but it is what took off.
It took about eight months of trying different things. It was really a matter of finding what our customer wanted. We paid attention to what people were already buying, combined different aspects of what they liked, and made more of what our customers bought. We also had a few lucky breaks in terms of marketing.
What have you learned from your experience?
Living close to family, or at least to a strong support system, is much more important than I thought. I really thought we would live wherever we found interesting, but it’s so much better for us to have support now that we have a kid.
¹ For more information on Pinewood Forest, see Tammy Joyner, “Dan Cathy, partners unveil Pinewood Forrest,” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Sept. 4, 2016 and “Pinewood Forrest is First Large-Scale All Geothermal Community in the U.S.,” Cision PR Newswire (Sept. 19, 2017).
² Site accessed April 22, 2018.
³ For a discussion of planned micro-cottages see Myrydd Wells, “Could Pinewood Forrest be the Next Serenbe,” Atlanta Magazine (Oct. 14, 2016).
Interview conducted April 9, 2018. Interview has been edited for clarity, privacy and brevity. Interviewee is a friend of the Author.
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