Empty Nesters discover urban life

Empty-nesters moving from a 3,200-square foot Texas house to a 1,200 s.f. Seattle condo ditch their lawn implements, three cars, and sense of isolation:

Our everyday lives have changed in every way imaginable. We don't own a car, so we walk everywhere, including to and from work. We use the bus or ferry if we want to go farther afield. This has had a profound effect on how we interact with people. We realize now that the cocoons of our cars kept us well insulated from the people around us. Our genuine interactions were with family and coworkers, the only people who saw us stripped of the metal that clothed and protected us. Our neighbors, we discovered, were virtually strangers.