Being Welcomed By A Community

[stonebeadmaker]

hello folks...... as a person who is looking to relocate to the sebastapol, occidental, graton-forestville area, but having very few social contacts up there, i'm interested in hearing what might draw peoples attention to a potential new member of their community, either their personal home, or just generally the type of folks they would like to see coming into their community. i ask this because i have been posting what i think is a very positive profile on our housing board, and have gotten some interesting responses, but nothing that seems like a really good match. other than the obvious fact that everyone seems interested in bringing in top dollar for whatever situation they have to offer, i wonder if i am perhaps missing something. it seems to me that peoples curiousity would be peaked by unusual and eclectic ideas for creating alternative living space, and creating beauty in their environments, but have been finding that for the last few weeks my responses have trickled to where i'm not getting new responses. i realize this country's economy is still tanking hard, and that people naturally protect what they have worked so hard to create, but i would like to hear other folks ideas on what they would welcome into their lives at this point. as a person trying really hard to make multiple big changes in my life[ new living space, new community, new job contacts]right now, i'm finding people reluctant to open up to what is new and different. i would welcome any thoughts you might have on this subject , and also humbly invite you to take a click over to our housing board and have a look at a message called ''out of the box housing''...... i am looking forward to opening a dialogue with diverse members of my [ hopefully] new community.........stonebeadmaker

[Zeno Swijtink]

A few things come to mind.

Can you refer to a website with images of your work, or, even better, insert these images right there in your message? That may draw some people in!

Since you emphasize beauty you need to be more careful in crafting your message. Spelling mistakes, such as in the title of this message, give the wrong impression.

You could also divide your text into paragraphs. That makes reading much easier.

But apart from this, this area is competitive and you should expect that you need to climb a ladder and not start at the top.

Many people in this area think about themselves as very creative, very informed and smart, and very unique and unusual.

If you really wish to relocate here, accepting that you need to take a risk will make the move easier.

Renting a less desirable studio space to start working from, connect and support other creative people and take it from there, is my advice.

["Mad" Miles]

Sage advice Zeno.

stonebeadmaker,

A lot of people want to move to Sonoma County, particularly West Sonoma County, particularly "town"/Sebastopol.

It's expensive here. Rents are almost comparable to The City.

There are a lot of shitboxes being rented for premium prices. I know this because I have had to move twice in the last thirteen years. The last time in the fall of 2004.

Luckily I had two months to look, and did an intensive search. Housing boards at Community Market (Santa Rosa) and other food markets are a good place to find leads. As well as all the other usual means, online, newspaper, etc.

I found a place that meets most of my needs, at a price that I can afford, with a cool landlady who is my upstairs neighbor. I could use another room for an office/library, but other than that, I'm in a sweet set-up.

Most of what I looked at was several hundred dollars more, for less space in bad condition.

As I started with, West County is one of the last hippy meccas. Young people from all over the world gravitate here. But without the funds, skills and connections to make it in a high rent, low wage, minimal job openings economy, I don't see how most of them are going to be able to stay. Course there's the underground economy for medicine agriculture. That probably accounts for some.

Plus, it's getting pretty crowded. But that's the attitude of most residents who are no longer newbies, in any cool 'hood in the land.

Young families, and young people who grew up here, find themselves moving away because of the expense, and lack of career opportunities. Retirees and work at home techies, move in because they have the means to pay, and want to enjoy the scenery, climate and semi-rural nature of the area, while being in relative close proximity to the Megalopolis of the Bay Area. Those are the demographic trends.

I'm not trying to discourage you. I'm just trying to be realistic about the odds you're facing. People do find places to move to here. Most of us seem pretty happy about it. So good luck in your search.

As for the lack of response to your ads. This is a pretty passive medium. Compare the number of active posters to the number subscribed. I was thinking about this a little earlier. Perhaps the number one fear many people report, public speaking, applies to posting on a board like this as well?

I've never really had that fear, I enjoy the thrill of addressing large groups, but that is apparently relatively rare. My guess is that most people peruse this board, occasionally, when they're looking for something, or have some spare time and are feeling bored. In these busy times that doesn't account for very many people, very often.

[kpage9]

Hey Mad, since you are now an insider, you might know the answer to this: is it possible to get the data on how many people DO peruse the digest? I am so curious to know how many of those 20,000-odd eyeballs grace our pages on any given day, or how many i(unduplicated) in a year.

kathy

["Mad" Miles]

Sorry Kathy,

I just can edit anyone's post (mostly I've been trimming or deleting excess quoted text from previous posts in a thread), and Barry and I have been dodging a lesson in how to break a thread to put part of it in another category. Actually I guess I'm the one dodging that lesson. I promise we'll get together on it Barry! Promise!

