The California Brain Drain (Berkeley, Stanford: apartment, rent, how much)

[RobE]

You might find this interesting:
http://www.mercurynews.com/business/...nclick_check=1

[Charles]

Requires a password. Use Bugmenot.com to get one. (I'd put mine on here but I'd probably get busted.) Works for most if not all registration required news sources (LA Times, NY Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, etc.)


The article is nothing new. If you are a middle class professional (techie, engineer, etc.) making less than $150K then you're going to find it tough to find a decent house in a decent neighborhood with decent schools, unless you are "in" already. We all know this.

That's why we moved out (even though we were already "in").

Colorado Springs CO, Mesa AZ, Huntsville AL, the Carolinas...nice places to raise a family, lots of jobs, affordable.

That's where the "brains" are draining to.

[xwingalliance]

Very interesting. Though I must say that the people calling for more investment in education have it all wrong. If CA's universities pump out more college grads, we'll probably just see more college grads moving out of state.

[Paddington]

Originally Posted by xwingalliance

Very interesting. Though I must say that the people calling for more investment in education have it all wrong. If CA's universities pump out more college grads, we'll probably just see more college grads moving out of state.

I went to Cornell University, in Ithaca, NY. Cornell's graduates go on to do great things, like run big companies such as Citigroup. You wouldn't know that if you took a drive through Cornell's pathetic business park near the Ithaca airport, or drove around depressed, dilapidated downtown Ithaca.

Boston booms with new businesses, while Philadelphia (which some say is academia's second city) has a hard time retaining its graduates in the city or suburbs.

There is some correlation between investing in education and creating high paying new economy jobs, but it's not necessarily a strong one. For every example, there seems to be a counter example. At worst, you may be subsidizing the education of people who just take it and leave for places with better business climates. That's not to say college education shouldn't be invested in. It's just that more investment may not translate to more jobs.

[Asiadeep]

Guys just out of curiousity, for a single person looking to probably live in these "in" areas of California, how much expenses would he incur every month. Assuming a moderate lifestyle?

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by Asiadeep

Guys just out of curiousity, for a single person looking to probably live in these "in" areas of California, how much expenses would he incur every month. Assuming a moderate lifestyle?

Renting an apartment or owning a home? Even in the most expensive part of California, you can rent an apartment for under $1500-2000/mo. Figure that your rent shouldn't exceed 1/3 of your gross income and you'll need a minimum of $4500-6000/mo to get by. The equation changed drastically when you want to buy a house and have kids. Triple those numbers then. That's when people decide the weather isn't worth it anymore and leave the state.

[ocean2026]

California has no brain drain- small towns have them, Detroit and much of the rust belt has them but California will always attract more brain matter than it loses. Cal - Berkeley alone attracts smart kids from all over the world and quite a few stay. Add Stanford, UCLA and CIT and you will have a permanent influx of smarties.

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by ocean2026

California has no brain drain- small towns have them, Detroit and much of the rust belt has them but California will always attract more brain matter than it loses. Cal - Berkeley alone attracts smart kids from all over the world and quite a few stay. Add Stanford, UCLA and CIT and you will have a permanent influx of smarties.

Agreed.

There is no govt data confirming a net loss in California, of adults with 4-year degrees or higher. In fact, during the housing meltdown, the coastal metros are actually gaining people coming back from the interior-and that assertion is backed up by data.

[Steve97415]

Originally Posted by Paddington

I went to Cornell University, in Ithaca, NY. Cornell's graduates go on to do great things, like run big companies such as Citigroup.

Good grief...sounds like we need to shut down Cornell in order to salvage what's left of this economy, then.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by ocean2026

California has no brain drain- small towns have them, Detroit and much of the rust belt has them but California will always attract more brain matter than it loses. Cal - Berkeley alone attracts smart kids from all over the world and quite a few stay. Add Stanford, UCLA and CIT and you will have a permanent influx of smarties.

This is the kind of complacent attitude that has given CA the worst bond rating of all 50 states (a few notches above junk status), 12% unemployment, high taxes, and mediocre/poor services.