I never lived in California. But I had friends who did. They lived in Los Angeles.
About over 20 years ago I flew out to Los Angeles to visit with them for a couple of weeks. They loved living in California and were full of praise for their state. The scenery, the mountains, the weather, the food, Hollywood, the beaches, the ocean, etc. Some of them hinted that I should move to california to live.
I shot down their suggestion. I already was living in a liberal state and I wasn't about to move from one liberal state just to live in another liberal state. If I ever got the chance and resources to move away to another state, it was going to be a more solidly republican/conservative state.
I warned my friends that considering the liberals that controlled their state and city governments, unless conservatives managed to grab majority control, the state (and local city) was going to go on a long, downhill slide in the years to come. They all chuckled at my criticisms and warnings about their state and city, saying how they never want to live anywhere else.
Years go by and all but one of them have long since moved to other states. One to Texas, one to Oregon, etc. The one that stayed in the state at least moved out of Los Angeles to Joshua tree.
There was a time (back in the mid 1990s) when I thought visiting LA was one of the coolest things someone could ever do…now….it’’s sad how much it reminds me of the time our sewer main line cracked and backed up into our house…the similarities are uncanny…same look and smell. So much trash; so many homeless; so much graffiti; unbearable traffic…truly it has become a cesspool …as a San Diego resident, I avoid LA completely if at all possible….And our smarmy, greaseball of a Governor has the audacity to call people who look down on California “Jealous.”
I don’t know what planet he lives on, but my guess is his perception is skewed by the ass kissers who refuse to tell the emporer he has no clothes…and his ties to the deepest pockets and a socialist /equity-driven agenda affirms that he’s doing the right things to ensure those who are not willing to work will receive the same quality of life as those who do actually work by imposing more taxes on the working/middle class families….forget a fancy hot meal at the French Laundry….everyone gets served cold meatloaf (preferably vegan).
Congrats, Gavin! You and all the other far left leaning politicians here have managed to turn what used to be paradise into the number one state people with the means choose to leave.
The blame doesn't belong to the politicians, but firmly to the voters who, year after year, vote for the same policies and disasters.
Liberal tribalism is all that matters to too many Angelenos when it comes to voting. They would never dream of doing something so terrible, so unpalatable, so evil as vote for anyone but the most leftist candidate on the ballot. How else can you explain insane leftist George Gascon beating sane leftist Jackie Lacey?
Los Angeles is the way it is because people here want it to be this way. The ones who hate it all leave, and the ones who stay say "good riddance", and are glad the city is purified by their departure.
My fear is that those who flee for better (redder) places will continue to vote Democrat (blue) and transfer those awful policies they fled to their new homes.
Then there’s the Red Line, the Blue Line, the Expo Line … “green” mass transit that got built somewhat against the odds, now unusable due to the other Progressive dream of leaving the detached homeless and nihilistic criminal class relatively unmolested. I used to love the Res Line an took it often. No more. It’s carbon emissions for me from my 2000 guzzler from now on.
The current state of the state is horrible, but the current trajectory indicates that things will only get worse. And likely much worse. I escaped with my family last year to middle TN and can only look back in sadness for what Californians have done to themselves. My advice is to get out now, while you still can.
I spent 25+ years teaching grads and undergrads about what kills cities of any size. Basically it's when the people who pay the majority of the taxes (roughly the middle-middle class and the upper-middle class, and maybe part of the lower-upper class) decide that, overall, they're not getting enough return for their tax money.
When more of those people move out than are moving in, the slide into the toilet is beginning. The 'smart' ones are sensitive to the changes that count, and as they move out (and they have the resources to do that just because they want to) they're are first replaced by folks similar to them, but with fewer resources to be taxed.
Then the less attentive people most like them 'notice' who's moving out, and they begin to leave, too. Eventually the middle class tax-base is extremely eroded and the slide moves more rapidly.
This was easily seen in Detroit, but look at any city you can think of that has deteriorated in the past 50 years and you'll see that same pattern.
LA is past the tipping point I think, and I think you're correct that it won't stop.
I never lived in California. But I had friends who did. They lived in Los Angeles.
