California Leavin'

perhaps the california "bubble" popped

This is a real shame. California has the best weather in the nation, and is close to both beaches and mountains. Yet a broken political system and a vile housing bubble have rendered the state unlivable.

PEW has some pretty great charts on migration flows here: http://pewsocialtrends.org/maps/migration/

SP

It's become enough of a thing that the Flatlanders wrote a song about it -- check out Homeland Refugee:

http://theflatlanders.com/music.html

the silver lining for this, is that california has such magnificent and diverse eco~systems....filled with rare, indigenous plants and abundant widlife.
so much of our precious land was being eaten away with tract housing, especially in the inland empire....close to native american reservation land and state and national parkland.
it is an ephemeral gift, that the remaining land is still pristine.
there is so much beauty out here in california.
those of us who can still continue to live here are blessed indeed.
in the course of one normal day, i am able to see redtail hawks, blue herons, anna's hummingbirds....and in the evening, the gift of an occasional barn owl.
what more could one ask for?

I loved California as I lived there in the early 2000s. However, its liberal politics with its aversion to the basic economic concept of "scarcity" and therefore limits in what the taxpayers can provide has ruined the state. It is unfortunate, but I believe it is a sign of things to come for our nation.

"have rendered the state unlivable."

please....that is really hyperbole.
the state has not been rendered "unlivable.'
i can assure you, the streets are not empty.
please dont give the impression that the roads are flooded
with caravans of cars with mattresses and chairs
strapped in the back seats, in a mass exodus,
like the scene with henry fonda,
in "the grapes of wrath."
millions of people,
who are not millionaires,
are still living here, going about
their lives, in spite of the current struggles.

Lancediverson: I think the Bush Administration showed us definitively that out of control spending is neither a liberal nor a conservative issue. It's an out-of-control politics issue. California's problems aren't that it's too liberal, it's that it's got a ballot initiative system where costly programs are made law without funding and raising taxes to pay for more programs is nearly impossible. Oh, and the real estate market is out of control.

Here's the simple fact:

CA constantly votes uber-liberally and spends funds they don't have on dubious 'causes' with lots and lots of resources going to those who are not even citizens of CA...and now you're all shocked....SHOCKED, I SAY, that they are going broke.

Welll...DUH!

Ezra,

The Okies didnt leave for California because of the better weather, they left because the Dust Bowl turned their crops to shit their choice was to either leave or starve.

SCTV - the classic TV show from the 70's and 80's, predicted the reverse exodus (in a way) in their classic "Grapes of Mud." If you haven't seen it, you should.