Everybody knows the Big One is coming. Depending on where it strikes, it’ll be felt from Oregon to Baja California as well as Nevada and Arizona. Thousands may die. Millions will lose homes. The Big One is a California problem, but it won’t send a tsunami crashing around the Pacific

While friends in both cities asked why I planned to return, they asked the same question two different ways. Portland asked with the doubt of a dysfunctional parent, one who knows the answer and resents it. “It’s so expensive there. Isn’t that why you left in the first place?” I