He also keeps inviting me to download software to enable me to do things I'm not sure I want to do... We'll talk.

But I don't have access to the stats on eyeballs on the page. Or if I do I don't know how to go about finding it. Barry?

What I've done in the past is to look at "views" on a post or thread. But that doesn't include those receiving an email digest, to which you alluded. And just cause someone gets a digest, who's to say they actually look at it?

Big Brother may be alive and well, but I don't think he inhabits waccobb.net, at least I hope he doesn't!?

G,Night,

[Barry]

Hey Mad, since you are now an insider
What am I, chopped liver?

The digest is opened by about 1,000 members each night on average, that we can track. I'm sure there are more that we can't track. I'd guess there are about 100-300 that we can't track.

Over the course of a month (not a year) there are about 3,000 unique members that open the digest at least once, that we can track.

Yours truly,
Big Brother

[typewriter]

This is an interesting post!

Being from NYC and moving out here by way of Boston, I consider my 500 sq. ft. place a mansion...with a backyard & chickens, no less. And reasonably quiet neighbors. Economically I'm predisposed to virtually no space for a high price so it feels luxurious to spread out even a little.

But I also understand the lack of community. I definitely feel it, especially being used to more urban areas. However lovely and creative west county is, there just isn't the diversity that I'm accustomed to. Sebastopol has definitely mellowed me out...but I also deeply miss the edge and the shared urge to connect that comes from bigger cities. I find myself resenting the good intentions of many who are limited in their insights and opinions by the bubble that is west county (and fearing that's where I'm headed...)

I feel as if there's a ceiling and few are able to evolve past it so that however "progressive" minded they may feel they are (and I'm certainly not discounting the importance of being progressive minded), it is informed by the view the community is limited to. There's a communal acceptance of what "progressive" constitutes and where it stops. I rarely find opportunities to really talk to people on the level I'm used to about racial & economic privilege, gender diversity, etc. That has a lot to do with the demographics of the area and my idea of my peers being in little supply to begin with...because they move away ASAP to SF or the east bay...or, who knew, NYC and Boston...of Philly or Atlanta or Portland, or wherever else I fantasize about relocating to (minus the snow, rain, etc.).

But I also am awed frequently by the sincerity of people around town, the shared dedication to community (as defined by Sebastopol terms), the ownership and pride that shows. I have had many moments where my natural east coast inclinations suddenly feel just plain mean...I realize I'm being an impatient asshole or suspicious for no other reason than that's what's required in a big city (or so one is raised to believe).

And I'm fascinated by this preoccupation with mermaids and goddesses and herbs. And I love seeing the same people on the trail where I walk everyday, who are generally friendly (and do this thing I have heard referred to as "smiling") or out with their dogs (or not) around my neighborhood...even when it's past dark! Who knew the suburbs had so much love.

Anyhow, that's one big tangent...but I agree with Zeno. Sublet for a while before making a big move and get hooked-into the community to feel it out. I suspect that the alternative housing situation will come easily once you introduce yourself and take the time to connect with the people who are also looking to forge friendships with others who are like-minded. And perhaps narrow your outreach a bit more to those in permaculture fields. It seems everyone I meet out here is into permaculture and ready to tell me how it's a way of life, no really it is, so I know your people are out there.

[Zeno Swijtink]

This is an interesting post!


Thanks. great post!!

Certainly WaccoBB and the Sebastopol Community need to be tapping into

Thousands of newspapers on the Net (https://www.onlinenewspapers.com/)

Please drop by our next Open House, on Saturday, August 14.

[podfish]

nice post yourself! One thing I've heard before from east-coasters who've been here a while is that after a while the casual friendliness of westerners seems a bit shallow, and that we're a bit harder to get to know except superficially. Like all broad generalizations, it can't really be true for everyone. I'm not sure if that's parallel to your experience, though.


... I love seeing the same people on the trail where I walk everyday, who are generally friendly (and do this thing I have heard referred to as "smiling") or out with their dogs (or not) around my neighborhood...even when it's past dark! Who knew the suburbs had so much love.....

[typewriter]

I think you get what you pay for, in a sense. In more urban environments "friendliness" is something you earn, and therefore has more gravity, where here it's given away.

