Rocky Mountain West Under Threat Of 'Californication'

25 January 2007 - 5:00am

Equity refuges from the Golden State are driving up home prices, increasing traffic, liberalizing politics and bringing crime to cities in the Interior West.

"Complaining about Californians is an old tradition in the Rockies; but it is reaching a new intensity. Five million people who were born in California now live outside the state. They are America's second-biggest domestic diaspora, after New Yorkers, and the most noticeable. California is by far the most populous state in the West—and still growing rapidly. It has become a demographic machine, drawing in foreigners while disgorging its own population across the deserts and mountains. In the process, it transforms those areas."

"The exiles' most obvious impact is on housing. 'People from California, who pay a fortune for tiny places, find this to be an appealing market,' says Rocky Anderson, the mayor of Salt Lake City...In Daybreak, a development south of Salt Lake City, many of the big houses are sold not to local Mormons (who have the largest families) but to new arrivals from the west."

"[And] although Denver does not have a Crenshaw Boulevard, it has a Crenshaw Mafia gang, which is named after a street in Los Angeles."

Full Story: Dreams of Californication

Source: The Economist, January 18, 2007

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Case in point...

Submitted by sunshyn24 on Fri, 01/26/2007 - 08:36.

Wow, vtboy99, I would rather that you did not speak for all Californians. It's obvious why people in other states dislike us when you speak in such an ignorant and demeaning way. I'm a native Californian, and by native, I mean 11th generation. Yes, that's an 11, meaning my family has been here for over 200 years. Now, while I am extremely proud of my unique heritage, my husband and I are planning to move to Utah in the near future. I love my heritage, and I love parts of California, but frankly, we are tired of the millions of people, the congestion, the crime, the trash, the neighbors right on top of us,and the seemingly growing lack of morals and common sense that were still around when both of us were growing up here. We are lucky enough to own a house that will provide us with a good chunk of equity when we sell, enough to buy a large, beautiful house on some land. And we are also looking forward to the very things it seems people are trying to change - a more family-oriented, slower, and frankly religious-based way of life. I'm not Mormon but I respect their family values and orientation. So, while I can very much sympathize with the natives in other states experiencing our inward flight, I hope you can give us a chance, and to the Californians moving out, try to remember that you will be looked at as a guest for a while, and you need to assimilate a little bit more.

Wow, your response is

Submitted by sunshyn24 on Fri, 01/26/2007 - 11:37.

Wow, your response is terribly open-minded and unbiased. I can't imagine why others might see it a different way.

Yeah most people I know (in the Bay Area) do agree...

Submitted by vtboy99 on Fri, 01/26/2007 - 11:43.

Thank you.

I am a 10th generation Californian myself...

Submitted by vtboy99 on Fri, 01/26/2007 - 09:45.

My family emigrated here prior to the Gold Rush, when California was still ruled by Spain, so what's your point?

I DO speak for Californians in saying that this is the best state in America, the most diverse, the most cultured, and the most enlightened. This is the Golden State, so quit your whining!

I love the fact that this is not a theocracy like Utah and that we do not base our so-called "Family Values" on exclusionary and racist religious text. Remember what happened to Newt Gingrich when he preached that rhetroic to the nation back in 1994? He went down in flames!

The growing lack of "morals" is a bunch of crap, just an excuse to justify the illegal activities of white trash, militia Minutemen who "patrol" our southern border hunting down undocumented workers. California happens to be a melting pot for cultures from all over the world. And I love the fact that California happens to be more tolerant of immigrants (legal or illegal) than anyplace else in America as well. And I love the millions of people who have chosen to live here, that's what makes our state economy the 6th largest in the world according to the California Legislative Analysts Office.

Everyone wants to live here! That's why it's so expensive. Take a supply and demand economics course.

I am not being ignorant and demeaning whatsoever. I am just merely responding to the negative, ignorant California haters across the Rocky Mountain West who love to bash our state for no reason.

And by the way, I would "live on top of my neighbors" anyday and sacrifice square footage rather than live in a social, cultural, and economic wasteland like Utah or Nevada.

Whoa, easy now!

Submitted by vtboy99 on Thu, 01/25/2007 - 11:34.

What the hell is wrong with California?

I LOVE the Golden State. Born and raised here. And I'm gonna die here. Absolutely no other state I'd rather live in...

"Californication" is such a lame, derogatory, hateful word.

Utah has always been jealous of us.

"Complaining about Californians"? Hell, I complain about libertarian, right wing, property rights, anti-government conservatives from Arizona, Utah, Nevada, Idaho, and Colorado all the time. It's a two way street, remember!

Actually it's not a two way

Submitted by Random Traffic Guy on Thu, 01/25/2007 - 16:16.

Actually it's not a two way street since those folks are not moving to California, complaining about their previous place, and then supporting the same changes that turned their previous place into an overpriced, overgoverned place to flee from... But please continue to enjoy Kalifornia and please stay there, thx much.

I will stay in California, because it is superior...

Submitted by vtboy99 on Thu, 01/25/2007 - 16:44.

Yes, it is a two way street! Especially when we get outspoken, annoying Rush Limbaugh fans who move here from the Rocky Mountain West and Texas complaining about our superior and enlightened politics, diversity, climate, culture, higher education, etc etc. They are the type of people who dumb down and "white trash" our wonderful state.

California also happens to have the most progressive and advanced legislation in the nation, covering everything from the environment to healthcare to living wages, most certainly not "over-governed" as you put it! The rest of the nation merely follows our lead.

I would NEVER want to live anywhere else but the Golden State thank you very much. 38,000,000 people can't be wrong!

And it's California, not Kalifornia, ok?