What is wrong with California?

[The_Tick]

Pretty sure Shrimp Boy stared in a History channel episode of Gangland.

I saw that two weeks ago.

[Uncle Ted]

Pretty sure Shrimp Boy stared in a History channel episode of Gangland.

I saw that two weeks ago.

Awesome...

[Uncle Ted]

A very comprehensive article on why housing is so messed up in the Bay Area...

How Burrowing Owls Lead To Vomiting Anarchists (Or SF’s Housing Crisis Explained)

The Santa Clara Valley was some of the most valuable agricultural land in the entire world, but it was paved over to create today’s Silicon Valley. This was simply the result of bad planning and layers of leadership failure — nobody thinks farms literally needed to be destroyed to create the technology industry’s success.


Today, the tech industry is apparently on track to destroy one of the world’s most valuable cultural treasures, San Francisco, by pushing out the diverse people who have helped create it. At least that’s the story you’ve read in hundreds of articles lately.


It doesn’t have to be this way. But everyone who lives in the Bay Area today needs to accept responsibility for making changes where they live so that everyone who wants to be here, can.
[…]



[…]
In conclusion: The crisis we’re seeing is the result of decades of choices, and while the tech industry is a sexy, attention-grabbing target, it cannot shoulder blame for this alone.


Unless a new direction emerges, this will keep getting worse until the next economic crash, and then it will re-surface again eight years later. Or it will keep spilling over into Oakland, which is a whole other Pandora’s box of gentrification issues.


The high housing costs aren’t healthy for the city, nor are they healthy for the industry. Both thrive on a constant flow of ideas and people.


So while Google may not be opening a giant office in Detroit anytime soon, the people of Detroit and the Midwest are coming here.
[…]

http://techcrunch.com/2014/04/14/sf-housing/


One of the comments:

Just give it up and move to Austin.

[cowboy]

Mexico doesn't have the infrastructure or the soils of the Central Valley. What the obstructionists have done to Central Valley agriculture is a travesty. The value of production in Fresno County alone was equal to that of Wyoming and Montana combined back in 2007. Over 20% of the country's dairy production comes from CA, and most of that is in the Central Valley. It is one of the most fertile, productive agricultural areas in the world, and we're leaving it fallow because of radical, destructive ideology.

Fresno County topped all US counties in agricultural sales in 2012 with $5.7 billion. That's more than 23 states. Seven of the top ten counties in the country are located in the Central Valley. So let's ruin the ag economy in these counties so we can 'save' the Delta Smelt. Proficiency in economics should be required for all legislators.

[Uncle Ted]

Fresno County topped all US counties in agricultural sales in 2012 with $5.7 billion. That's more than 23 states. Seven of the top ten counties in the country are located in the Central Valley. So let's ruin the ag economy in these counties so we can 'save' the Delta Smelt. Proficiency in economics should be required for all legislators.

Maybe Fresno County, like Toyota, can move to Texas.

[Uncle Ted]

OMG! California people's average IQ is about the same as those in Mississippi...

state-iq.jpg

http://www.movoto.com/blog/novelty-r...written-state/


And not in the top 10 when it comes to high school graduation rates...

Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, New Hampshire, Tennessee, and Texas were among the top 10 states with the highest graduation rates in 2011, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

USDoEdu list California at number 11 (76%) tied with Utah, Washington, West Virginia and just ahead of Mississippi at number 12 (75%). Texas is number 3 (86%).

[Sizzle]

OMG! California people's average IQ is about the same as those in Mississippi...

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4391[/ATTACH]

http://www.movoto.com/blog/novelty-r...written-state/


And not in the top 10 when it comes to high school graduation rates...


USDoEdu list California at number 11 (76%) tied with Utah, Washington, West Virginia and just ahead of Mississippi at number 12 (75%). Texas is number 3 (86%).

Imagine how much higher Utahs IQ would be if they weren't drug down by all the California transplants!

[Uncle Ted]

Imagine how much higher Utahs IQ would be if they weren't drug down by all the California transplants!

Yes but it could be worse. I pretty sure it is only the smart ones that are getting out of California.

[Sizzle]

Yes but it could be worse. I pretty sure it is only the smart ones that are getting out of California.

I pretty sure Texas IQ FTW

[cowboy]

OMG! California people's average IQ is about the same as those in Mississippi...

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4391[/ATTACH]

That is an interesting image. A state's IQ is highly correlated to the percentage of the population that is Caucasian. Either white folks are very smart, or the IQ test is not an accurate representation of true intelligence. I've thought for a long time that IQ is misleading, because someone can have a very high aptitude for something while still having a very average IQ. Alternatively, I've known people with very high IQ's who I thought were complete idiots. I suspect the CS crowd has a very high aggregate IQ, pulled down somewhat by my presence and Babs' absence, and I'm interested in your collective thoughts on this.

[Uncle Ted]

No more giving your "friends" a ride to the airport...

http://www.sfgate.com/business/artic...ns-5546519.php

[SandYFan]

No more giving your "friends" a ride to the airport...

http://www.sfgate.com/business/artic...ns-5546519.php

Gotta love it. A new business model comes along to challenge the inefficient, expensive status quo, and California immediately tries to kill it.

[Dwight Schr-ute]

http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/na...severe-drought

[Jeff Lebowski]

http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/na...severe-drought

I heard this on the radio today. Unreal.

[PaloAltoCougar]

http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/na...severe-drought

This is a real pisser (or would be if I had enough water to produce surplus urine). Our water district has imposed a mandatory 25% reduction in water use, with penalties for violators. Meanwhile, we live a very short distance from multiple aqueducts that send thousands of acre feet of water from the north to the south, where no such restrictions have been imposed. Our once verdant lawns are depressingly brown. In a state with a widely shared water supply, everyone ought to be under similar restrictions. That said, there's still no better state for me...