Behind the news

07:00

Millennials and Gen Xers are leaving California in droves

by Joel Kotkin

Will the last person to leave California turn out the lights? Credit: Getty

Since the days of the Gold Rush, California has been a magnet for those seeking wealth. A backwater barely a century ago, with just over 3 million residents compared to nearly 40 million today, the Golden State established dominance over everything from agriculture and film to space travel and the internet.

But new data suggests that the tide may be turning, and a rich hegira is afoot.

Like what you’re reading? Get the free UnHerd daily email

Already registered? Sign in

Researchers found that 39,000 San Franciscans who had filed federal tax returns for 2018 had moved out of the city before filing 2019 returns, taking away a net of $7 billion in income in one year. A soon-to-be released report from the San Francisco Business Times, sources tell me, will see a similar phenomenon in Silicon Valley.

Once able to hold onto its rich, the Golden State seems to be following the course of high-tax places like New York, Illinois, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Connecticut. For years, these cities and states have been oozing billions in tax revenues as wealthy residents fled to the likes of Texas, Florida, Arizona, the Carolinas and Tennessee. While California still lags behind New York State in the money-losing sweepstakes, it is catching up: in 2020 the state lost $17.8 billion in tax revenue, with the loss spreading into the Bay Area, whose tech-rich economy historically kept the state solvent .

Remarkably, this all occurred at a time when the tech economy — the Bay Area’s driving force — was at its peak, and the disruptions associated with Covid-19 and the George Floyd protests had not yet occurred.

The reasons for this exodus are not hard to find. We know that out-migration from the Bay Area has soared since 2019, with the largest percentage loss of residents occurring in San Francisco and the Silicon Valley. Why? Because the state is becoming less and less safe. Indeed, two out of three SF residents plan to exit due to crime and homelessness, with an astonishing half of San Franciscans claiming in a survey that they had been robbed.

Those leaving were not knuckle-dragging Trumpistas or illiterate peasants (California leads the nation in illiteracy). In fact, the latest IRS data reveals that the largest net domestic out-migration is among disgruntled 35- to 44-year-olds, precisely the ages when many people reach their peak earnings, buy houses, and start businesses.

This goes to show that, for the first time in its modern history, California is no longer a beacon for the young and ambitious. The state has become the incubator of some of the worst political trends of our times — affirmative action, climate hysteria, identity politics — and it shows no sign of turning away from these. Slowly but surely, the state will essentially be one big retirement home. If things keep up this way, it will be time to throw away the surfboard and get a walker—if we can still pay our bills.

The post San Francisco loses one other 39,000 taxpayers appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

LEMOORE — College of the Sequoias learned the hard way why City College of San Francisco has the state’s top-ranked men’s basketball team.

The Rams raced out to a 16-point advantage early, withstood rally after rally, and responded when the Giants briefly took the lead late to pull out a 71-65 victory March 12 in the semifinals of the California Community College Athletic Association championship tournament.

Northern California No. 1-seeded San Francisco (31-1) will seek the fifth state title in program history when it faces NorCal No. 2 West Valley (28-3) in the fourth ever all-Northern California final, scheduled for 3:30 pm March 13 at West Hills-Lemoore College’s Golden Eagle Arena. The Rams have now won 27 straight games since a 73-70 loss to West Valley on Nov.19.

“Obviously, San Francisco is a powerhouse. I thought we dug ourselves a little bit of a hole early, but I’m really proud of the way the boys competed over the course of the last 30 minutes of the game,” Sequoias coach Dallas Jensen said.

“Some shots didn’t go our way and some execution down the stretch wasn’t fantastic. But we put ourselves in a wonderful position to have a chance to win that game and play for a state championship. But unfortunately, things didn’t go our way tonight. Kudos to (San Francisco) coach (Justin) Labagh’s staff and his players. There’s a reason they are who they are, and they earned it tonight.”

San Francisco scored the game’s first six points and took its biggest lead at 23-7 on a layup by Julian Vaughns with 10:06 remaining in the first half.

Sequoias (27-5) sliced ​​the deficit to three points (32-29) on a 3-pointer by Ryan Johnson (Hanford) with 1:56 left before halftime. But the Rams scored the final seven points of the first half, capped by Seyi Reiley’s layup, to extend the lead back to 10 points (39-29).

