I grew up in Napa
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11/4/2009
Napa was once a nice place to live, even though I never liked the weather. You never see the sun before 10 AM in the summer and by 7 PM it's too cold and way too windy to enjoy being outside. It wasn't until I moved away that I found out that I enjoy waking up to a sunny morning, be it in the summer, or winter, the only two seasons most of California has.
Now that I've been away from Napa for a number of years I have also discovered that you can tell someone is from Napa by their attitude. "I've made it to the beautiful Napa Valley. We have to close the gate to keep everyone else out" is a quick synopsis of the Napa attitude. There are an incredible number of businesses that have "Napa Valley" in their name. The general rule is that if it has "Napa Valley" in the name, it's located in Napa. Businesses in the rest of the county tend to avoid the term (except the wineries of course, which can charge more for wine with "Napa Valley" on the label.) I made the mistake of abbreviating the name of a business "NV ---" and was lectured by the owner.
As a native Napan I was forced out by two things. The first is that there are no jobs and everyone has to commute, creating horrendous traffic jams. It took an hour to travel 19 miles. The second is that the spiraling cost of housing would never allow my children to be able to buy a home of their own.
I've never regretted leaving.
Richard | Manteca, CA