According to a recent NY Times article, everyone hates California.
The article states that massive amounts of people are leaving Califronia due to soaring home prices (although I’m sure that bad neighborhoods, crime, schools, drugs, employment, etc are playing their part as well). The median home price in San Diego is almost $605,000, and when you compare that to a $185,000 home in Gladstone, MO (that stands for Missouri, by the way) with 4 bedrooms, two kitchens, and swimming pool I think that I know what most people will take. Of course, you will have to get used to those little things called “tornado warnings” and something called “wind chill”, but honestly, how bad could those be?
The more that I read through the article, the more I didn’t feel bad for Californians at all. The story starts with this:
“A year ago, Melanie Fischer, a lifelong Californian, was not entirely sure where Missouri was.”
It continues on with blurbs about California’s “sun-drenched coasts” and its “dynamic economy”, and the “culture and excitement and food”. And when you read between the lines, you realize where all those people that drive Lexus’ and BMW’s and other SUV’s in Idaho, Nevada, Arizona, etc are coming from, and why they park in the middle of the road to run inside and get a triple half-caff skim frappaccino with a hint of arrogance. And it isn’t becase they were smarter than the next guy, or that they worked harder and longer hours. It is simply because their parents left them a hous in a nice neighborhood in San Francisco which they sold, and then they moved somewhere cheaper.
In reality, “Everyone Hates California” may be an inadequate summary of the actual article, but it expresses a few of my own sentiments, so eff off.