People leaving (LA) county in droves

[question everything]

Los Angeles Daily News

People leaving county in droves

By Beth Barrett
Staff Writer

Friday, April 15, 2005 - The exodus of Los Angeles County residents to surrounding counties and nearby states accelerated significantly during the past year, driving the largest population shift in the nation, according to new U.S. Census Bureau figures released Thursday.

Fueled by soaring housing prices, traffic congestion, and new jobs in outlying areas, residents left L.A. at an average net rate of 9,621 per month between July 1, 2003, and last July 1, compared with an average net of 7,373 per month over the three previous years -- a 30 percent increase on average.

(snip)

Experts said the trend is a continuing shrinking of the middle class in Los Angeles and a worsening of the disparity in income between new arrivals and the wealthier, long-term residents whose incomes likely will grow.

William H. Frey, a demographer and visiting fellow at The Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., said the decades-long shift of populations to the suburbs has accelerated and expanded throughout the nation, with more families moving farther away into what's been dubbed the exurbs.

More..

http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200~20954~2817184,00.html#

Beth Barrett, [phone] [email protected]

[Ian David]

1. How might this effect political districts?

Will this create more or less blue counties?

[question everything]

3. Less

The coastal counties are blue (except for the southern Orange and San Diego) the inland are red

See also Will California go Red?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x119754

[napi21]

2. What happened Ahnold? I thought you were going to change all of that!

I can't blame people for leaving Calif. period! I belong to several message boards with topics on various ways to save money, and I must admit, I was shocked to see the price of food, dairy, and everything else needed just to survive!

I've been to Calif. several times on business trips, and I admit, it's a beautiful State with a good climate, and the options of activities in mountains, ocean, and everything in between. BUT, all that can't overcome the outrageous prices for the necessities of life.

[hector459]

5. If they had the instincts of the Aborigines they would all leave.

CA will be in the ocean by 2008. It may not all go under. Might become a new Pacific island.

[leesa]

13. Actually, I have a few geologist friends who say that a large quake would

shift the plates north...until we bump into Alaska, I guess.

[question everything]

32. I thought that Midwest, Arkansas is due for a major quake

[Zynx]

38. That's New Madrid - but there's no such thing as being "due" geologically

New Mardid would kill more people than anything in California, though. Memphis and St.Louis wouldn't know a building code if it hit them on the head.

[question everything]

8. I think that only the housing price is a factor

With California moderate climate you do not spend as much on heating and cooling, at least in coastal areas. Moving from California to Minnesota I certainly notice it... especially this year with prices of gas going though the roof..

Another area - service jobs, like painting the house: $1500 vs. $4800 and higher for the same size house

[yorkiemommie1]

14. i have a small one story house here in LA area

and got an estimate of $3500 just to paint the trim around the roof!

[question everything]

33. Urghhh wonder whether the trim requires more skilled labor

than just painting a whole room

And... I suppose everything that is associated with houses jumped in the last three years. My numbers are from 2001 and 2002.

[yorkiemommie1]

34. i had the entire house painted for $1500 5 years ago

and this time the window trim isn't going to be painted. this guy wasn't even a licensed paint contractor. he gave my neighbors estimates of 4600 and 4500 for their houses. these houses are small, ranch type, low and on flat level lots.

going to call for other estimates since this guy not only didn't have a license, but no insurance or workman's comp. i just called my other painter .

[catzies]

15. What we save on heating & cooling we spend on gas - zero sum game

:cry:

[Emillereid]

28. I compared my energy costs to heat and cool my home in SouthernCalifornia

with a sister and brother in Maryland -- and they weren't that much different.For one thing energy prices are so much higher and for another our houses are really very inefficient. (There are prevailing myths that it doesn't get cold or hot -- it doesn't get as cold as other places, but it does get cold enough to turn on the heat and it certainly gets HOT.) We have a middle class tract house built in the 70s and it is only minimally insulated. In comparison my brother's house in Maryland was state of the art in terms of energy efficiency.

[question everything]

31. This is true, about insulation

However, I suspect that one can always add insulation, at least to the roof.

In our last year in California we installed an attic fan. And boy, just opening one window an inch in one hour the upstairs - always stuffy - would get cool and pleasant.

I once asked about attic fan in Minnesota and the whole idea is unacceptable. For once, it won't do much for the humidity.

Minnesota always brings up the notion of very cold, unbearable winters.

The summers are just as bad, with often 90 degrees and a humidity to match - as bad as Florida.

