Joel Kotkin: The Great California Exodus

[Valin]

WSJ:

 

A leading U.S. demographer and 'Truman Democrat' talks about what is driving the middle class out of the Golden State.

ALLYSIA FINLEY

4/20/12

 

'California is God's best moment," says Joel Kotkin. "It's the best place in the world to live." Or at least it used to be.

 

Mr. Kotkin, one of the nation's premier demographers, left his native New York City in 1971 to enroll at the University of California, Berkeley. The state was a far-out paradise for hipsters who had grown up listening to the Mamas & the Papas' iconic "California Dreamin'" and the Beach Boys' "California Girls." But it also attracted young, ambitious people "who had a lot of dreams, wanted to build big companies." Think Intel, Apple and Hewlett-Packard.

 

Now, however, the Golden State's fastest-growing entity is government and its biggest product is red tape. The first thing that comes to many American minds when you mention California isn't Hollywood or tanned girls on a beach, but Greece. Many progressives in California take that as a compliment since Greeks are ostensibly happier. But as Mr. Kotkin notes, Californians are increasingly pursuing happiness elsewhere.

 

(Snip)

 

Coming to a state near you?

[RandyM]

Hopefully the typical clod-buster redneck image of Georgia will keep them away from here.

[Valin]

Hopefully the typical clod-buster redneck image of Georgia will keep them away from here.

 

Good luck with that idea. Hold on to the dream.