Editorial: Is Sonoma having a midlife crisis?

Need the number of a good Botox specialist Sonoma? Because, by the looks of things, you’re experiencing a midlife crisis.

Perhaps not literally – the city’s officially been in existence for 132 years. So unless fluoride finishes us all off with the early-onset Alzheimer’s-related non-Hodgkin’s Cooties, as some predict, Sonoma might merely be a hormone-raging teen in its nebulous municipality lifespan.

But with the average age of a Sonoma resident falling safely in the that-BMW-convertible-is-starting-to-sound-like-a-sweet-deal-afterall demographic, the time might be ripe for Sonoma to start eyeing its sassy blond receptionist – and begin questioning who it is, and where it’s going in the grand scheme of things. If, that is, it can find time between collagen injections.

Any so-called midlife crisis for Sonoma has probably been going on for more than a decade, as the Valley has grown more as a nationally known Wine Country destination than any of its nearby grape-nomically dependent regions.

But a small handful of recent civic issues in the headlines has really underscored a simmering struggle over the town’s identity: between Old Sonoma vs. New Sonoma, growth vs. status quo, the leaf blowers vs. the leaf-blown-upon.

Some of the issues are obvious: the burgeoning number of tasting rooms in the downtown, the debate over short-term residential vacation rentals, a Sonoma Raceway proposal to stage a major music festival. Is Sonoma a cool small town that caters primarily to locals, or is it a destination city with a booming tourist-driven economy? Of course it would be great to be both – and in many ways it is. But some say that latter identity is edging the former aside – and, some say, that’s not a good thing.

The Raceway plan is perhaps the most basic juxtaposition, because its ramifications are clearer. It would be a big-time entertainment event put on by a generally good player in the community situated about as far away from any residential hub as there is in the region. Yet, the noise and traffic ramifications would be real and unavoidable for anyone living near, or passing through Sears Point that weekend. A major amount of dollars, or a relatively minor amount of locals? Something’s got to give.

A less-obvious example of Sonoma’s identity crisis – yet, perhaps its definitive element – is the leaf blower “problem.” It’s a problem scoffed at in letters to the editor (believe me) and belittled at council meetings. But it is perhaps the quintessential symbol of Sonoma’s alleged mid-life crisis – as homeowners long for the quiet, dust-settled Sonoma neighborhoods of their youth, while busy landscapers rid high-priced properties and booming businesses of the nefarious nature that carpets their pristine grounds on a semi-weekly basis. With whom Sonoma’s sympathies lie is probably a good indication of where the Valley is headed.

A long-forgotten 19th-century philosophical concept – called dialectic materialism – held that history advances through a series of social and economic “struggles” between opposing forces, and what emerges from those struggles is the natural progress of civilization. (It’s a philosophy with a spotty track record at best – some blame it for World War I and the Russian Revolution.)

Sonoma may be experiencing something similar, with lines being drawn in the sand – or, rather, on the leafless sidewalks outside a three-bedroom rental within walking distance of the finest tasting rooms in Wine Country.

Sonoma, if you’re going to survive this midlife crisis, you’re going to need a better comb-over.

Got a letter to the editor? Email jason.walsh@sonomanews.com.