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In all fairness to the locals who are frustrated by transplants from CA (myself being one), I don't think your perspective is really apples to apples. Sad but all too true, most everything revolves around the almighty dollar. When one is a resident in CA, the transplants coming in don't cause any major economic shift for the already existing residents. There might be some imperceptible extra competition for jobs at the margin but CA does not usually have problems with unemployment during times when people are migrating there. Hence, it is the new transplants to CA who are struggling to adjust THEIR life to fit the CA standard of living.
For those in the PDX area, when people migrate from CA, or NY or Seattle, it is the actual LOCAL residents who have to adjust their economic reality as the new migrants don't really have much of a problem paying above market rate for Portland properties, which are still cheap relative to those areas, though overpriced most everywhere IMO including PDX. Hence, the already existing residents are the ones having to adjust to the way the "transplants" are living to a large extent.
Also, from a cultural perspective, because CA metro areas are so large, tens of thousands can migrate there from the PNW and they wouldn't make any perceptible dent in the culture even if they wanted to. And quite frankly, they seem less likely to even want to try based on their overall personalities from what I see. Californians are more outgoing and oftentimes more brash and sometimes outwardly exerting their way of how things should be, which I could see rubbing some people the wrong way, though they are good people with usually the best of intentions.
Of course, a lot of this is generalizing but from my experiences, this seems to be the reason why what you stated is true.
Do you realize how many Bay Area natives and Los Angelenos are pushed out every day because of ALL the transplants from everywhere, including transplants from less populated areas like the PNW, who just NEED to live in CA? We had ridiculous gentrification of many of our SF lower income neighborhoods and that is why SF us now full of a hole transplants that real Californians can't stand. The idea that Oregonians are the only people in the country going through massive gentrification is simply untrue. A good part of Brooklyn, NY has been ruined by gentrification. So my example makes sense. Californians were kinder and more accepting to transplants a few decades back and maybe we should have not have been. However, the culture of CA is to accept immigrants because makes an area more diverse. Reason why Oregon has never been diverse. Xenophobia sucks.
Yes, I'm quite aware of Californians who are getting pushed out of their home cities due to rising costs of living. One only needs to see the folks here arguing about Californians coming in to see that (because many of them are fleeing due to the rising costs). However, the difference there is that transplants aren't coming in waving their money around and brazenly causing the cost of living to go up in the Bay Area.
It's being driven by the innovation of companies like Apple, Facebook, Google, and thousands of other big to small companies requiring skilled workers that don't exist even in the Bay Area (at least in sufficient supply). Many of the residents there may hate the situation, but they don't see people coming in so that they can take jobs at Starbucks or Target or a litany of other lower to mid level jobs as well as mid level professional occupations. Many of the transplants there are largely attributed to H1 visa types and the best intellectuals of other areas of the country are filling jobs that your average person there can't fill. There AREN'T enough qualified, let alone good SW engineers, or scientists, or various other mid to higher level professionals to fill the needs when things are hot. The Bay Area residents mostly understand this dynamic so its hard to get angry with the transplants themselves.
This area is different because the folks coming in come with money and right off the bat are so willing to pay higher real estate prices, which eventually causes ALL products and services to go up in price due to the significant increase in overhead. What's more, much of the available jobs here don't require significantly specialized skills to perform and so when transplants fill jobs here, they're taking jobs that would and could otherwise go to existing residents.
There are plenty of exceptions to both points I've made above but there is undoubtedly a clear difference between the two areas.
Even with the tough environment here, folks from other parts of the country who regularly talk about relocating to PDX can make a go of it IMO, contrary to many of the naysayers. Some may fail but many can succeed and "get by". For a local here or anywhere, it's not such a turnoff to see people dealing with challenges and overcoming them to make a modest life for themselves. Contrast that with a Bay Area native who can come here and easily flash a half a million dollars around and buy the first decent house they like listed for $450K and one can at least understand the frustration the locals may feel.
