Weirdly, the thing I remember most about my time in California was how hard it was to avoid being constantly exposed to second-hand smoke anywhere I walked in t

Weirdly, the thing I remember most about my time in California was how hard it was to avoid being constantly exposed to second-hand smoke anywhere I walked in the city. It really hit me when a friend visited from out of town and said something to me along the lines of, "You know, for how green-obsessed everyone here seems to be, it's truly remarkable how much smoke there is everywhere on the streets." Doubtless, this is more a city problem than it is a California problem. I spent most of my life in the suburbs far from any city downtowns growing up and I am truly grateful to have been able to relocate back to the quiet, leafy suburbs once again to start my family. There are some things I miss about downtown, but the constant presence of second-hand smoke on the sidewalks everywhere is definitely not one of them.