Quote:
Originally Posted by jmg
I've got a lot of conservative friends thinking about moving. Not me though, I love it down here. Cost of living is high, but that's okay, gotta pay to play: The weather is nice, the location is prime. We have mountains, beaches, deserts, forests, night life... all within an hour or so drive. I don't know how much taxes others are paying, but I am doing just fine.
As far as social unrest, there is definitely tension because of the diversity of people and opinions. I can see how if someone can't come to terms with living with a difference of opinion, that maybe its easier to move away where there are more like-minded people. However, tolerance is more than just letting things go, it's about the capacity to endure. You can't challenge your ideals and grow as a person if you choose to run away from other opinions. I couldn't imagine going to another country and NOT trying the local cuisine, or studying and trying to understand a local culture and lifestyle. Why would my open-mindedness suddenly be closed just because I am in my own country?
I have family and friends here... roots. If I'm not happy, then I'll do what it takes to make it better as a citizen of this state. On a similar note, if I don't agree with how the US government is run, do I move to Canada? That's not very patriotic. That doesn't make our country stronger and it doesn't make me stronger. It's kinda just running away from a problem to be more comfortable. I don't live simply yearning for comfort.
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As someone who has lived in California (Bay Area) for 35 years, I think the downfall of the state goes even deeper than politics. It used to be a fantastic place to live and raise a family, the 70s, 80s, and 90s, were the golden years of California.
In the 2000s we saw a massive influx of people. This obviously lead to unbearable traffic and my commute went from 25 minutes to 90 minutes. My hometown went from a middle-class neighborhood to a very wealthy suburb very quickly. With that change we lost the laid-back California attitude and it was replaced with a yuppie stuck up demeanor. This also lead to a strain on the infrastructure, mandatory power outages (what other state does that?), water conservation issues, and constant road construction etc... Then of course there is the smog and unhealthy air. The newest danger seems to be the fires that seem to be more extreme each year, the air quality is so bad that old people are discouraged from going outside. I don't remember any of that growing up there.
I moved to Nashville a few years ago and it has that friendly neighborhood feel of California in the 80s. Everything is almost 50% cheaper it seems. To register my car in California cost $750 annually, the same car in Nashville is $62. My point is the quality of life in California no longer matches the expense of living there, therefore people are leaving in record numbers.