Mass Exodus? Nearly Half of Bay Area Residents Desperate To Leave Liberal 'Paradise'
Will the last one out of the Bay Area please turn out the low-energy LED lights?
According to Fox News, a new survey of residents in the liberal paradise of the San Francisco region found that nearly half of them want to get out of there.
The survey was conducted by the Bay Area Council, which describes itself on its website as a “business-sponsored, public policy advocacy organization for the nine-county Bay Area.”
The poll surveyed 1,000 Bay Area residents and found 46 percent were planning to leave in the next five years.
Among the problems cited were the high cost of living and the increasing homelessness in the Bay Area.
Traffic, crime and overpopulation were also listed as the biggest concerns in the region today.
Only 25 percent of respondents said the Bay Area was on the right track, compared to 55 percent who said it was on the wrong track.
Compare that to 2014, when the numbers were virtually reversed — 57 percent said it was on the right track then, compared to only 27 percent who said it was on the wrong track.
And that 46 percent number is creeping up, too.
“This is the trend we’ve been observing. Two years ago, it was 34 percent and last year it was 40,” Bay Area Council President Jim Wunderman said of the number of people who wanted to leave. “On the downside of it is all the people who need to be here to provide all the services are being priced out.”
“We’re seeing teachers, government workers, firefighters, police officers actually not able to live in the communities,” he continued.
Of those planning to leave, 16 percent said they plan to stay in the Golden State.
Among other destinations, Texas, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona and a non-specific place on the East Coast were top five.
Ron and Elizabeth Haines said they were among those leaving the state, with the couple departing for Idaho due to the high cost of living in California.
“We are excited,” Elizabeth said. “I have tons of friends and family here. It’s going to be hard, but I have a feeling we’re going to have lots of visitors.”
Jack Hickox of San Francisco said that “almost all of my daughter’s friends and their parents have left.”
“We’re making it work for now. Cross my fingers, but it’s hard,” he said.
Ben Imadal of San Francisco said he wasn’t surprised by the mass exodus, either.
“You kill yourself trying to pay for the housing and then you leave because it’s just ridiculous, right? So I mean, it sounds about right,” he said.
But wait. Isn’t the Bay Area the home of Berkeley and San Francisco and Haight-Ashbury and Silicon Valley and all of those places? It’s a veritable list of liberal “paradises,” all in one little bundle.
Now, thanks to liberal policies, it’s too expensive for most people to live — unless you’re homeless.
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