Letters to the Editor

• Wrong criteria

  [Read the article: Should I stay East or go West?]
  [Read more letters about this article: Here]

  Cary is off the mark, as usual, because he's talking about his own personal experience, as are a lot of the lovely letters here. People have powerful ideas about what constitutes "home" and those ideas are about scent, light, heat, wind, sound and not necessarily practical for others to relate to. Obviously, what is EXACTLY the right place for one person can be absolutely, horrifically wrong for another. It's also sort of worthless to use stereotypes, such as "only in CA can you get fresh organic tomatoes" or something like that, because it is obviously not true anymore. I feel confident you can get fresh organic tomatoes all year long in Little Rock, Arkansas these days.

  Remember this too: every single person here (even Cary) is only a generation or two away from their roots SOMEWHERE ELSE entirely different, probably Eastern Europe or Central America, but definitely somewhere OTHER than any place in the USA. We are a nation of immigrants! And those people came here, seeking some indefinable "something", and at the same time gave up tastes and smells and light and wind and nuances from their homeland, some of which were dearly missed. WHY???? Because they needed jobs and money and houses and a good place to raise their children safely.

  So here is my two cents. Since organic tomatoes are available everyplace these days, that is a really stupid basis for choosing a place to live. I think the single thing that makes an ordinary person the happiest is having a home. Sadly, for the last 30 years or so, the extreme East and West Coasts, especially the largest cities -- with the most allure for a youngish person -- have developed a housing bubble of historical proportions (as we can discuss "a median home value of $1 million with a straight face!!!!) that basically locks the vast majority of people out. Wherever you live, I doubt you will be happy long-term in a small, crowded, expensive apartment that is cut off from nature and surrounded by concrete.

  So do this. Spend some quality time on the computer searching out places both East and West that have AFFORDABLE HOUSING MARKETS. And don't forget the South or Midwest, too, they are vastly cheaper. You want to choose a place where you can afford to buy a HOUSE and have a yard to grow those organic tomatoes you like so much, after all. And unless you have untold millions, you will NEVER be able to do this in Southern or Northern California! There are a lot of great places in the US that are unsung (and the residents like it that way, so they don't get overrun and prices go crazy), so make it your job to discover them. Then plan some vacation time there until you find the one that "clicks" with you.

  Forget about whether it is East or West or in-between, or all the corny stereotypes and cliches of both places. People can be happy anywhere they have good friends and a good job and a nice house. Remember that your distant ancestors walked out of Africa and then migrated all over the place. You are not locked into any one place, not even where your family is. They weren't always there, and you don't have to stay there.

  Permalink Monday, July 30, 2007 10:32 AM