Posted on 03/17/2006 5:07:37 PM PST by BurbankKarl
For the first time in more than three decades, the population of San Diego County declined last year, joining other California coastal counties that are losing their allure as high housing prices drive home-buyers to more affordable regions.
The surprising reversal of the county's long-standing population gains is revealed in U.S. Census Bureau estimates released today showing thousands more people leaving the county than moving in from other parts of the state and elsewhere.
While the county's overall loss of population was 1,728 between July 2004 and July 2005, the more telling number is the net exodus of 43,126 people, many of them who likely headed up Interstate 15 to Riverside County, where housing prices are still considerably lower than in San Diego.
“This is pretty stunning,” said demographer Ed Schafer of the San Diego County Association of Governments. “The net out-migration (domestically) is so powerfully high. That's the story. Riverside (County) is just the opposite. Here you have the coastal counties with all these people leaving them but the counties just to the interior have all these people moving in.”
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The Census Bureau said San Diego County's population was 2,933,462 as of July 1.
Santa Barbara and Ventura counties and several coastal counties in Northern California also had population declines last year.
People also moved out of Los Angeles and Orange counties, but the two counties were able to muster modest population increases.
(Excerpt) Read more at signonsandiego.com ...
Not if San Diego gets an even larger increase in immigration before the next Census.
They did not stop building homes in San Diegeo County. Houses did not disappear in San Diego County. Mexicans did not stop pouring into San Diego County. Birth rates are not down in San Diego County.
Something is wrong with the census data. You can take that to the bank!
This is not too surprising. A 30 year old 3 bedroom house costs well over half a million in San Diego. People who tend to have more children and therefore would like a bigger house, are the ones moving. I'll be moving later this year from Cali, almost solely to acquire a mansion with no mortgage. :^)
Don't you think the government has already been screwing with the housing market for decades?
Four more months and I'm outta here.
That explains why my parents housein Palm Springs has gone up $135,000 since 2004
I'm heading to NE Florida.
"LOL! Massachusetts has experienced a drop in population, seems many many people are exiting this State, can't imagine why, "
New Jersey too along with other NE areas. Its dieing - businesses and populations are moving out of the Land of Taxes!
You are correct. House prices are a small part of that decrease - after all, when somebody leaves the house, doesn't somebody else move in?
It is illegal immigration and Southern California's slow drift into Third World status that is driving everyone out.
But don't get too smug in the rest of America - those illegals are coming your way too.
Tienes que apprender espanol.
Many houses remain vacant will being listed for sale, or for other reasons.
Ya sé español : )
Most of the number listed as leaving San Diego still work here family here, etc.
Many of that number moved across the border to Riverside Co. as homes are cheaper. They don't consider the gas in the commute.
Some people have to live in 5 bdrm homes and big yard.
If that is what they want, they can't take it with them.
As far as the city gov. We just elected a Republican Mayor and his core group are cleaning house.
Most folks dis. the city gov. and don't know what it is really about also for a lot of folks who dis the city, that usually come from if you can't have it, dis it.
I used to make a 110 mile commute daily and "considered" the price of gas ALL THE TIME!!!
I was just going to say...being a county on the border I can guess why many of them are moving. Increased taxes, decreased services, lowering of wages and benefits all due to...did you say illegals? Bingo
... the count of net taxpayers leaving versus net government dependents arriving, is probably even more stark.
Have been waiting for my kids to graduate from High School this year before we pulled the plug, but I may be too late (re: SD Real Estate market approaching "free fall"). Another life-long Kalifornian ready to leave the land of Gray Davis - oops the Govinator (is there a difference??) for anywhere else.
With the "tax and debt" spending policies of the Democrat controlled state in high gear, I expect that there'll be a major move to revoke Prop. 13 within five years. While many say it will never happen, I contend that when many in the generation now aged 20's and 30's figure out that they're paying property taxes (plus mandated HOA fees) 4-5 times higher than their Baby-boomer and post-Baby boomer neighbors, it'll be real easy to develop a majority to "balance the tax load". When 3% property taxes hit the current price of CA Real Estate (or the CA sales tax hits 15%) to pay for the debt that Arnold and his Legislative company are now creating, property values will crater in CA.
SFS
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.. and who cares, anyway, right?
Let me give you a practical case of WHY folks in "God's Country" (ya know, the red states?) need to be concerned about Mexico's "operation reconquistador", coming soon to every state in the union.
My daughter just spent two weeks in the hospital, and is still home in her second week of convalescence. Reason: Burst appendix.
Now, this was a complicated case. Diagnosis WAS difficult. I probably DID make a mistake of not taking her directly into the local ER (i.e. called her physician, typical symptom's of appendicitis did not "present", waited 4-5 more hours, took her to urgent care, they referred to ER, and etc.).
