During the 12 months ending June 30, the number of people leaving California for another state exceeded by 61,100 the number who moved here from elsewhere in the U.S., according to state Finance Department statistics. The so-called "net outward migration" was the largest since 2011, when 63,300 more people fled California than entered. (snip) California has seen negative outward migration to other states for 22 of the last 25 years.The Bay Area is on track to become a "plantation" economy of wealthy "haves" served by poor "have nots." It's the likely fate of most of coastal California.
"There is a declining middle class in the Bay Area," said Christopher Hoene, executive director of the California Budget Policy Center, a research group that recently completed a study about income inequality in Silicon Valley. "Widening income inequality can create polarization socially and economically."
"The region's middle class has shrunk, while the numbers of lower-income and higher-income households has grown," the report stated. Silicon Valley, for the purposes of the study, consists of Santa Clara County, San Mateo County and San Francisco.
The downsides of overcrowding are well-known; above some relatively low number, higher population density is associated with lower perceived quality of life. The DrsC rarely experience traffic congestion or air pollution in the idyllic places we live, the result of careful planning and some luck. Hat tip to Drudge Report for the link.
