We're still slugging it out here in So Cal, and to tell you the truth ... though we know it's dangerous, though we know we're living on the edge, though we know we're living in a potential powder keg, though the traffic can be miserable and the politics even worse ... we love it down here.
Both of us grew up in very small towns and have lived in some of the most beautiful areas in the U.S. -- postcard-pretty type places. Yet our love affair with So. Cal still burns hot. Maybe because of our backgrounds, who knows. Small town living -- been there, done that.
I hope all is going well with you and your family!
I understand. I spent half a century there, and the place will always be first in my heart. Can't be helped when a place has burned itself into that much of your life and memory.
Still, there's a limit to how much a person can take, when the place you call home, changes beyond all recognition. If the slow and creeping changes are a net positive, that's one thing, but when those changes continually degrade everything you know and love about a place, well....everyone's got a limit. I hit mine in 2005.
As far as "small towns" are concerned, I'm pretty happy living outside the 'small town' of Dallas ;-)