From Business Insider · Lauren Crosby Medlicott · · 2m
LA to Arizona: why one family chose small-town life
After 20 years in Burbank, Jen Podany moved her family to Snowflake, Arizona, seeking the childhood and community she felt LA could not offer.
In brief
After 20 years in Burbank, Jen Podany moved her family to Snowflake, Arizona, seeking the childhood and community she felt LA could not offer. Jen Podany relocated her family of five from Burbank to Snowflake, Arizona, after years of weekend visits, buying a four-bedroom house for about five hundred thousand dollars…
Twenty years in LA, then a weekend escape
Jen Podany and her family of five lived in Burbank in a duplex with two bedrooms and one bathroom.They ran two separate businesses from the other apartment.
Why Burbank felt too tight
The duplex sat near a busy street.Podany had to hold her children's hands outside because of traffic.Planes flew constantly into Burbank Airport.As the kids and businesses grew, the family felt increasingly confined in the space.
Snowflake felt like home
Podany fell in love with Snowflake, a town of six thousand in the middle of nowhere.She said their souls calmed each time they arrived and ached to stay each time they left.
The house and the move
They bought a four-bedroom house surrounded by land, chickens, cows, and a turkey for about five hundred thousand dollars.
Calmer routines, same structure
In Snowflake, the family's routines stayed the same.They start each morning at a coffee shop, work, homeschool, eat meals, and sleep just as they did in LA.
What changed for Podany
Podany said her nervous system regulated after the move.In LA she felt bombarded and reacting to everything.In Snowflake she feels in the driver's seat with a clear head.
“In LA, I felt like the world was constantly coming at me, like I was being bombarded and reacting to everything around me. Here, I feel like I'm in the driver's seat, with a clear head.”
An eighties childhood for her kids
The children have freedom to play outside without worrying about cars and crime.Other kids live just a bike ride away.
“It's like going back to being a kid in the '80s, and I love that for them.”
Community they never found in LA
Even after twenty years in LA, the family never experienced friendship and community as they have in just over a year in Snowflake.Everyone is on mountain time, slowing down.
“We can't leave the house without seeing someone who wants to stop and talk.”
The decision feels right
When Podany and her husband occasionally return to LA for work, they take a deep breath coming back home to Snowflake.
The takeaway
Jen Podany relocated her family of five from Burbank to Snowflake, Arizona, after years of weekend visits, buying a four-bedroom house for about five hundred thousand dollars to give her children a slower, safer upbringing.
