Go East, Young Lady?

I've been feeling discontented lately. There's been a lot going on in my head, and despite this, I've been significantly dissatisfied in that respect. Discussing it with a friend today, I started to wonder about something.

As you're undoubtedly heard, I was born in LA and raised in an area known as “The Valley,” aka the San Fernando Valley. You know, the one with the reputation for being a hotbed of airheads Valley girls and suburban brats. I won’t discount that, but I lived out in the east end, in a city called Burbank. You’ve heard of it if you watched Laugh-In or The Tonight Show. It’s home to the WB, Disney, and NBC studios. A central part of the entertainment capital.

Nonetheless, I had a pretty normal childhood devoid of such nonsense. It was a nice place to grow up.

During college, I moved to the Westside in order to be closer to school. And I’ve been here for my entire post-collegiate adulthood. I really like where I live: my apartment, my living situation, my lack of parking issues, my proximity to most things. Most things except the majority of my friends.

This wasn’t much of a problem when I worked down south and a few other close pals did too. But suddenly, the westward shift has reversed and now everything is being directed eastward. My job moved 13 miles east. My Cat-roo-key, though domiciled down the street from my office, used to work down with me in the South Bay, but now he’s working way inland, too. The Girls all mostly reside in and around the same neighborhood as my entire family, and I’m beginning to wonder why I’m the only outpost so far west.

I’ve gone so far as to entertain the thought of moving back to my old stomping grounds. But the ridiculous Swingers-inspired value of having a 310 number, and the true spirit of independence that comes from living those very long 26 miles away, and the VERY nice weather effect of living a mere 4 miles inland, make it difficult to let go. And part of what I love about this sprawling city of mine is that it is so spread out, enveloping color and class boundaries across the board.

But after 6 years out here, I’m beginning to get tired of having to wait out traffic to do anything with my friends...of the commute to work...and of generally spending so much on gas.

Then again, I have toyed with the idea of just chucking it all and starting over in either San Diego or San Francisco.

What's a girl to do?