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Seeing the Wealth Leave California, Firsthand

Posted by Abaco 7 years, 11 months ago to Economics
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This past weekend I went over the Sierra to visit my brother and dad in the Reno area. I’m the last family member left in California. As I’ve mentioned here, I’ve noticed the decline in California. The poverty is just creeping through previously nice areas. We’ve got the tent cities, boarded up houses, crime, etc. In my recent visits to the Reno area I couldn’t help but notice the construction. They are building new developments as fast as they can over there. The homes are being filled by Californians escaping our state. Being an engineer, I’ve noticed that the quality of the homes being built are much better than what was built around my area when we had our building boom in the 90s.
We are a golfing family so we are interested in communities with easy access to golf. The very old course, Washoe Golf Course, is in the SW corner of Reno with an older neighborhood built around it. A year ago, nice homes there could be had for $300K. Now, they’re around $500K – a huge increase in price is occurring as housing costs in “the World’s Biggest Little City” are actually now higher than what we find in our area in California. All this has been a little surprising to see.
But, the big surprise was Sunday when I took my family to watch the PGA Barracuda Championship at Montreux Golf Country Club in the hills south of Reno. I grew up in, arguably, the richest part of the S.F. Bay Area. But, I was shocked at the homes in Montreux. They were absolutely amazing. As we drove out my wife and kids asked me to drive around the community more just to look at the homes in that beautiful place in the pines. I felt like one of the Beverly Hillbillies driving through. I paid extra to park inside the community for the tournament and when the lady at gate greeted us on the way in I said, “Do you allow pickups in here?” and we all laughed. I think what I saw was clearly a representation of wealth that’s left California. It was really something. It’s not like the Reno area has a history of tons of high-paid employment opportunities. This is obviously wealth removed from California in order to keep it safe. It was really an eye-opening weekend…

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  • Posted by ycandrea 7 years, 11 months ago
    I wish the third world county of California would go ahead and secede from the union.
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  • Posted by freedomforall 7 years, 11 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Brainwashed by the public (and private) education system and statist media propaganda. No thinking required.
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  • Posted by rogershe 7 years, 11 months ago
    I am a refugee from CA who was born, raised and lived in the Bay Area for 54 years. I retired in Reno because CA is commuting suicide with insane progressive politics, massive over-regulation and illegal immigration protections. I took a diversion to Portland, OR for 12 years to get to retirement. I can attest to the fact that California refugees ruined Oregon, at least Portland and Eugene. Take simple garbage collection. They only pick up garbage every two weeks so garbage is overflowing. Recycle picks up every week and you are supposed to compost wet food stuffs in your yard waste. You can't even hire a private service to help. Then there is the Arts tax where most schools still don't have Arts classes. Property tax is insane and never ever goes down even if your house value drops in half as it did in 2009. I still have friends in the Bay Area so what is the closest bigger city to the bay that is NOT CA? Answer, Reno. At least one third of the people I meet left CA for the same reasons. There is massive growth here which is a double edged sword. Tesla/Panasonic is hiring 6,500, Amazon is here to supply the west coast and many others, but try to hire a contractor or person to fix your roof or put in a window and you are 6-9 months out. I can attest to the progressive infection in Nevada is real. Nevada fell to Hillary because of liberal Vegas and it's creeping in. Fortunately, we still have no state income tax, my property tax is less than one third of what it was in OR or CA for a nicer home. Not everyone in CA is an insane leftist progressive communist. Most people can't just pick up and leave for many reasons. CA does need to be broken up into at least 6
    pieces but it will never happen because progressives have power. It is very sad to see the place I lived most of my life, being destroyed.

