Driven by shifting economics, demographics, and changing definitions of moderate prosperity, middle class Californians in areas once rife with new arrivals — and dominated by Democratic voters — have begun looking for the residential exits. 

Statewide struggle

Both the Bay Area and the Southland have seen a perfect storm of living costs and population density drive middle-class Californians away. “About one-third of those surveyed by the Bay Area Council say they would like to exit the nine-county region sometime soon,” the San Jose Mercury News reported. “The area’s sizzling job market and robust economy have created a domino effect: income spikes for highly trained workers, more people packing the area’s roads, red-hot demand for housing.”

“What’s more, the technology boom has unleashed a hiring spree that has intensified the desire for homes anywhere near the job hubs of Santa Clara County, the East Bay and San Francisco. The South Bay job market has hit an all-time high after a 5,800-position surge in May, fueling an overall gain of 3,400 jobs for the Bay Area, according to a state labor report released Friday. The region’s soaring housing prices are a key factor driving dissatisfied residents toward the exit door. Several people who have departed, or soon will leave, say they potentially could have hundreds of thousands of dollars left over even after buying a house in their new locations.”

Meanwhile, the sharp housing shortage in Southern California has created similar stresses. “A database of housing affordability statistics created by The Associated Press shows Southern California’s two main metropolitan regions — Los Angeles/Orange counties and the Inland Empire — consistently rank among the U.S. markets that most stretch the household budgets of both homeowners and renters,” as the San Gabriel Valley Tribune noted. “Among the 40 largest U.S. metro areas, census figures show L.A.-O.C. had the lowest homeownership rate, the most financially stressed owners and the highest percentage of middle-aged households that were renters.”

Mainstream and trendy

Politically, California has not weathered as much of a populist storm as other parts of the country — and the world — with as powerful elites. Despite the beginnings of a modest exodus, private and public sector elites have been able to exercise a relatively strong influence over the tradeoffs many middle class residents have proven willing to make on quality of life issues. 

Notable Californians have even led a push to internationalize the state’s changing conception of which foods are central to a thriving middle class. Spearheading a public relations campaign against meat, former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger “is teaming up with WildAid to produce public service ads targeted at Chinese consumers,” Southern California Public Radio reported. “The group has partnered with the Chinese Nutrition Society, a nonprofit professional organization in China. Schwarzenegger is joined in the video by filmmaker James Cameron, of Titanic fame, who makes the link between meat-eating habits and climate change.”

Jeremy Haft, author of Unmade in China: The Hidden Truth about China’s Economic Miracle, told SCPR that “[a]ll indicators point to the continued steep growth in China’s demand for meat.” According to Haft, “eating meat is now viewed as an important part of a middle class diet,” the station added. “In essence, he says, having pork on the table is a sign of social status.” In California, meanwhile, diets low on meat or abstaining from meat entirely have grown in popularity, even as they have been increasingly lampooned. 

A Democratic redoubt

Broadly, populist discontent within the Golden State has not translated into the sort of turbulence that has roiled election season across the country. While Donald Trump has been able to make inroads into middle-class constituencies that have traditionally won Democrats, for instance, his prospects in California have remained dim. “Obviously he’s looking at fantasy land if he thinks he can put places like California and Michigan into play,” Democratic pollster Mark Mellman told The Washington Post.

Remember those days at the beginning of Governor Jerry Brown’s third term. Brown tried to pick off a few Republican votes to secure the two-thirds margin he needed to put a tax increase measure on the ballot. In return, the Republicans who were courted by Brown sought reforms to the spending side of the budget, particularly, a spending limit and a rainy day fund. Pressured by public employee unions, Democrats in the legislature showed no interest in accepting these reforms.

The effort to achieve a compromise package went nowhere. The governor then turned to the ballot, working with union groups already pushing a tax increase initiative to create Proposition 30.

On transportation in the special session, Democrats put forward a series of tax and fee increases. Republicans countered with a package of spending proposals using cap-and-trade dollars, redirecting current transportation revenues for the roads, re-doing Caltrans employment and reconsidering the high-speed rail project.

