Why is everyone evacuating LA? (Los Angeles, Oakland: crime, layoffs, high school)

[BarcelonaFan]

Originally Posted by BillyBobJoeBobWilly

Small increase in taxes.. you people are nuts. And shipping jobs overseas? Are you talking about Obama's buddy Jeffery Immelt, CEO of GE? Who didn't pay corporate taxes and has factories all over the world (shipping jobs overseas)?

The dems are trying to crush our economy and with all the recent help, looks like they will succeed.

I'm in agreement with ctr88

The thing I laugh about right wing arguments such as this is that they cannot escape the Dem/GOP dichotomy.

When I mention problems with the economy, they automatically assume that it means that I am Democrat, as though a spurious argument like Obama being buddies with a CEO is somehow supposed to mean something to me?

The only ones that will crush the economy are the ones that we've let control more and more of the economy by de-regulating the hell out of it, leaving us at the whim of decisions from men lke Jeff Immelt.

[Think4Yourself]

Originally Posted by DFWtoLA

They all say, California is broke, crime is unbelievable, gangs, etc. Yet, no one seems to have specifics about any of this when pressed...just general consensus and personal opinion!!

Yep, personal opinion and nothing else to back it up. As for California being broke... The 2012 state government deficit was only $1.9 billion which is less than Texas's despite California being a much larger economy with a lot more people. Also even in the worst of the recession California's deficit to GDP ratio was only middle of the pack; literally 25th out of 50 states so, no, it isn't going broke and that's just a load of bullpucky being sold by right wing media outlets. High crime? Hell, the violent crime rate is higher on average in Texas than in California with San Diego being the safest big city in America consistently year after year with most California cities also being well below the national average. Gangs? Any big city has gangs but they mostly stay in the ghetto and the police keep them on a short leash.

In short, it sounds like a bunch of ignorant people flapping their gums about something they know nothing about.

[taydigga]

Originally Posted by genjy

The thing about Santa Clarita is that it's geographically disconnected from the rest of "Los Angeles."

From Downtown LA, the SFV is already over a hill--and the Santa Clarita Valley is over ONE MORE hill.

It is really different from let's say driving from Long Beach to Hollywood or Santa Monica to El Monte, where it's basically developed and relatively flat all the way through from point A to point B.

I disagree. Both are 30 min drives and I know plenty of people that live in Santa Clarita that are in LA all the time. Sure, they don't live in LA the city and if you're talking locally, you say I don't live in LA, I live in Santa Clarita but if you're talking about where you grew up and the metropolitan area, then it's LA. From outsiders it's still LA. Yeah it's another hill over and etc., and it has it's own feel but it's not far enough from LA to not be influenced by the things of LA.

[pwright1]

People keep talking about how expensive LA is but I find cities like DC, Seattle, San Francisco, New York and Boston Just as expense or in some cases, more expensive. What's shocking is LA's average income levels are low especially compared to these cities.

[jm1982]

True about the income levels, lot's of poor people here. They live in all those run down apartment buildings.

To answer OPs question, I think the poor financial situation of L.A will effect you. You mentioned highways there are a lot of projects to expand highways going on now, but their are so many potholes it's not funny.

Whenever you call the city regarding a city service and why it might take so long to fix...the person working there will say "Because of the budget...we can't blah blah" That directly effects you. If someone graffitis your property or dumps stuff illegally or if you call 911 the response times are VERY VERY slow.

You definitely will do better in smaller cities I would imagine within L.A county - Culver City, Santa Monica, Burbank etc but they are still in L.A county and the State of CA

Another way the economy effects you. As the finances of the city have gone done you notice that there are a lot more shady or questionable type of shops opening up, the city seems desperate for money. Just like a desperate person is willing to do what they can for money, a desperate city does the same.

I have a relative that just moved to Houston area and she mentioned that they are BUILDING new schools , in L.A the public schools are mostly very old and falling apart , it's pretty sad.

[BarcelonaFan]

Another way the economy effects you. As the finances of the city have gone done you notice that there are a lot more shady or questionable type of shops opening up, the city seems desperate for money. Just like a desperate person is willing to do what they can for money, a desperate city does the same.

I have a relative that just moved to Houston area and she mentioned that they are BUILDING new schools , in L.A the public schools are mostly very old and falling apart , it's pretty sad.

As far as development, Houston is putting LA to shame. But then again Houston is getting super competitive as far as higher end pay and good jobs. Everyone with an MBA or MS in Engineering is moving over there. So yes they will be building more schools for their kids, more shopping centers and more affordable nice housing.

And yes, LA has some SHADY businesses. It feels like like every job involving a small time office is a scam of some sort or a questionable business that runs a shoddy operation.

Work ethic is so bad and morale so low among workers here. I don't blame them though.

[moonsparkle]

Is the low work ethic...ever better than the judgmental "everyone should want to work overtime" mentality the rest of the country is known for?

In the midwest, it's also like people keep tabs on what company you work for. Like that completely defines you above all.

[BillyBobJoeBobWilly]

Originally Posted by BarcelonaFan

And yes, LA has some SHADY businesses. It feels like like every job involving a small time office is a scam of some sort or a questionable business that runs a shoddy operation.

With all the laws in place that California has and they cannot control this? Does that mean that big government and high taxes do not work? Or that the state government is just not big enough?


What is it that Texas is doing that California is not? Why are people moving from California to Texas?

[moonsparkle]

Because TX has cheap land. You can buy a brand new 3k sq ft house in suburban Dallas or Houston for under 200k.

[Think4Yourself]

Originally Posted by BillyBobJoeBobWilly

What is it that Texas is doing that California is not? Why are people moving from California to Texas?

People are not leaving California as the population keeps going up. Those people who do leave (and we still have a net positive population growth) tend to fall into one of two categories. They're either elderly retired people who are looking to cash out their equity growth in their homes and retire in the cheapest place they can find or they're young working poor couples with kids who just can't hope to buy a house in such a desirable location from their one $12 per hour job. Texas tends to attract these economic low achievers as land is dirt cheap due to the fact that most of Texas simply isn't a very desirable place so demand is lower than supply.

Don't try to tell me it is bad for the economy to have low earning economically unproductive people leave the state though especially when they're mostly replaced by high net worth people who actually can afford to live where ever they choose. There is no shame in a low income person moving to a less desirable or in demand place where they can actually afford to buy a home but the right wing's claims that some how having poor people leave is a bad thing just doesn't add up.