The Population Exodus out of California

The AP reports:

For the first time in a decade, the number of residents who left California for another state in 2005 exceeded newcomers who moved here, according to the newest figures from the state Department of Finance.

California recorded a domestic net loss of about 29,000 people last year - the first negative flow of residents since the mid-1990s. The biggest recent loss was in 1994, when the sputtering state economy helped California lose about 350,000 residents to the other 49 states.

The most common destinations for the newest crop of departing Californians were Arizona, Nevada, Texas, Washington and Oregon.

Anecdotal evidence suggests the high cost of housing was the primary reason people fled the nation's most populous state, which has more than 37 million residents.

The number of Californians who could comfortably pay the mortgage on an entry-level home fell to 24 percent in the third quarter - down from 44 percent in 2003, according to the California Association of Realtors. The statewide median home price in the third quarter was $563,190.

California doesn't want a middle class.You can't have a strong environmental movement restricting land use and a middle class.Thanks to Darren Miller for the heads up on this one.