Why Idaho?

Clayton Cramer has a great piece up on his blog on why Californians are leaving for places like Idaho. He makes that Idaho’s tax laws are little better than California’s. (Something I’d like to fix if I ever run again.) He sees the reasons as cultural:

What I hear from recent California arrivals as the reasons why they moved here is that they were tired of the density, the crime problem, and above all, the sense that they were no longer wanted there: their moral values were contrary to the dominant philosophy of the place, and they simply would not continue trying to raise children in communities that regard Christianity as a problem to be stamped out.

What is really amusing to me are the people that move here because they acknowledge that they would not want to raise children in a community that shares their values. Shortly after we arrived, I met a couple who seemed like they would be very Bay Area. He was a freshly minted doctor; she had a Masters of Fine Arts, and was definitely on the artsy side of things. By their own admission, they were very liberal–but after looking at where they wanted to start a family, they concluded that Boise made more sense than any of a number of other communities where their political and social values were the norm.

What gets me about the people Clayton writes about is that they leave California physically, but want to carry California values to Idaho to make things just like California. Oy vey. Some people never learn.

Now, there are exceptions. Russ will likely show up and point out that he moved out of Idaho to Oregon. Then again, Russ didn’t have kids. I seriously wonder whether he’d want to raise him in Portland or San Francisco. For many liberals, the answer is no.

Linked to Jo’s Cafe

Idaho