Remember the Index?

We'd be giving up the seashore as well.

It was a thing...a hot and heavy thing back in the day (we're talking 2003-4).  C was just 50, I was where Michelle was (41).  It wasn't the right time but the impetus was correct.  The desire for calmer, easier, less urban.

Of course with that comes more homophobia, more racism.  But it's not like there isn't racism here (it's against C).  And if you go inland, homophobia is there too.  Still we have put up with Oakland for over twenty years, just to avoid those social ills.  But lately, just like back in 2003-4, we grow increasingly weary of our own problematic ills.

Yesterday our car was broken into (again) and in the news headlines, we heard that our city council person was angrily "filibustering" the rest of the council because they were racist.  Translation?  Her constituency (poor, black, low educational resources, plagued by crime, etc.) was losing political clout.  Of course, those in need should have their needs addressed.  But this cohort's needs have always eclipsed those of Maxwell Park.  We are mostly barely hanging in there civil servants (teachers, administrators, planners, retirees on small pensions)  of all races, ethnicities, gender and sexual orientation, not rich but wanting a little house, a little backyard, in a tolerant community; we exist with few police resources, routinely subjected to burglaries and muggings , low law and order response time due to an understaffed and over taxed police force, and almost completely without public works support (poorly lit, poorly maintained and inadequately controlled streets and roads, public dumping, graffiti, etc.)  though we pay the lion's share of the taxes (and it will increase by $300 dollars a year in January, with I predict, no appreciable uptick in services).  Said politician is without remorse for essentially abandoning us has retained her seat, despite being a despicable, unprincipled person because she promises the moon to those who have almost nothing.  Now, as the bay area is changing again, and our historically low housing valuations are precipitously rising, the carte blanche she had before is not as easy to come by.

Yesterday we drove home through trashed freeway off ramps, the filth and the rampant vandalism too overwhelming to ignore.  It hasn't changed in the 20 years we've been here. And once again we said...god, is this worth it????

But you know what is different?  The Arizona Republic, for the first time in its' history, endorsed a democrat.  Shocking.  It's not deep red.  It's---dare I say it---potentially purple.  That is an entirely uncommon event.  And it gives us serious pause.  Is one society's problems worth trading for another's?  Is it time to move?

A week before we take a vacation in AZ, I'm reinstituting the index to again gauge how I am feeling.

I haven't checked with C but I think right now, based on conversations we had yesterday, the GO | STAY quotient is something like this:

54% | 46%

For me?

62% | 38%

Why for me so much higher?

In addition to the ills listed above, to escape them I don't want to move to a smaller house.  And if we move within the Bay Area, it will always be a much smaller dwelling.  Smaller as in, not too much bigger than HALF of the space we have in this house, and probably featuring shared walls, ceilings and floors.  Our current house 60-year old house itself is a diminutive 1,132sq. ft.  A cabin we managed to swing is 120.  So we have roughly 1,250 sq ft not counting the one car garage.  At an obscene budget of $500,000 we could only afford to move to a non-urban neighborhood dwelling no bigger than 700 sq ft.  sans a garage, likely with only a carport, and plus a mandatory HOA hovering around $350.  That's it.  That's GRIM!

I imagine a small attached patio home in Tempe with a studio apartment in Pleasanton (for the health care package). The Tempe place, about 1,400-1,500 sq foot townhome with $75/mo HOA , the California fall back a studio.

Is it time I ask for the millionth time?  Is it time?

I'll let you know how we fair when we get back home.