What's the economy like in your town?

Every third person I know is looking for work. Most are writers, business consultants, web developments, anyone in marketing and a ton of sales people from the mortgage industry. They say unemployment is around 7% in California. I think it's a lot higher. It doesn't take into account all the people that are self employed and who are presently underemployed.

I went driving around town stumped as to how to show it visually. I live in a typical laid back beach town north of San Diego. There are no lines for food at soup kitchens. Thank goodness. But there are more "for lease" signs than I've ever seen along the coastal shopping district. When I go inland in San Diego it's the same thing. Various lots that have been purchased in the past year with planned condominiums advertisements are now sitting vacant with weeds growing.

Most people are running around in shorts here if they're off work because it's gorgeous beach weather. It's hard to say who is a sun bather and who is a job hunter and they're probably both this time of year. But I know the difference in the conversations. I hear the grumbles about making ends meet, worry for the future spoken everywhere from the beaches, the gas stations to the coffee shops, the libraries, and the gym that is packed mid day. I suppose the only different between this and maybe other parts of the country is that here people relieve their stress by doing yoga and jumping in the ocean for a few hours, then they go back home and surf the jobs boards, or maybe a social networking site or two or three or half a dozen that they heard from someone "is good for marketing", but which they discover is frequented by lots of other people doing the very same thing on a nice summer day. And pretty soon going back outside sounds a whole lot nicer than worrying about the economy, which is too darn draining and hard to figure out when there's still sand in your toes.