Our extended family, however, is mainly still in California so we have to have the Big Discussion every single time we visit. The endless real estate talk whenever we go there drags me down – Houses in my husband’s friend’s new ‘hood have dropped more than our entire house cost but we still couldn’t afford it (neither can the friend, who lives with his father). I used to be desperate to move back to CA but now, with kids, I fear that it would someday be necessary (e.g.: when the imploding of MI’s economy turns it into an actual black hole).

Of course, beyond housing prices, part of it is the same claustrophobic feeling from being smack in the middle of large urban areas.