New York, the Real New York, I’m outside.
I don’t live in Miami, I don’t live in Colorado.
Come to my block and see me my niggas.
All of ya, y’all know I be down there.
This is Kiss! I’m outside!
–Jadakiss

That line is from a new rap battle where Jadakiss was dunking on Cam’Ron–who is from NY but now lives in Miami. His performance was top-shelf (I’m a big Jadakiss fan), but that line got me thinking.

It resonates deeply with thoughts from another era: Emerson’s Self-Reliance:

It is for want of self-culture that the superstition of Traveling, whose idols are Italy, England, Egypt, retains its fascination for all educated Americans. They who made England, Italy, or Greece venerable in the imagination did so by sticking fast where they were, like an axis of the earth.

Many of us, especially those of who us who both work in technology and live in America, are transients. We follow startups and big companies and jobs and bounce from prosperous city to prosperous city. Maybe we’re somewhere for 2 years, maybe 5, but often willing to pull up sticks when a great opportunity beckons. In return we often gain better pay and more exciting opportunities.

We also lose something. We become interlopers that lack a sense of place. We’re less inclined to build strong relationships in the neighborhoods because we think that we’ll leave it and never come back.

Some of us though, settle down. When we do, we get the worth of being outside. When you’re outside you see people that you otherwise wouldn’t. And they see you.

Sitting at my local cafe a person I’ve seen there 50 times recognizes my tablet, and we talk about it. At my local pub the bartender who has served me many times strikes up a conversation about his background in philosophy… an ongoing topic with us. Children I coached in little league say “hi” to me on the street. People at the local makerspace have seen me elsewhere and know me when I go to join a membership. These things and many others are the ties that give us a sense of place

These thing happen among transients, but they don’t build. Having been in one place for 7 years (and counting) I see that the force of these interactions is cumulative. It’s much more difficult to measure than a wage boost, or another notch on your resume, but in the end I bet I’ll find it much more valuable.