Outmigration

Commentary

Read about CA's growing outmigration problem

Californians are voting against Big Government, at least with their feet

People are clearly leaving California because of bad public policy choices.  The state’s roads are poorly maintained. The cost of living is unaffordable. The streets are unsafe, the homelessness problem continues to fester, and economic opportunities are becoming scarcer. These results are consistent with the new Pacific Research Institute Free
Free Cities

Dr. Wayne Winegarden discusses Free Cities Index on David Webb Show

Listen to PRI’s Wayne Winegarden discuss the Free Cities Index ranking of America’s most free and least free cities on the “David Webb Show” on Sirius XM Patriot Channel 125.
Commentary

Read Wayne Winegarden's latest at Fox News

New study reveals why Americans are fleeing big cities

Apologists for the declining cities will cite COVID-19 as a causal explanation and even optimistically claim that the declines have moderated. Such blind optimism overlooks the obvious – people are leaving big cities like San Francisco, New York and Boston because of bad public policy choices in those cities. They’re
Blog

New poll: More want to flee California

California, You Could Always Check Out, Now You Can Leave

Are policymakers, whose actions over decades are responsible for the “let’s get out of here” mood, going to let this happen? Or are they going to keep making things worse? The California Community Poll, conducted by Strategies 360 for a group of nonprofits and the Los Angeles Times, offered respondents
California

The latest op-ed on "San Fransicko's" bleak future

How much more ‘progress’ from progressive policy can San Francisco take?

In 2018, a medical association that had been visiting San Francisco regularly since the 1980s announced it was moving its convention from the city because its members didn’t feel safe on its streets. Others followed, including Oracle, which moved its CloudWorld convention to Las Vegas. Some cancellations were related in
Blog

Read about California's outmigration problem

California: Economic Laggard or Leader?

Digging into the analysis quickly reveals that California’s top five ranking results from the state’s past achievements, not its current economic health nor its future growth prospects. Documenting this reality is essential because the state’s top ranking can be easily misconstrued as confirmation that California’s current policy mix is promoting
Blog

California's Outmigration Problem is Growing Worse

More Are Fleeing California Due to Progressive Policies

In 2018-19, California lost not quite $10 billion in gross adjusted income to other states, a bit less than New York. The following year, New York still had the largest loss of adjusted gross income, nearly $20 billion, with California close behind. By 2020-21, California had taken the “lead,” tripling
California

Watch PRI webinar

Watch: How Do We Stop California’s Outmigration Problem with Dr. Lee Ohanian

Watch Hoover Institution senior fellow and UCLA professor Dr. Lee Ohanian discuss California’s growing outmigration problem with Dr. Wayne Winegarden, PRI senior fellow in business and economics. They discuss cost of living problems worsened by poor state public policies that are increasing housing costs across the state and worsening quality
Blog

Get a Preview of Upcoming Study

Population trends prove people prefer pro-growth cities

The movement away from large cities is not universal, however. People may be leaving Los Angeles, but they are moving to Fort Worth, Atlanta and Las Vegas. Figure 1 presents the diverse five-year percentage change in population for the 50 largest cities in the United States. The vast differences in
Blog

The Ugly Californian

There’s no shortage of stories. A woman and her boyfriend who moved from California to Montana in 2020 “changed their licenses right away.” In “​​the most competitive race in recent memory” for the mayor’s office in Boise, Idaho, one candidate “ran on a very simple platform,” the Los Angeles Times
Commentary

Read about CA's growing outmigration problem

Californians are voting against Big Government, at least with their feet

People are clearly leaving California because of bad public policy choices.  The state’s roads are poorly maintained. The cost of living is unaffordable. The streets are unsafe, the homelessness problem continues to fester, and economic opportunities are becoming scarcer. These results are consistent with the new Pacific Research Institute Free
Free Cities

Dr. Wayne Winegarden discusses Free Cities Index on David Webb Show

Listen to PRI’s Wayne Winegarden discuss the Free Cities Index ranking of America’s most free and least free cities on the “David Webb Show” on Sirius XM Patriot Channel 125.
Commentary

Read Wayne Winegarden's latest at Fox News

New study reveals why Americans are fleeing big cities

Apologists for the declining cities will cite COVID-19 as a causal explanation and even optimistically claim that the declines have moderated. Such blind optimism overlooks the obvious – people are leaving big cities like San Francisco, New York and Boston because of bad public policy choices in those cities. They’re
Blog

New poll: More want to flee California

California, You Could Always Check Out, Now You Can Leave

Are policymakers, whose actions over decades are responsible for the “let’s get out of here” mood, going to let this happen? Or are they going to keep making things worse? The California Community Poll, conducted by Strategies 360 for a group of nonprofits and the Los Angeles Times, offered respondents
California

The latest op-ed on "San Fransicko's" bleak future

How much more ‘progress’ from progressive policy can San Francisco take?

In 2018, a medical association that had been visiting San Francisco regularly since the 1980s announced it was moving its convention from the city because its members didn’t feel safe on its streets. Others followed, including Oracle, which moved its CloudWorld convention to Las Vegas. Some cancellations were related in
Blog

Read about California's outmigration problem

California: Economic Laggard or Leader?

Digging into the analysis quickly reveals that California’s top five ranking results from the state’s past achievements, not its current economic health nor its future growth prospects. Documenting this reality is essential because the state’s top ranking can be easily misconstrued as confirmation that California’s current policy mix is promoting
Blog

California's Outmigration Problem is Growing Worse

More Are Fleeing California Due to Progressive Policies

In 2018-19, California lost not quite $10 billion in gross adjusted income to other states, a bit less than New York. The following year, New York still had the largest loss of adjusted gross income, nearly $20 billion, with California close behind. By 2020-21, California had taken the “lead,” tripling
California

Watch PRI webinar

Watch: How Do We Stop California’s Outmigration Problem with Dr. Lee Ohanian

Watch Hoover Institution senior fellow and UCLA professor Dr. Lee Ohanian discuss California’s growing outmigration problem with Dr. Wayne Winegarden, PRI senior fellow in business and economics. They discuss cost of living problems worsened by poor state public policies that are increasing housing costs across the state and worsening quality
Blog

Get a Preview of Upcoming Study

Population trends prove people prefer pro-growth cities

The movement away from large cities is not universal, however. People may be leaving Los Angeles, but they are moving to Fort Worth, Atlanta and Las Vegas. Figure 1 presents the diverse five-year percentage change in population for the 50 largest cities in the United States. The vast differences in
Blog

The Ugly Californian

There’s no shortage of stories. A woman and her boyfriend who moved from California to Montana in 2020 “changed their licenses right away.” In “​​the most competitive race in recent memory” for the mayor’s office in Boise, Idaho, one candidate “ran on a very simple platform,” the Los Angeles Times
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