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Possibly Texas, but not soon - certainly not within the next two decades. There's been a good bit of out-migration away from CA, and it has a LOT of serious issues, but it's still a magnet for immigration - especially from other parts of the Pacific Rim. The economic ascendancy of multiple Asian countries (and some Latin ones as well) will continue to have a big impact - CA's numbers will grow. But the black and white share of the population will change enormously, as CA is still attractive as either a permanent home or a convenient jumping-off point for immigrants from Asia - it's closer than most of the rest of the US, and there are large, settled, economically diverse (lower-, middle-, and upper-class) ethnic communities that have deep roots in CA. That alone will ensure a certain permanence in who goes there.
Silicon Valley and Hollywood are also very powerful drivers of immigration - they are more famous internationally than California's economic woes are, so in entertainment, and in technology, it will likewise remain the number one spot for any aspirants to go, although it does bear mentioning that other states (North Carolina and New York both spring to mind) have made strong inroads in tech and entertainment, and New York in particular is a global epicenter of popular culture as well.
California's liberalism - some people despise it, some people fear it or feel threatened by it, some people love it, and some people feel a sense of liberation within it - also deserves mention, regardless of how individually any one person feels about it: there are people who leave the state because of it, but there are and will continue to be many people who will flock to California, try to make the best of the situation (in light of CA's economics), and some with thrive. In any case, that California 'sensibility' is as attractive to as many people as it is repugnant, and the fact that CA is so heavily populated by recent migrants from elsewhere in the US, and elsewhere in the world, and will state that CA's left-leaning climate (in places) is yet another reason for being there. It could be argues that the free-thinking vibe of the Bay area, historically, is one of the many reasons that CA's tech/r&d/entreprenurial growth was so ferocious between the late 1940s and 2000 - much of that growth was centered in precisely the area that was also populated by people who fostered an extremely free-thinking attitude, in lifestyle, but also in business, and those two things were very much linked together in CA.
Thus, while I think CA has stumbled badly, and will eventually be overtaken by someone (Texas, if for no other reason, has more geography), but while the place is down, it's definitely not out.
The only populous state even coming close to California is Texas, and Texas isn't exactly catching up. Haters gonna hate, I guess. Don't worry, we won't miss you. As damn expensive as it is to live here, as many of you as want are free to leave.
Wow! I didn't know that. I thought it was one of the more urban states.
It is one of the most urban states. In terms of where people live. Thats what highly urbanized means. It refers to the percentage of people living in urban areas. Not what percentage of the land in an area is urban land cover.
Arizona, Florida, and even Texas these days have highly urbanized populations. Meaning the % living in urban areas is high.
But California has large expanses of uninhabited desert, mountains, and forests up north. With the exception of the fertile river basins, including the central valley, etc. you don't have as much rural inhabiting population. And even there, as much of the farming is dependent on migrant labor to pick fruits and vegetables, many of them live in towns, small towns, but towns nonetheless.
This is conversely with states like Iowa or Kansas for example, which are highly rural in population, but everyone is spread out evenly across farms and small farm towns, but with almost no uninhabited wilderness, as virtually everything is farmable.
As real as Californias problems are, people make a much bigger deal of the problems, at least in terms of their permanance.
There is a major reason, why people cling to Californias problems more than those of other regions:
California up until the 90s, when defense was cut back at the end of the cold war, basically experienced non-stop population and economic growth, romanticizing and glamourizing than anywhere else. Every other region has experienced decline, problems, and stagnation worse than California ever will.
Compare this with other regions such as:
The South which was a major economic backwater for nearly a century after the aftermath of the civil war,
OR
The urban-industrail core of the US which included the often cited rustbelt but even includes New York, which nearly (or did?) file bankruptcy, and lost close to a million people in the 70s.
States, cities, and countries go in cycles.
If California was in such bad shape, the cost of living would go down dramatically, as no one would want to live there.
As long as the cost of living is high, that is evidence that its not going anywhere.
Yeah Cali is for the fresh & new the popular people that like to dress and keep there bodies healthy so I understand why you wouldn't live on the westcoast it's not for outta shape citizen lol
That's funny since I'm an avid bicyclist, jogger, weight lifter, and martial artist. Also funny since I read/follow the style rules in GQ religiously.
Don't be an idiot. New Yorkers would own any West Coaster any day.
If it wasn't for the fact that sooner or later the oil industry will collapse taking along with it
all the countries "states" that depend on it to sustain their economy I would've said that Texas might surpass Cali at some point.
So no, I don't see any other state surpassing California in the foreseebale future.
In fact California is now growing faster than the national average.
You keep using the word 'people' as if the domestic outmigration of Americans from California is irrelevant. Again, most of us don't consider growth from fellow Americans the same as growth from Asian and Hispanic immigrants. It's really not the same thing.
Wow. Just wow.
100-1, how much do you want to bet that this poster would not say that to a Hispanic or Asian person to their face in real life?
Much of what has been discussed in this thread erroneously is the assumption that Hispanics and Asians count less as people, and in fact, aren't really people to begin with.
The fact that so many posters here have fallen for the obvious troll schtick as a serious point of contention has really made me lose respect for so many posters here.
As for the thread, how can you even predict what will happen a week from now, never mind 5, 10, 20, or 50 years from now?
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