Lyons, Colorado
I spent 45 minutes walking, waiting and
riding on a bus in Oakland a week ago, I was the only white face. I'm
now in the fifth ring suburb (using David Brooks' definition) of
Denver on the Denver-metro plateau.
People are nicer here and in Oakland
than in San Francisco. The same is true of Salt Lake City, another
place I go to visit grandchildren. People are more ready to say
“good morning” with a smile, to offer help, to be helpful and to
exude kindness.
It is the same way people behave after
they leave church on Sunday. They are just bubbling over with the
desire to be kind. The pitcher of kindness is about to spill over.
San Franciscans, on the other hand, are stolid; it takes a little
encouragement for them to be kind and helpful. Just a little, but
enough to evoke a different feeling.
While we are at it. The reason the
Denver-metro plateau is a perfect representation of America today is
because it is filled with people who moved to the fifth ring suburbs
to raise their children without crime, irony, homeless people, lazy
people and angry lefties. The people who moved here want to work
hard, earn money, acquire possessions, be athletic and have open
space. They bring talent and skills. Business is following them to
these regions for the hard working competent employees that they are
and that business needs.
Boom times here, though the residential building is a little ahead of the migration curve.