Bill Croke writes for the Federalist that bad news for California means good news elsewhere.
As the once great state of California continues its imperial decline, the cities of the American West are booming. The Golden State is losing its shine and is no longer the magnet of its post-World War II heyday, when American prosperity drew millions to its sunny shores.
Military veterans who had passed through on their way to the South Pacific liked what they saw and returned after the war. Other folks came west as they had in the age of manifest destiny. The state is the epicenter of the birth of 75 million baby boomers.
All that has changed. California, despite its $3 trillion economy, is now routinely described by pundits as the equivalent of a Third World country. It has some of the highest state and local tax rates in the nation. …
… The main beneficiaries of this outmigration are Arizona, Colorado, Nevada — roughly 50,000 Californians moved to Nevada in just one year: July 2017 to July 2018 — Oregon, Texas, and Washington state. California risks losing a seat in the House of Representatives after the results of the 2020 census are tallied. It also suffers from a baby bust. Los Angeles County, for instance, saw a “17% decline in the amount of children in the area over the last decade.”
If 2020 census projections are accurate, Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Oregon, and North Carolina will each gain one House seat, the latter likewise a recipient of outmigration from the Midwest and Northeast. Florida will gain two and Texas three.
The Lone Star State seems to be benefitting from California businesses, large and small, relocating to the booming cities of Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, and others.
