Posted on 12/10/2006 10:28:48 AM PST by NormsRevenge
Wayne Brown gave up $40,000 in income to move from the Bay Area to Kansas. And he feels great.
It got to be too much last year for the college information-technology officer: the commute to downtown San Francisco that sometimes took two hours, the housing-price spiral and the high-wire borrowing that paid for it.
``I would find myself sitting in traffic,'' Brown recalled, ``screaming at people.''
When the Kansas job came up in early 2005, Brown and his wife, Teresa, sold two Bay Area homes and happily settled in a suburb of Kansas City. They have never looked back.
The Browns are an example of what demographers say appears to be an unprecedented phenomenon -- even in a good economy, more people are leaving California for other states than are arriving from the rest of the country.
Between 2004 and 2005, the migration flow into California from the other 49 states started flowing the other way. Data from the state Department of Finance shows that, for the first time this decade, more people left California in 2005 for another state than the number who moved in. Mary Heim, a finance department demographer, says this particular kind of outflow will continue for the foreseeable future.
Unlike the tens of thousands who left Silicon Valley following the tech bust earlier this decade, the new migration is about the quest for something besides a job: a better quality of life at a lower cost of living.
--snip--
... California's population of 37 million people is still growing, because of a surplus of births over deaths and because of foreign immigration.
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
Unfortunately, they bring their liberal mindset with them.
Cue the "California Rest in Peace" song by Red Hot Chili Peppers.
I guess this explains why when I recently called a government office in California, I got a recording that told me to "press 1 for English, press 2 for a list of moving companies."
Count me as one those heading to AZ.. Can't stand Illinois much longer...
We escaped four years ago and have no regrets. Except, I see too many California license plates around here now, and I can't sneeze without sneezing on an ex-Californian. It's fine as long as they don't bring any big libby hippy ideas with them. When people here find out I'm from California I ask them not to hold it against me. We'll be having our first child soon and I'm glad he WON'T be born in California.
I was born and drug up in Kansas. Trust me, I'm not going back. I may, however, sell my house here, go elsewhere, be able to pay cash for a better home and retire 10 years early.
The funny thing about liberals is they never like to around their own creations.
I work in Tempe, you won't believe the things I sometimes hear at work. Since I am vastly outnumbered I just STFU.
$40,000.00 a year income isn't alot in SF.
Forgot to mention, in the past year and a half my entire immediate family has vacated California. All siblings and parents. The in-laws are making plans to get out, too.
Hah! That's funny.
With everyone bailing it's hard to believe the population of Cal is increasing 500,000 per year. Perhaps more will leave and we become a Mexican state. Oh well!
My wife and I wanted to retire in San Diego County.
It got so there was no way we could afford to.
On May 30, 2006, we had just sold our house, and we moved back after 40 years to the Prescott, Arizona area.
We are doing just fine here, and we are both retired now.
DO NOT DISCOUNT the Illegal Alien thing!
So far, here in Arizona, we have not had to deal with one person who had trouble with English.
Just try calling a U-Haul in CA asking to rent a truck or trailer, they'll tell you they hardly have any available since they are all heading out of CA. Then try calling a U-Haul in another state, telling them you want to rent a "one-way" to CA and they'll even give you a discounted rate just to get more equipment moved to CA...for everyone bailing out.
Not scientific of course, but it just goes to show how massive the exodus is.
sigh.....I guess it is just impossible for the MSM to use the word illegal.
We left California four years ago. California was a great place to grow up. My wife and I were one of the few native couples there. Two things ruined California, liberals, the messes they create, social programs, lifestyles and the second thing to ruin California was all those out-of-staters from somewhere else who loved our weather and life style and stayed after the service or vacation. Especially those jerks from New York.
I know what you mean. The Marxist gangsters over there at ASU sure laid the wood to J.D. during the last election. I wonder how many of those Commie wannabes voted in both Arizona and their home state.
A lot of conservatives have been picking up and leaving. I don't understand why anyone would want to live in urban centers or states with high property, income, and sales tax rates especially if you aren't making over 100k and even then if you have a family you'd be barely able to afford a mortgage and be up to your ears in debt. It doesn't make any sense at all unless you value the urban lifestyle which I don't.
I was considering moving closer to DC but the cost didn't make sense when I could just as easily commute and stay in a hotel when needed. That said, I think we are going to see a greater stratification of left versus right as conservatives move to more politically and economically inviting areas.
"$40,000.00 a year income isn't alot in SF."
The article says "he gave up $40,000 IN income when he moved..." it doesn't say "he gave up A $40,000 income" the article was poorly written.
So he probably went from $120,000 to $80,000 or something like that.
I loved most things about living in California, had many friends, and we were doing something every weekend in that wonderful state full of great places to go, close to the beaches, close to one of the most beautiful cities in the world, San Francisco. I moved to WA state to be closer to family, and am very glad I did.
Besides, as Babs Boxer says, greenhouse gasses are killing Californians. Got out just in time.
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