The Place I Live

Location: Castro Valley, California
 
I live in an unincorporated town in Northern California known as the birthplace of Metallica bassist Cliff Burton.

Over the years, it has been converted into a bedroom community by transplants like me attracted by Bay Area’s booming tech job market. In other words, it’s a place where you go home to sleep.

If there’s a major complaint about the transplants, it’s their seeming lack of community engagement. But who can blame them? With mortgage so high, they sometimes need 3 jobs to keep up with the monthly payments, leaving them less time to socialize or participate in local events.

On weekends, the neighborhood comes to life with the sounds and sights of human activity. Just like the locals, transplants do find time to get out of their beds.

 
They walk, jog, or bike around the place. It’s easy to tell them apart. They are the ones who keep to themselves and appear lost in the world of their own making.

 
Those who aren’t into sports can go to the farmers’ market to stock up on organic fruits and veggies.

 
They can visit our modern public library that uses solar power for 100% of its electricity needs. It has a great collection of books, periodicals and DVDs that can be borrowed at no cost. It offers free wifi and computers and laptops that have access to the Internet. In addition, it provides facilities for community gathering and educational opportunies for all ages. I consider it one of the best in the San Francisco Bay Area.

 
They can go to the nearby park that features a 315-acre lake. It’s an ideal place for many outdoor activities such as nature watching, fishing, camping, boating, cycling, and hiking. When I have nothing much else to do, I spend most of my free time there.

 
Or they can look for garage sales run by folks who believe that one man’s junk is another man’s treasure. Just a word of advice on the latter. Proceed with caution. Otherwise, you may end up getting something that you don’t really need.

Like a manual lawn mower.

“It’s a collector item,” the friendly seller told me with a wink. “and for $5, you can have it,” he added.

Greedy me, I ended up buying it even though I don’t have a lawn to mow.

As more and more transplants overtake the town from the locals, I wonder what it would look like 10 years from now. Would it be for the better or worse? Would I still be around to care?

The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind.

Related articles

• Weekly Photo Challenge: Tour Guide (dailypost.wordpress.com)
• Weekly Photo Challenge: Tour Guide (imageandword.wordpress.com)
• Weekly Photo Challenge: Tour Guide (tagnoue.wordpress.com)
• Weekly Photo Challenge: Tour Guide (sukanyaramanujan.wordpress.com)
• Weekly Photo Challenge: Tour Guide (mythrider.wordpress.com)
• Weekly Photo Challenge: Tour Guide (stenoodie.com)
• Weekly Photo Challenge: Tour Guide (hereandthere5.wordpress.com)
• Weekly Photo Challenge: Tour Guide (insellos.wordpress.com)
• Weekly Photo Challenge: Tour Guide (umgebucht.wordpress.com)
• Weekly Photo Challenge: Tour Guide (stephenrees.blog)