In my last column, I talked about how I grew up in Saratoga and that my family still lives here. I said it then and I’ll say it again now: I love this city. I also think we’re at a turning point.

Change is hard—and inevitable. Our bodies age, jobs shift, no two days look the same. Change can be beautiful when we understand it and frightening when we don’t. Saratoga itself is proof: This place was once orchards. Generations before us chose to allow homes, and that choice is why most of us—my family, yours—can live here at all. Now it’s our turn.

Saratoga is beautiful—and expensive. That’s not new. But it used to be more accessible. I grew up playing with neighbors whose parents were police officers, teachers and small business owners. Today, many of those same workers—who protect our home

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