The Sooner the Better : Oklahoma turning on the charm for California companies

Southern California is not alone in its appreciation of what high housing prices, increasing congestion and high taxes can mean for the economic environment.

While various states and even foreign nations have found fertile ground in California for recruiting businesses that seek to move to less expensive locales, Oklahoma has become the first state to open a full-time economic development office in this region. Gov. Henry L. Bellmon even showed up in Orange County this week to make the pitch.

That’s pretty ironic when you remember that in the 1930s, Depression-era frustration drove thousands of migrant workers to Southern California from the Dust Bowl and provided inspiration for John Steinbeck. Today, far different economic conditions are prompting the opportunistic Sooners to entice businesses their way.

The pot of gold in Oklahoma’s rainbow is cheaper housing, lower corporate and personal income tax rates and less traffic. One Newport Beach oil services firm has already moved.

There’s a lesson here for Southern California, which has prospered as a promised land for generations--from Oklahoma and elsewhere. Today the work that needs doing is not just to create new jobs but to make the area livable and affordable.

Los Angeles and Orange counties both had annual rates of growth in new employment of less than 2% last year. But Orange County, which enjoyed growth in the 6%-to-8% range during the late 1980s, has no economic development program. And while the city of Los Angeles has such a program, many people still can’t get their share of the good life. UCLA professor James Johnson says that many discouraged black residents simply move away.

Census figures do show people are still flocking to Southern California despite our problems. But the area also needs some comprehensive strategies. Otherwise, more California businesses may start whistling Rodgers and Hammerstein tunes.