Philadelphian’s Story: All in All, He’d Rather Be Home

This will hardly qualify as a scientific study. In fact, it’s one newspaper guy talking to one guy from Pennsylvania about how the guy from Pennsylvania sees California these days.

And although I pretty much stumbled upon Garry Simms of suburban Philadelphia, he was just the kind of person I was looking for: someone with no specific California ties but who wasn’t oblivious to the hold that the Golden State has long had on people from the rest of the country.

The question: Does the state still hold any particular fascination for outsiders?

California used to be the place where people went to “strike it rich.” My parents told me recently they had considered moving to California in the ‘50s; same with my aunt and uncle. Neither family did, but it’s belatedly raised the question in my mind: Does every American, at some point in his or her life, decide whether or not to move to California?

“You’ll think I’m just going along, but we did consider several years ago, about the early ‘80s, moving to California,” Simms said. We’re talking in front of a hotel across the street from Disneyland, where Simms is dutifully waiting for his wife and two kids to return from a morning’s frolic in the park. Simms says he’s all frolicked out for the time being.

He’s 46 and a high school teacher, a job he still enjoys despite the increasing classroom frustrations. He describes himself as decidedly middle-class, probably a Bill Clinton supporter, and the beneficiary of a relatively affordable life because he bought his house 15 years ago and can still make the payments.

He and his wife have friends in Anaheim and have made three trips to Disneyland over the years, each time complaining about the tackiness around the park. On this trip, he points out the woman standing on the corner of Katella and West with the sign saying she needs a hotel room and food for her and her two kids.

“We don’t see much of that on our block (back home),” he says, but not smugly.

Anyway, Simms says he and his wife thought about moving to California about 10 years ago but abandoned the idea. “We looked at Northern California and couldn’t afford it, and Southern California and couldn’t afford that, either. We didn’t think there was an Eastern or Western California, so we pretty much gave up. We’ve talked to our friends about house prices nowadays, and all we end up saying is, ‘You’ve got to be kidding.’ ”

What’s your impression of California from across the continent? I ask him.

“California is always going to have a certain appeal to people,” Simms said. “With the weather, Hollywood, the show-biz scene, even Disneyland--California is never going to quit being a place that people think about moving to.

“But the flip side to that is that people probably will always associate a strangeness to it. And that will probably always act as a balance to its attraction.”

I mentioned my parents’ thoughts 35 years ago about moving out here. “That’s probably rather typical of Midwest thinking,” said Simms, who grew up in Illinois. “I don’t know if people think there’s a status about moving out of the Midwest to California, or if they think it’s the pot at the end of the rainbow, but I know the thinking well. We used to talk about it when I was in high school.”

Did you know that California is broke and is paying bills with IOUs? I ask.

“No kidding. Just like the country, huh?” He says Pennsylvania is “not exactly rolling in dough,” but somehow it bothers him that California is in the red. “I probably shouldn’t be surprised,” he says, “but if California’s in trouble, can you imagine what it must be like in Mississippi?”

Simms said he never thought about California as a kid because his impression was that it was so unrealistically sunny and so geographically removed that it might as well have been another planet. But he knew that, at least symbolically, that California represented a chance at a bigger slice of the pie. He’s not so sure that image exists today.

Ever regret not moving out here?

“You mean am I quote unquote missing something?” he says. “Not really. I grew up in the Midwest, and Pennsylvania has a homey feel to it. It’s inconceivable to me that we could make the adjustment to California at this point. To answer your earlier question, I think one very major impression we have in the East is that California is just too big these days. We all see the news and see what goes on out here. What do you have, 25 million people?”

Those were the good old days, I tell him.

He asks me what my house payment is, and I tell him, and he says, “That’s exactly what I was talking about.” It’s larger than his, and when I tell him mine is for rent, he gives me a wicked smile.

Aren’t you envious of us for anything? I ask. By now, it probably sounded more like a plaint.

“There’s always the weather,” he said, smiling.

Gee, Garry, you really know how to hurt a guy.

Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Readers may reach Parsons by writing to him at The Times Orange County Edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, Calif. 92626, or calling (714) 966-7821.