Posted on 11/04/2004 5:37:45 PM PST by BurbankKarl
An exodus of California residents this summer, strong enough that one company temporarily suspended truck and trailer rentals for one-way moves out of state, is continuing deep into autumn.
Some of those running for the border are cashing out equity in their homes, others are fleeing high housing prices and apartment rents, while others are seeking a place where the living is cheaper, indicate interviews with rental company officials, economists and analysts.
Demand in California peaked in late summer, prompting Phoenix-based U-Haul International to restrict rentals for out-of-state destinations from Aug. 2 though Sept. 7, though they were modified somewhat in late August.
Demand remains strong, though, and U-Haul still has cities that are only taking reservations if they are based on incoming equipment arrivals, and the customers may have to travel to pick up the equipment or just wait, said company spokeswoman Joanne Fried.
It's made for a 7-day, 70-hour workweek for Mike Jubrail, who runs a U-Haul store at his MJ's Auto Care and Fast Lube business at 8659 Corbin Ave. in Canoga Park.
"We've seen a lot of people move to the closer cities -- Phoenix and Las Vegas -- and we've seen them go up north to Spokane, Wash., and Boise, Idaho," Jubrail said.
And lots of his customers talked about housing prices as they signed the rental forms.
"The main thing is the cost of living and the price of housing. A person can sell their house here for half a million and go to Boise and buy a house for $100,000 and have a couple of bucks to live on. The other reason is jobs," he said.
U-Haul said that a check of its customer database showed that between Jan. 1 and mid October:
3.5 percent more families moved out of Los Angeles County than moved in. San Diego was the top destination followed by Las Vegas, San Bernardino, Riverside and Phoenix.
5.7 percent more families moved out of Ventura County than moved in. The migration pattern was slightly different, though San Diego was also the top destination. It was followed by Las Vegas, Lancaster and Bakersfield. Phoenix and Mesa, Ariz., were also top ten destinations.
Jim Webber, national lease and rental product marketing manager for Penske Truck Leasing Co. LP, tells a similar story, though he doesn't share migration data.
"There has been an extensive demand for rental equipment out of California this year. I've heard a lot of people are selling out and getting-out-of-Dodge type of things," he said.
Most of the outward migration is coming from the state's major cities, Webber said.
California is still expected to gain in population, but it will be driven by people coming here from other countries rather than other states.
This doesn't surprise William H. Frey, a senior fellow at the Milken Institute who specializes in demographic trends.
Foreign-born Californians assimilate after several years then look elsewhere, where housing and other costs are cheaper, allowing them to keep improving their economic lot.
"I think it's consistent with the longer-term trend. It's more the people who are squeezed by high housing costs," he said.
Manistee is nicer still!
Maybe we could sell California back to Mexico??
As long as they stay away from Austin.... too many Californians moving here.
They run it into the ground. Ahnuld bought them some time, but he can't do it alone without help from the legislature. And he won't get help from the legislature which is solidly gerrymandered Democratic, and would be Democratic in any event.
California liberals are the left of the left. The demographics are entirely skewed against Republicans and there's no scenario where that changes.
California is officially something like a cross between Europe and Mexico, and I expect to see more people bail for other parts of the country over the next two decades.
If anyone has a strategy for rescuing California, I'd love to hear it. I don't think it's possible during our lifetimes.
In many ways, I hate to say goodbye to this place. It's got great weather, a marvelous variety of natural beauty and fun activities from surfing to skiing, but quite frankly, the liberalism and illegal immigration has just gnawed our nerves down to the point that they are raw, and can't take any more.
I'd love to stay and fight the liberal tide alongside all the good conservative people here (I'd estimate that CA is about 45% conservative, mostly in the non-coastal areas), but I'm battle-weary and don't see any end in sight to the cancerous spread of leftist insanity.
The town I live in, in the Salinas Valley, is about 90% Mexican, and living here is quite literally like living in Mexico -- I can't even communicate on a basic level (i.e. the spoken language) with over half the people in my neighborhood.
Like everyone else, I'm surprised that the housing market can continue to sustain such a rapid upward spiral in pricing, but I'm ready to get out of that market, cash in on my home equity, and buy a nice plot of land with a spacious house smack-dab in the middle of Flyover Country.
We're currently favoring Tennessee, with other potential points-of-destination including Texas, South Carolina, and North Carolina. I grew up in Texas, so I already know how great it is to be surrounded by friendly people who share our conservative values. That, more than anything else, is what we're really looking forward to as we head eastward.
You're right.
Hey California, Las Vegas is horrible, too hot, too much traffic, too much of everything.
Don't move here where I live!
You should see all the houses with "granny flats" being built in the garage or backyards.....that way you can fit two families or renter into the space of one!
>>>Hardly the case, all you have to look at are the median home prices in California
15 people in one family? What area did they move from?
I'm not sure, Southern Cal somewhere. It was a dad, his son, daughter in law and their kids, his daughter, son in law and their kids, etc...not like one mom, one dad, and 13 kids.
It's NOT the immigrants from California that will turn our red state (Nevada) into a blue state. The Californians that move here are moving here for a reason - they tend to be fairly well off, anti-tax, and socially conservative.
It is the continued massive immigration of poor hispanics and their offspring that are turning Nevada blue (just as it inevitably turned California blue)...
I was only there once (our field office was in TC, but we had gas production in the Manistee area), but I sure agree with you!
There were 4 million non-minority people who left Calif. last year. I moved from Calif., in June, along with 4-6 million other non minority people. 10 million people have left Calif. in two years. Sweden, has a population of less than 10 million. We are fleeing the disease. The disease has something to do with California being blue.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.