Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,
I was reminded again this weekend why I love living in Davis. The Whole Earth Festival gave me a chance to dance to some live music with my family amid the scents of patchouli and incense, and then Saturday night my wife Kate and I enjoyed Stories on Stage Davis, where the kind organizers gave away a copy of our new book, Where’s Jukie?, as a door prize.
Last night after my Sunday evening office hours I received a Facebook message from a former student of four years ago; she was expressing concerns about the extent to which such cultural offerings are available to everyone, especially when considering the high cost of living in Davis. She wrote, “Hi Dr. Andy. Many of my peers have expressed the concern that Davis as a town is now largely socio-economically unequal and overrun by its affluent, “white” residents. As a poet living in Davis, do you have an opinion about this sentiment?”
This was my response:
Hi Mariam,
Well, your friends are right about the economic challenges of living in Davis. Rents are high, and median home prices are unaffordable to most new families, thus likening the housing market here to some of the more expensive ones in the Bay area. Like most cities under 100,000 in the U.S., the city is also majority Caucasian. That said, Davis has a large Asian population, as you know, and a growing Latino and African American population. The city is also younger than you might expect, with about half the population under 25, and almost 75% under 45. As a progressive city, Davis makes a point to tax itself more heavily than other Central Valley cities, with most of those extra taxes going to support education, which is a significant leveler when it comes to income inequality.
In recent years, city and business interests have made significant investments in the arts and culture. Most (but not all) of that is concentrated downtown, thus attracting visitors and new residents to Davis who care about quality of life issues outside of one’s financial comforts. A city with a strong library, bike-able streets that are also served by a vibrant public transportation system, public and performing arts venues (such as Third Space), and some inexpensive restaurants, is a city that has made an investment in attracting and keeping a significant diversity of citizens.
UC Davis will always be a feeder engine for the City of Davis, which means that as the university attracts more and more ethnically and economically diverse students, we can hope that more of them will move here (or move back here) to raise families and contribute to the cultural richness of 95616 and 95618. When Kate and I moved (back) here in 1998, we could barely afford our mortgage, but now we are thankful for the great schools that our property taxes help to fund.
If you are implying that Davis needs to do more to welcome poets and poetry, I agree with you. My KDVS radio show, the Poetry Night Reading Series, and the extra poetry classes I teach represent some of my efforts, but I’d like to see more widespread interest and investment in the literary arts in Davis.
I have some friends on the Davis City Council whom I am sure will want to chime in about ways they have addressed some of the concerns you raise. I wouldn’t be surprised if thoughtful folks such as Joe Krovoza, Dan Wolk, Brett D Lee, Lucas Frerichs, and Rochelle Swanson chime in. We might even hear from some folks who hope to serve on the City Council in the future, such as Robb Davis and Sheila Allen. If you end up having conversations with any of these public servants, I would be interested to hear what you learn. As a UC Davis alumna and a talented poet, your opinion matters, and should be heard. Thanks for writing.
So what did I leave out of my assessment of our fair city? I look forward to hearing your opinions, too.
Tonight’s Pub Quiz will feature questions on kitchens, cities that begin with the letter M, words that start with “A” (such as “artillery” and “axle”), a topic suggested by one of you on Facebook, authors with names that start with H, victory, Cervantes, sports that Americans don’t follow, the Philippines, U.S. states, the acreage of Ireland, Tiffany, injurious sports, the Greek alphabet, the death penalty, wine, waves, Doris Day and Nancy Reagan, experimental music, the culture of rugged geography, birds of prey, songwriters, mothers, crimes, U.S. Presidents, TV networks, a Poe boy, actor-directors, boats, metals and voles and worms, climate change, St. George, and Shakespeare.
See you tonight!
Your Quizmaster
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Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:
- Mottos and Slogans. What San Francisco-based country is known for the slogan “Quality Never Goes Out of Style”? Most of you use more of this company’s products than I do.
- Internet Culture: Again with the Web Browsers. The Yuba City horse that won Saturday’s Kentucky Derby shares a name, partially, with a web browser. Which browser is it? Yay, California!
- Film Quotations. What film includes the line “Into the garbage shoot, flyboy!” Thanks to Truman for this question suggestion.
- Pop Culture – Music. OMG. The lead singer of Maroon 5 has totally dyed his hair platinum blond. What is his name? Do we call a male blond “platinum”?
- Sports. Yesterday we enjoyed this baseball headline: “Wil Myers Hits 3-Run Inside-the-Park Home Run Despite Jogging to 1st Base.” Myers has hit four home runs against the Yankees this season. For what team does this outfielder play? I myself always enjoy watching a batter round the bases while Yankee outfielders look on.
P.S. Poetry Night this week is an entirely Open Mic. Thursday at 8 at the John Natsoulas Gallery.