The Way We Live Now: In a cul-de-sac in Moreno Valley, California.The NYT has made it the national headquarters of recession-oriented media interest! Meanwhile, back in New York, the Hamptons crumble, and everyone's ready to kill to be a plumber.

To get to the bottom of this real estate crisis, the NYT basically opened a bureau on Beth Court in Moreno Valley, CA to chronicle how everyone is losing jobs and homes and shit. Did you read the million-word epic story yesterday? It was pretty good! But that was before I knew there would be another Beth Court story today, and probably another one tomorrow, until we are all screaming "I just do not care that much about the wavering job prospects of the Winkler family of Beth Court and all of their god damn neighbors! If I had wanted to watch '49 Up' I would have rented that documentary film, and watched it!"

The other problem here: while the NYT focuses its eyes hungrily on disputes over ice cream trucks among nosy neighbors in the Inland Empire, their very own city called New York City is going straight to hell, economically. Maybe you have not looked at the Hamptons real estate market since it was all crazy? Well now it is positively plebeian. Maybe you remember the days when young people in New York dreamed of being investment bankers? Now they dream of being plumbers. Artists? Now they are movers.

Crime still exists, in New York, where people take money from other people, by force, because one person wants money because of the recession.

So sure, sure, we're sure the minutiae of eight families living in a godforsaken suburban cul-de-sac in Hellville, California, are interesting and offer a glimpse at one small slice of the larger economic narrative of blah blah blah and the "mayor" of the street who calls the cops on the neighbors, is that guy a dick or what? Just don't forget us, media—the poor aspiring plumbing apprentices of New York. Because plumbers make way more than reporters.
[Pic via]