Guest essay by Eric Worrall
Your new neighbour could be Californian; Covid-19 and presumably Covid-19 lockdowns appear to be the final straw for people living in California’s filthy crime ridden big cities.
As many as 89,000 households have left San Francisco since March, the latest sign of an exodus spurred by the pandemic
AVERY HARTMANS DEC 2, 2020, 6:06 AM
As many as 89,000 households have moved out of San Francisco since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
That’s according to San Francisco-based site Public Comment, which worked with the United States Postal Service to track requests for a change of address between March 1 and November 1, 2020.
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Some households relocated to neighbouring areas like Marin County and Oakland. For those who decamped the Bay Area entirely, they spread to cities and towns across the country. According to Public Comment, Las Vegas was the No. 1 destination, followed by Palm Beach County, Florida; Seminole County, Florida; the Denver region; and Beaverton, Oregon, a city just west of Portland.
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The migration out of San Francisco may be due, at least in part, to some tech companies shutting their offices and no longer requiring employees to live nearby. In August, anonymous workplace chat app Blind surveyed 3,300 tech workers about living in the Bay Area the survey found that 15% had already left the area and 60% said they would leave if they could.
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Read more: https://www.businessinsider.com.au/san-francisco-lost-89000-households-during-pandemic-usps-data-2020-12
The closest I’ve come to visiting San Francisco was a week in West Hollywood. At first we walked everywhere, but after my wife pointed out the group of gentlemen waiting to greet us in the shadows under a bridge on the road to Universal Studios, we decided to catch a cab.
So I completely understand people not wanting to live in big Californian cities, especially with the latest twist of the screw, harsh Covid lockdown rules issued by a hypocrite governor who struggles to follow his own regulations.
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And as usual, they won’t make the connection between their voting habits and the regulations they dislike, so they’ll fight as hard as they can to turn their new homes into mirrors of their old home.
There are a lot of very wealthy families in SF and many if not most have second homes. This could be people waiting out the pandemic somewhere else.
I have noticed that it is the cities where large enclaves of progressives seem to congregate. Here in Texas, our cities are fast sliding into liberal enclaves full of progressive ideas born in California. As flight from California and other liberal areas continues, Texas is becoming more and more liberal. It is only a matter of time before they take over through elections and start increasing taxes and destroying the economy.
Once they destroy more states like Texas, they will move on to other remaining healthy states like a virus. Unfortunately, in a democracy you have to live with whatever the majority is convinced they want, so there is no stopping this. Most people are not deep thinkers, and can be convinced to do anything through social media and group think. If the liberals are willing to go around the constitution, pack the high courts, and rule through regulation then they eventually win. They already own the schools where their propaganda and rewriting of history occurs.
So the fall of San Francisco which has been going own for 30 years is just another sign that the disease is spreading – I just hope it takes another 30 years or more so I don’t have to watch this.
I saw the writing on the wall for California over 30 years ago, and fled 20 years ago. The problem now is that California refugees are now invading my new domicile, and will ultimately bring most of their problems with them. My next-door neighbor just sold his house to some Califonians for almost twice what it was worth a half-dozen years ago. We’re starting to think about where we’ll go next…
I’ve been to SF 3 times this fall on various errands. Its very apparent that many people have left town. At times it feels like a ghost town, empty streets with a few stragglers walking with their heads down wearing masks. Its a pretty depressing place this year. Apartments are readily available and you can always find a place to park. Very unlike normal conditions. We even grabbed an affordable, rent-controlled apartment near the water in the Marina District to have a place staked to stay to visit an expected grandchild (5 days in a hotel with $60/day parking costs more than a month’s rent). There aren’t homeless around there and I didn’t encounter any for three days of walking around enjoying the sights, food, parks, and shopping. Staying away from downtown, city hall, and the Tenderloin district had much to do with that. I saw the big homeless encampments from my car while driving in and out of town.
What I don’t like about SF is its crazy expensive. Groceries are sky high. Liquor is 25% higher than in LA. Breakfast at a corner diner is $25 per person. Cocktails are $17. Restaurants tack a $5.35 fee to every bill for health care. There’s a strong incentive to eat at home.
On other trips I’ve seen the drug users, homeless encampments, and insane people out on the streets. So yeah, I don’t stay in the downtown area any more. I’ve seen the gross, disgusting, and sad sights but usually don’t have any reason to be in that area.
The health care tax is for Restaurant worker’s health care, not a general tax. I had a fairly large group to dinner in San Fran some years back when it had just been implemented. It is only in the larger California cities. We were told it was mandatory, so I paid it, but later that night, after some due diligence, found that while it is mandatory that the restaurant pays it, it is NOT mandatory that they put it on customer bills… i.e., they could, as they should, pay it themselves for their OWN EMPLOYEES, or, as they did to me, try to pass it off similar to the sales tax. So, back in San Fran two nights later, I went back to the restaurant, asked for a refund of the tax, and asked the restaurant to pay it. I got to speak to the Head Waiter, the Manager, a whole bunch of folks, about how important the tax was for their health care, and my answer was “why, yes, it is important, so much so that the employer should pay it as part of his regular business expenses, as I do for my company. And, my customers on the other side of the country shouldn’t be paying your health care because you won’t.” After much back and forth, I finally told them that if they didn’t refund me the “tax” I would subtract it from the generous tip I had left. Whoa!!! did that get some traction, especially with the Head Waiter. The Manager refunded me the tax.
Bravo, good sir.