Mike Reilly spent his lifetime chasing the California dream. This year he's going to look for it in Colorado.
With a house purchase near Denver in the works, the 38-year-old engineering contractor plans to move his family 1,200 miles away from his home state's lemon groves, sunshine and beaches. For him, years of rising taxes, dead-end schools, unchecked illegal immigration and clogged traffic have robbed the Golden State of its allure.
Is there something left of the California dream?
"If you are a Hollywood actor," ... "but not for us." [snip]
The number of people leaving California for another state outstripped the number moving in from another state during the year ending on July 1, 2008. California lost a net total of 144,000 people during that period — more than any other state, according to census estimates. That is about equal to the population of Syracuse, N.Y.
Why are so many looking for an exit?
With state government facing a $41.6 billion budget hole over 18 months, residents are bracing for yet higher taxes. Median housing prices have nose-dived one-third from a 2006 peak, but many homes are still out of reach for middle-class families.
"You see wages go down and the cost of living go up," Reilly says. His property taxes will be $1,300 in Colorado, less than 1/3 what he's forced to pay in California... [snip]
Financial adviser Barry Hartz lived in California for 60 years and once ran for state Assembly before relocating with his wife last year to Colorado Springs, Colo., where his son's family had moved.
"The saddest thing I saw was the escalation of home prices to the point our kids, when they got married, could not live in the community where they lived and grew up," ... "Some people call that progress."
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[a very high price for environmoralism. Q: how many Californian's are aware that in the Bay Area more land has been put off limits to any development than has been developed - total? I'm not kidding, BA development uses ~750K sq. acrers, while >1M sq. acres have already been 'protected' from any development. Now add NIMBY attitudes, 'hill protections' and global warming-required public-transit-friendly high-density development and single family homes skyrocket. But we can't figure out why they cost so much?
I recommend Dr. Sowell's work on this (or any other) topic: Sowell Articles
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