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marmar

(76,985 posts)
Tue May 3, 2016, 11:51 AM May 2016

California: More Than One-Third of Bay Area Residents Ready to Leave


CA: More Than One-Third of Bay Area Residents Ready to Leave

George Avalos On May 3, 2016
Source: McClatchy


May 02--More than one-third of Bay Area residents say they are ready to leave in the next few years, citing high housing costs and traffic as the region's biggest problems, according to a poll released Monday.

Of the 1,000 people polled by the Bay Area Council, 34 percent said they are considering leaving. Those who have lived here five years or less are the most likely to want to leave.

"This is our canary in a coal mine," said Jim Wunderman, president of the Bay Area Council. "Residents are screaming for solutions."

In another grim result, the number of residents who believe the region is on the wrong track has increased sharply in the past year, the poll found.

This year's poll found that 40 percent of respondents felt the Bay Area was on the wrong track, while 40 percent felt it was headed in the right direction. Just one year ago, only 28 percent felt the Bay Area was on the wrong track, and 55 percent thought it was headed in the right direction. ................(more)

http://www.masstransitmag.com/news/12202538/one-third-of-bay-area-residents-hope-to-leave-soon-poll-finds




35 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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California: More Than One-Third of Bay Area Residents Ready to Leave (Original Post) marmar May 2016 OP
Too expensive bigwillq May 2016 #1
Come to Southeast Michigan MrScorpio May 2016 #2
They are now....but they're driving up midtown/downtown Detroit prices quickly. marmar May 2016 #3
Seven Mile and Gratiot area is still really cheap. NT 1939 May 2016 #21
And the roads are a mess, public education is completely broken.... Act_of_Reparation May 2016 #11
I never said that we're perfect. MrScorpio May 2016 #14
Never said you did. Act_of_Reparation May 2016 #20
High housing costs drive more commuting, which makes life suck for all. CentralCoaster May 2016 #4
Google has floated that KamaAina May 2016 #7
I wonder how long before East Palo Alto becomes gentrified beyond recognition. CentralCoaster May 2016 #15
The clock is ticking. KamaAina May 2016 #17
TTIP may cause a sudden big jump in heating/electricity prices which could impact housing Baobab May 2016 #9
Company housing and company store 1939 May 2016 #22
Google and Apple paying $250K salaries? CentralCoaster May 2016 #25
If they'd just get up and go, they'd take the congestion with them KamaAina May 2016 #5
I'd suggest Cleveland, but there's no ocean and the weather is consistently terrible. HughBeaumont May 2016 #6
You forgot the crappy sports KamaAina May 2016 #8
We'll see come June. HughBeaumont May 2016 #12
Census: Maricopa County (Phoenix,AZ) Is 2nd Fastest Growing County In US StarTrombone May 2016 #10
in a region with dwindling water supplies maxsolomon May 2016 #18
I've been telling them that for 40 years StarTrombone May 2016 #26
haha, they're coming up the PNW, too maxsolomon May 2016 #27
"Dwindling water supplies" KansDem May 2016 #28
don't worry about it maxsolomon May 2016 #30
Saginaw Bay Area safeinOhio May 2016 #13
That would solve the two major complaints. bluedigger May 2016 #16
"Those who have lived here five years or less are the most likely to want to leave." arcane1 May 2016 #19
Too many taxes/regulations....not business friendly. IMHO nt clarice May 2016 #23
Oooooh. Motivated sellers! Maybe I can buy them out below their costs, do some minor repairs RadiationTherapy May 2016 #24
They ought to run that poll in Austin... Eleanors38 May 2016 #29
Which taxes aren't high enough... scscholar May 2016 #31
Hey, finally Chicago is the Second City no more! WhaTHellsgoingonhere May 2016 #32
Whoever manages transportation here needs to be exiled Prism May 2016 #33
I left almost 2 years ago...great decision !! alittlelark May 2016 #34
The rent is too damn high and the pay is too damn low. Initech May 2016 #35
 

bigwillq

(72,790 posts)
1. Too expensive
Tue May 3, 2016, 11:53 AM
May 2016

And I would think most folks feel they are not gettting their money's worth.

It's the same way in CT. It's so expensive, and folks are being taxed to death. CT is an economic mess.

Act_of_Reparation

(9,116 posts)
11. And the roads are a mess, public education is completely broken....
Tue May 3, 2016, 12:28 PM
May 2016

...and the goddamned governor's office just poisoned an entire city.

I've had the benefit of living in CT, CA, and MI. There are pros and cons to each state, and the cons are likely to drive you nuts no matter where you choose to live.

