Open Up that Golden Gate – Maybe (Part 1)

I’m seriously considering a move to Southern California. That’s a big temptation considering we’re in the middle of one of those famous Colorado March snowstorms. But this has been on my mind a long while.

I’ve considered the Golden State many times over the decades. When first graduating with my teaching degree in the 1980s, I interviewed with several California school systems. I even passed the California Basic Educational Skills Test (CBEST) to qualify.

Later, I married a man from San Francisco who made the move east to be with me. He nearly talked me into returning to the Bay Area with him, and then decided to go - alone. I came that close to living in Frisco (that’s passive aggressive for San Francisco – they hate it when you say Frisco – and while you’re there, ask them about their trolley cars – they hate it when you call the cable cars trolleys).

Probably best I didn’t go.

The past decade I’ve vacationed in San Diego once or more a year. Southern Cal is warmer and less densely packed than San Francisco, which has a somewhat Manhattan feel to it – including the provincialism and snobbery. I did time in Manhattan long ago. No need to repeat that miserable experience.

Historically, Colorado’s Front Range is a stop on the way west. Many young Boomers were on their way to California when their VW vans ran out of gas near Boulder and they ended up staying. Perhaps I’m gassed up again and ready to go.

I know what you’re thinking, but Denver has traffic and smog too.

Last month in San Diego, for some perhaps fortuitous reason, I ran into a lot of people who had lived in Colorado for many years. To a person, they loved California and had no regrets about relocating. When I asked about contending with traffic, high cost of living, and earthquakes, they replied that it was, and I quote, “Totally worth it.”

Regular readers will remember that in September, I considered a move to Chicago. Well, as the temperature dropped and relatively mild Denver began its annual six month chill, I realized that one winter in Chicago would kill me dead.

Now it looks like if I want to pursue them, some opportunities may soon arise on “the coast.” Even if those particular opportunities don’t materialize, I may just go find some more.

It’s also possible that as April arrives and the grass greens up, I’ll forget all about it – until November.

In the next BillsWeek, some pros and cons of picking up my middle aged ass and heading into the sunset.

And the Wind Blows the Name: Chicago

Since recently asked if I would ever consider relocating to Chicago, I've racked my brain for data about "The Windy City." I'm too lazy to actually do research, but here are some facts I know from PBS documentaries, having been there a few times, and popular trivia I've either absorbed or made up:

• Even though it's the third largest American City, Chicago is known as the Second City. I know this because of Second City Comedy I've seen on TV.
• Chicago is the setting of the TBS sit-com, My Boys - also that of the original Bob Newhart Show.
• I think there's a baseball team there.
• While it is windy in Chicago, it is known as the Windy City not because of wind, but its penchant for long-winded politicians.
• It's cold. So cold.
• Chicago rated in a recent study as the most stressful city in the U.S. largely because of traffic, unemployment, and air quality - I might add weather - so cold.
• Oprah lives there.
• Of all the states, Illinois demographics compare most closely to the U.S. as a whole in terms of the balance between urban and rural, Democrat and Republican, etc. Ok, that's not about Chicago, but it's still interesting, I think.
• Something about a Loop.
• Chicago burned down back in the 1870s when everything was made of wood, leading to a revival featuring a tradition of creative and distinctive architecture which endures today.
• Elevated trains - like subways, but above the ground, I guess.
• When I lived in Omaha, I always had to fly through Chicago and spent many snowed in nights near O'Hare Airport.
• Not just cold. Frickin' cold.
• The Sears Tower is now something else but I can't remember what.
• Lake Michigan.
• The Michigan Mile - retail Heaven if you are into that sort of thing. Years ago I went into a computer store on Michigan Avenue and saw a movie being played on a laptop computer. "What will they think of next?" I said as I put on headphones and entered a private world which I could take with me anywhere, if I were a millionaire and could afford such luxury. Next thing you'll know, they'll come up with a way to put all of your records on one little device which you can carry around. Yeah, right.
• Wacker Drive is a street the name of which always makes me laugh. Perhaps it's the images of old Chicago mobsters whacking people, or maybe it's something else.
• Hub for Amtrak and United Airlines.
• The smaller, "outlying" airport, Midway, is really just as much of a nightmare as O'Hare.
• Chicago style pizza style is deep dish, thick, and crusty - mmmm - not thin and flimsy, like the unsatisfying pizza of another city to the east.
• It is cold there. Frickin' cold.