About over 20 years ago I flew out to Los Angeles to visit with them for a couple of weeks. They loved living in California and were full of praise for their state. The scenery, the mountains, the weather, the food, Hollywood, the beaches, the ocean, etc. Some of them hinted that I should move to california to live.
I shot down their suggestion. I already was living in a liberal state and I wasn't about to move from one liberal state just to live in another liberal state. If I ever got the chance and resources to move away to another state, it was going to be a more solidly republican/conservative state.
I warned my friends that considering the liberals that controlled their state and city governments, unless conservatives managed to grab majority control, the state (and local city) was going to go on a long, downhill slide in the years to come. They all chuckled at my criticisms and warnings about their state and city, saying how they never want to live anywhere else.
Years go by and all but one of them have long since moved to other states. One to Texas, one to Oregon, etc. The one that stayed in the state at least moved out of Los Angeles to Joshua tree.
Who is right now, my friends?
There was a time (back in the mid 1990s) when I thought visiting LA was one of the coolest things someone could ever do…now….it’’s sad how much it reminds me of the time our sewer main line cracked and backed up into our house…the similarities are uncanny…same look and smell. So much trash; so many homeless; so much graffiti; unbearable traffic…truly it has become a cesspool …as a San Diego resident, I avoid LA completely if at all possible….And our smarmy, greaseball of a Governor has the audacity to call people who look down on California “Jealous.”
I don’t know what planet he lives on, but my guess is his perception is skewed by the ass kissers who refuse to tell the emporer he has no clothes…and his ties to the deepest pockets and a socialist /equity-driven agenda affirms that he’s doing the right things to ensure those who are not willing to work will receive the same quality of life as those who do actually work by imposing more taxes on the working/middle class families….forget a fancy hot meal at the French Laundry….everyone gets served cold meatloaf (preferably vegan).
Congrats, Gavin! You and all the other far left leaning politicians here have managed to turn what used to be paradise into the number one state people with the means choose to leave.
The blame doesn't belong to the politicians, but firmly to the voters who, year after year, vote for the same policies and disasters.
Liberal tribalism is all that matters to too many Angelenos when it comes to voting. They would never dream of doing something so terrible, so unpalatable, so evil as vote for anyone but the most leftist candidate on the ballot. How else can you explain insane leftist George Gascon beating sane leftist Jackie Lacey?
Los Angeles is the way it is because people here want it to be this way. The ones who hate it all leave, and the ones who stay say "good riddance", and are glad the city is purified by their departure.
My fear is that those who flee for better (redder) places will continue to vote Democrat (blue) and transfer those awful policies they fled to their new homes.
Then there’s the Red Line, the Blue Line, the Expo Line … “green” mass transit that got built somewhat against the odds, now unusable due to the other Progressive dream of leaving the detached homeless and nihilistic criminal class relatively unmolested. I used to love the Res Line an took it often. No more. It’s carbon emissions for me from my 2000 guzzler from now on.
The current state of the state is horrible, but the current trajectory indicates that things will only get worse. And likely much worse. I escaped with my family last year to middle TN and can only look back in sadness for what Californians have done to themselves. My advice is to get out now, while you still can.
I spent 25+ years teaching grads and undergrads about what kills cities of any size. Basically it's when the people who pay the majority of the taxes (roughly the middle-middle class and the upper-middle class, and maybe part of the lower-upper class) decide that, overall, they're not getting enough return for their tax money.
When more of those people move out than are moving in, the slide into the toilet is beginning. The 'smart' ones are sensitive to the changes that count, and as they move out (and they have the resources to do that just because they want to) they're are first replaced by folks similar to them, but with fewer resources to be taxed.
Then the less attentive people most like them 'notice' who's moving out, and they begin to leave, too. Eventually the middle class tax-base is extremely eroded and the slide moves more rapidly.
This was easily seen in Detroit, but look at any city you can think of that has deteriorated in the past 50 years and you'll see that same pattern.
LA is past the tipping point I think, and I think you're correct that it won't stop.
Depopulation might be the goal.
After living in Southern California for 38 years, I escaped to Texas in 2014. Perhaps the single best decision I have ever made in my life.