Sacramento Bee: Golden State losing folks as old Dust Bowl beckons

[marmar]

Golden State losing folks as old Dust Bowl beckons

By Phillip Reese
[e-mail]

Published: Sunday, Jun. 14, 2009 - 12:00 am | Page 1A


OKLAHOMA CITY – Fleeing the Great Depression and a drought unprecedented in American history, a vast wave of Oklahomans and Texans dubbed "Okies" loaded everything they could onto crowded vehicles during the 1930s and headed west for California. Today, in huge numbers, their grandchildren are moving back.

It doesn't take Loren O'Laughlin much time to come up with a reason why, in between bites of a burger at an Oklahoma City diner. "There aren't really people lined up on the streets here competing for a few scraps," said O'Laughlin, 23, who grew up in Sacramento but recently graduated from Oklahoma Christian University and opted to stay put. "Small businesses thrive here because networking is so easy."

As California housing prices went wild in the middle of this decade, hundreds of thousands of residents scratched their heads and moved to places where homes were still affordable, state and federal statistics show. When prices started falling and unemployment started rising, many continued to leave California for healthier job markets.

The result was five consecutive years when California saw more residents going to other states than coming. Although many stayed closer to home – Nevada, Oregon, Arizona – the mid-South saw a large influx.

From 2004 through 2007, about 275,000 Californians left the Golden State for the old Dust Bowl states of Oklahoma and Texas, twice the number that left those two states for California, recent Internal Revenue Service figures show. In fact, the mid-South gained more residents from California during those four years than either Oregon, Nevada or Arizona. The trend continued into 2008. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/1944947.html

[ananda]

1. Karma is such a wonderful thing...

nt

[Cha]

2. Good..if Oklahoma is your thing

then do stay put..California, among other big problems, has too many people.

[marmar]

3. I know what you mean.....if I lived in California, regardless of the difficulties....

..... I couldn't imagine moving to Oklahoma or Texas.

[MineralMan]

4. Yabbut....there are other alternatives....

The Midwest is full of great cities and towns. Remember...Iowa legislated for gay marriage. Minnesota is Al Franken country. Here in Minneapolis/St. Paul right now, you can buy a nice house for $100-150K. A very nice house. Iowa City is another great place to live.

The winters sorta suck, but that's dealable with.

And I'm a lifelong Californian, who moved here to take care of in-laws. Now...I love it here.

[marmar]

5. As a fellow resident of a Blue Great Lakes state, I agree with you too.....

...... I'm thinking specifically about Oklahoma and Texas.

[MineralMan]

11. Well, yes...

OTOH, there are a couple of very nice cities in both of those states. Austin comes to mind in Texas, and...well...I can't think of one in Oklahoma, to be frank.

[kestrel91316]

13. IKWYM. They are even hotter than we are most of the year, lol.

And that's a hard thing to accomplish.

When I retire, it's either the PNW or the UPPER Midwest for me. Someplace with rain more than 6 days a year.....

[Dramarama]

6. reads like an ad for OK

[ContinentalOp]

7. Great, let's turn CA Bluer! -nt-

[Cha]

16. Really.

Get the hypocrites off to wherever.

[AlCzervik]

8. great, have a great trip and don't come back, ya hear?

[Uben]

9. I don't blame them for leaving...

.....I would, too! We have seen some Californians move here where I live. Most of them came here to retire. They found that the house they sold for a million bucks in California could support their retirement here in Texas because the cost of living is so much cheaper. And, they are really nice folks! I live in a gated community with 24 hr security patrols, an 18 hole PGA rated golfcourse, a 700 acre constant level lake, we have a lodge and tavern, a disc golf course, two public beaches, and we have a club or organization for just about everything! All the golf one can play for less than $200/mo in dues, which includes trash pick-up.
We have some 1300 homes here, but a lot of those are owned by weekenders, folks who only come up on weekends or holidays.

Being able to retire in your forties is a dream for most people, and a lot of them are realizing that dream, myself included, although I was born and raised here.

[mrbill]

26. sounds like a nice place to live except for one small detail

Too many republicans out at the lake on 902. Maybe some California transplants will change things.

Ever run into Pat Peale, the infamous republican convention band-aid lady?

