[upchuck]

FReepers have been watching and commenting on this downward spiral for years.

My first trip to Cali was in 1980 on business. I was astounded that homes there were selling at four times the value of my home in Louisville, KY.

If it defies common sense, you'll find boatloads of it in California.

IMHO, California is a mirror of where the US will be in 10-15 years. Assuming the present US course is not stopped.

[Travis McGee]

I left SoCal for NE Florida. No regrets.

[skeeter]

The article doesn’t go into what happens after this unsustainable situation finally collapses - which it undoubtedly will sooner than later.

[ScottinVA]

God bless those tough souls who are laboring behind the green curtain, trying to make a go of it out there. With that regulatory and taxation nightmare, it can’t be easy.

[Huskrrrr]

The CARB act (California Air Resource Board) is driving the final coffin nail into a once proud economy. This SS like committee can tax the hell out of business in the name of “clean air for our children.” Obama would like this virus to go national.

[ScottinVA]

In the governor's dreams, green jobs will replace all of the "tangible jobs" that the state's losing in agriculture, manufacturing, warehousing and construction

There he goes again... Gov. Moonbeam McPothead doubling down on a losing hand.

[A. Patriot]

The downside is that many of these people (not all) fleeing the hell that they themselves have created in Cal. then demand and vote for the same socialism-big government-anti freedom in their new location. A process called CALIFORNICATION.

[Jack Hydrazine]

The Tax Foundation 2012 state business tax climate index.
http://www.taxfoundation.org/news/show/22658.html

The 10 best states in this year’s Index are:

1. Wyoming
2. South Dakota
3. Nevada
4. Alaska
5. Florida
6. New Hampshire
7. Washington
8. Montana
9. Texas
10. Utah

The 10 lowest ranked, or worst, states in this year’s Index are:

41. Iowa
42. Maryland
43. Wisconsin
44. North Carolina
45. Minnesota
46. Rhode Island
47. Vermont
48. California
49. New York
50. New Jersey

[MomofMarine]

California used to be heaven on earth to me. Stuck it out until 2004, then left and never looked back. How I miss the perfect weather, the beautiful scenery, the casual life style...but other than the weather, it is all memories now and I doubt if its former glory can be recaptured. I’m going to visit the diehard relatives in May and will love visiting but, despite their constant urgings for me to move back, it will never happen! California’s demise should be a warning for the rest of the country...what a shame!

[Buckeye McFrog]

Hugh Hewitt had a guest on last evening who owns a consulting firm which helps businesses flee California and other liberal hell-holes for more business friendly climes. Sounds like his business is booming.

[Savage Beast]

"Greece. Many progressives in California take that as a compliment since Greeks are ostensibly happier"

Whereas more intelligent observers recall The Land of the Lotus Eaters visited by The Legion of the Sun and see its connection to tawdry, hopeless crack houses where contemporary "progressives" have had their way.

Don't try explaining this to "progressives". They don't want to know.

The Lotus Eaters didn't want any outside opinions either.

BTW, you'll remember that eating the lotus was the one adventure that Ulysses refused to experience. He even insisted on hearing the songs of the sirens.

You will also recall that, among his many other intellectual accomplishments, he was the one who devised the Trojan Horse.

Ulysses lives in every human population. This spirit will always prevail.

The Lotus Eaters have also always lived in every human population. They always wind up in the garbage dump.

[Savage Beast]

"the people pushing [high-density housing] themselves live in single-family homes and often drive very fancy cars, but want everyone else to..."

No kidding?

Welcome to ENLIGHTENMENT, Joel.

(A little more progress, and Joel will be a member of the Tea Party.)

[Savage Beast]

Oops! I should have read further...

"Kotkin...Democrat...voted for Mr. Brown...because he believed Mr. Brown was interesting and thought outside the box."

You just can't fix stupid.

Is it sometimes possible to guide the stupid toward less destructive behavior?

[Savage Beast]

"You see the great tragedy of California is that we have all this oil and gas, we won't use it," Mr. Kotkin says.

No. The great tragedy of California is hubris and denial.

[Savage Beast]

"You see the great tragedy of California is that we have all this oil and gas, we won't use it," Mr. Kotkin says.

No. The great tragedy of California is hubris and denial.

[popdonnelly]

I put this on a par with Cuban emigres leaving Castro’s Cuba. If leftist policies are so great, why do so many people flee them? The people leaving are reluctant to accept big government socialism.

[BombHollywood]

I see that Governer Moonbeam is dilligently carrying out the Marxist orders of the Wildlands Project and Agenda 21. Pretty soon we will begin seeing Californians riding bicycles to work with state mandated carbon-capturing masks affixed to their heads. Oh, except for the rich celebs and pols who vote the right way and send in truckloads of cash the Democrat party and the myriad of Soros front groups --- they can stay in their mansions, keep their private jets and have multiple gas-guzzling foreign sports cars in their multi-bay 2000 sqare foot garages. The real people of California better revolt pretty soon or the state will tax them into the poorhouse and they'll all be living in grass huts with Gilligan's Island technology.

[tflabo]

While the Unions, leftists, liberals, illegals, moochers, enviros, minorities and in the back pocket politicians in Sacto have a deathgrip of insanity on the state the only soultion seems to be going Galt on them. Trainwreck up ahead might be the only solution that rattles them to the core but it will take them hitting rock bottom. What an unnecessary shame for a once great state.

[varyouga]

I'm considering moving to or near Hawthorne, CA for a new job opportunity. I've never been to Cali before.

It's just south of LAX and east of Manhattan Beach.

Do any FReepers here have some real advice about the area? Thanks in advance.

[Myrddin]

I moved my household from San Diego, CA to Pocatello, ID in Dec 2000. Since that time, I've been able to actually live in my new home from 2003 to mid-2009. The balance of the time, I've been compelled to work away from my home to keep the bills paid. I don't want to live or work in CA, yet that is where my employer wants me right now. I've been renting a room in San Diego while my family is living comfortably in our home in Idaho. It's a crappy compromise, but it leaves me with the ability to leave CA behind and be fully moved back to my home in 24 hours.

Last week I worked 42 hours Monday->Thursday, then loaded up the truck Thursday night. I started home from San Diego at 9:30 PM Thursday night and arrived home in my driveway in Idaho at 3:05 PM on Friday. The return trip to San Diego started at 8:30 AM on Monday and I arrived back in San Diego at 10:30 PM on Monday. It's a long 900+ mile drive. That's as close as I can get to having nearly immediate recourse to a bad situation in CA.

[thecodont]

We can’t lose agriculture. That’s crazy.