I often can't tell if people are being genuine or just polite out here. And the politeness can go on for miles before it becomes clear there is no prospect of a real connection.

People seem to be a lot more insulated out here. They aren't living in a row house surrounded by neighbors and riding the metro with a gazillion other people...

The barometer that measures what's/who's worth knowing and opening up to is blown open in more urban areas where one is forced to acclimate to a broader array of people, where out here it's much more discriminating...often for no good reason.

NYC is a louder, fast paced, in your face environment and when competing with that most kids grow up being louder, bolder people who assert themselves with a lot of force. Our here, especially west county, there's more mellow vibing going on, the laid back Cali surfer culture, etc. I find this even in SF, less so in the east bay. It creates a very real culture-gap. The best friends I've made out here are transplants from more urban areas...or people who have always felt a little (or a lot) on the outside.

Even when communicating for business there are ways that I relate to east coast clients and things I say that I would never say to people here. Humor, social cues, language...it's all impacted. To me pushy, gritty, anxious, cut-through-it people feel familiar and capable...I trust them to get my priorities and fight for them. But out here there's a different relationship and interpretation...often a negative one. And vice versa. I used to wonder why people were coming to meetings in pajamas before I realized what they were wearing is considered acceptable work attire (and oh has my wardrobe taken this trend on..all pajamas all the time here in S-Pool!).




nice post yourself! One thing I've heard before from east-coasters who've been here a while is that after a while the casual friendliness of westerners seems a bit shallow, and that we're a bit harder to get to know except superficially. Like all broad generalizations, it can't really be true for everyone. I'm not sure if that's parallel to your experience, though.

[Pickles]

I would have to agree. Having been born in the mid-west and lived on the east coast and subsequently west coast, I have found westerners to be less friendly and the shallowest of all. Manhattanities were much more genuine and open! Of course, you expect shallow in LA, but here where everyone touts spirituality and enlightenment....I am quite surprised that people are really that hard to get to know here. But, I'm determined to find someone who can live up to their so-called enlightenment and treat their fellow neighbor with sincere welcomeness (even if it ends up being me).
the casual friendliness of westerners seems a bit shallow, and that we're a bit harder to get to know except superficially

[Scott McKeown]

I find this thread to be fascinating. As a fifth generation Berkeley-born westerner and 14-year resident of West County, my first reaction on reading these postings was this: Here we go again, more transplanted East Coasters publicly whining about their inability to make real friends out here and blaming everyone in the community for it. If we are all so unfriendly and shallow, then why the hell are they still here?

However, as someone who has lived in Manhattan and other heavily urban areas, I can also understand the sentiment. So, I have concurrent sympathy, as well as criticism, with what has been expressed. Here are a few random thoughts I have to add to the conversation, for whatever they're worth.

-- I notice that all the people who are piling on about how inaccessible people are around here hide behind pseudo names and do not post with their real identity. What's up with that?

-- When I lived in Manhattan I found that -- unlike the stories I had heard before I moved there -- people were incredibly friendly. I could strike up amazingly intimate conversations with complete strangers in public places far more than I was accustomed to on the West Coast. However, after a while, it dawned on me that there is a sort of freedom in anonymity. I would never see any of these people again. People in Manhattan, I realized, had somehow psychologically adjusted to living in a world of total anonymity by opening up to complete strangers in a way that was, in my view, somewhat unnatural. Was it real depth?

-- I notice that many people who criticize "West County" folks often add little digs about "enlightenment" and "awareness" as if if everyone who lives here profess to have some kind of superior consciousness. This false and rather simplistic premise automatically sets everyone up for criticism of hypocrisy. Can we finally get over that already?

-- I find myself agreeing with those who say it's often difficult to develop real depth of friendship with people in West County. Yes, it takes a while. What's really going on here is not evident on the surface. It may take several years of effort to finally access one of the many vibrant and active social circles in the area. And not everyone succeeds. Some people may live here physically and completely miss the opportunity that's all around them but which they just aren't able to perceive. The real social action in West County is more private, and not public. This is not necessarily a strength of this area, but it's the reality.

-- As a whole, we all suck with welcoming people into our community. I recently interviewed a local elder named Cecil Crowe who lived in Sebastopol in the 1930's. I was interviewing him as part of a project to learn about how life was like here locally during the Great Depression. He told me that in the 1930's when anyone moved into the area there was always a block party thrown in their honor to welcome them. That is the kind of community spirit we need to return to, in my opinion. Almost everyone I know seems to crave that kind of community connectivity. If we all agree about that, then why don't we do more of it?

