Courtesy of Eric Hartnett.
- Eric Hartnett, 57, moved to Prosper, Texas, after living in California his entire life.
- He was tired of California's high cost of living and having to keep up with the Joneses.
- Hartnett has a bigger house in Texas, and is putting up with the weather and monotonous scenery.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with California native Eric Hartnett, a photographer and bar owner, who moved to Prosper, Texas, in 2018. The essay has been edited for length and clarity.
I was a third-generation Californian, born and raised. I lived in Southern California — Los Angeles — for 40 years, and then in the north, in a city called Healdsburg, for 10 years.
The state was deep in my blood until I just couldn't afford to live there anymore.