Elevation high, home prices low

Reading about the lack of affordable housing in Southern California made me realize how lucky I am. My wife and I live in Crestline, where a family can still find a nice home for less than $200,000 and a 2,100-square-foot home with terrific views for less than $300,000. There are no traffic lights in our town, only one chain -- McDonald’s -- and no outlet stores. The rest of our shops are owned by locals who try their best to offer the goods and services that we locals need.

For instance, our hardware store probably has more staff working at any one time than a large home improvement retailer. You can walk into this little store and immediately find an employee who can help you find just the right piece of hardware to fix something in your 30-year-old house. Try that at Home Depot.

And if we really need something from the urban jungle below us, we can be at Ontario Mills in 45 minutes and at the beach in 75 minutes.

Jerry Henderson

Crestline