Recession Dispatch from…a New Yorker in Santa Monica

As a New Yorker, whenever I travel to California, I’m ever hopeful that I will adopt the effortless, easy happiness of the sunny residents. On my last visit two weeks ago, I wondered if the recession had made its mark the same way it has sent a dark hazy cloud over Manhattan. I stayed with friends, a talented singer-songwriting couple who live in the cozy, creative bungalow community of Santa Monica. They had just landed a very promising project, and living in their hotbed of musical activity, recessionary Manhattan felt far away.

The raw food restaurant next door to the yoga studio I frequented was doing brisk business. From my observation, the Santa Monica crowd thinks nothing of paying $8 for a smoothie or $22 for a yoga class…