Just seeing her in the grocery store in town always ruins my day.

[Uben]

27. Ha!

Yeah, I still see her every now and then. Funny how no one out here is talking politics anymore. They avoid the subject like a plague! With the golf course being closed for a couple of months for renovation, I'm wondering how many marriages are gonna suffer from them having to spend time with their families?
Most of the republicans out here are alright as long as you are one on one. They're just like everyone else in Gainesville until you get em in group, then they think they are somebody! A lot of big fish wannabes in a small pond! Growing up in GAinesville, I never thought I would ever live at the lake, but I really do like it out here. The damned gang shit goin on in town pisses me off.

Now that Bush turned out to be such a failure, you don't hear much from the Peale bunch, just a snide remark about Obama every now and then. I love being able to shove Bush down their throat every time the subject comes up. Even a lot of republicans out here are embarassed by the little twerp!

In the past, you hardly saw anyone out here at the dem polling place, but we are getting more and more now. We have a little group of dems out here that we associate with, but most of my time is spent with my old buddies in town. Before I moved to the lake, I never got involved with politics, but a big dose of GOP BS did the trick! I found this place after Bush was selected, and have been here almost daily ever since. Still haven't figured out who you are, but I bet we know each other. I been around here for 54 yrs!

[Mari333]

10. come to michigan we may not have jobs

but we have water.

[roody]

15. I LOVE Michigan---in the summer.

[tularetom]

12. My dad did that before it was popular

Went back to Oklahoma after he retired in the 80's. He'd been here since he was 16.

Never catch me doin it though.

I can't imagine things getting bad enough here to make that move.

[no_hypocrisy]

14. Arnie really is the Terminator . . . . . of California.

[Whoa_Nelly]

17. Grew up in Oklahoma City

Left in 1970 for Tucson, CA for 11 years, then northern NV, back to Tucson, and then in CA since 2005.
Am now leaving for "home" in OKC in four days because of the economic meltdown here, no teaching jobs, and another 30-40K education jobs are slated to be cut before August.

Am going where I still know people and have the opportunity to work and survive the next several years of our nation being just about FUBAR.

:hi:

[juno jones]

18. I first moved from IL to CA in 1984.

After some peregrination, I'm finally settled in WA (for now).

I don't think I could ever go back to the midwest. I like the culture here better. I am not the oddest looking person in the room, in fact there's usually a selection, and I like that too.

But to those with minds that never moved beyond a midwest/southern redneck mentality and don't really care where they are because they really don't notice, don't let the door hitcha.

[blue_onyx]

20. You seem to be..

as narrow-minded as those who you feel "never moved beyond a midwest/southern redneck mentality." So many people seem to have a misguided stereotype of the midwest. The midwest has many different types of people, cities, and cultures and is a great area to live.

[earth mom]

19. From the slant in the article OK sounds like a mecca for bible thumpers. nt

[mitchum]

21. I picked up on that also...

this really struck me

O'Laughlin, 23, who grew up in Sacramento but recently graduated from Oklahoma Christian University and opted to stay put. "Small businesses thrive here because networking is so easy."

Hmmm...I wonder just what goes into making that networking so easy (for some)?
I could hazard a guess...

[Manifestor_of_Light]

22. It's easy to network if you and your friends all go to the same church.

Because the people are so much alike.

If ya don't go to their church, tough luck..... :shrug:

You couldn't make me live in Oklahoma. And I'm a native Texan. Texas has its share of ignorant bible thumpers. Oklahoma has even more.

[bridgit]

23. Ah yes, the *true* believers

[Kickin_Donkey]

24. I don't know that this is a bad thing ...

California is way too congested as it is. We could stand to lose some people.

And the types of people who would find Oklahoma and Texas so agreeable are probably Republican.

Then again, if too many people start moving out, we'll start losing congressional seats and electoral votes.

[JVS]

25. As someone from an area that had a lot of people leave in the 80s, I can tell you it's a mixed bag

Prices for housing will go down (maybe even to a reasonable level) and roads will be less congested. On the downside, a smaller population will generate less tax revenue and supporting the infrastructure designed for the larger population will eat up a good portion of it.