Someone from Alabama or Iowa with dreams of living in San Francisco or Silicon Valley and want to relocate there would find it virtually impossible unless they're highly educated, and even then, they better have some specialized in demand skill to offer if they want to get by.
[quote=FSF;44016892]Yes, I'm quite aware of Californians who are getting pushed out of their home cities due to rising costs of living. One only needs to see the folks here arguing about Californians coming in to see that (because many of them are fleeing due to the rising costs). However, the difference there is that transplants aren't coming in waving their money around and brazenly causing the cost of living to go up in the Bay Area.
It's being driven by the innovation of companies like Apple, Facebook, Google, and thousands of other big to small companies requiring skilled workers that don't exist even in the Bay Area (at least in sufficient supply). Many of the residents there may hate the situation, but they don't see people coming in so that they can take jobs at Starbucks or Target or a litany of other lower to mid level jobs as well as mid level professional occupations. Many of the transplants there are largely attributed to H1 visa types and the best intellectuals of other areas of the country are filling jobs that your average person there can't fill. There AREN'T enough qualified, let alone good SW engineers, or scientists, or various other mid to higher level professionals to fill the needs when things are hot. The Bay Area residents mostly understand this dynamic so its hard to get angry with the transplants themselves.
This area is different because the folks coming in come with money and right off the bat are so willing to pay higher real estate prices, which eventually causes ALL products and services to go up in price due to the significant increase in overhead. What's more, much of the available jobs here don't require significantly specialized skills to perform and so when transplants fill jobs here, they're taking jobs that would and could otherwise go to existing residents.
There are plenty of exceptions to both points I've made above but there is undoubtedly a clear difference between the two areas.
Even with the tough environment here, folks from other parts of the country who regularly talk about relocating to PDX can make a go of it IMO, contrary to many of the naysayers. Some may fail but many can succeed and "get by". For a local here or anywhere, it's not such a turnoff to see people dealing with challenges and overcoming them to make a modest life for themselves. Contrast that with a Bay Area native who can come here and easily flash a half a million dollars around and buy the first decent house they like listed for $450K and one can at least understand the frustration the locals may feel.
Someone from Alabama or Iowa with dreams of living in San Francisco or Silicon Valley and want to relocate there would find it virtually impossible unless they're highly educated, and even then, they better have some specialized in demand skill to offer if they want to get by.[/QUOTE
Transplants from everywhere were pushing out locals in the 1980's. It's hard for many to realize that The Bay Area was a desirable place to live before Google. I know multi- generational, PROUD San Franciscans who were pushed out BEFORE Google. Talk to multigenerational Brooklynites who have pushed out by hipsters from the Mid-West, who have displaced real NYers. Has nothing to do with Google. Portland isn't special. Yuppies and gentrifiers take over areas because they want to.
I don't know what specifically happened in the 1980s in SF, but I completely disagree with any notion that "transplants from everywhere were pushing out locals in the 1980s" in Silicon Valley (which is more populated than SF). I grew up there and graduated with the vast majority of people who lived there throughout my entire childhood. There wasn't any "pushing out". The people were coming in for sure, but the whole place was growing and no one was pushed out as far as I saw. And I was by no means all that well off as a kid so it's not like I was insulated in a wealthy area where that wouldn't have concerned my family if so many families were being "pushed out". I know all too well what the Bay Area was like before most people even owned a PC. And it wasn't yuppies or gentrifiers doing any of that until probably the last 20 years, with a big emphasis on the last 10 years.
This is the same conversation that is going on in Denver right now. Tons of people coming in from SF, LA, Chicago, and NY who look at housing here and laugh at the cost. Then go on and on how the traffic here is so good, and how everything is so cheap. Insert a joke about how tiny Denver is and how there aren't enough high end amenities, or how out dated everything is, then complain on and on about the weather...I can see why long time residents of Denver are getting annoyed.
