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Why I Wrote Life 2.0 |
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| My journey across America by small airplane began with a column I wrote in Forbes magazine in the April 15, 2002 issue. It was called "Boonyack Comeback." In it I wrote that small cities could very well outperform larger cities, economically, during the Turbulent 2000s decade. | ||
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The column quoted a headhunter from Heidrick & Struggles, David Pasahow. He told me he now recruits hotshot executives out of Chicago or Dallas and places them, amazingly, in Des Moines or Omaha or even smaller cities. |
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| "What's the attraction?" I asked. | ||
| His answer: "Great housing for the dollar, country clubs you can get into—and afford—public schools that work, and short commutes. As for culture, he said: "From the money they save on housing, country clubs and schools, my clients fly to Paris when they want culture." | ||
| Biggest Response To My Forbes Column Ever | ||
| Normally I get 30 or 40 emails in response to my Forbes column, usually short blurbs saying that I am an idiot and that Steve Forbes ought to drag me over hot coals and then fire me. Within a month of the "Boonyack" column being published, however, I had received more than 200 emails. These were not spitballs aimed at my head, but something much different: | ||
| — They were tales of the search for sanity and of the need to balance life and work. | ||
| — Many were sincere outpourings of deep life-transition stories. | ||
| — Most were from people who had undergone life-changing shifts in perspective. | ||
| Wrote David Marshall from Pittsburgh: "After living in Manhattan and working on Wall Street trading desks for over a decade, I packed up my bags last year and moved to the hometown of my fianc?—Pittsburgh. My commute is seven minutes. People actually say hello to me in the morning. Cars stop for me when I'm trying to cross the street." | ||
| Another from Ray Ozyjowski in Portland, Oregon: "I am glad to be out of New York! I have a real quality life in Portland at small technology research investment bank, calling on the same clients in New York I did when I lived there, and I still travel to New York once or twice a quarter. I now have a five-minute commute from a house in a prime community. I get to spend much more quality time outdoors and with my boys." | ||
| Michael Stemo of Grand Rapids, Michigan summed it up: "If folks start to take a tally of their lifestyle, cost of living and the lack of leisure time and they'll realize that the quality of life cost is just too high." On and on the emails ran. | ||
| Stories like these are fun to read. They evince something wonderful about the American character, the pursuit of happiness and the gift for reinvention. But do these highly personal stories tell us something larger? Might they also hint at deeper changes in the dreams and lifestyle choices of the Americans? | ||
| I thought so. | ||
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That's why, two years ago, I set out by small airplane to travel across and collect the stories of Americans who had sought saner lives in smaller communities. I am convinced these stories will inspire millions of Americans who feel trapped by the high costs and stresses of urban and suburban living.
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