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I live comfortably with all of that here in upstate NY. Not a big deal for me. The main problem I have with CA is the astronomical housing costs and extreme inequality, which are the result of the free-market and not Evil Liberals.
I agree with that. Same reason NYC, and environs have very high housing costs. It is supply, and demand, not Progressive policies that drive those costs. Now high property/real estate taxes are another matter, and that does affect the cost of housing, but if you can't afford the admission price, then you can't afford the taxes either.
I live comfortably with all of that here in upstate NY. Not a big deal for me. The main problem I have with CA is the astronomical housing costs and extreme inequality, which are the result of the free-market and not Evil Liberals.
Seriously? The result of the free-market?
As far as the housing costs go, one problem is that builders are not building "affordable" housing anymore (as they did in the 70's) like the tract homes found in Mira Mesa, where we bought our first home for $21,500 in 1972. In today's dollars (and I did the check) that comes nowhere close to what those same houses are selling for today. That has to do with California weather (desirability = demand) and the expanding population (in spite of the fact that many long time residents are leaving the state), creating a housing shortage in San Diego. Builders are only building more upscale houses, while those older homes built in the 70's have skyrocketed into the $500,000 + range.
But other factors affect housing costs for builders, and that is environmental regulations. They were being prevented from building on certain lands to protect things like "vernal pools" (mud holes) and "mesa mint." They were being required to submit environmental impact studies and other things as well. All these things cost money.
Free-market does not create "inequality." When everyone has equal opportunity, "inequality" is caused by lack of education (lack of skills) or some other cause.
Nice . Oh wow 550k for that. Well I paid 180k for my house in Austin, Tx , and its larger than that. Half my neighborhood is from California , wonder why all of them keep telling me to never go there. Hmmmm... must be something? right?
Real estate is solely supply vs. demand.
Do the math.
Austin costs more than that now, no?
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But other factors affect housing costs for builders, and that is environmental regulations. They were being prevented from building on certain lands to protect things like "vernal pools" (mud holes) and "mesa mint." They were being required to submit environmental impact studies and other things as well. All these things cost money.
Yes, environmental regulations increase costs, but they are probably a (distant) secondary factor.
The main reason is desirability: a lot of people are willing (and able) to pay top dollar for nice weather and CA culture. So plenty of people will move to CA even if it means living paycheck to paycheck with no money left over for spending, saving, or investing.
I grew up in an ultra-conservative Christian sect in the Northeast, so I’m used to conservative attitudes and lousy weather. It’s not worth it (to me) to pay 4x for half the house, just to live in CA. But for plenty of other people, it is worth it. Quite a few people are even willing to live with roommates to make it happen.
For all the talk about “California Liberals,†I don’t see anything “liberal†about California except for social issues like gay marriage.
California has Latin American levels of income inequality and poverty. Yes, it’s a huge economy, but most of it is concentrated in the Bay Area and Los Angeles with huge areas of dirt-poor agricultural economies in-between. Most of the economic output gets sunk into the Mortgage and Real Estate economy because of the astronomical housing costs. The banks and city landowners are getting the most of the fruits of the world’s sixth largest economy.
Yes, California has a lot of amazing weather and scenery, but there’s plenty of social dysfunction to go along with it.
That is the result of liberal policies. It may not be the intention of liberal policies but when liberal policies are put into practice that's what you get.
I live comfortably with all of that here in upstate NY. Not a big deal for me. The main problem I have with CA is the astronomical housing costs and extreme inequality, which are the result of the free-market and not Evil Liberals.
You live with most of those things in NY State but not all. For example there is no Prop 13 in New York State Also NY while Dem dominated is not as much of a one party state as CA
That is the result of liberal policies. It may not be the intention of liberal policies but when liberal policies are put into practice that's what you get.
Higher taxes will increase the cost of living, yes. But taxes where I live are high (from liberal NY state policies) and yet the overall COL is low here due to affordable housing. Nobody gets bragging rights for living in the Southern Tier of New York State, the winters here are cold, and we have a Rust Belt economy. Nobody dreams of living where I live. The end result is affordability despite liberal policies.
It’s all about supply and demand when it comes to housing costs.
You live with most of those things in NY State but not all. For example there is no Prop 13 in New York State Also NY while Dem dominated is not as much of a one party state as CA
I thought prop 13 was a policy to put a cap on property taxes. How is prop 13 a liberal policy?
I thought prop 13 was a policy to put a cap on property taxes. How is prop 13 a liberal policy?
It means low property taxes and high taxes on everything else.
A similar model to the Euro social democracies.
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