Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Cote d'Ritz
When we first ventured forth from the rainy Pacific Northwest to the sunny shores of San Francisco Bay, we did not know what the future held in store, but celebrating our first Thanksgiving in shorts and sandals seemed like a good omen. Now, twelve years later, our sense of adventure, dignity and fulfillment here seems to have run its course. Having spent the last two years dealing with derelict landlords, while simultaneously coming to terms with a rental market that has overtaken our income, we simply haven't the resources or energy to sustain our stay in paradise.
Honest people are hurting all over the country, and many of them have to contest with horrendous weather or social backwardness, so we're not complaining about making a sacrifice to live in this benign, Mediterranean climate and cosmopolitan ambience, but we're wondering what will become of this incubator of social change as the predatory process of austerity unfolds. Without major public investment in low income housing and social programs, the Golden Gate will become a Cote d'Ritz serviced by people living in their cars.
Hard as we've tried, and much as we'll miss the redwoods and palms, it looks like our senior years will have to be lived elsewhere. Such is life.
Honest people are hurting all over the country, and many of them have to contest with horrendous weather or social backwardness, so we're not complaining about making a sacrifice to live in this benign, Mediterranean climate and cosmopolitan ambience, but we're wondering what will become of this incubator of social change as the predatory process of austerity unfolds. Without major public investment in low income housing and social programs, the Golden Gate will become a Cote d'Ritz serviced by people living in their cars.
Hard as we've tried, and much as we'll miss the redwoods and palms, it looks like our senior years will have to be lived elsewhere. Such is life.
