The Question I Cannot Stop Asking

Yountville has long made room for some of the people who keep the town running. The harder question is whether it is willing to make room for a few more.

Yountville already includes workforce housing, and no single project could ever meet the community’s broader housing needs. But the debate over adding a modest number of additional homes revealed a deeper question.

The people who care for their seniors, prepare their meals, maintain the landscapes, and keep the local economy running are not strangers. They are already here every day. Their cars are already parked on the streets. Their labor is already woven into the life of the town.

If a community depends on people it increasingly cannot accommodate, what exactly is it preserving?

That is the question I cannot stop asking.