Readers say why they ‘couldn’t take it anymore’ in coastal California’s pricey housing market
The high cost of housing in California, especially along the coast, is a pressing issue increasingly debated among residents, businesses and politicians in Sacramento. And the reaction to a recent Times article underscored the intensity of the debate.
Early Friday morning, the Times published an article online about a recent upswing in moves out of Los Angeles and Orange counties, something many economists attribute to rising rents and home prices during the economic recovery.
The story drew heavy reader response on The Times’ website and through Facebook. By 4 p.m., readers left more than 930 comments on a Times Facebook post that included the article and asked readers to share their stories about why they left California.
Many said they did so in search of cheaper housing and a quieter life.
Rebecca Neff wrote she moved to North Carolina last year after spending 26 years in the Golden State. She said she worried she wouldn’t be able to retire if she stayed, given high housing costs, weak middle-class wage growth and other factors.
“Just couldn’t take it anymore,” she wrote, “add in the high cost of gas, terrible traffic, water shortages and high water bills, had to leave.”
Jennifer Banash wrote on Facebook that she moved to Maine last month, after selling her home in L.A. for almost double what she paid four years ago.
“I miss LA, but mostly friends,” she wrote. “I don’t pine for it as a state.”
Others were excited to get out soon, including one reader who said she’s moving to Florida.
“I want to enjoy my life with my family,” wrote Angela Pro. “Not spend it working my butt off to pay a ridiculously high mortgage payment, only to see my kids and husband a couple hours at night.”
And after a hotly contested presidential election, some readers couched their comments in partisan terms.
“[High income taxes] and cost of living, and liberal single party politics all led to our decision to leave,” wrote one reader.
“I will never leave California, especially for one of those backward, uneducated red states,” wrote another.
Not everyone is moving, of course.
The population of California, as well as Los Angeles and Orange counties in particular, is still growing — largely the result of births and immigration from other countries. And moves out of L.A. and Orange counties also remain far below levels seen during last decade’s housing bubble.
But the story pointed out that after slowing down in the aftermath of the Great Recession, which devastated the housing market, out-migration is picking up as prices climb steadily higher, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
Since they bottomed out in 2012, prices have climbed nearly 60% across L.A. and Orange counties, according to the closely followed Case-Shiller index.
Some readers said they had no plans to leave given the weather and beaches, while others had left only to return.
“Yes, it is expensive,” Kirsten Stohn wrote on Facebook, “but after living in the midwest, a stint in the south, and AZ.....I do not mind the expense. For our family, it is well worth it.”
Facebook user Abe Lincoln identified himself as a native Californian: “Moved away 5 years ago. Travelled [sic] the country and then last month we moved back. It’s expensive here, no one can argue that. But it’s worth every penny!”
Reader Nancy Ryan, who identified herself as a former San Fernando Valley resident, said she’d like to return from Nevada, but won’t be doing so.
“Would move back in a minute, but your housing costs have just gotten worse and worse and worse, as have your taxes,” she wrote. “It’s impossible.”
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