California population declines for second year in a row

[Star Ferry]

Originally Posted by enjoythemusic

Thx and corrected the spelling.

Yeah, my longtime friend was amazingly brilliant, about 10 years ago Princeton offered him $250k/yr, free housing, etc and he still declined their offer. All his friends agreed he would have made a truly EPIC professor as his presence and public speaking voice and... he is missed dearly. :(

Funny thing is, some of the best lessons in life learned (personally) were when i was homeless. Sad to see so many humans chase after the almighty illusion of currencies. And for some, they never have enough(!?!).

Food For Thought: There are billions in currencies created for war, but not to feed the poor.

Not only is the currency rapidly losing value, but working people don’t get to keep much of it. If my marginal tax rate on labor income is over 50%, and the cumulative tax rate on stock dividends is 70%, and then I pay 9% sales tax on most purchases… at what point do you just call a spade a spade and use the term “confiscatory.” Because that’s what it is: confiscating most of the property from Person A and redistributing it to Person B, Person C, etc.

[SDGT3]

Originally Posted by Blansky

These are merely thinly disguised political threads that have been going on for a while, probably parroted from people listing to their favorite media.

Red media trying to turn blue California to red which is fine as long and people understand that's the games they play. Most don't realize they're being played by the conflict entrepreneurs harping about things.

I've lived in California since Reagan under both Dem and Republican presidents and under both party governors and I really can't think of a time it felt any different from one era to the next.

Live where you want. I do.

please give me some of what you're smoking

[enjoythemusic]

Originally Posted by SDGT3

please give me some of what you're smoking

Honest question, I was enjoying a cigar on Newport or ??? beach and was told I can't do that (or cigarettes). But smoking 420 on the beach was ok? Maybe the homeless guy who told me I can't smoke a cigar on the beach was incorrect? This really did happen to me a few years back, seemed weird.

[Blansky]

Originally Posted by SDGT3

please give me some of what you're smoking

Not sure if I'm allowed to ship it, but you can buy it down at your local herb boutique.

[SDGT3]

I'm sure it's fine for curing both glaucoma and myopia.

[Gab27]

It's not shocking to me--as a younger professional, California is one of the last places I would want to relocate to and, in this new era of teleworking, even if I worked for a company in California, I would live in a state with a much lower cost of living.

[kieselguhr]

Grew up in Whittier and Santa Monica. Then went to school “out of state” because it was cheaper than going “in state” if that makes any sense. Did my residency in The City but lived (aka struggled) in Pacifica. The one thing that stands out in my memory of California was the cold beaches and surfing. Every day growing up and in the mornings before work at Linda Mar. Especially the last bit about surfing Linda Mar because that fog always made it felt like I was surfing in a Cthulhu movie.

I would love to give my kids an opportunity to grow up and experience a similar childhood as mine. But, right now is not the time as I am heavily invested where I am. I will reevaluate a decision to move back when I actually have kids.

About the homeless situation, it doesn’t help when mental health facility administrators from other states buy their problem patients a one way ticket on the greyhound to the nearest California city. And I assure you, that is no myth.

[gwozhog]

Just a matter of time before every state becomes like California. Everything from parenting and public schools is going down the drain. Im not optimistic

[enjoythemusic]

Sadly, many are not optimistic. What country should we move to?

[RyanJ]

Originally Posted by gwozhog

Just a matter of time before every state becomes like California. Everything from parenting and public schools is going down the drain. Im not optimistic

I would not mind if every state in the US had the GDP of California. It is far past time for other states to start carrying their own weight. But I agree on the whole that the US has declined in many areas.

I love CA and yes it has issues. Any state with this many people is going to have issues. I am watching the same issues happen in Middle Tennessee right now. Population is exploding but roads/infrastructure isn't being kept up with and traffic is an absolute nightmare.

Look at Austin. The city begged big tech to come and when it did, the cost of living has shot through the roof. One Bedroom Apts 2500+ downtown. Yes, I paid that in SoCal but I had an ocean view.

Look at the research triangle in North Carolina. That area is as expensive as Orange County yet the salaries are far far less.

What I am saying is be thankful CA carries the burden for a lot of the other states. You dont want 40+ million people in your state. You should be cheering CA on instead of constantly bagging on it.

[RyanJ]

Originally Posted by enjoythemusic

Sadly, many are not optimistic. What country should we move to?

This used to be an easy question but it has gotten a lot harder to answer lately. Lots of countries seeing hard times.

I still think Portugal is one of the most reasonable places in the EU but that is only an opinion from a frequent visitor so I could be wrong.

[Tri-Tip]

Everyplace has it's issues. Politics, Cost of Living, Weather, etc. We all need to find the place that works for each of us.

I golf with someone who can't wait to move from So. Cal. to South Carolina. He's just waiting for his mom to pass (he and his brother take care of her). He's retired, but works at Lowes as he does not want to dip into his savings at 64 years old. He was just telling me yesterday, that the same clerk position that pays $20/hour in CA, pays $9/hour in South Carolina. Making him rethink the move as he is realizing that although cost of living is lower, so are wages. He does not have a huge nest egg (maybe $500K) and will need to continue to work for money to live on, it's not like he can take $3MM in savings and live like a king in a less expensive area.

I also know people who have already moved from Southern California to lower cost areas. They seem to be younger families or single people that are homebodies (for lack of a better term) and don't take advantage of the varied activities, dining, nightlife that we have here, so living in a small town in rural Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee where the cost of living is very low won't bother them.

I just can't see leaving my family and friends and starting life over in another state.

[warrior]

I’m heartened by the fact that this thread has evolved somewhat. Instead of being dominated by provincial yahoo seething political fanatics— genuflecting and masturbating to
“ opinion” news ( an Internet and world wide specialty/phenomenon) that live in bubbles according to where/how they live.

[warrior]

Regarding your last sentence: GOOD for you.

Originally Posted by Tri-Tip

Everyplace has it's issues. Politics, Cost of Living, Weather, etc. We all need to find the place that works for each of us.

I golf with someone who can't wait to move from So. Cal. to South Carolina. He's just waiting for his mom to pass (he and his brother take care of her). He's retired, but works at Lowes as he does not want to dip into his savings at 64 years old. He was just telling me yesterday, that the same clerk position that pays $20/hour in CA, pays $9/hour in South Carolina. Making him rethink the move as he is realizing that although cost of living is lower, so are wages. He does not have a huge nest egg (maybe $500K) and will need to continue to work for money to live on, it's not like he can take $3MM in savings and live like a king in a less expensive area.

I also know people who have already moved from Southern California to lower cost areas. They seem to be younger families or single people that are homebodies (for lack of a better term) and don't take advantage of the varied activities, dining, nightlife that we have here, so living in a small town in rural Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee where the cost of living is very low won't bother them.

I just can't see leaving my family and friends and starting life over in another state.