Act_of_Reparation

(9,116 posts)
20. Never said you did.
Tue May 3, 2016, 01:50 PM
May 2016

And don't get me wrong, I do enjoy living in Michigan. But as someone actually did come to Michigan from California (and to California from the Connecticut), I merely think it important to note the price you might pay for the money you theoretically save. Lack of funding is a serious problem for the state's infrastructure, which might be problematic for people with kids, the elderly, or people used to having their streets plowed when it snows.

 

CentralCoaster

(1,163 posts)
4. High housing costs drive more commuting, which makes life suck for all.
Tue May 3, 2016, 12:11 PM
May 2016

Housing costs and traffic: two symptoms of the same problem. If affordable housing was available, commuting would drop to an extent that traffic would be bearable.

Why can't some employers create jobs in the cities where housing is more affordable? Why do we continue to build freeways to support this madness called suburbia when the most livable cities have streetcars and mixed use zoning and walkable neighborhoods?

Another concept that the employers could try is to provide housing to employees on site or nearby.

In some cases, "campuses" could blend apartment life with amenities and the commute would be across the green, in other cases for more permanent housing, condominiums or townhomes adjacent to company sites could be owned and operated by the employer or employer consortium for sale (or rent) to employees.

Why are these things not done?

 

KamaAina

(78,249 posts)
7. Google has floated that
Tue May 3, 2016, 12:21 PM
May 2016

oddly enough, Mountain View is less than thrilled, perhaps because thanks to Prop 13, housing doesn't generate as much revenue as commercial property.

http://www.mv-voice.com/news/2012/07/06/council-may-kill-google-housing-in-general-plan-vote-tuesday

 

CentralCoaster

(1,163 posts)
15. I wonder how long before East Palo Alto becomes gentrified beyond recognition.
Tue May 3, 2016, 12:37 PM
May 2016

It must be killing developers that so much real estate is left to affordable housing occupied by people of color.

Sigh.

 

KamaAina

(78,249 posts)
17. The clock is ticking.
Tue May 3, 2016, 12:42 PM
May 2016

One company, Equity, has bought up more than 80 percent of all the rental units in EPA.

Baobab

(4,667 posts)
9. TTIP may cause a sudden big jump in heating/electricity prices which could impact housing
Tue May 3, 2016, 12:24 PM
May 2016

If so, lots of urban dwellers could be displaced. With nowhere for them to go. Many (most?) don't even drive.

 

CentralCoaster

(1,163 posts)
25. Google and Apple paying $250K salaries?
Tue May 3, 2016, 02:27 PM
May 2016

I'm not concerned if they start providing a housing option.

And, as if indebtedness to mortgage lenders and the automobile and oil industry is freedom.

 

KamaAina

(78,249 posts)
5. If they'd just get up and go, they'd take the congestion with them
Tue May 3, 2016, 12:13 PM
May 2016

but then they'd see what a congestion-free Bay Area would be like and come flooding back.

HughBeaumont

(24,461 posts)
6. I'd suggest Cleveland, but there's no ocean and the weather is consistently terrible.
Tue May 3, 2016, 12:19 PM
May 2016

But you can buy a house for a price of a low-scale Mercedes. Even the suburbs are pretty affordable.

Oh, and we have killer restaurants. And a downtown that's coming back.

HughBeaumont

(24,461 posts)
12. We'll see come June.
Tue May 3, 2016, 12:32 PM
May 2016

Only undefeated team in the playoffs so far.

Browns and Indians . . . yep, always years away from contending.

 

StarTrombone

(188 posts)
10. Census: Maricopa County (Phoenix,AZ) Is 2nd Fastest Growing County In US
Tue May 3, 2016, 12:24 PM
May 2016
Maricopa County had the second largest growth in the country between 2013 and 2014. The United States Census Bureau reports county population grew by 74,000 people.

The Phoenix metro area had the sixth largest growth nationwide.

Tom Rex with Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business said this population increase isn’t as large as it’s been in the past. He says the key industries driving the state’s economy are different now than they were in the early 1990s.

“There’s been some shift towards a broader dispersion of basic industries in particular service industries instead of the traditionally it was manufacturing, agriculture, mining, and tourism,” Rex said.

The Census also reports the Tucson metro area has more than 1 million residents

http://kjzz.org/content/118622/census-maricopa-county-2nd-fastest-growing-county-us

I'll tell you where that wall needs to be built

 

StarTrombone

(188 posts)
26. I've been telling them that for 40 years
Tue May 3, 2016, 02:36 PM
May 2016

And those damned California cars keep showing up here.

And talk about obsequious, annoying and arrogant people,

If I hear "that's not how we did it in California" one more time I may go off on someone.

