You Can Go Home Again

Referring to Wanda Coleman’s “Trouble in Paradise” (On the Town, Sept. 4): When I returned to Los Angeles after 14 years in Eugene, Ore., many Angelenos reacted with shock and horror that I chose to reverse the migratory trend.

I came back not because I was limited in the Pacific Northwest to a minimum of interesting employment opportunities, faced nine to 10 months a year of soggy, gray weather or had an overwhelming sense that I was living on the set of “Hootenanny.” I came back because I was keenly aware that Eugene and other cities up North draw and keep many individuals who want to escape all forms of risk.

While no one can argue that the risks of violence, freeway disasters, clogged lungs and financial hardship are worth avoiding, I found much of the population of Eugene also escaping from the risk of intellectual growth, multiethnic exposure and cultural diversity.

When you’re through with life’s challenges, it’s a good way to go.

Lauren F. Levine

Los Angeles