-- Lastly, I appreciate the "East Coasters" who weighed in with their honest feelings on this forum. Thank you for stimulating this conversation. I really hope that you find the connectivity and depth of friendship here that you desire.

Kindly,

Scott

["Mad" Miles]

Nice responses typwriter, podfish, pickles, Scott,

As someone who ribs Sebastopudlians, and would-be Sebastopudlians, about the "more enlightened than thou" attitude found there/here, I just want to say, I'm teasing.

Motivated by affection, dare I say Love.

I lived on the outskirts from '97-'00, and visited for extensive periods, twice a year starting in '89. I used to visit SF and Berkeley two or three times a year from the mid-seventies through the mid-eighties. Always wanted to live in Norte California. Now I do, since '97.

But Sebastopol is the only place people advertising here, express their desire to live in, by referring to it as "town". Assuming everyone else knows whereof they're speaking.

This area (West Sonoma County, Santa Rosa Central Sonoma County, and everywhere else in the North Bay) is also the only place I've lived where, "having a Spiritual Path" is an oft-cited requirement for getting a date.

Not that I haven't lived in and among spiritual seekers in Southern California ('74-'84), Chicago ('84-'97) and Taipei (March - August '97).

But people in those other places don't wear their beliefs about the non-material and the afterlife on their sleeves like they do here.

Or maybe they do now, but didn't back then and what I'm seeing is a global trend, not specific to Sebasto and it's environs?

Americans (U.S.) are known for our friendly, even garrulous (https://dictionary.reference.com/browse/garrulous), natures around the world.

Try getting to know a Parisian! It may take six months to three years before you're invited over to the house/apartment for dinner. And the French socialize over dinner at home. That's where they bond.

Talk to someone French from outside of Paris, and you'll hear similar comments to the ones made about brusque, uppity, insular New Yorkers made by other Americans (U.S.). A large part of this is the city vs. country thing. We get that here: Santa Rosa vs. West County, Sonoma County vs. The City. You know the drill.

I took good natured shit for years in Chicago when people asked me where I was from, and I told them I spent my first ten years as an adult in Laguna Beach, Orange County, Southern California.

"Oh those flaky Californians! They're crazy!! All that woo woo bullshit airhead religion. Earthquakes and Fires! I couldn't live there!!!"

I refrained from mentioning tornados, blizzards, heat waves, oppressive humidity, industrial waste and pollution, etc. (Not that SoCA doesn't have plenty of the latter two!)

Mostly I ascribed their attitude to jealousy. Since so much of our media is shot in Southern California, even situated there in the story. Sun, surf, sand, beautiful people, etc.

And LA has the reputation of being La La Land where the living is easy, superficial and diffuse. We're so much more grounded in reality here.

Wherever here is: The Midwest, The Northeast, The South, The North West, Rural rather than Urban, etc.

You even get this in the Northern Cali / Southern Cali chauvanism that is ripe here in California.

People like to divide up into groups that mistrust, fear, even hate other groups. It seems hard wired. We've always had a lot of work to do, to overcome these superficial differences. And it looks like that work is going to go on into the future, for a long, long time.

But the differences between us are what makes us interesting and fun to get to know! The last thing I want to see is a homogenization of the human race, so that we get along because we're so much alike!

Boooring....

Cheers,


P.S. LA/Orange County/Long Beach, etc. was one of the most amazing places for live music when I lived there in the late seventies and early eighties. Huge numbers of local talented groups, playing all kinds of musical genres. And everyone else came to town, many of them moving there, because that's where the industry is headquartered. I had a Fucking Great Time! In my early to mid-twenties, my clubbing hay day.

Now, with the internet and digitization, things are much more diffuse. But for great depth and variety of live music, you gotta go to the meccas. LA, Austin, New York, SF, London, Montreal, Paris, Toronto, Vancouver, Seattle, Nashville, Dakar, Istanbul, Tokyo, Ouagadougou, Cape Town, Cairo, Delhi, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janiero, Sydney, Melbourne, etc..

The Arts scene in Southern California, especially in the older urban centers where industrial space is cheap, was phenomenal when I left in '84. Very cool stuff was going on. And great parties!

I used to say, "LA is a great place to live, if you don't have to breath." (Sic.)

[AllorrahBe]

WOW!

