The California Dream is Becoming Less Achievable

Writing in The Atlantic, Conor Friedersdorf assesses the forces that are making the 'California dream' more and more difficult to achieve. "The generations that reaped the benefits of the postwar era in what was the most dynamic place in the world are poised to take the California Dream to their graves by betraying a promise the state has offered from the start."

As Friedersdorf writes, "even as California began to truly embrace its diversity, laying part of the foundation for a better future, the state’s leaders and residents shut the door on economic opportunity, betraying the other half of the state’s foundational promise." Despite recent outmigration, "California is still forecast to add millions of additional residents in coming years, but though they may be treated more equally than in the past, the state is unprepared to offer them upward mobility." Yet, "[i]f California fails to offer young people and newcomers the opportunity to improve their lot, the consequences will be catastrophic—and not only for California. The end of the California Dream would deal a devastating blow to the proposition that such a widely diverse polity can thrive."

According to Friedersdorf, "[m]ost anti-growth homeowners in well-to-do neighborhoods would be shocked by the damage they have done to their communities, their city, and their region." While "[g]rowth in those poorer neighborhoods served many of their residents well," but "the Westside’s approach to land-use policy hurt renters and people of color while exacerbating racial segregation" and "fueling environmentally disastrous sprawl to the north and east."

"California must now turn away from the wishful thinking of preservationists and toward the future it could enjoy. Success will not mean perfection, nor an end to hardship or challenges."