We arrived at ER on a Sunday, at about 2:30 PM. She was on the operating table at 11:00 PM. Why the delay?
Lots of reasons, but as must on the Western US realize, the local ER has become the "primary care" physician for illegal aliens. They cannot refuse service. There is no government agency to fund the care they provide, including expensive, long-term care (Medicare/medicaid sometimes applies). The bottom line is that ANY time we need to go to an ER, we can expect a 8 to 12 hour wait unless "life threatening systems" present. My daughter was in pain for over 24 hours with appendicitis, and spent the last 8 hours waiting for access to a physician and tests in ER, and her necrotic appendix burst. Three days after the first surgery, internal abscesses (infections) developed, and she had a second operation to clean up after the first. For the next nine days, she endured symptoms from nausea and discomfort to desperate pain. The nursing care was atrocious. And as I said, she's still home, now with a post-hospital virus (flu) because she lost so much weight and her immune system is so worn down from heavy doses of antibiotics.
Most of the battle was lost while my daughter waited in ER. However, the lack of treatment in ER and subsequent mistreatment by nursing was caused, in my opinion, by an understaffed and under funded hospital. Another example: When the surgeon briefed me after her first surgery, I was sitting next to three Hispanic folks from Mexico, who were waiting on a brother (I believe - my Spanish is weak). He was treated in Mexico a month before due to a leg injury, insufficient antibiotics were prescribed (or if prescribed, not taken), and after he migrated to North San Diego County, he developed severe symptoms of gangrene. The physician said he almost lost his life, had extensive surgery on his leg, but would probably not lose it. And of course, there would be months of hospital rehabilitation. My insurance paid over $150,000 for my daughter's care (we haven't seen all the bills yet, but yeah, $150K so far for appendicitis). That's probably $125K higher than it should have been with prompt, proper treatment, and of course, this will be absorbed by the insurance company and then charged back to the insured through higher premiums. But the Mexican gentleman's care? Will his country pick up the tab (i.e. the same country which sues American ranchers off their property in behalf of illegal, invading immigrants)? No, our local hospital just took another $1 million+ hit, which of course, will impact hopital and ER staffing.
I care very deeply about the poor, and the poor on the other side of the border. I NEVER look at illegal-alien-Mexican's wandering our streets with disdain or hate. But I'm also realistic about the cost; I only have to look in my daughter's bedroom to see it first hand.
I probably should have started a "vanity" thread to discuss this stuff, but ....
.. it's also a reason I'm getting to h*ll out of California.
SFS
Something is definitely wrong with their counting. With such an exodus, housing prices ought to have dropped and those new housing units should have had to be auctioned off or offered for attractive leases; these did not happen. Supermarkets and other stores should have been closing, which I haven't noticed. Traffic didn't get any better, either.
This may be a little off topic, but may portend the future. In Mexico property seizure of Americans who had bought Mexican real estate was a major news topic in the 90's. Americans who had leased land there to retire had their property seized after they had made extensive property improvements, such as homes, etc.
Given the large Mexican illegal immigrant population, clamoring for the same rights as Americans in the Southwest, it would not be at all surprising if the property seizure process continued stateside for "non-Mexicans" sometime in the future if things continue as they are. The reason, of course, is the stated objective of many of them, which is a reconquest of the Southwest. If you really get to know these people, they are keeping to themselves, unlike other generations of immigrants, because liberal politically correct policies are not encouraging assimilation. They are not adopting English as their primary language, on balance, and they are not socializing with other Americans, as they had in the past. This says volumes about their private thoughts on the "reconquista" issue.
Of course, the U. S. Government's position on illegal immigration is that they are doing work "that Americans won't do". This all has the smell of a very sinister conspiracy on the sovereignty of the country and property rights of legal American citizens by the Administration and the U. S. Supreme Court when combined with the illegal immigration issue. I refer you to the recent U. S. Supreme Court decision affirming the right to use eminent domain to seize private property, then pass it on to a private developer, ostensibly because doing so would revitalize the area, thus increasing tax receipts.
If you look at Mexican law on the issue of property rights you will find that only under certain circumstances can foreigners own property in Mexico. Furthermore, having traveled in Mexico, I'm aware of how those who work for the Mexican government have been able to obtain property not available to foreigners, or even their own citizenry, because of the special advantages they have for working within the government when it comes to acquiring real estate.
http://www.ricardobarraza.com/legal.html
We Americans are inviting the same sort of corrupt practices in our own country if this issue is not resolved.
In my view the best way to do this is through the employment verification process, which, by the way, is vociferously being fought by immigrant rights groups because they know this is a solution that would work. It would be self funding through employer fines levied at amounts that would discourage future violations. It could be done humanely by forcing employers to pay the illegal aliens in their employ the going wage for their work. The aliens could have deducted from this the U. S. Government's deportation costs before they receive their net pay.
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