California Housing Is Becoming More Affordable—Relatively, Anyway

You Still Get More House for Your Money in Austin or Boise Than L.A. or San Francisco, But the Difference Is Dwindling

California housing prices have soared during the pandemic. The California Association of Realtors reports that the median selling price of a single-family house here increased 11 percent, to $796,000, between December 2020 and December 2021.

Skyrocketing home prices and their impact on affordability are often cited as reasons for net domestic migration out of California. In the early 1960s around 250,000 Americans moved to California each year. In 2020 close to the same number left. Is this the beginning of a mass exodus from the Golden State or a more temporary …

by JERRY NICKELSBURG | April 6, 2022

To Solve America’s Immigration Woes, We Need to Think, Act, and Work Locally

Individuals and Communities Are Able to Connect with Newcomers Even as Policymakers Work to Drive Us Apart

by Sarah Rothbard | March 25, 2022

The Zócalo event “Could Immigration Unite Americans?” comes at a time when much of the world has actually come together in support of one group of immigrants. But, as New …

a moving truck on the Golden Gate Bridge

Let’s Pay Californians to Move

Relocation Subsidies Could Solve Housing Gridlock and Make This State a Better Place to Live

by Joe Mathews | October 19, 2021

Are you a Californian who wants to make your state a better place?

Then move.

Any place within California will do, though it would be great if you could relocate to a …

How Domestic Migration Keeps Changing American Politics

The Democratic Flip of Georgia Points to a Future of Greater Conflict Within Southern States

by James C. Cobb | March 22, 2021

Population migration out of the South proved to be a major force for national political realignment in the 20th century. But as the recent Democratic breakthrough in Georgia seems to …

The Modesto Girls are a Family Miracle

How Five Sisters (and Their Brothers) Survived Childhood and Stuck Together in Stanislaus County

by Joe Mathews | September 4, 2018

California changes too fast. The new so quickly replaces the old. People come and go with a blur. I often feel like you can’t count on anything staying here anymore.

But …

If You Want Strawberry Fields Forever, You Need Migrant Labor

A Year-Round Supply of Low-Priced Food Demands Seasonal Workers Free to Cross Borders

By Jerry Nickelsburg | April 26, 2017

Two hundred years ago this year, British economist David Ricardo published his monumental work “On The Principles of Political Economy and Taxation.” In it he outlined a theory of international …

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