The Giants twice got within three points early in the second half only to have San Francisco stretch the lead back to at least eight points each time.

Sequoias finally took its first and only lead of the game at 63-62 with 3:34 left on a layup by Terri Miller (Clovis North High).

“Our whole identity this year has been built around being physical and being tough and competing at a high level,” Jensen said. “And I thought their ability to come back against the No. 1 team in the state and to put ourselves in position to win that game just speaks volumes of who they are, their belief, their competitive spirit and how they are there for one another . They really do work as a collective unit and I’m just very, very proud of them and love them dearly.”

The Rams regained the lead for good at 66-63 after two free throws apiece from Naseem Gaskin and Reiley.

A jumper by Conner Jackson (Dublin) cut the gap to 66-65 with 1;41 remaining, and a steal by Johnson on the ensuing San Francisco possession gave the Giants a chance to go back in front, but they committed a turnover and the Rams’ Gaskin raced down for a dunk on the other end to make it a three-point lead (68-65).

Sequoias missed his final three shots over the last 34 seconds, while San Francisco made 3 of 4 free throw attempts down the stretch to snap the Giants’ 14-game winning streak.

“They came out and exceeded us as far as energy and effort. I thought they took us out of our offense early,” Jensen said. “They did a fantastic job of applying ball pressure. We probably got a little too keen to shoot some outside jumpers. We didn’t have a lot of paint touches. We weren’t really getting a lot of ball reverses. No pace and tempo. But I thought over the last 30 minutes that we did the things that we were supposed to. So as bad as those first 10 minutes were, the reality is we still had an opportunity to win that game down the stretch.”

Seth Dawson (Antioch) led Sequoias with 24 points, six rebounds and three assists.

Jackson delivered 17 points, two rebounds and a steal.

Johnson contributed eight points, six rebounds, four steals and two blocks; while Miller had nine points, one rebound, one assist, one steal and one block.

The Giants also received two points, three rebounds and an assist from Scott Ator (Murphy, Texas); three points and three rebounds from Andre Treadwell (Sacramento); two points from Ryan Troutman (Kerman); a rebound and a steal from Mohammed Adam (Monterey) and a rebound from Bryce Fitzgerald (Las Vegas).

Sequoias, which made its third consecutive Elite Eight appearance in a championship season, was seeking its first state title since 1982. The Giants also captured a state crown in 1953.

Jensen and assistants Tommy Lou, Tye McCord and Tie Sims now turn their attention toward moving their seven sophomores — Dawson, Jackson, Johnson, Adam, Fitzgerald, Ator and Tiveon Stroud (Selma) — on to the four-year level. Stroud has already committed to Bellevue University, at NAIA college in Nebraska.

“At the end of the day, I’m as competitive as anyone. I want to win as much as anyone,” Jensen said. “But the reason I coach and the reason my wife and I enjoy this level so much is you have a chance to impact young men’s lives, and help them become the best versions of themselves on and off the floor.

“And the reality is I would rather see my guys graduate and sign a four-year scholarship than even win a state title. Would I like to do both? Absolutely. But at the end of the day, life is about progression, and we ‘re trying to help these young men be able to move forward in life, be able to get their education paid for, and hopefully one day be able to provide for a family of their own.”

The post Faculty of the Sequoias loses to San Francisco in state semifinals appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

LAS VEGAS — Just about an hour before tipoff Saturday night at Orleans Arena, ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi articulated, very concisely, what was on the line for BYU in the West Coast Conference quarterfinals against San Francisco.

Everybody already knew that it was a massive game. But when Lunardi speaks, everybody pays attention.

“A BYU win … against San Francisco should result in a record four bids for the WCC,” Lunardi tweeted, and he had the Cougars moving into “Last Four In” the Big Dance.

Unfortunately for no. 5 seeded BYU (22-10), it squandered an opportunity — a Golden opportunity — for a Quad 1 victory and a chance to bolster its resume and get on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble.

No. 4 San Francisco led almost the entire game and defeated the Cougars 75-63.

Afterward, Lunardi tweeted, “BYU slides out of the projected field with the loss against San Francisco.”

The Dons (24-8), meanwhile, may have clinched their spot in the NCAA Tournament.

