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Friday, December 21, 2007

Loving To Hate, Or Hating to Love Los Angeles?



Looks like L.A. Times blogger Peter Viles didn't expect the heated response he received when he posted this question, inspired by news that 89,000 people left California last year:

Why are people moving out of L.A. and California?

Get a load of some of the comments:

People can sugar coat it any way they want! We left California in October simply for the fact that it is in third world status and I don't understand the language!

Posted by: Janice Gammill | December 20, 2007 at 09:38 AM

++++++
why at least once a week I think about leaving California:

--the cost of housing (obviously)
--the fact that all the good jobs are clustered in areas we can't afford to live in
--high taxes
--obscene property taxes
--the knowledge that the state is just going to waste all your tax money anyway
--high utility costs
--the price of gas
--congestion that makes even a short trip through the suburbs at least half an hour
--corrupt state politicians
--free health care for illegals while native borns just go without
--the steady march toward "Mexifornia"
--some of the worst schools in the nation (see "Mexifornia" above)
--the fact that even CSU and the UC are moving out of reach for the middle class....

Posted by: do I have to draw you a diagram? | December 20, 2007 at 10:19 AM

With so much anti-L.A. vitriol (not to mention those offensive remarks), Viles now admits he goofed on the post:

I asked, "why are people moving out of L.A. and California," which was a fair question but also leading -- an invitation for L.A.-bashing. I could have asked a more balanced question, something along the lines of, "how do you rate the quality of life in L.A.? Is living here worth the price?"

As a result, the new post is now mostly filled with L.A. boosters. No surprise I'm in the booster category. Of course L.A. and California (especially California) have problems -- but what place doesn't?

I remember back in Hawai'i, the cost of living was so high, and jobs so scarce, that there was a lot of talk back then of a "brain drain" -- as locals hunting for top-tier jobs wound up having to move to the Mainland for a decent job. Could that ever happen here?

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