California’s crime and affordability issues have been put on display during the pandemic, and the departures have continued.
Departures from the California, after briefly dipping due to the pandemic, are 12% higher than at the end of March 2020. Entrances into the state, meanwhile, are 38% lower than at the start of the pandemic. Since July 2020, the gap between domestic migration into the state and Californians moving out has widened.
The gap has been most pronounced in the Bay Area — San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties have gone from a steadily even balance of entrances and exits to wide gaps as shutdowns and remote work made living in the area, and shouldering the astronomic cost of living, unnecessary.
What’s more, while Californians in most counties are less likely to move now than when the pandemic started, residents of Bay Area counties are more likely to leave now. The cost of living is undoubtedly the main driver, but the surge in organized crime in San Francisco certainly isn’t helping, as residents realize that district attorney Chesa Boudin cares more about criminals than the victims of crime.
The Bay Area and Los Angeles County both lost population in the same year for the first time, according to the Associated Press. LA took its COVID measures even further than the state of California, including banning outdoor dining and reimposing a universal mask mandate months before Gov. Gavin Newsom followed suit.
The tragedy of California continues. There is no way a state with California’s weather and diverse geography should be bleeding residents. But it’s been mismanaged by Democrats at the state and local levels. Rampant homelessness, a burdensome cost of living, mismanaged water issues and wildfires, and a nonchalant attitude toward crime have convinced more and more Californians that the state is becoming unlivable.
Though some California Democrats have come around on confronting crime, or at least have taken a more serious tone, the state’s economic issues will continue to persist as long as Democrats are in charge. The shine can be restored to the Golden State, but a political change is needed if Californians want to keep the state accessible to the middle and lower classes.