This is a problem in a lot of desirable cities across the country though. People started flocking to these places during the recession because they were super cheap. I loved traveling around between 2008-2012 because cities were on the up swing without any developer presence. Portland, Buffalo, Brooklyn, Detroit, Denver, Raleigh had a strong migration of people who didn't really have a lot career opportunities going for them, but they could have a decent living in these places. You saw a lot of "settling" in certain neighborhoods, and people could improve a place without gentrifying it. Once the job market got better, and people started to make a living, they would want to live in these "trendy" cities that they heard about...bringing along their high income.
I really do miss the Portland from about 10 years ago.
I don't know what specifically happened in the 1980s in SF, but I completely disagree with any notion that "transplants from everywhere were pushing out locals in the 1980s" in Silicon Valley (which is more populated than SF). I grew up there and graduated with the vast majority of people who lived there throughout my entire childhood. There wasn't any "pushing out". The people were coming in for sure, but the whole place was growing and no one was pushed out as far as I saw. And I was by no means all that well off as a kid so it's not like I was insulated in a wealthy area where that wouldn't have concerned my family if so many families were being "pushed out". I know all too well what the Bay Area was like before most people even owned a PC. And it wasn't yuppies or gentrifiers doing any of that until probably the last 20 years, with a big emphasis on the last 10 years.
SF was getting yuppified in the 80's. SF and Silicon Valley are nut the same thing. SF started to become wildly popular with yuppies during the 80's whereas Silicon Valley was still quite sleepy. And yes, when an area becomes popular and transplants move in... locals start getting pushed out. Happened in SF before the dot commers ruined the city in the late 90's. The 80's saw the yuppification and a decade later... BOOM!
SF was getting yuppified in the 80's. SF and Silicon Valley are nut the same thing. SF started to become wildly popular with yuppies during the 80's whereas Silicon Valley was still quite sleepy. And yes, when an area becomes popular and transplants move in... locals start getting pushed out. Happened in SF before the dot commers ruined the city in the late 90's. The 80's saw the yuppification and a decade later... BOOM!
And as for Silicon Valley. In the 80's it included Palo Alto, Mtn. View, Santa Clara area and SJ was not even really considered part of SV back then. Those areas put together had a smaller population than SF did. San Jose was a former sleepy agricultural area that started to develop, poorly IMO, during the 80's. I remember the time well, too. I spent time in many parts of the Bay Area in the 70's and 80's. Yuppies came in the 80's which made gentrification on a grander scale possible in the 90's. The tech issue is separate. Tech compounded the issue. It's why so many areas in the country don't want the Silicon Valley model in their back yard.
You never addressed the issue in Brooklyn which was ruined by hipsters but not by big tech. So see... the issue is everywhere and not just cherry picked cities like Portland. London is also seeing gentrification which is a fairly hot topic internationally.
Last edited by Yankeemama; 05-11-2016 at 10:58 AM..
There's 80 million more people in the US since 1986, there hasn't been any new urban cities created in the US in the last 30 years outside of newer suburban areas. So basically there's a lot of people to fill in the urban development of the past 150 years. Canada is even worse off because we only have like three larger cities for the whole country.
I wonder how long it will be before people start moving more towards the old Midwestern cities in higher numbers. The West Coast is all pricey at this point and most of the Rocky Mountain cities are getting there--Denver is already there. The bigger cities in Texas aren't cheap for the most part either at this point unless you live further out.
There's 80 million more people in the US since 1986, there hasn't been any new urban cities created in the US in the last 30 years outside of newer suburban areas. So basically there's a lot of people to fill in the urban development of the past 150 years. Canada is even worse off because we only have like three larger cities for the whole country.
I wonder how long it will be before people start moving more towards the old Midwestern cities in higher numbers. The West Coast is all pricey at this point and most of the Rocky Mountain cities are getting there--Denver is already there. The bigger cities in Texas aren't cheap for the most part either at this point unless you live further out.
If you are looking for the next Portland in the midwest, it's Milwaukee.
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