It was a very beautiful and sunny day on Saturday. It seemed that too many people were going to the numerous beaches along the coast of San Diego – otherwise, how does one explain the near-stand-still traffic on Interstate 5 all the way to Carlsbad? We even tried to take local roads to avoid the freeway jam, only to realize that the local roads were even worse! Michael commented, “There seems to be no recession in these places, as all the restaurants have long lines waiting outside!”
When we finally got past Oceanside, the traffic lightened up. It had been almost 2 years since I last went up to Orange County. The neighborhoods around UC Irvine reminded me of that movie “The Truman Show”. Everything was new, clean, beautiful and carefully planned. There were hardly any people on campus. The residential communities nearby also looked completely dormant, as if no one lived there. The whole area gave me the impression that no germ or virus could grow there, because the whole area is scrubbed clean constantly!
After my talk, we drove to my cousin’s house, which was in a more lively residential area. All the houses in that area are at least 2500 square feet with at least 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, and they are all in pristine condition. This contrasts sharply with the houses I have seen in the past year or two in San Francisco Bay Area – old houses that are small and dark but still cost a great fortune. It turned out that a couple of houses were for sale, and we went and picked up a flyer. Such a modern beautiful mansion with 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms is now asking for only $699,000, whereas a house like that even in medium-priced Bay Area cities such as San Mateo, Belmont or Foster City will be asking for twice as much, not to mention better areas like Palo Alto, Portola Valley or Hillsborough!
Redwood City (San Mateo County): 2 BR, 2 Ba, 990 sf, built 1940, high school API score 774, $645k
Foothill Ranch (Orange County): 6 BR, 3 Ba, 2600 sf, built 1993, high school API score 814, $675k
My cousin’s two sons had grown a lot since I last saw them. I have a hypothesis that people become much more acutely of their own aging, when they see how fast the kids grow. His older son played “Fur Elise” on the piano, and played chess with Michael. The younger one is a bit shy, so he did not want to perform anything. As a result, his mother showed me some paintings he did in his room. My cousin of course has got another new car – cars are one of his passions. He and Michael went out for a drive in this new sports car, while his wife and I stayed behind and chatted. When we talked about our upcoming move to Bay Area, they both commented on how million-dollar homes in Bay Area often are not even livable because of the shabby condition, the small size or the bad neighborhood.
On the way back home, Michael commented that my cousin’s family are now more “Southern Californian” than even a lot of indigenous southern Californians. They used to live in New Hampshire when Michael and I lived in Boston area. In just a matter of a few years, they have got used to the way of life in Orange County – now, they can’t imagine living in a house with less than 2700 square feet or fewer than 5 bedrooms; they can’t imagine staying in low-budget motels while vacationing; they can’t imagine driving average Japanese cars anymore; etc.
The current recession has prompted a lot of public debates on how the Americans have over-extended themselves, and lived above their means these past few years. Now a lot of people are learning a good lesson in the importance of fiscal discipline at home, which incidentally has been severely lacking in the corporate world as well!
My cousin’s family actually has never lived beyond their means. But I suppose in the eyes of the super-cautious, or in the eyes of the Europeans, they, as well as most Southern Californians (Michael and myself included) would be perceived as living wastefully. But they do enjoy their big and modern home and their nice cars. If money can buy some happiness and you can afford it, why not?
A recent article I read mentioned that opposite to the extravagant and careless spenders there are a lot of people who now save even more fanatically than before, due to the recession, which in itself deprives them of a lot of pleasure in life that they can easily afford. But life is too short. For those of us who don’t believe or at least doubt the possibility of an afterlife or another life, this life is it. It does not mean, however, we should live irresponsibly and wait for others to save us or bail us out when we run into deep debt. It simply means that as with most things in life, moderation or balance is the key. Extremes are rarely the right approaches. However, we human beings have a habit of over-correcting ourselves. It is perhaps futile to hope that we human beings as a species will evolve to develop a perspective that allows us to remain cautious when times are great, and to retain our zest for life when times are tough.
No wonder there was a huge traffic jam on the freeway on Saturday – beaches in San Diego are free.
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