San Marcos is Spanish for Fantasy-Land

Despite the awkwardly performed break in to my duplex (two of my roommates had laptops stolen) last week, I feel extremely safe in San Marcos. Our place is the only place in the neighborhood to be broken into in the past few years. Petty theft is probably the most of my worries here. This contrasts sharply to where I lived this past summer, Inner City Los Angeles…a city where violent crime and police chases are a daily occurrence. San Marcos is, by contrast, an extremely "safe" community. Texas State University, despite its size and dense urban setting, is an extremely safe college campus. After almost one month back in the area (this time living in San Marcos instead of commuting from Austin) I have arrived at the conclusion that where I am living is basically a fantasy world, a nice hilly little hamlet of safety and security (just outside of a much larger but still fantastically safe for it's size city called Austin) that most people around the world, not to mention Inner-City L.A., could not imagine.

This town has so much beauty, especially by Texas standards; San Marcos is so nice that just saying that it is "nice" understates just how nice things here are. Of course there are problems, traffic congestion, outdated traffic lights (all of which are slated for replacement in the next year), trains crossing major streets at rush hour, the typical problems associated with the college party scene (mainly noise and, God forbid, kids smoking pot), a very tight job market (mainly due to having thousands of students in such a small area) and the town's identity crisis, it's refusal to fully admit that it is a growing metropolitan college city.

But then the list of problems pretty much ends...and if you have spent a significant time anywhere else, especially a place as radically different as Los Angeles...you might notice that these problems aren't really worth complaining about. Someone living in L.A. is probably more concerned about their kid getting caught in the crossfire of a gang shootout, or a riot exploding in their neighborhood, than they are about someone not using their turn signal or how bad traffic is, or getting stuck at that damn red light all the time. Then there's the list of things in San Marcos (local and Austin Metro Area characteristics) that are just plan amazing after spending time in the Inner City. Among them:

- Extremely clean air
- Extremely low crime
- Virtually no violent crime-
- Virtually no gang activity
- Walking alone at night not extremely dangerous
- Natural beauty and open spaces in and around the city
- A picturesque and blight-free cityscape
- Visible stars at night (You see more helicopters than stars in L.A.)
- Extreme quiet at night, quiet during the day.
- Affordable rent/housing (not compared with the rest of the state of course, but very affordable compared to Southern California)

This is not meant to be a comparison between San Marcos and L.A...the two places are so radically different that a comparison would be illogical. There are many things about L.A. that I miss, I love the city, the ocean, the weather there is much more plesant in the summer, there are so many things to do and see there. The reality of life there is much less of a fantasy and more like "real life" than here. What I am getting at are the things about our beautiful town that I see are, for the most part, generally taken for granted. I'm saying that San Marcos is an incredible place to live and most people here don't seem to recognize that...maybe because they have never lived anywhere that is more challenging or real than here (kids from Inner City Houston and others are definite exceptions). This is meant to be a positive summary of my impression upon my return to Central Texas. I perceive life here very differently than I did before this summer.

San Marcos is a postcard town. San Marcos is a fantasy world compared to the harsh reality of life in many other areas. San Marcos should not be taken for granted. If you live here, the next time you find yourself complaining about the typical topics most people (including myself) tend to complain about here, maybe take a moment to think of all of the positive aspects of this area, the things that maybe you take for granted. I mean, at least you get to see open spaces, and stars, and don't have to worry about flying bullets.