“I’m proud of my guys. This was a big game for a multitude of reasons. If you’d been listening to the media all week, they were trying to build this up as an elimination game. I didn’t feel that that was the case with our body of work. We left no doubt tonight,” said USF coach Todd Golden.

“We controlled the game after the first four minutes. These guys (Khalil Shabazz and Jamaree Bouyea) are the two best guards in the league. I’m really excited that this team is going to be dancing.”

Golden called it “one of the biggest wins in the last 35 years” in program history.

“It secures our (NCAA) Tournament bid,” he added.

As for BYU? Its NCAA Tournament hopes remain precarious at best. The Cougars could be headed for the National Invitation Tournament.

BYU had no answer for Shabazz and Bouyea. Shabazz poured in 22 points, including 5 of 9 from 3-point range, while Bouyea finished with 18 points and four assists.

What impact did Shabazz and Bouyea have on the outcome?

“Everything is run through them. A big impact,” said BYU guard Spencer Johnson. “They made shots and a lot of tough shots. They were good tonight.”

“They’re terrible players. They’re dangerous,” said coach Mark Pope. “They complement each other really well. They’re also a really disruptive force on the defensive end in different ways.”

BYU, meanwhile, shot just 38% from the field, including a miserable 3 of 20 from 3-point range.

Combined, Gideon George, Caleb Lohner and Trevin Knell hit only 2 of 18 from the floor.

The Cougar offense, which looked so sharp in Friday’s second-round win over LMU, sputtered most of the night against USF.

Alex Barcello ended up with 19 points but hit only 1 of 5 from 3-point territory. Fousseyni Traore recorded another double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds and Johnson added 11 points on 4 of 4 shooting.

“There were some things that we didn’t do as well tonight as we had the last two weeks, some point of attack things that were a little bit surprising that we didn’t manage as well as we had,” Pope said.

“We were 3 of 20 from the 3-point line. Part of that was because we’ve just got to find ways to find each other shots more consistently.”

The game was close throughout the first half as the Dons took a 27-24 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Early in the second half, the Cougars trailed 31-29, but then Barcello and Te’Jon Lucas picked up their third and fourth fouls, respectively.

The Dons seemed to get stronger as the game went on.

With 13 minutes left, BYU missed three 3s on one possession as Trevin Knell banged a shot off the side of the backboard, Lohner missed another one and then Lucas airballed a 3 that went out of bounds.

Moments later, USF went on an 11-0 run, capped by a Shabazz 3-pointer to grab a 15-point lead, 54-39.

With a little more than four minutes remaining, a floater by Barcello pulled to within eight points, 60-52.

But seconds later, Shabazz responded with another 3-pointer, pushing USF’s lead back to double-digits, 63-52.

“We gave up some easy buckets in transition and it kind of got them going,” Johnson said. “It was nothing huge. Some rebounds we didn’t come up with and didn’t bounce our way.”

In the closing seconds of the game, Bouyea took a pass after a steal and instead of running out the clock, he jammed a resounding dunk. His histrionics after the slam drew a technical foul.

As Golden said later, that was an exclamation point on a convincing win, one that meant a lot to USF’s program.

The victory also meant a lot to Don big man Volodymyr Markovetskyy, a Ukrainian whose father is defending his homeland in Ukraine against Russian forces.

Markovetskyy only scored three points but he made life tough for BYU inside Saturday night.

For the Cougars, it was a forgettable performance.

They made only 11 of 18 free throws in the second half and were outrebounded, 41-37.

Pope described the locker room after the disappointing loss.

“Incredibly competitive guys that put their whole heart and soul into this. Guys played with a great edge the last three weeks, trying to resurrect themselves after taking some hits,” he said.

“They did an unbelievable job fighting back. When you invest that much, it’s hard to lose. They understood the opportunity they had in front of them tonight and they put everything they had into it… It hurts.”

USF is good, Johnson said, but so is his team.

“Credit to them. They played really well. Playing against high-level teams is always a battle,” he said.

“They came out and hit some shots. It just didn’t go our way tonight, but I totally think we’re a tournament team. We have the guys and the resume. We’ll bounce back. We always do and we always want.”

Now the Cougars will wait, a full week, until Selection Sunday, to find out their postseason fate.

“We’re excited to keep playing,” Pope said. “It’s a special group. We’re hopeful.”

The post BYU basketball loses to San Francisco in West Coast Convention match appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.