This week the media had a field day predicting that Mitt Romney might lose the GOP primary in his “home state” of Michigan. To be sure, Romney was born in Michigan and his father was the state’s governor. But his “home” — in more realistic terms — seemed more like Massachusetts, where he was governor, or Utah, where he led an effort to host the Winter Olympics and also the “home” of his Mormon faith.
Now if the media wanted to portray Romney as “in trouble” politically, it would have been to conjecture that Romney would somehow lose support in Utah. I think Michigan is going to be won by Obama anyway.
It got me thinking about the longtime “movers vs. stayers” arguments in America — something that is foisted upon you in our county more than in other places.
Where only the past matters?
In Nevada County, whether intentional or not, “stayers” often put the “movers” on the defensive. District 1 Supervisor candidate Sue McGuire touts that she’s a “6th generation Nevada County resident” in her campaign literature — as did resident and financial services business owner Mike McDaniel in an op-ed about public pensions last week.
Mike even signed his name that he was a “sixth generation” resident (though he went away to college in the Bay Area). Sue is a law-school graduate.
All this preoccupation with how long your family has lived here — in generations, let alone years — has caused a friend to joke that our motto is “Nevada County — where only the past matters.” It’s a reference to a lack of economic diversity too — and I think he’s only half-joking.
In truth, however, it’s not uncommon to be a “stayer,” at least in rural areas.
Only a third of the people living in U.S. urban neighborhoods and suburbs say they have spent their entire lives in the same place, according to a study by the Pew Research Center. That compares with 48 percent of Americans living in rural areas.
On the other hand, the nation’s most transient region is the West (so that makes our county somewhat of an anomaly), while the nation’s most rooted region is the Midwest. The report is here.
I’m more of a “mover” than a “stayer” but extremely proud (still) to be a native Californian. I was born in and grew up in Pasadena in the early ’60s; lived in Denver in my early teens (my father was transferred); then we moved back to California (where I finished high school near San Jose).
I lived in Berkeley and Chicago for college degrees, and moved to South Florida (my first job during the ’82 economic downturn) — but settled in San Francisco and Marin County for a more than a decade after that. So I’m “four states” — California, Colorado, Illinois and Florida; see chart.
Now us “movers” vs. “stayers” are settled together in a small rural county of “stayers.” But that’s changing: A growing number of people have moved here from somewhere else.
I suppose that puts the “stayers” on the defensive too, worrying that people want to disrupt their rural lifestyle. In some cases, losing their influence is at play too.
Most “movers” that I know embrace the more laid-back lifestyle, rather than wanting to change it. They came here to raise their children or for family ties — the same reasons as the “stayers.”
Jobs — the No. 1 reason for moving in the Pew study — was not one of the reasons in many cases. A lot of the folks are retired.
But just like Democrats vs. Republicans, or working people vs. retirees, there’s sometimes friction between the “movers” and the “stayers.”
It seems misplaced, though, because in the end, here’s what the Pew Survey concluded:
“Levels of community satisfaction do not appear to be correlated with people’s past mobility patterns. Equal shares of movers and stayers——–about six-in-ten — rate their current community as good or excellent.”
That’s worth remembering.
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I really, really dislike it when a “local” asks how long I’ve lived here. Its as if having lived here a long time means I can handle life in the foothills (drive in the snow, chop wood, not get upset by wildlife or ECV…). Really, what I want to answer is “I’ve been here since 1999, but on this PLANET 52 years and have gleaned experience from many life situations and living in many places (Taipei, Oakland, San Diego, Cairo, SLO, Hanalei)”. It’s as if living in one place forever is a good thing. I don’t think so.
Whenever I hear the local “sixth generation” boast, I think back six generations through Nisenan eyes, and remember what they went through at the hands of the invading mining culture.
That is not something to be too terribly proud of.
Add to that what the mining culture did to the land and water.
Now it’s all finished and there is no more gold and the county is poor and only going to get poorer.
What’s to brag about?
BTW Jeff another long time Broad Street business is closing its doors.
Can you guess which one it is this week?
If your still of working age (pre-65 to give it a polite number) the current job market insures that you will be a “mover”. Through a generalized working career, someone will have up to 10 jobs in a lifetime. And they will have to move (often to another state) to where the work is, rather than working close to where they grew up and went to school.
I would be a mover, a 3 stater, though not very long before returning to a community that I consider “excellent”.
As for these candidates anymore, they don’t really “live” anywhere. They just get mail long enough to say they’re running for office from that zip code. Heck, I’m not sure where Palin is from anymore (does she?), we better check to see who’s buying houses lately!
I tend to agree with Shelly’s thinking. Living in one place, the same place as several generations have, seems to get over romanticized. Sure, you’ll know a lot about the town and it’s history and that’s OK, but the downside is you’ll have missed the opportunity to learn so much by living other places and getting familiar with the people first hand.
I’ll be quite honest, when I first moved up here in 2005 and got settled in–and my Physician Assistant friend from high school, married to a guy I’ve know since 3rd grade, set me up with doctors at the Cancer Center and elsewhere–I wasn’t able to work, but did try to volunteer several times at various places. When I was even accepted for any of those spots, I just figured “Oh well, G.V./N.C. is just another cliquish place,” and didn’t bother trying to get involved with anything except for that issue with the Veterans office. And when that meeting, and the head of the social services and the BOS in attendence, basically closed their ears to what the vast majority of veterans had to say, like I posted here before, I just told myself, same old same town nonsense. (And after my ratings review at Reno a couple of weeks go, which became dangerously contentious within one minute after, basically being told, once again, I was wrong; was given bad advice by those serving me, etc, It certainly made me think of the changes the county made in opposition to all those outspoke veterans.
And, I was really astonished at the reality that the hard right were in the majority here. One of my neighbors was friendly enough, until I put a 4′ tall Ho Tei in my front yard. Now they haven’t spoken to be, which is fine by me; it’s the polarization–he’s the principal of a Christian School.
But, as I posted before, I’ve moved and lived in many different places and this is a great place to be the last place. After finding Jeff’s blog, I’m getting less reading done, but “conversing” more,bringing my own particular combination of lessons learned running the streets of my town outside NYC and the halls of academia.
Ah, but I was so much older then,
I’m younger than that now.