The following was written by Mark Meckler and was originally published on his Patheos blog.
I’ve not hidden my desire to leave the over-regulated state of California for the greener pastures of a state that doesn’t treat its residents as children who need a nanny. And it seems like many in my neck of the woods agree. There’s a massive exodus out of the San Francisco Bay area, and it shows no sign of abating.
A poll released Sunday by a local advocacy group showed that 46 percent of Bay Area residents surveyed said they want to move out of the area within the next few years. That number is up from 34 percent in 2016 and 40 percent last year in the same poll.
The survey was a joint effort by advocacy group Bay Area Council and public opinion data firm EMC Research. The poll involved 1,000 registered voters in the Bay Area.
The reason for the urge to leave might be pretty obvious, at least to anyone knowledgeable on California: It’s just too expensive. Cost of living (45 percent) and housing prices (27 percent) were the main reasons cited among the 461 residents who said they want out.
Yes, yes, and yes.
On top of that, 42 percent of survey respondents called housing costs/availability the most important problem facing the area, beating out traffic (18 percent) and poverty/homelessness (14 percent).
Also, check out these data points:
Recent data confirm that Sacramento is experiencing its highest rate of domestic migration in over a decade. While Los Angeles County sent the most residents to the state’s capital in 2016, Santa Clara, Alameda and Solano counties took the next three spots.
Bay Area median home prices hit $850,000 in April, The Mercury News reported based on data from real estate firm CoreLogic. In Sacramento, that number has trended more toward $300,000.
As I’ve said before… Most everyone I know here in California either wants to, or is in the process of leaving…including me. I can’t wait to say goodbye to the once Golden State. Still have some great friends here, and I will miss those I leave behind. But other than the good people still left, its climate and natural beauty, living here sucks. California bureaucrats are making this beautiful state inhospitable to normal people who need to put food on their tables. Once the hotbed of innovation and investment, every single branch, every department, and seemingly every last bureaucrat is intent on destroying what originally made California great.
Welcome to the great out-migration.
We can't let the bureaucrats control the country like they control California. The best way to drain the swamp isn't with elections -- elections don't affect the nanny state. The best way to drain the swamp is with an Article V Convention of States, which can propose constitutional amendments that eliminate entire government agencies.