[katty]

24. Auhnold is on slipperyslope here in LA and if people are

leaving LA, more from other states (from midwest)are coming to LA -
every rush hour plate reads from a flyover state-they are not here 'sightseeing' in congested rush hour traffic. as for the outer counties and burbettes, these are still expensive and most have to commute to their job back into LA - approx. 3 hours one way-everyday (w/gas now @around 2.80-3.00)the oil industry loves to screw CA with high gas $-so many cars to fill up.
Most people that first come to CA or LA area cannot believe how spread out state/cities are, so much space is a shock, even congested LA proper living is far roomier than cities in the midwest or on the east coast.
and living at the beach, i don't go into LA that much, it's like driving to another state.

[katty]

25. born and raised in CA-never leaving, it's a nation unto itself

and way far away from D.C.

[shanti]

4. yes

we can see them arriving up here in sacramento....i was one of them, but beat the rush 20 years ago!

[phusion]

6. Notice:

New Mexico is closed.

You will be turned back at our borders.

Thank you.

[all.of.me]

11. it's too expensive here anyway, and

the winters up north are dreadfully cold, and there is nothing to look at, and wages are out of touch with the cost of living, and the rest of the country thinks you're from mexico anyway. did i mention the mud that turns to dust in summer? how about spring winds that blow continuously at 20-30 mph for two months? and it rains all summer long. it is an awful place to live! so don't waste your time! go somewhere else!

;-)

[kineneb]

7. from NorCal, staying here

My family is from Redding, so after living in the Bay Area for 20+ years, we moved half way there, up in the hills. Yes, it is expensive, but I still would not want to live anywhere else in the US. Europe, specifically Germany or Belgium, is my second choice.

[katty]

26. Agree, Many No Cal areas beautiful-most places expensive

to live now-unless the state or city has turned into an outsourced, no jobs left ghost town.

[paula777]

9. I live in So. California and would leave in a heartbeat if I could

The quality of life here is so bad and getting worse every day. 2 hour commutes to travel 20 miles, gas (regular) is $2.67 per gallon. Everything here costs more than every other state except for NY and Hawaii and the thing that no one is allowed to say is that we are simply sinking due to the huge number of illegal aliens using state benefits but not contributing to the system. This is causing our schools to be grossly overcrowded, our county hospitals have a 10 to 14 hour wait if you get sick. I work in Malibu and take the bus to work and the busses are full of undocumented workers going to their domestic jobs where they are being paid (under the table) half of what a citizen would demand. It is totally understandable that people are leaving in droves. The quality of life here is decaying rapidly.

[Barkley]

48. How do you know that the " busses are full of undocumented workers"?

How do you know they are being paid 'under the table'?

The quality of education is decaying in large part to the defunding of California public schools which essentially began with Prop. 13 in the late 1970s.

We also built a heep of new prisons over the last 30 years but no new oil refineries And we're closing on major one in Bakersfield.

[AlCzervik]

10. Nevada-boom town, no state income tax and more "affordable" housing-for no

when i say "affordable" i mean not as bad as california but that will change over time.

[m0nkeyneck]

23. no beaches ;-)

[kwassa]

40. More like a giant endless beach with no ocean attached to it

[Neshanic]

12. The CA "equity refugees" of AZ. Houses are like Dorritos,we'll make more.

The surprising thing is that the new arrrivals soon find out that houses and gas may be cheaper, but everything else is the same as in CA. At least this is from my conversations with many of them.

The housing market is superheated here now, by speculators and the inflow of new people. A person that walks his dog when I do, told me of his tale of woe, armed with bags of cash from his home sale in Los Angeles, how he could not get in to make an offer because the homes were selling so fast. He and his wife finaly hit paydirt on the 5th try, and 40,000 over asking.

The Dorriotos of Phoenix are getting quite expensive, even as we furiously build as fast as we possibly can....and when you build fast in Phoenix, THAT'S fast.

[catzies]

16. "Equity refugees" - nice phrasing. And very true. n/t

[tinrobot]

37. I've thought of moving back to AZ from LA

...and taking my equity with me.

I grew up in Phoenix, so it would be very easy. The only problem is that Phoenix has changed so much in the 16 years I've been gone. They've uprooted everything cool about the place and replaced it with minimalls and tract homes. The extra concrete used to make all that stuff holds in the heat, making summers truly unbearable. It's become just like LA, only 30-40 degrees hotter and with no beach.

Maybe Portland.

[tinrobot]

39. One good thing - AZ may turn into a blue state.

Those Californians are awfully liberal and AZ is awfully close to becoming a blue state already.

[question everything]

46. Then perhaps there is hope

Family members from Chicago are already talking about retiring to Scottsdale - they just turned 50.

When we talk about retiring, spouse is very adamant about not moving to a red state.. and if we would leave the cold, then back to the West Coast. But I think that houses in Arcata are very very expensive.

[devilgrrl]

17. Good! Leave!

Free up some parking spots!