I haven't been reading this thread, but I have to chime in now. I moved to Santa Rosa from Hawaii on Halloween 2009. Immediately connecting with a "spiritual" center, I noticed I was unnoticed! Not one soul spoke to me other than my housemate and friends of hers when she introduced me. I felt I was at some sort of performance, a gallery, an event, but not a spiritually nourishing event. So I stopped going there.

By accident about a month ago I found myself at a different "center" which calls itself a non-denominational charismatic church. What a difference! I was greeted like a long-lost family member, embraced and prayed over and prayed for and, in general, noticed and loved, simply because I AM.

Between then and now, I have met some wonderful people who do seem fairly "enlightened" and who do know how to give and receive love. I feel more connected here in these short months than in Hawaii after 23 years!

What's amazing? Almost everybody I've met is a frequent visitor to WaccoBB - Thanks Barry! Thanks Friends!! (You know who you are.)

Blessings to All - Reach out and touch someone!
Rev. Allorrah Be
Clinical and Alchemical Hypnotherapist and BodyWorker
Circles of Light Ministries
Santa Rosa, California
:heart:

[rgazzola]

This is so fascinating; I don't post much though feel compelled to join in the discussion. I was born and raised in Queens, left home and traveled to Alaska where I spent 9 years, then came down to Berkeley for 22 years and this past winter moved up to west Sonoma. I have some experience with creating/finding community in a variety of environments and cultures.

Stonebeadmaker, the thread has gotten a bit away from your original post. First of all, a warm welcome to your potentially new community.

There is only so much you can do on-line and I encourage you to meet people face to face. When I was making my plan to move here last year, I came and spent a week, visited every town along 116 and Sebastopol, went in to realtors, shops etc and said who I was and what I was looking for. I didn't find my sweet new home in the paper or on-line. I got a call back from one of the people in one of the shops I stopped in who happened to hear about a great house. And here I am, happy as can be.

This is how the world works best in my humble opionion. Not all the solutions to life's challenges can be found on a computer. Probably not many as a matter of fact. The more people get away from connecting with each other in person, the harder it becomes to connect at all.

As for the rest of the threads focusing on the people out here vs back east, isn't is great that we are not all alike...I have learned when it's best to let my east coast persona lay quiet and when I can let her shine. I have met many people here who appreciate candid, no-nonsense east coast banter. And I know when it's not appreciated or understood. I used to get angry that I was being forced to tone myself down; now I realize it's a desirable trait to be aware and respectful of other communication styles different from my own. And I also understand that I am not everyone's cup of tea and that's ok. (I'll leave out the typical east coast response here of where those folks can go :):).

I love west county; I was ready for rural living and I have felt a friendliness here that is quite comfortable. Community is what you make it. I knew I would find like-minded people up here and I have. I don't mean to say it's perfect or that I haven't met some people who are shallow. There are shallow people everywnere. So I choose my friends and let people be who they are. I can always scream and curse my little NY head off when I am driving my car, which I do all the time.
Rosalie

[Leslie]

Hmmmm... I didn't read the beginning of this thread but saw enough of the thread to get the jist of it..

Hey Newcomers.. please come dance with us. Every time there has been newcomers ( that I know of ) to Sweat Your Prayers.. they have felt welcomed. SO in the spirit of helping you feel welcomed to West County living.. Come, come dance. Look for my post. Its once a month ~ 3rd Fridays~ and we have just started a bimonthly class that will help deepen your knowledge and experience of what the 5Rhythms are and how great it is to find yourself within the dance... The class is Endless Waves. ~1rst and third Wednesdays~ look for the posting here on Wacco

I would love to welcome you this way... its my kind of a block party :heart:

see you on the dance floor,
Leslie


I find this thread to be fascinating. As a fifth generation Berkeley-born westerner and 14-year resident of West County, my first reaction on reading these postings was this: Here we go again, more transplanted East Coasters publicly whining about their inability to make real friends out here and blaming everyone in the community for it. If we are all so unfriendly and shallow, then why the hell are they still here?

However, as someone who has lived in Manhattan and other heavily urban areas, I can also understand the sentiment. So, I have concurrent sympathy, as well as criticism, with what has been expressed. Here are a few random thoughts I have to add to the conversation, for whatever they're worth.

-- I notice that all the people who are piling on about how inaccessible people are around here hide behind pseudo names and do not post with their real identity. What's up with that?

-- When I lived in Manhattan I found that -- unlike the stories I had heard before I moved there -- people were incredibly friendly. I could strike up amazingly intimate conversations with complete strangers in public places far more than I was accustomed to on the West Coast. However, after a while, it dawned on me that there is a sort of freedom in anonymity. I would never see any of these people again. People in Manhattan, I realized, had somehow psychologically adjusted to living in a world of total anonymity by opening up to complete strangers in a way that was, in my view, somewhat unnatural. Was it real depth?

