tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3604147601973013359.post60574392888423520..comments2023-08-16T10:50:38.041+01:00Comments on Moose Musings: Living On An Island - Part 2.Andy Guntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00402607157584209849noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3604147601973013359.post-72052699437294658342010-08-16T14:00:48.537+01:002010-08-16T14:00:48.537+01:00Petra: Fair point about the past. I was living her...Petra: Fair point about the past. I was living here in the 90's myself & watched the town go downhill. I do think things have improved since then though.<br />But, as least we agree on the creative effects of those problems. <br />I love your comment about Santa Cruz btw & i've been there too.Andy Guntonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00402607157584209849noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3604147601973013359.post-5924848567081942722010-08-16T13:41:02.125+01:002010-08-16T13:41:02.125+01:00Sorry Andy, but Hastings is 'worse' than o...Sorry Andy, but Hastings is 'worse' than other places - it has extraordinarily bad stats on poverty, ill health, suicide, alcohol and substance misuse. I lived in Hastings from the age of 8 to 30, over the 80's and 90's, so saw the worst effects of the Care In The Community Act: thousands of formerly institutionalised people sent there to live, with little support. Such a disportionate influx of benefit claimants was a blow the delicate seasonal economy still hasn't recovered from. And something dark setlled on the town - an expectation of lunacy and pain, a difficulty with wanting more than just survival.<br /><br />But although Hastings is worse, it's also better. I know of no other town in the South where the people who work in the prettiest, most touristy part of town also can still afford to live there. The advantage of no one having any money is that it doesn't take much to get things happening - that list of events you posted would do any small town proud. There are tons of passionate, creative, wonderful people there who aren't motivated by cold hard cash. And there's the famous Hastings attitude, which, though I know it doesn't always go down well elsewhere, I still think is a great mixture of weirdness and defiance.<br /><br />One final point: I've been to Santa Cruz. It resembles Hastings about as much as a dolphin resembles a starling.Petrahttp://bunnyrabble.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3604147601973013359.post-57921630533234280092010-08-15T18:01:06.672+01:002010-08-15T18:01:06.672+01:00Like you, i think the effects are very positive.
M...Like you, i think the effects are very positive.<br />Maybe it's because you're a little cut off yourself, or at least it feels like it, that your community has a similar feeling to here in Hastings.<br />It sure makes these places good ones to live in doesn't it?Andy Guntonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00402607157584209849noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3604147601973013359.post-40649709496506811792010-08-15T17:09:14.782+01:002010-08-15T17:09:14.782+01:00The "island mentality" can really bring ...The "island mentality" can really bring a community together; usually for positive effects. Santa Cruz is very much like that as well, even with it's proximity to San Jose and San Francisco. It's amazing what a small range of hills can do to distinguish you from your neighbors :^)Ken Goldsteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14352088132228110064noreply@blogger.com