I’m in California as of yesterday afternoon ….. goodbye, Michigan!
There a lot of friends and colleagues I’ll miss, and also a lot of things about Ann Arbor that I’ll miss. It’s amazing how many people have told me that they’re envious that I was coming back to California. It’s true that Michigan is going through a lot of pain right now, with a moribund economy, a flailing auto industry, and a state of what can only be called political gridlock. But if things had worked out differently, if the stars had aligned around the possibility of both of us getting good jobs and settling down in Ann Arbor, I can’t think of any prohibitive reason that we wouldn’t have done it, at least for a few years. (Steve may have a different take, though.) Proposal 2 was a daunting obstacle, but (I hate to say it) a lot of other states have passed or are getting ready to pass similar initiatives. If you’re making your choices about where to live based solely on whether laws have been passed against you, you’re giving victory to bigots.
Alas, settling down in Ann Arbor wasn’t to be.
Goodbye, Ann Arbor. I’ll miss you.