Newsweek: Despite Its Woes, California's Dream Still Lives (Santa Barbara: middle-class, loans)

[AnUnidentifiedMale]

This is a great article about California. All of the predictions of the state's demise have been wrong, and will likely continue to be wrong.

In 2008, California's wipeout economy attracted more venture capital than the rest of the nation combined. Somehow its supposedly hostile business climate has nurtured Google, Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Facebook, Twitter, Disney, Cisco, Intel, eBay, YouTube, MySpace, the Gap and countless other companies that drive the way we live.

California: Golden State Is Thriving, Despite Its Woes - TIME

[Steve97415]

Interesting how this essay retools "the dream" as something held by "California" as a personified collective and not by "Californians" as living individuals. Whatever the subsequent rise of California as a metaphor, it is clear that the ability for average citizens to make a solid middle-class living by working at prevailing wages is gone in many many areas of the state. Yes, the rich and the poor will stay, but for the middle class, living in California has become a pass-through experience.

[AnUnidentifiedMale]

Originally Posted by Steve97415

Interesting how this essay retools "the dream" as something held by "California" as a personified collective and not by "Californians" as living individuals. Whatever the subsequent rise of California as a metaphor, it is clear that the ability for average citizens to make a solid middle-class living by working at prevailing wages is gone in many many areas of the state. Yes, the rich and the poor will stay, but for the middle class, living in California has become a pass-through experience.

I think I agree with that, although I believe it's been a long time since California's big cities were economically "friendly" to the American middle-class. Housing has been more expensive in this state compared to most of the rest of the country for at least the last few decades.

[Dean Trails]

Originally Posted by Steve97415

Interesting how this essay retools "the dream" as something held by "California" as a personified collective and not by "Californians" as living individuals. Whatever the subsequent rise of California as a metaphor, it is clear that the ability for average citizens to make a solid middle-class living by working at prevailing wages is gone in many many areas of the state. Yes, the rich and the poor will stay, but for the middle class, living in California has become a pass-through experience.

Yep, it is time for the middle-class to hitch up the horses to the old covered wagon and head outta town!
I wonder who will pay for the California Dream then? As neither the poor or the super rich pay taxes. Of course that is a little over generalizing but you get my drift.

[Snort]

A bit before my time, but I think about houses in Santa Barbara in the 60's that used to cost $20K. Your average run-of-the-mill tract house in suburbia, but think of how out of reach for most people these places have been for the past 30+ years.
And then came subprime loans, which I never "took advantage of" because half a million for a small stick-built house still seemed outrageously expensive to me. This never made any sense to me and I never thought about the larger ramifications we're seeing these days.
The American Dream is synonymous with having one's own place to live. Well, seriously, you have to go back decades to a time when this was true for CA....in a realistic way.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by AnUnidentifiedMale

This is a great article about California. All of the predictions of the state's demise have been wrong, and will likely continue to be wrong.

In 2008, California's wipeout economy attracted more venture capital than the rest of the nation combined. Somehow its supposedly hostile business climate has nurtured Google, Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Facebook, Twitter, Disney, Cisco, Intel, eBay, YouTube, MySpace, the Gap and countless other companies that drive the way we live.

California: Golden State Is Thriving, Despite Its Woes - TIME

Take that list of companies and create a plot. Plot the IPO date versus profitability in a scatter plot. Oh, and the date axis goes to 2010.

Then tell me that everything is just fine and dandy.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Here's some contrary data:

Strongest metro economies.......

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly

Take that list of companies and create a plot. Plot the IPO date versus profitability in a scatter plot. Oh, and the date axis goes to 2010.

Then tell me that everything is just fine and dandy.

Or alternatively plot IPO date versus the P/E.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

The Time article presumes that Green tech, stem cell Frankenscience, foodie fetishes and all sorts of kumbaya navel gazing activity constitute "the official" future of the country and the World and therefore California is ahead of the curve.

To me, these are the dying embers of late 20th Century extreme decadence, and therefore, CA is going the way of the Rust Belt, or maybe the dinosaurs.

[Curmudgeon]

As much as it pains me to say it, I have to believe that California is merely circling the drain!