Posted on 08/09/2003 12:28:10 AM PDT by nickcarraway
California: The Golden State's recall vote won't be held until Oct. 7. But the state's citizens already began voting quite a while ago — with their feet.
For Californians, the recent report from the Census Bureau was a shocker. From 1990 to 2000, the Census found, the number of Californians leaving the state was greater than the number of those arriving from other states — a first.
Even during the high-tech boom, people left. From 1995 to 2000, 1.4 million Americans moved to California. But 2.2 million left.
"Unprecedented" is how Hans Johnson, a demographer with the Public Policy Institute of California, described the trend to the Los Angeles Times. Sadly, we agree. And it's not a good thing.
California's image has long been built around it being a place of refuge for the creative, the restless, the underappreciated, the hard-working — a place where people, whatever their pasts, could remake themselves and create a better life.
During the 20th century, Americans from other states poured into California. And the once tiny, underpopulated farm state grew into a giant of 35 million people, with the fifth largest economy on Earth.
Now many of those who helped build the miracle are leaving.
Why? Riots, earthquakes and a steep recession early in the 1990s left many fed up. So they moved to neighboring states, such as Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Utah, even Texas.
For many reasons, the exodus continues. It may not end soon.
The state faces an uncertain political future with its recall vote. Its $38 billion deficit has become a symbol of fiscal recklessness. A two-year energy crisis has left businesses and consumers with energy bills way above the national average.
As for taxes, Californians have the fourth highest overall tax burden in the U.S., 10% higher than the national average, according to the Tax Foundation.
Businesses? They're fleeing, too. Facing onerous environmental rules in places like Los Angeles and San Francisco, they can't grow. In a recent small-business survey, more than half said they've stopped hiring and expanding, due to soaring workers' comp costs.
As a result, not enough jobs are being created — and not enough homes are being built. In just the last two years, the state has lost 14% of its factory jobs, while its population has surged 1.6 million.
The state needs more than 200,000 housing units a year just to keep up with population growth. In recent years it's been lucky to get even half of that, thanks to local "growth controls" and run-amok NIMBYism that have helped home prices soar out of reach.
As for immigrants, California still has plenty of them — from outside the U.S. (It's no accident that three of the leading contenders for governor speak English as a second language.)
Among the state's people, 26% were born in another country. Unlike Arnold Schwarzenegger or Arianna Huffington, they're on average poorer, less educated and have higher welfare participation rates than people born here. Will they be able to run an economy based on high tech, health care and entertainment? We doubt it.
We have no easy answers. We wish we did. But in hemorrhaging its best and brightest to other states, California faces a demographic disaster. Small wonder its citizens want to recall their governor.
I think they're starting to figure it out but it may be too late. Some people, even Conservatives seem to believe the Mexicanization of large areas of the USA is a good thing but many Americans move when they find themselves living in area that resembles Mexico more than it feels like the USA. Americans are fleeing the entire border region ---- here they're starting to discuss "brain drain" because so many doctors and professionals are leaving. It's gotten so bad you can go a complete day and hear almost no English spoken.
There is still the Keep Austin Weird slogan here. I live just outside Austin, and can't stand the IDIOTS running the city. Thank God Gas-Guzzler Garcia is not the mayor anymore. He screwed this city so bad, it may never recover. I moved out of the city limits in 1983, but still have to come in for work. We are still getting plenty of Kalifornia transplants here. Not as bad since the dot.com bust happened. I had some kin visit from Kalifornia, and they are so tired of Davis. He has ruined that state, just like Gas-Guzzler has ruined Austin.
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Good for you! We are moving from California to Washington early next year. Both me and my wife are staunch conservatives, and intend to join you in registering Republican voters.
Life is great! 1st we get to recall Davis in CA., and then we get to help defeat Murry in WA.
Both...
It's not a mistake. Less people are moving in than moving out but the population is still expanding because of birthrates.
g in Phx AZ
Case in point ... we now have a democRAT "lady" governor who is a close buddy of the klintons. She started her reign of terror this past January by shoving Executive orders on us, doing an end-run around our narrowly Repub. Legislature. She dragged her feet on the budget they proposed, and used some slick, slimy moves to get her way on their proposals.
Three more years of Janet NapoliReno will put our state in the same slip-slide to socialism as CA. And she loves the illegals!!
g
Yes, older people come here in droves ... bringing their greedy-geezer, FDR trained mindset with them.
I used to ride the bus to work, and it made me nauseous to hear the libs on the bus. It was during the klinton dark ages, and it was really sickening.
Arizona may be a lost cause like CA, but not quite so bad that we conservatives will bail ... yet.
g
The shrinking population numbers refer to US citizens moving from state to state, into
or out of California, which has been a net loss of 800,000 over the last 10 years
The surging population figures refer to the overall population of California, which
includes increase due to the illegal immigrants from Mexico and the assosiated
increase from their high birthrate.
Middle class taxpayers left; replaced by much higher numbers of government dependants.
Yes, living in California for any length of time will make anyone (with a brain) conservative.
But probably, when everyone else leaves, the Mexicans will just take over...
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