Home is where the heart is? Or is it....

So, lately, we've been talking a lot about where we want to raise Sam and what this neighbourhood/city/province looks like. Both hubby and I grew up in suburbian Ontario, home to the $139,000 4 bedroom family home and we have since moved many, many times, only to end up in "big-city" Vancouver, home to the $650,000 bachelor condo.

The thing is, we absolutely love our life in Vancouver - the weather, the mountains and oceans, the laid-back lifestyle. Growing up in Eastern Canada, Vancouver seemed like worlds away, and I'm kind of jealous that Sam got to be born in such a cool city (as opposed to Sherbrooke, Quebec).

Our problem lies in the fact that we currently rent a 2 bedroom condo in a somewhat inner-city neighbourhood. If we ever want to own a home, or even rent a larger apartment, or feel safe to have Sam ride his bike down the block, we either need to leave the city and move to the suburbs or, leave the city to somewhere else in BC, or gawd! Eastern Ontario (I can't believe I've even just written this).

I guess, at the heart of all this, is my fear of leaving everyone we've met and become friends with the last few years in Vancouver, to once again start fresh. This is the first time I've felt a sense of community and attachment to my neighbourhood and I worry that I will miss it terribly and everyone that is connected to it. I love that people around me know Sam and that he has little friends around the corner and that I am constanly running into other moms on the street. But, am I just being childish? Should someone just hit me upside the head and remind me "you'll make new friends at the new school" cause that's pretty much how I feel right now...

Do I want Sam growing up in the city, going to the art gallery, museum, riding the transit system or do I want a large yard for him to run around him, with perhaps some woods to run through and trees to climb? And, most importantly, am I willing to give up my new life in Vancouver and move, if after all this thinking, I realize that we need to leave Vancouver in order to give Sam the childhood he deserves?

These are my babbles and I'd love to see if this resonates with any one of you mamas out there? How do you juggle your sense of place with where you want to raise your child vs where you can afford to raise them?