Courtesy of James McClure
- James McClure and his wife moved from Austin, Texas, to a smaller town in Wisconsin in 2023.
- McClure and his wife disliked Austin's rebranding and couldn't tolerate the Texas heat any longer.
- Selling their home in Austin's suburbs means they can live without a mortgage in a walkable town.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with James McClure, a 54-year-old product manager for a video game company, who moved from the suburbs of Austin to a college town in Wisconsin in December 2023. The essay, which also incorporates quotes from emails between McClure and BI, has been edited for length and clarity.
I'm a fifth-generation Texan.