People always say that California is expensive because everyone wants to move there. Is that really the case? I was looking at real-estate in the Sacramento area... a place that could be considered as unremarkable as the place I live in, and the houses were still relatively expensive for what they are.

Even at the $300,000 mark, the houses were still not really up to standard. There were a few small brick houses I saw. The rest just looked like wood shanties with ugly paneling and substandard construction. Why is it so hard to find inexpensive, brick houses on the West Coast? It's not like people are flocking in droves to Sacramento because it's so desireable to be there. Yet the houses are expensive, for what a person actually gets. Wheras in TX, it's easy to find a relatively well-built brick house for under $200,000.

My dad's family lives in Ca, and I've always wanted to move there, but everything I read spells out why I shouldn't do it. The state has one of the highest poverty rates; one of the lowest rates of home-ownership in the country, and one of the highest tax burdens. It is also one of the most polluted states in the US, by ozone and particle pollution. Most of the jobs don't pay shit when cost of living is factored in. Is this supposed to be a desirable outcome of liberal leadership?

There are a lot of states with much lower tax burdens that have higher-paying jobs. People still seem to flock in droves to California and eck out a living with three or four roomates. And not just young people, but people with master's degrees that could make a lot more money elsewhere - or have a lot more purchasing power. I just read that over half of the people in LA county are renters! The K-12 school systems rank nearly dead last in the US.

I don't think of myself as conservative or even political, but it seems like everywhere (mostly) there's liberal leadership, things are incredibly more beaurocratic than they need to be and a hell of a lot more expensive, for really no good reason. People don't see the benefit from the taxes they pay.