Posted on 02/04/2005 2:47:02 PM PST by television is just wrong
SoCal's report card not golden
By Kerry Cavanaugh, Staff Writer
With soaring housing costs, bad schools, horrendous traffic jams and a dearth of well-paying jobs, Southern California's once-golden lifestyle continues to dim, a scorecard released Thursday by the regional planning agency shows.
The seventh annual State of the Region report by the Southern California Association of Governments ranks the quality of life in the region as a D-plus --potentially failing.
Housing and air quality worsened in 2003, while the grades for traffic, education, household income and public safety remained static. And while the number of jobs in the six-county region rose by 14,000, personal income for its 17.7 million residents stayed flat.
"The fundamental issue this region faces ... is the income issue. Without an increase in wages and per capita income we're not going to have the resources to deal with these issues," said Mark Pisano, executive director of SCAG.
The report details a slate of interconnected problems plaguing Southern California.
Students perform below the national median on reading and math test scores, while 76 percent of residents do not have a college degree -- elements that limit their ability to get high-paying jobs.
Meanwhile, an exodus of well-paying manufacturing jobs to less-expensive areas have been replaced by lower-paying service jobs. With less wealth, residents have to travel to far-flung suburbs to be able to afford a home, which then worsens congestion and pollution.
"How do you get out of this Catch-22?" asked Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne Burke. "We need better schools (in urban areas) so people won't have to move so far away and housing people can afford so they don't have to move so far away."
Southern California's housing earned a D: the worst score since the SCAG report card was launched.
The value of construction permits hit $15.5 billion in 2003, but still didn't keep up with growth and demand. From 2000-03, the region issued 200,000 building permits, but the population grew by 1 million.
That led to dramatic increases in the cost of housing, with prices jumping up to 30 percent in 2003. The median price at the end of that year was $417,500, according to the California Association of Realtors, and had soared to $474,480 by December 2004.
Only 26 percent of households in Los Angeles and 20 percent of households in Orange County could afford a median-priced home in 2003. Even the Inland Empire became more pricey, with only 38 percent of households able to buy a median-priced home compared with 43 percent in 2002.
"The issue of housing affordability, availability and accessibility goes to the core of our long-term economic health and quality of life," said Toni Young, who sits on the Port Hueneme City Council and is SCAG's first vice president.
"Virtually nothing is more sacred than the home, which in Southern California, is becoming more and more difficult to attain each year."
SCAG officials said they are trying to tackle housing and related issues of traffic and air quality with the "2 percent strategy" -- a planning vision adopted last year that calls for more condominiums, townhouses and denser development close to transit lines.
analyzing development opportunity along major bus and train corridors, SCAG officials estimate they could build 400,000 more units.
Their goal is to move jobs closer to homes and homes closer to jobs. So far the cities of Ontario, South Pasadena and communities along the Gold Line have expressed interest in adopting that plan, Pisano said.
-- Kerry Cavanaugh can be reached at (818) 713-3746 or by e-mail at kerry.cavanaugh@dailynews.com
Sad. Washington (where I am currently in exile) would be a Red state if grapes, apples, cows, and hops could vote. Unfortunately, the fruits and nuts on the left side of the Cascade Curtain rule the state.
don't generalize to the entire state.......you of course don't know much about Calif......overcrowding is MOST prevelant in So Cal and some in Bay Area but not really anywhere else. You could go to any number os places in Calif and you wouldn't know if you were in Texas, or New England or the great plains etc......it is way to diverse to generalize though I know many here just like to bash Calif when actually not knowing much about it
LOL, been in suburb out of Los Angeles my whole life. I know all about grid lock, over crowding, and the influx of this populations super-growth.
Is it true that Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino, Lake, and even Contra Costa have strict land usage laws to prevent "sprawl?"
As a rule of thumb, if both Presidential candidates don't campaign and run ads in a state, they've conceded it as a non-swing state. Token appearances don't count.
I suspect the GOP has written off California for the indefinite future. President Bush certainly didn't waste time and money there in 2004 like he did in 2000. And unless and until the hispanic vote in California for the GOP approaches 50%, the demographics only look worse in the future.
OK everyone take a deep breath. I can still goto the beach, I have never been the victim of a crime, and my house has appreciated a quarter of a million dollars after only owning it five years.
Not to mention it's a beautiful day today. Sunny and around 78.
Hmmm.. That's a good idea. I think I'll fire up the old Q tonight : P
It's still a helluva place to live.
That's why I got the hell out, 10 years ago.
I believe you're thinking of the Lyle Lovett song, where the chorus is ...
That's right, you're not from Texas.
That's right, you're not from Texas.
That's right, you're not from Texas.
But Texas wants you anyway!
Actually, there are two religions of BBQ, the false antichrist version centered in North Carolina, but even that false religion is superior to anything most Californians have experienced.
A steak on the Webster is not BBQ.
ok.....then why did you generalize to entire state....i've live in BAy Area most of my life but live in San Diego for grad school, lived in Victorville, Upland when I worked in LA....yuck......and back in NorCal now......but my God,you can't look at So Cal as you know and equate that to the central valley or even upper Calif which is almost all forests, and mountains and like living in Montana or Idaho or elsewhere.....dude....sham on you for helping these out of staters bash a state they have never traveled....
I live in Contra Costa and I know here they have some anit sprawl legislation and in fact no more homes than were planned can be built unless accompanying infrastructure goes up........places like Napa Sonoma Menocino Lake I"m not sure but they are not really that crowded per se....I mean living up there is still like basically like living in the country........maybe Napa a little crowded but still more of a quaint little town still............
you're right........we are just grilling in the coast but once you get into central Calif, you would think you were in Texas in many parts........really.....in fact alot of areas remind me of how San Antonia was when I was last year....got some mean BBQ in parts of Missouri to around Kansas City.......but would grant you that Texas is mighty fine BBQ
Speaking of which, the last upscale mexican restaurant I dined at in California actually put alfalfa sprouts in their tacos.
That is NOT going to spread.
Immigration is only a symptom. The cause being incompetent politicians(those that think only of themselves and not the welfare of all. Secondly, 'persons' are holding office- that for various obvious reasons- do not even belong to our society.)
haha......I've lived in all major cities in Calif and have never had alfalfa spouts in Mexican food.......sounds like a Berkeley thing.....go up to the small Sierra Foothill towns or on the coast to Mendicino or up near Lassen or Shasta......nice rugged forest or mountains with few libs in site......
I think I experienced it in either Ventura or Santa Barbara. My mind tries to forget horrific experiences.
Ah, my friend, I see you on all these Cali-bashing threads, fighting on behalf of this lovely state as if though you yourself are being attacked when the state is insulted.
It is a beautiful state, but I'm not sure why you feel so hurt personally by the bashing. The good news is that there are 280 million or so individual Americans, and 50 states to choose from -- so for the folks who don't like it here, there are plenty of other choices. I've lived here for almost 15 years, and in my opinion many of the criticisms are valid.
You just might see me "bash" California from time to time, but please don't take it personally! :-)
You're certainly right about that! When it comes to Boxer, Pelosi, and company it's not just bashing any more -- it's much worse. It's deeply embarrassing and disturbing to be associated with such extreme lunacy in any way!
I guess that's what irks me as badly as anything, is that California is so beautiful and has so much variety, but has been so overrun by leftist idiocy. I don't mean to be a pessimist, because in my personal life I'm quite an optimist, but I'm afraid that the leftist takeover here is a longterm problem, and will take at least one full generation to be turned around for the better. It's hard to believe how recently this was the state of Ronald Reagan, and how quickly it has decayed into the current liberal stronghold.
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