[K8-EEE]

19. As A Native Angelino I Say: GOOD RIDDANCE!

The overcrowding that everyone hates is caused by decades of people moving here in droves....I hate what is happening with the widening between rich and poor but that is happening everywhere. I love the city of the angels, crowds, expenses, hassles and all - I can't imagine living anywhere else.

I love Angelinos too but I get so aggravated with people who move here and complain about it. Especially East Coasters who move here and complain about the weather "no seasons" etc. As a gardener I can tell you there ARE four seasons they are just different from where you are from and who told you to move here anyhow?? Jeez that bugs me.

[nolabels]

29. Born in Downey myself, but always lived in So,Cal

Out here in Riverside county the second fastest growing county it's like "where did they all come from". I am just wondering when they are going to stop issuing water meters to an already over taxed system.

No one seems to have noticed that most of this place is desert or something :shrug:

[K8-EEE]

44. Yeah The Sprawl Is Just Too Much

I don't know what is going to happen when all these people who are living on home equity, when that bubble bursts it's gonna be economic tsunami time.

[Igel]

49. Nope, most of the inhabitants forget that it's semi-arid.

They like their swimming pools, green yards, golf courses.

The area can support a couple hundred thousand people. The rest should leave. I did.

[Piperay]

47. Same here, I was born here and

so were my parents. If the people who came here from somewhere else and continually complain would go back to where they came from it would give us natives back what we lost due to the influx of others.

I agree about the seasons too, maybe you have to be a native to recognize the subtlety of the seasons here. YES, there are four seasons and each one is different from each other.

[Emboldened Chimp]

20. Free up some Westside apartments, too!

[SemperEadem]

18. I am one of those who left

at the end of last year. I miss CA, lived in LA for 13 years, but I don't miss the teaming masses.

My slogan for LA:

"Welcome to LA, where there's always someone in your way."

[VegasWolf]

21. I left and I wouldn't go back. CA is not the state it was 20 years ago.n/t

[m0nkeyneck]

22. bye bye.. don't let the door.....

[SnuggleBunny]

27. Grain o' salt...

Personally, I'd take what the Daily News has to say with a grain of salt. I've always found their headlines to be a bit sensational.

[nolabels]

30. Welcome to DU SnuggleBunny

:toast:

[question everything]

35. True, but this story is everywhere

Seems that the U.S. Census just came out with numbers and different papers give their tilt. For example, the Inland Empire papers talk about Riverside county being second in the country, after Maricopa, AZ, in percentage increase.

People used to move to Riverside county for more affordable houses, but it seems that this, too, no longer holds.

I still have no idea where people have the money to buy all these expensive houses. They use creative finance and at some point will not be able to afford them.

And welcome to DU


:toast:

[onager]

43. Bwah! Calling the Daily Snooze...

"...a bit sensational" is like calling Hitler "a bit anti-Semitic." The Snooze has a deep-seated inferiority complex, since it started out as a free local birdcage liner, the Valley News & Green Sheet.

The Snooze desperately wants to be a Real Big-City Newspaper, and it thinks it can do that by splitting the San Fernando Valley off from the rest of L.A. Hence, all the articles bad-mouthing Los Angeles city and county government.

The paper's allies in this goal are the filthy-rich Boeckmann (sp?) family, owners of Galpin Ford. They funnel millions of dollars to anti-choicers and other right-wing nuts. They seem to see themselves as the Proper Feudal Lords to rule over all us serfs in the Valley.

[readmylips]

36. Yeah, they're moving to AZ and jacking up the prices....

on our properties. It's come to the point right now that Arizonan's have been shut out of the market. Californian's make lots of money on their old beat-up homes, then come to AZ and buy our homes for cash. AZ homes are now above 4K. My house in 3 years went up 175K which is nice but any other nice house I would like to buy has doubled in price too. I got no buying power.

[4_Legs_Good]

41. I feel like moving to LA actually

but there's no way I could afford it.

Personally I dispise the negative repuation Los Angeles has. Every time I go (other than the freeways, which aren't as bad as all that all the time) it's a pleasant experience (I live 3 hours away).

It would be nice to be in a cultural center rather than out in the boonies all the time, where the most culture we get is in the WalMart parking lot.

Feh!

david

[pfitz59]

42. Plenty moving here to Snohomish County WA!

One of country's fastest growing places. Tract homes going up all over. Houses starting at $250K (vice $350K in Seattle). Regular gas $2.50/gal. 1 hour commute to go 20 miles to Seattle or Bellevue. Plusses are emerald greens, 18 hr summer days and LOTS of water. Minuses are COOL damp DARK dreary winters. I used to live in Smog Angeles, liked the weather, detested the crowds!

[Terran]

45. This is a good thing

There are way to many people in LA. I can't believe how congested it is, every time I go back for a visit.