It first glance the classic movie “The Wizard of Oz” seems incredibly simple, just the nice wide-eyed Dorothy Gale played by Minnesota’s very own Judy Garland (Frances Ethel Gumm from Grand Rapids) getting carried away to a fantasy land where she bands together with a trusted group of three friends to reach the ultimate goal of Emerald City.

She’s often tantalized by bright red shoes, a solid symmetrical yellow brick road, and a magic wand waved by an unfailingly good witch who she knows has her best interests at heart.

Along the way she’s scared out of her wits by the bad witch.

Played by Margaret Hamilton, she comes complete with skin the color of pea soup green, a distinctive cackling voice, and the phrase “I’ll get you my pretty and your little dog too.”

Oz turns out to be a dream, which ends when Dorothy awakens back in Kansas. She’s surrounded by the aunt and uncle she wished for in Oz and by three farmhand friends that are counterparts to her fellow travelers.

The movie version from 1939 was shown at a time when many young people envisioned something greater in distant cities, or in the vicinity of skyscrapers visible from working class neighborhoods within walking distance of industrial facilities.

Once the mid 20th century economic trend called the “brain drain” unfolded, the idea of a perfect place to live gradually shifted from urban centers to suburbs. People wanted green lawns, trees and quiet residential neighborhoods. Anything that brought traffic closer to someone’s backyard became an intrusion rather than a benefit.

By the 1980s urban professionals began to stretch the limits of suburb to city commuting. Research has consistently shown that 30 miles one way is the limit for which most people want to commute on a daily basis. That’s logical since anything more amounts to an hour behind the wheel. It adds up to nine hours away from home in return for a day’s pay. A portion of the payback also has to go toward the cost of petroleum, which is much greater than when the idea of commuting by car first took shape.

As these trends changed landscapes, they also fueled a nostalgic interpretation of the Wizard of Oz, one that’s based on a theory that “Kansas” was the real Oz all along.

The bright lights of the big city and later the man-made greenery of suburbs stopped having an almost mythical quality as places where the American Dream was likely to be fulfilled. Is less actually more? Is peace and quiet plus walking distance the true equation for happiness?

Those questions haven’t been answered yet. Author L. Frank Baum published the first “Wizard of Oz” book in 1902. His career included being both a store owner and newspaper editor in Aberdeen, South Dakota, which became a step toward his vision for fantasy stories. It rivalled Buffalo Bill Cody’s efforts to entertain with a show depicting the Wild West and H.G. Wells’ capacity to create science fiction.

Some of Baum’s writing suggests acceptance of economic change, including how the Tin Man needed oil. Biographical facts point more toward Republican turn-of-the-century political leanings rather than Populist principles such as silver currency and the availability of credit.

The phrase “there’s no place like home” is probably the one thing that withstands all the transformation society has experienced since then. It comes down to how Kansas and Oz could be one in the same if a place is really homelike.

Hopefully there’s a corner of the world for everyone that has both the solid ground of the literary Kansas and the dreams of a fictional Oz. That’s the kind of place someone can truly call home.