THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

Why is it that, as the McClatchy headline points out, "No one complains about bank bonuses in Greenwich, Conn.". With the majority of the country still being lashed by the Bush Depression and the Conservative members of Congress determined to halt any efforts to turn it around, the good feelings in Greenwich might seem strange unless you are familiar with the town.

Caterers' cell phones are ringing again. Luxury car dealers are sending the Porsches out for test drives. An architect is booking multimillion-dollar jobs for his "masters of the universe" clients, titans of Wall Street who've made this leafy Connecticut suburb of New York one of the wealthiest towns in the country.

When the financial industry tumbled, Greenwich's fortunes fell with it. Now, as the federal bailout has helped lift investment banks to surprisingly robust profits, the news that major financial firms will dole out billions of dollars in salaries and bonuses this year came as welcome relief here, even though the rest of the country is still grappling with 10 percent unemployment.

Discreetly, Greenwich is starting to spend money again, and spending here — where the median household earns $126,549, almost two-and-a-half times the national median, based on 2008 census estimates — isn't quite like spending anywhere else.

At the Ferrari dealership, a handful of middle-aged men in sweaters and jeans milled about the showroom on a recent Saturday, running their palms over sports cars so select that the prices weren't listed. However, a new 458 Italia tops out at 202 mph and north of $300,000.

Along Greenwich Avenue, a half-mile strip of upscale shops that's been dubbed the Rodeo Drive of the East, signs in the windows of real estate agencies announced homes that sold recently for as much as $5 million. Thirty-three houses in Greenwich sold last month, compared with seven in January 2009.

This is how the "bon temps roule" in Fat City, CT. And in another month or so, the yacht captains will receive orders to bring their vessels back north from Leyford Cay & Miami and other winter harbors.