Notes on California

• I've never in my life lived anywhere but the northeastern US. Frankly, I doubt the rest of the country exists most of the time. So it says something Deep and Significant that, within 24 hours of getting off the plane, I was picking out real estate. I really freakin' love the Bay Area. North Bay more than South Bay, but, really, the whole thing. I'd move here in a hot second.
  
• We spent a subtle chunk of our time here checking out potential places for me to teach eventually, in a sneaky way. Today's trip to Palo Alto to wander around Stanford got canceled once we saw how long it would take on the train, but we did get to see both UC Santa Cruz and San José State. The Verdicts: Santa Cruz looks a little bit like if you went to college in a summer camp. I would be worried about possible bear attacks as I walked between classes. That much nature intimidates my urban self. San José is cute, and there is a decent used book store that is apparently run by people who like to make a ruckus--they got arrested trying to pass out fliers at the main campus bookstore.
  
• I've always said I want to raise my kids in a city, mainly to protect against the white-middle-class hegemony of the suburbs, as I experienced them, in addition to my deep loathing of sprawl. But what we've been seeing out here aren't the suburban-sprawl monstrosities of my youth, precisely; they're nice small towns, with walkable centers and functional public transportation systems, located along the outer edges of cities. None of the towns I've seen out here have been entirely car-unnecessary, but they are more car-optional than the town we grew up in; while one might want a car, it wouldn't be necessary for trips to the weekend farmer's market, or the book store, or going out to dinner, if one picked where to live with an eye towards walkability. In addition, Santa Clara County (where we are staying) is roughly 30% Asian and a quarter Latina/o; the suburban town where our friends live is 14% Asian and 13% Latina/o. By comparison, the county where we grew up (which includes one majority-black small city that is geographically and socially isolated from the upper-middle-class suburbs) is 18% black, 4% Asian, and 2% Latina/o. So, is living in ethnically diverse suburbs that are not patterned around sprawl ethically distinct from living in other sorts of suburbs? Is what I want urbanity, or do I just want not to need a car and to raise my kids away from monolithic whiteness?
• It's spring out here. It's tortuous how beautiful it is. And both strawberries AND asparagus are in season already. Seriously, have I mentioned I would move here in a heartbeat yet?