Why Americans Can't Afford to Live in Liberal Cities http://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-americans-cant-afford-live-120000051.html "But there's a second reason why San Francisco's problem is emblematic of a national story. Liberal cities seem to have the worst affordability crises, according to Trulia chief economist Jed Kolko. In a recent article, Kolko divided the largest cities into 32 “red" metros where Romney got more votes than Obama in 2012 (e.g. Houston), 40 “light-blue” markets where Obama won by fewer than 20 points (e.g. Austin), and 28 “dark-blue” metros where Obama won by more than 20 points (e.g. LA, SF, NYC). Although all three housing groups faced similar declines in the recession and similar bounce-backs in the recovery, affordability remains a bigger problem in the bluest cities. "Even after adjusting for differences of income, liberal markets tend to have higher income inequality and worse affordability,” Kolko said. Kolko's theory isn't an outlier. There is a deep literature trying liberal residents to illiberal housing policies that create affordability crunches for the middle class. In 2010, UCLA economist Matthew Kahn published a study of California cities, which found that liberal metros issued fewer new housing permits. The correlation held over time: As California cities became more liberal, he said, they built fewer homes." (More at above url)
I think it's somewhat more nuanced. Liberal policies tend to drive out the middle class. They can't afford private schools, they bear the brunt of the crime and quality of life issues liberal policies create and liberals try to choke off the kinds of real jobs they hold. Liberals like governmemt workers and barristas, not refineries or Walmarts. In a few places, eg SF and Silicon Valley, they've been successful, kind of like the Clinton presidency was successful economically in spite of itself. In most places, eg the northeast and industrial midwest, their policies have brought disaster and devastation, particularly to the middle class.
Its even more basic. High local and state taxes in a addition to federal taxes (coupled with the inflation caused by the Fed) erode your savings and make your salary worth less and less every year. You and your family can't stay middle class by being a worker... unless you are a govt worker. If federal state and local taxes plus all the other taxes take half your income. And a mortgage and Obamacare is designed to take all you extra income... If you have any left over you pay for debt inflated college tuition. If you still have something the govt will try and tax it upon your death. how can the middle class afford to keep paying for food and property taxes which keep going up? they get taken out by the gravity given off by the liberal govt black hole. The cronies are returning the people to feudalism via debt and taxes. It just look like we get to buy our own food pay for our own over priced college tuition, obamacare and houses. Note... I do own my own business so for me this really is about what the govt is doing to our children's futures.
I lived in the Bay Area. Costs were high, but salaries were also high, so it was about the same. But I agree, you can only tax so much, and then the only one who can afford a middle class life style is the government.
There are spots where the private economy can escape the gravity of government for a little while. Wall Street. Silicon Valley parts of San Diego and North Carolina and Texas. Its because tech and banking can generate outsize profits. But even then the companies speak of relocating to the South or to Arizona as their industries mature. They don't want to have to pay the workers what the need to be paid to live. Look at what Hollywood does. The entertainment industry is being outsourced... its a leftist crime against our economic future.