    Roger..
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  • Posted by freedomforall 7 years, 11 months ago in reply to this comment.
    The supply of money is also a part of that equation, sco, via federal reserve inflation of the dollar. So is the tax deductability of the mortgage interest. Change the financing availability (via interest price) and watch the changes. That has been the reason for most of the variation of housing prices in the past 100 years. It creates the changes in housing supply and demand.
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  • Posted by Abaco 7 years, 11 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Yeah, Montreux Country Club is near Incline. I've never seen anything like it.
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  • Posted by preimert1 7 years, 11 months ago in reply to this comment.
    There are a couple of very nervous yappy little dogs next door to me. Frequently they bark in the middle of the night. Cops have come and warned owner to no aavail. I was consideriing a boa, but an alligator...hmm
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  • Posted by breichle 7 years, 11 months ago in reply to this comment.
    We have lived on the water (small bay off the Intracoastal just south of Tampa Bay) for almost 13 years. Our home is 14 ft above sea level. The water levels have NOT risen anywhere near us (including the beaches of Anna Maria Island). Florida's soil is predominantly sand so the rains drain away quickly. We have never experienced flooding.
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  • Posted by voodoo59 7 years, 11 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Those helpless lemmings are commonly referred to as "cityiots" and never let you forget that the pantsuited monster won the popular vote.
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  • Posted by scojohnson 7 years, 11 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Sorry, I'll be there in a few years. Looking at Pocatello or potentially Jackson Hole area, but JH has some detraction with the deep snow and we come & go with the RV a lot.
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  • Posted by scojohnson 7 years, 11 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Yikes! (insurance cost). Ours is like, $1400 on a million dollar home. Although, we're on the "high" side of the dam and reservoir, and on a solid granite plate that goes down about a mile into the crust, and not in a wildfire area, so I feel like I'm kind of ripped-off at $1400.
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  • Posted by scojohnson 7 years, 11 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Real estate prices are not really a function of a deflating dollar, it's supply and demand driven. You can't just pop-out more houses like iphones on the assembly line to meet a growing demand, so prices will rise. Much of the economy of the US is suffering in some areas and it is driving people to where better paying jobs exist, and augment that with retirees seeking tax shelters. Florida is fine if you intend to rent something, their property taxes are pretty brutal though. Depends on what you are into though, we use our RV a lot, no interest in touring up and down the traffic-clogged southeast in down-pouring rain when the heavens open up every few hours (I lived in Biloxi for a couple of years).
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  • Posted by scojohnson 7 years, 11 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Or the hurricanes... or the humidity, or the heat. I'm going to Idaho or Montana, live on a lake, and build a bunker in the backyard.
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  • Posted by scojohnson 7 years, 11 months ago
    Living in California, and not being a native and someone that travels something like 15 weeks out of the year, I've never been mislead by the shabby construction here. Most are piles of shit compared to housing in other parts of the country. A funny thing actually, we were looking online for log cabins around Bear Lake, ID, where we may retire, I was looking for something similar to our single-story 2300 sq foot alpine-style house on Folsom Lake. It's just my wife and I, the house is huge for us. We were not finding anything in my anticipated price range in Bear Lake at first, I thought I was shooting low on the price filter.. ultimately discovered the problem wasn't the price, it was the size, there wasn't much in Bear Lake under 3,000 sq feet. Most were 3500+ with a 3 car garage + an RV or Motorhome storage building.

    For a real eye opener - look at Incline Village, CA and Nevada - Condo on the California side = about $400k, across the street in Nevada = $700k+.
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  • Posted by JuliBMe 7 years, 11 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Thanks, jbrenner! I can tell you don't consider them much of a problem. I guess I will continue my contemplation and preparations towards a possible move. I'm very enamored of the upgrade of home I can achieve with the move. I love California, but I think it's a goner for a very long time.
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  • Posted by chad 7 years, 11 months ago
    Any amount of wealth, small or large, will seek protection or evasion of confiscation. Unfortunately Americans have been brought up with the idea that confiscation is a part of the natural development and protection of man which cannot be achieved via any other means. Spent a day in transportation training for school bus drivers to hear a police officer who was informing us about gangs and how to spot them. They want us to inform the Feds, the ATF and local police consider anyone who thinks he is a sovereign, anti government or who resists the 'lawful' application of government force to be a gang member or homegrown terrorist and should be reported.
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  • Posted by $ jbrenner 7 years, 11 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Most alligators do not stray far from the ponds, but in a drought, occasionally they do. I don't have fencing, but you can put fencing in.
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  • Posted by JuliBMe 7 years, 11 months ago in reply to this comment.
    LOL, how far do they stray from water on average do you think? EVERY neighborhood seems to have a pond! If you move near a pond, is there fencing you can put in that will stop any alligator from coming into your yard?
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  • Posted by $ jbrenner 7 years, 11 months ago in reply to this comment.
    There is an alligator in every pond, but we bought across the street from the nearest pond.
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  • Posted by GaryL 7 years, 11 months ago
    I would not put too many eggs in the Nevada basket either. We must remember the typical process that will surely take place. Californian's who move will most certainly bring their liberal politics and ideologies with them and screw up where ever they land.
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  • Posted by ELAshley 7 years, 11 months ago
    I saw a similar report on the news. An organization is recruiting conservative families/professionals to leave California and resettle in Texas, even helping them find work, homes, etc... wish I could remember the organization doing this. So far they've helped some 2,500 people move. As I heard, the org. has only been up and running, in this capacity, for a couple of years.
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  • Posted by jhagen 7 years, 11 months ago in reply to this comment.
    That's an understatement. We're drowning in greater gooders. ...maybe it's the bite of our state bird, or maybe the cold, that causes it??
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  • Posted by JuliBMe 7 years, 11 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I know I'm probably weird, but I loved the summer storms of Florida. We don't get much thunder and lightning in California, not to mention rain! And the green! Oh, I love the tropical green.

    Now about alligators?.........
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  • Posted by Herb7734 7 years, 11 months ago
    It will be fortunate if there is any California left in California. We noticed the start of a decline in earnest when we lived in San Diego in the mid nineties. However, a productive giant doesn't disappear over night. It crumbles bit by bit as it is mishandled and abused. California, arguably the most beautiful and productive place in the world (yes the world) will soon be another rust belt state. Shame on us for allowing it to happen. And be careful, as the same stupidity killing California, is spreading.
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