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California residents leaving the Golden State

Joe Moore
/
Valley Public Radio

From the days of the gold rush to the state's early agricultural pioneers, California’s history is one of emigration. In more recent years industries from motion pictures to aerospace and computer technology drew hundreds of thousands of people to the state, to search out a new life.

For many, the "California Dream" of sunshine, a good job and a relaxed lifestyle still remains a reality. But with a struggling economy, high taxes, cuts in education and other programs, many Californians are increasingly choosing to leave the Golden State for other locales, and the Central Valley is no exception. To learn a little more about what’s making people leave California faster than new residents arrive, we talked to people who have recently made the move.

In this audio montage for Valley Edition, we talked with:

Travis Sheridan: who left a good job in Fresno to move to St. Louis this year, because his girlfriend's job as a librarian was in jeopardy due to budget cuts.

Cathy Rehart: an author and Fresno native who moved away five years ago because the Valley's air pollution was contributing to her health problems.

Katie Johnson: a California native and Fresno State graduate, who left Fresno's poor job market to pursue a new career in Utah, with a better quality of life.

Chris Madrid French a California native who left the Golden State and then came back to work a "dream job" in San Francisco, only to lose her job, and move her family to Florida.

Joe Moore is the President and General Manager of KVPR / Valley Public Radio. He has led the station through major programming changes, the launch of KVPR Classical and the COVID-19 pandemic. Under his leadership the station was named California Non-Profit of the Year by Senator Melissa Hurtado (2019), and won a National Edward R. Murrow Award for investigative reporting (2022).