Republican senate leader Bob Huff said there is no support for tax increases in his caucus. Democratic majorities in committee killed the Caltrans and high-speed rail proposals. Democratic Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León said taking money from cap and trade for the roads is not a serious proposal. “There is no nexus between greenhouse gas emissions and potholes,” he said.

Courtesy Sen. Kevin de León’s office

As many as 7,000 low-income Los Angeles residents could eventually take part in a state-funded electric car sharing program that rolled out last week.

State and city officials celebrated the soft launch of the endeavor — which aims to improve air quality by cutting carbon emissions — at an L.A. affordable housing complex.

City officials hope to establish as many as 100 vehicles as part of the pilot program, which the state is partially funding through a $1.6 million award. The city expects to use an additional $8 million “in in-kind city resources and private operator investment in equipment and operations,” according to L.A.’s  Sustainable City plan.

The state money comes from California’s controversial cap-and-trade program, designed to curb the state’s reliance on fossil fuels. Critics call it a pollution tax that unfairly burdens large industries.

State Senate leader Kevin de León speaks at roll out of electric car sharing program in L.A.
Photo courtesy de León’s office.

“Fighting smog and climate change so that our kids can breathe clean air requires more transportation options that don’t rely on dirty fossil fuels,” state Senate leader Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, said in a press release. “This electric car-sharing pilot project offers a glimpse of the future, and represents the type of shift in policy, infrastructure, and behavior that we need.”

Officials say the project will educate residents about car sharing and transportation alternatives, install electric vehicle charging stations and introduce an electric car sharing fleet.

Specifically, it will “provide affordable last mile/first mile solutions for low-income families and other residents who do not own a car or need a second car for trips requiring a light duty passenger vehicle,” according to L.A.’s  Sustainable City plan.

“Our EV car sharing pilot is a perfect example of how our state’s cap-and-trade dollars should be put to work: providing transportation options for Angelenos in need, and helping us achieve our clean air goals outlined in my Sustainable City plan,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti added in the news release.

The program is formally called the Car Sharing and Mobility Options in Disadvantaged Communities Pilot Project. It is run by the California Air Resources Board, and originated last year after the Legislature and Gov. Jerry Brown signed two of de León bills, SB1275 and SB535, according to the Senate leader’s office. Those laws direct CARB to invest the state’s cap-and-trade revenue into programs that bring clean air and jobs to communities heavily impacted by climate change and poor environmental quality.

Contact reporter Chris Nichols at chris@calwatchdog.com or on Twitter @ChrisTheJourno

By Katy Grimes

Is it any surprise that sports, weather and traffic now account for 40 percent of the content on television newscasts? “In 2012, a continued erosion of news reporting resources converged with growing opportunities for those in politics, government agencies, companies and others to take their messages directly to the public,” reports a new study from the Pew Research Center’s project for excellence in journalism.

Most interesting however, is who is leaving news outlets: “People who said they had forsaken a news outlet were more likely to be men than women, older than younger, richer than poorer and Republican or independent rather than Democratic. While about one-third of Republicans and independents stopped turning to a news outlet, just one-quarter of Democrats did,” the report found.

“The primary concern for people who gave up on an outlet seems to be quality,” the report found.

Surprise, surprise.

“When asked which they noticed more, fewer stories or less complete stories, far more people said the latter (24 percent to 61 percent). While reduced thoroughness in stories was the more prevalent response among adults overall who were aware of the struggles, the split was not nearly as wide – 48 percent versus 31 percent.”

The report found that thoroughness in the stories was the biggest problem. People want complete stories and are fed up with media not asking questions.” 61 percent of them said stories were less complete than they had been versus just 24 percent who complained there were too few stories,” the study found.

This is what I rail on constantly. Too many members of the dwindling media are skilled stenographers, and don’t bother to ask “who, what, when, where, why, and how?” The questions not asked are apparently what has so many Americans leaving news broadcasts in search of thorough content.

Take a look at the report – share your thoughts.

The State of the News Media 2013