At first, I thought your jabs at the real estate profession were mildly amusing. I mean, in a recent issue you had two letters from Paonia realtors taking you to task for some comments you made; you stabbed them back with a cartoon placed smack in between the letters, and not less than two pages away was an advertisement for a 1,300-square-foot beach "retreat" going for only $1.6 million (HCN, 2/20/06). Who wouldn’t get a chuckle?

But "Town Shopping" went right over the cliff (HCN, 3/20/06: Town Shopping). There are hints of realization by M. John Fayhee that the problem is really that there are so many people out there exactly like himself, but he never quite seems to tie it all together. He suffers post-Yuppie angst at the prospect of making a bundle on his home in Frisco, mostly because profiting on his investment would be offensive to his earth-muffin friends (a majority of whom no doubt have trust funds). Never have I seen so much success breed so much whining.

Yes, people like to live in nice places. Yes, when demand outstrips supply, prices go up. I typically expect your cover story to present multiple sides of complicated issues. This one is nothing more than the stereotypical North Face fleece- and cap-wearing longhaired unshaven opinionated wanker driving his sticker-plastered VW van around the West, looking for a place to live. Please, for God’s sake, don’t land in my town.

Kevin Bailey
Bellvue, Colorado