What is wrong with California?

[TripletDaddy]

I've spent a week at the Marriott Newport villas by Crystal Cove. I really like the area and I'm sure I could land a job at Pacific Life... but the cost is beyond prohibitive.

No it isn't. Just ask for a raise. From Marriott Newport, drive up Newport Coast Drive and get to the top of the hill (San Joaquin). That is right near where we lived.

I love CA I would move back in an instant.

See you there!

The one thing that has been a success in CA has been air quality. It's amazingly different since the time you were here as a kid.

This state has one of the top 10 largest economies in the world and isn't going anywhere soon. (Sorry, Texans.) Government at all levels is horribly mismanaged and I don't think I want to live here in retirement, but the Golden State is a great place to live in so many ways. That's why so many jealous folks from other states root for its demise.

Truth.

[Pheidippides]

The one thing that has been a success in CA has been air quality. It's amazingly different since the time you were here as a kid.

This state has one of the top 10 largest economies in the world and isn't going anywhere soon. (Sorry, Texans.) Government at all levels is horribly mismanaged and I don't think I want to live here in retirement, but the Golden State is a great place to live in so many ways. That's why so many jealous folks from other states root for its demise.

The smog part is true from my perspective. Circa 1990 it was like Beijing. Now it's very nice.

I don't root for California's demise. I just don't care to live there at all, and the business climate is insane on a comparative basis. If I were to own a business I would avoid CA until a cost benefit was significantly more certain than in other places. Simply not worth the risk.

[LA Ute]

The smog part is true from my perspective. Circa 1990 it was like Beijing. Now it's very nice.

I don't root for California's demise. I just don't care to live there at all, and the business climate is insane on a comparative basis. If I were to own a business I would avoid CA until a cost benefit was significantly more certain than in other places. Simply not worth the risk.

An example: No public hospital company in the USA will buy or build a hospital in CA. The regulatory climate is truly insane. Maybe someday the pendulum will swing back the other way just a but.

[Jeff Lebowski]

The one thing that has been a success in CA has been air quality. It's amazingly different since the time you were here as a kid.

This state has one of the top 10 largest economies in the world and isn't going anywhere soon. (Sorry, Texans.) Government at all levels is horribly mismanaged and I don't think I want to live here in retirement, but the Golden State is a great place to live in so many ways. That's why so many jealous folks from other states root for its demise.

I love California! It's the Californians I can't stand.

[Pheidippides]

An example: No public hospital company in the USA will buy or build a hospital in CA. The regulatory climate is truly insane. Maybe someday the pendulum will swing back the other way just a but.

Really? Is this true? Your field, so you would know.

[Moliere]

The one thing that has been a success in CA has been air quality. It's amazingly different since the time you were here as a kid.

This state has one of the top 10 largest economies in the world and isn't going anywhere soon. (Sorry, Texans.) Government at all levels is horribly mismanaged and I don't think I want to live here in retirement, but the Golden State is a great place to live in so many ways. That's why so many jealous folks from other states root for its demise.

I'm not rooting for its demise. In fact, I hope it continues to limp along so LA Ute has no reason to move closer to me.

[oxcoug]

I do not care for California because there are too many people crammed into too small an area for my liking. I think their social programs are excellent and remind me of Denmark. I also think that PAC is accurate is his observations. If I were to live in California I would not be happy because the wide open spaces are not the kind that I appreciate.

My sister lives in Big Sur and is apeshit for the place.

Just read up on this thread. Funny. I grew up in wide open, country spaces - in Nor Cal. My parents four acre lot with a stream in the back yard was 10 minutes from the closest stores. There is a ton of open space in CA - and even though LA and the Bay Area are densely populated there are HUGE...tracts of beautiful, open, undeveloped land. Just not in So Cal.

[Paperback Writer]

As noted by others, I'm really ok with draining CA's population. It would be interesting to see the socioeconomic makeup of the fleeing population. Again, if we lose Apple, Google and/or the entertainment industry, I might start to reconsider our standards.

You can see it right now. How much debt does the state have? Is there a very big difference between the rich and the poor in California?

