California is far from perfect
>>>Very true.
but overall, it works very well and has for a long time.
>>> 60 years ago it was marvelous, but the slope has been trending down since then.
There are so many cities where the workers can not live. Their bedroom is being pushed farther out every year.
I won't list all the place, you can look them up. Let's just compare a couple that I recently visited.
Santa Barbara.
50 - 60 years ago, this was self contained community on the North side of the Southern California coast.
Now the workers in this city commute long distances to work there. Mostly from east of Oxnard.
The distance pushing out more and more. Oxnard has simply inadequate housing since it has be over run by immigrants.
Ojia to the North is a neat place, like old California, but dammed expensive. Johnny Cash's house ( it once was) burned down
in the fire last December. Valued at around three million, but hell, it was no bigger than mine, near the South Oregon coast.
When the 101 (So Cal Slang) closed last winter due fires then mud slides, SB/Montecito was shut down.
They even had to fly Doctors in to do their normal work in the local hospitals.
San Francisco.
50 - 60 years ago it was already beyond being self contained. People commuted to work there from Marin, Oakland, Berkeley and Redwood City even.
Now that is close in, no sweat! Many now commute from Lodi, or other place where the tumbleweeds use to blow. The first time I was in Lodi,
I got there on a Greyhound bus, well almost there. It broke down about a mile out of town. Had to wait in the lone cafe in Lodi until the next day for another bus.
When the Clearwater Revival struck up the, Oh Lord, stuck in Lodi again, it really resonated here!
Now the place is just another on the perimeter of the commuter circle. Tumble weeds have been replaced with commuter houses.
Not sustainable.
It begs the question in my mind, what is the maximum population that this nation can sustain with a desirable quality of life?
Oh, for those that have not noticed, the same thing is being done to Portland. Check out the stats where the State Pays the maximum amounts per student
to the local schools. You will find it is the counties surrounding Portland where the ratio of students count to property valuation (tax base) is the highest in the State.