-- I notice that many people who criticize "West County" folks often add little digs about "enlightenment" and "awareness" as if if everyone who lives here profess to have some kind of superior consciousness. This false and rather simplistic premise automatically sets everyone up for criticism of hypocrisy. Can we finally get over that already?

-- I find myself agreeing with those who say it's often difficult to develop real depth of friendship with people in West County. Yes, it takes a while. What's really going on here is not evident on the surface. It may take several years of effort to finally access one of the many vibrant and active social circles in the area. And not everyone succeeds. Some people may live here physically and completely miss the opportunity that's all around them but which they just aren't able to perceive. The real social action in West County is more private, and not public. This is not necessarily a strength of this area, but it's the reality.

-- As a whole, we all suck with welcoming people into our community. I recently interviewed a local elder named Cecil Crowe who lived in Sebastopol in the 1930's. I was interviewing him as part of a project to learn about how life was like here locally during the Great Depression. He told me that in the 1930's when anyone moved into the area there was always a block party thrown in their honor to welcome them. That is the kind of community spirit we need to return to, in my opinion. Almost everyone I know seems to crave that kind of community connectivity. If we all agree about that, then why don't we do more of it?

-- Lastly, I appreciate the "East Coasters" who weighed in with their honest feelings on this forum. Thank you for stimulating this conversation. I really hope that you find the connectivity and depth of friendship here that you desire.

Kindly,

Scott

[AllorrahBe]

Zeno, whose Open House are you referring to, and where?? I read the Digest at least a few times a week and never heard about any Open House - is this a WaccoBB event like the river thing Barry just did, or what? I, too, want to meet more people in this community. And I, too, am seeking some kind of liveable space that doesn't take more than half of my Social Security income!!
Seeking Solutions,
Rev. Allorrah Be
Circles of Light Ministries
:heart:


Thanks. great post!!

Certainly WaccoBB and the Sebastopol Community need to be tapping into

Thousands of newspapers on the Net (https://www.onlinenewspapers.com/)

Please drop by our next Open House, on Saturday, August 14.

[typewriter]

It's interesting to me where this thread has gone and the subsequent thread posted by the OP (whose stated desire in community followed with a self-proclaimed stand-back/non-interactive approach I find curious).

In any case, I want to express my appreciation to those who shared their experiences with a firm grasp on the complexity that is human nature.

It makes me wonder if those who interpret this kind of conversation as competitive or a me vs. them "pissing contest" aren't saying more about themselves than anything. I think this also comes from the problematic nature of online message boards in which people often "skim" because they don't have an attention span outside of the characters allowed in a text-message and then miss the point entirely...or make up their own that suits them best.

As far as the "if you don't like it, leave" attitude goes --you're missing the whole point. I enjoy Sebastopol very much and get a ton of great things out of living here and I find it extremely challenging and isolating as well...I find that my intelligence is evolved enough that I can maintain many conflicting opinions at the same time. I don't want to leave and it seems to me that any intelligent local would recognize that transplants put a lot of money into the local economy. Why you'd want to get rid of that, I'm not sure...plus I believe that any community is enriched by its diversity which, incidentally, was my point to begin with.

Anyway, thanks again to those who made thoughtful and interesting contributions.

["Mad" Miles]

... As far as the "if you don't like it, leave" attitude goes --you're missing the whole point....it seems to me that any intelligent local would recognize that transplants put a lot of money into the local economy. Why you'd want to get rid of that, I'm not sure...plus I believe that any community is enriched by its diversity which, incidentally, was my point to begin with ...

Great post typwriter,

Except your comments in the excerpt above. I don't recall anyone saying that in this thread or the new one. Where did you get that from?

For the record, I don't text message, don't even have a cell. Sometimes I skim, but if I'm engaged in a topic I read, and sometimes re-read.

Did I miss something?

Check y'all tomorrow. Time to shut down and check the video feed.

[Scott McKeown]

The paraphrase of my comment was not accurate and out of context. I never used the command "leave." I was expressing a range of my internal reaction to the tone of a few of the postings. And my immediate following sentence was, "However, as someone who has lived in Manhattan and other heavily urban areas, I can also understand the sentiment." I would never have an attitude of "if you don't like it, leave," which I find offensive. Apologies if it was taken as such.

Scott