The Cobbs, At Home in Mapleton-Fall Creek
"We’re FINALLY home!"
Rick and Trish Cobb, along with their three sons, moved into the Mapleton-Fall Creek Neighborhood in May of 2016 and immediately felt like they had FINALLY come home!
Their journey to downtown began via The Oaks Academy. Trish landed a job there in August of 2012 teaching middle school math, and their three boys, Campbell (now 13), Landon (now 11), and Lawson (now 10) joined her the next year. Drawn to the atmosphere of intentional community amidst diversity, plus a challenging academic curriculum were important factors in their decision to join the Oaks family. As the school continued drawing them more and more into the city, they started imagining what it might look like to move more of their life activities downtown - and also to be closer to the school.
“For the first few years, it was more of a ‘Hmmmm ….I wonder …’” said Trish. As time went on, they started to seriously consider the implications of what it might mean. In the fall of 2015, they began to experience other things going on in the city through the creative work at the Harrison Center.
So, after several years of commuting to The Oaks, Rick and Trish decided it was time to draw in the geographical boundaries of their lives and expand some others. The more they came in contact with downtown and all the things it had to offer, the more obvious it became that a move was inevitable.
Excited and expectant about what this new adventure would bring to their lives, Trish said, “We were extremely concerned at how our three active boys would do with a MUCH smaller yard and a smaller house. We had other concerns too, but that really was the biggest.” As they started their search, another big question became, “how are we ever going to find a home in our price range which meets our needs, in the areas where we can afford to live?”, said Rick. However, they ended up finding the perfect house for them in the 30th block of Ruckle, on a street with many connections already in place and a perfectly suited pocket park where the boys could play with other neighborhood kids. Their home is within 2.5 miles of The Oaks and close to several high schools top on their list where the boys will attend in the future.
Grateful for a fairly seamless move and transition, they were surprised how immediately it felt like home - both geographically and relationally.
Trish commented, “What did we feel like we gave up?”:
- a spacious yard and house,
- taking enjoyable walks around the neighborhood,
- a 10 minute drive to Costco and 1 minute to Kroger,
- the boys having their own rooms,
- a garage,
- a basement that doubled as a mini soccer arena during the winter,
- and lots of tall, mature trees in our yard.”
She continues, “But what did we gain?”:
- a small yard with fewer trees (which equates to about 52 less bags of leaves for raking in the fall – greatly appreciated by Rick),
- a pocket park, which the boys treat as their own yard,
- a 110 year old house possessing historical charm and beauty,
- a street filled with neighbors we love;
- front porches ideal for reading, eating meals, playing games, sharing life-stories and conversing with other neighbors (can you tell we love the whole URBAN PORCH CULTURE?)
- biking on the cultural trail, to Broadripple, to school and one day in the future, biking to high school (can you tell we also LOVE the whole URBAN RIDE YOUR BIKE culture?)
So far, the Cobbs haven’t experienced any of the things they were originally nervous or apprehensive about concerning a move to the downtown area. And they both say “Almost everything on our ‘oh, I hope and pray it’s like this’” has come to be their experience.”
Since landing in their new home, they’ve sought ways to immerse themselves within the fabric of the downtown community. As a trained choral musician, Rick began to ask the question, “what would it look like to build bridges with people through the avenue of a community chorus?” He believes choral music can be a conduit to teach people how to be together – “in fact, a chorus is a picture of what a healthy and vibrant community/city should look like in microcosm.” He approached the Harrison Center back in March about the possibility of partnering together in the formation of a community chorus. “Not everyone can paint a beautiful landscape, play a violin or act in a Shakespeare drama, but most everyone can carry a tune. It’s something that can be done throughout a lifetime and done well, without a great deal of formal training or expensive treatment. Choruses are friendly vehicles for making art,” says Rick. “I’m grateful for the Harrison Center’s help and support in making a dream (which I began thinking about a year ago) become a reality. With a mission to “serve the city with collaborative art-experiences through the craft of choral music-making”, the Indianapolis Choral Artisans will begin its inaugural season in October. Any choristers and singers interested in participating with the chorus can visit www.choralartisans.com for more information.