Hollywood stars such as Dean Cain and Mark Wahlberg aren’t the only ones leaving the former “Golden State.” Under liberal policies, the state has turned to lead instead, and since April 2020 more than 700,000 former residents have bailed. They have found Texas, Florida, Washington, Tennessee, and Oregon much safer, friendlier, cheaper, cleaner, and more pleasant.
Dean Cain, a highly successful actor perhaps best known for his role as Superman in the popular TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, minced no words in explaining why he moved from California:
The policies that are in place there, the tax structures, the tax on energy, the tax on gas, the tax on everything you spend, the sales tax, the state income tax, I mean, it just goes on and on and on.
[They’ve] got 10% of the nation’s population in California and 33% of the homeless.…
I finally just had it. I voted right the entire time. I was very Republican, and it just didn’t seem to make a difference.
So finally I said OK, I’m going to have to take my ball and go elsewhere.
“Elsewhere,” for Cain, is Las Vegas, where he is setting up his movie production studio. He will be neighbors with Mark Wahlberg, who also left the Hollywood scene to enjoy lower taxes and less crime.
While on Newsmax’s Rob Schmitt Tonight, Cain blamed California Governor Gavin Newsom: “The policies and the things [Newsom’s] putting in place are just awful. He’s driving out so many residents.”
He added:
The state income tax doesn’t exist here [in Nevada]. The costs are so much lower.…
You don’t need to live in California anymore.…
The policies in California, the tax policies, the homeless crisis, the poor work by the DAs, whether it’s [Los Angeles DA] George Gascon or others, the crime … [there’s] every reason in the world to get out.
That’s why [Newsom and his officials are] trying to come up with ideas like, “How can we tax anybody who lived here within the last 10 years, or anybody whose worth is over $10 million?”
Whatever it is, anybody with any sense is going to get out of there and go somewhere else, where they can keep the money that they make.… It only makes sense.
It’s just the arrogance of Gavin Newsom and of California … [it’s] one of the most business-unfriendly states that there are. That’s why Elon Musk left. That’s why Hollywood’s leaving.
The company that rents PODS (portable on-demand storage units) reported some of the reasons for the outbound flow that’s impacting its business:
So why are so many people leaving California?
To put it plainly, the number one reason is that California is expensive.
The state consistently ranks in the top five of the most expensive states in the country.
According to Zillow, between 2015 and 2022, the average home value increased 92 percent, nearly doubling.
Increasingly high costs of living, housing, and transportation coupled with an increase in crime, pollution, and congestion has [sic] caused many people to relocate to more affordable cities and states.
Businesses are flooding the exits as well, including Park Hotels & Resorts, which said on Monday that they are letting two of their high-end properties in San Francisco go into foreclosure because it’s cheaper than trying to keep them running profitably. Said president Thomas Baltimore:
After much thought and consideration, we believe it is in the best interest for Park’s stockholders to materially reduce our current exposure to the San Francisco market.
Immediately after Baltimore’s announcement, his company’s stock, which has declined by 25 percent over the last year, jumped more than two percent. Stockholders saw the move as a positive for the company and for their investments.
San Francisco may be the poster child for the California decline. Out of the 203 retailers in that city in 2019, just 107 of them remain open and in business. Whole Foods has announced it is leaving, joining Office Depot, Nordstrom, Marshall’s, GAP, and Banana Republic. Target is toughing it out, but has been forced to put all its products behind glass doors to keep thieves from stealing and then walking without consequence.
In California, thanks to liberal policies, it’s not just the cost of living that’s driving its citizens away. It’s the danger of living. Homicides have jumped, along with vehicle thefts and arson cases, and robberies are up more than 16 percent from a year ago.
And we haven’t mentioned homelessness — drugs, public urination and defecation, and deaths due to fentanyl overdose. Park Hotels president Baltimore put the issue much more genteelly: He’s letting two of his prime properties go into foreclosure due to what he said are “concerns over street conditions.”
California dreamin’ has, under Newsom and his allies, become California leavin’.