Correct. It's not the poor who are leaving California - Texas lacks the generous social programs California provides. It's probably not many of the wealthy either - they can afford California. It's many of the people California probably want to keep - educated upper middle class. Also, what doesn't show up are the people who choose not to locate to California in the first place. That great climate, scenery, recreation opportunities, etc. all come with a price tag. That cost was too high for me over 20 years ago and has gone up since then.

[Uncle Ted]

The one thing that has been a success in CA has been air quality. It's amazingly different since the time you were here as a kid.

This state has one of the top 10 largest economies in the world and isn't going anywhere soon. (Sorry, Texans.) Government at all levels is horribly mismanaged and I don't think I want to live here in retirement, but the Golden State is a great place to live in so many ways. That's why so many jealous folks from other states root for its demise.

Yes, that is my biggest gripe with the California in its current state. If y'all can fix the government then the rest of the problems would most likely fix themselves.

Why are you scaring so many of your neighbors away?



Source: http://www.forbes.com/special-report...migration.html

[YOhio]

This thread reminds me of this great old Gatlin Brothers song:

[YOUTUBE]z8YdlJMQy-8[/YOUTUBE]

[FMCoug]

I love California! It's the Californians I can't stand.

This and my soujourn in Texas explains a lot. I'm a Cali-Texan! That might be the "most hated <insert whatever here> in America!"

[oxcoug]

As noted by others, I'm really ok with draining CA's population. It would be interesting to see the socioeconomic makeup of the fleeing population. Again, if we lose Apple, Google and/or the entertainment industry, I might start to reconsider our standards.

This myopic mentality foreshadows our doom.

Having started a business in SF which now employs over 30+ people I can say - If we cld backtrack to 2006 and launch out of No VA, Florida, Savannah or Austin there's no doubt we wld do that. The only reason we haven't is because our lead investor likes having us in his backyard. But even he hasn't ruled out relocating us - in spite of the fact that he is from an iconic CA family that has been in the state for almost a century.

Keep losing the smaller orgs w/ 25-50 employees to Austin or Arlington and things can hit a tipping point pretty quickly.

BTW - you may be unaware that Apple and Google both partially exited CA a long time ago. Corporate Apple and Google are rooted in CA because their identity is so bonded with SV and their cachet is so rooted in their respective SV images. But both have exported huge numbers of good jobs to foreign markets. Most of Apple's desktop and laptop products are made overseas and have been for the last decade.

I say all of this as a guy born and raised in CA who still votes in CA and whose family has been there since the 1930s.

[byu71]

This myopic mentality foreshadows our doom.

Having started a business in SF which now employs over 30+ people I can say - If we cld backtrack to 2006 and launch out of No VA, Florida, Savannah or Austin there's no doubt we wld do that. The only reason we haven't is because our lead investor likes having us in his backyard. But even he hasn't ruled out relocating us - in spite of the fact that he is from an iconic CA family that has been in the state for almost a century.

Keep losing the smaller orgs w/ 25-50 employees to Austin or Arlington and things can hit a tipping point pretty quickly.

BTW - you may be unaware that Apple and Google both partially exited CA a long time ago. Corporate Apple and Google are rooted in CA because their identity is so bonded with SV and their cachet is so rooted in their respective SV images. But both have exported huge numbers of good jobs to foreign markets. Most of Apple's desktop and laptop products are made overseas and have been for the last decade.

I say all of this as a guy born and raised in CA who still votes in CA and whose family has been there since the 1930s.

Pretty typical of a "progressive". Promoting more spending and sharing of the wealth, but don't really care if the wealth leaves and goes somewhere else.

I really don't get it. Do they really think there is this huge amount of wealth out there being hidden and if only we could get our hands on it.

[LA Ute]

Yes, that is my biggest gripe with the California in its current state. If y'all can fix the government then the rest of the problems would most likely fix themselves.

Why are you scaring so many of your neighbors away?

Source: http://www.forbes.com/special-report...migration.html

I just live here.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

I just live here.

That, and you got in when the gettin' was good. My uncle, a guy that ran a ton of marathons and was ostensibly healthier than any of siblings who died last year, bought a house in the late 70s in Hillsborough, CA and all he was was a dentist. I doubt there are too many dentists buying homes like his in Hillsborough nowadays. The median price for a home is now $1.45 million. The median household income is over $200k a year.