KansDem

(28,498 posts)
28. "Dwindling water supplies"
Tue May 3, 2016, 02:43 PM
May 2016

Yet, we're selling huge tracts of land to the Saudis--

Saudi Arabia buying up farmland in US Southwest

Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf countries are scooping up farmland in drought-afflicted regions of the U.S. Southwest, and that has some people in California and Arizona seeing red.

Saudi Arabia grows alfalfa hay in both states for shipment back to its domestic dairy herds. In another real-life example of the world's interconnected economy, the Saudis increasingly look to produce animal feed overseas in order to save water in their own territory, most of which is desert.

Privately held Fondomonte California on Sunday announced that it bought 1,790 acres of farmland in Blythe, California — an agricultural town along the Colorado River — for nearly $32 million. Two years ago, Fondomont's parent company, Saudi food giant Almarai, purchased another 10,000 acres of farmland about 50 miles away in Vicksburg, Arizona, for around $48 million.

But not everyone likes the trend. The alfalfa exports are tantamount to "exporting water," because in Saudi Arabia, "they have decided that it's better to bring feed in rather than to empty their water reserves," said Keith Murfield, CEO of United Dairymen of Arizona, a Tempe-based dairy cooperative whose members also buy alfalfa. "This will continue unless there's regulations put on it."

In a statement announcing the California farmland purchase, the Saudi company said the deal "forms part of Almarai's continuous efforts to improve and secure its supply of the highest quality alfalfa hay from outside the (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) to support its dairy business. It is also in line with the Saudi government direction toward conserving local resources."

--more--
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/01/15/saudi-arabia-buying-up-farmland-in-us-southwest.html

 

arcane1

(38,613 posts)
19. "Those who have lived here five years or less are the most likely to want to leave."
Tue May 3, 2016, 12:54 PM
May 2016

Bye! I'm sure many of them are the reason for the wrong track in the first place.

RadiationTherapy

(5,818 posts)
24. Oooooh. Motivated sellers! Maybe I can buy them out below their costs, do some minor repairs
Tue May 3, 2016, 01:59 PM
May 2016

and flip these houses for a sweet margin! Then, after increasing the local housing market prices, I can return to my already insulated neighborhood!

Thanks for the heads up!

 

Eleanors38

(18,318 posts)
29. They ought to run that poll in Austin...
Tue May 3, 2016, 02:56 PM
May 2016

Crappy jobs, low pay, punishing rents, no end in sight for static traffic, wondrous property taxes (I have the cheapest in my hood -- $6,000+).

 

WhaTHellsgoingonhere

(5,252 posts)
32. Hey, finally Chicago is the Second City no more!
Tue May 3, 2016, 03:37 PM
May 2016

We've been hemorrhaging residents for years and now the state of Illinois tops the country. Chicago is about to implode as its building bubble will burst soon or sooner. Every year we are adding luxury apartments at mind boggling rates, 2000 in 2014, 2500 in 2015 and close to 5000 in 2016. No one is talking about it, either. Every day there's a mass shooting and Rahm races to a camera to announce the next real estate deal he cut with his billionaire constituents.

 

Prism

(5,815 posts)
33. Whoever manages transportation here needs to be exiled
Tue May 3, 2016, 04:02 PM
May 2016

I have never seen a system so ill-planned, pointless, and expensive.

If people want to know how Uber took off, just glance at San Francisco's transportation network. Bart does not go far enough, does not run often enough, and I still find no overnight service in a major American city absolutely boggling. Muni is awesome - if you want to spend 2 hours going anywhere at all on some days.

It's a total nonstarter, which is why I own a car (well, that and rainy season).

After the 1989 quake, they demolished major transportation arteries and never adequately replaced them.

And whenever they're asked about it, they always say, "Well, we don't want to encourage more driving!" Sigh, these people.

And that doesn't even get me started on who the fuck designed these roads?!

Driving around, it is absolutely baffling to me what the engineers were thinking. "Hey, what if we devised a system where people entering the freeway had to immediately and panickedly cross five lanes of traffic to get where they're going? Oh oh! And let's install this moronic fucking approach for the entire length of Oakland and San Francisco!"

And then they wonder why there's congestion. If someone sneezes on I-80, welp, there's a 45 min delay. One fender bender (and god help you if it's anywhere near the toll plaza) and you can kiss two hours of your life goodbye.

And that's not even addressing the constant Bart rate increases where the working classes who can't afford to live in the city are repeatedly kicked in the crotch for daring to have jobs across the Bay. The nerve of those plebs.

I could rant all day. Every time I go home to Chicago and need to drive, I just sigh happily. Even heavy traffic there is totally bearable.

Initech

(99,915 posts)
35. The rent is too damn high and the pay is too damn low.
Tue May 3, 2016, 06:44 PM
May 2016

How are companies that are based in San Francisco going to survive if their employees can't pay their basic living expense

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