California

California's Fading Promise: Millennial Prospects in the Golden State

Homeownership continues to be the most important part of the American dream for millennials, but California's rising house prices continue to force them out of the state.

This video is part of the larger report "California's Fading Promise: Millennial Prospects in the Golden State", conducted by Joel Kotkin and Chapman University researchers, in partnership with the California Association of Realtors.  read more »

Fading Promise: Millennial Prospects in the Golden State

This is the introduction to a new report published by the Chapman University Center for Demographics and Policy titled, “Fading Promise: Millennial Prospects in the Golden State.” Read the full report (pdf) here.

Along with the report, a new video from Chapman University and the California Association of Realtors talks about the housing crisis in California. Watch it here.  read more »

Uber! Regulations Mean San Francisco Loses While Phoenix and Pittsburgh Win

Any business person who has dealt with California's frustrating laws, regulations and bureaucrats was nonetheless surprised to see the story headlined, "Uber Ships Self-Driving Cars to Arizona After California Ban."

Really? A state ban on Uber? The poster child of the billion-dollar-plus startup, tech-guru, market-disruptor club? Why would Sacramento give Uber, of all people, a bad time?  read more »

Caltrain and Blended High Speed Rail Promise Peninsula Traffic Paralysis

The following notice was issued by the Community Coalition on High Speed Rail in the San Francisco Bay Area.

A TRANSPORTATION EXPERT CONFIRMS OUR WARNINGS:
THE SO-CALLED "BLENDED" PROJECT WILL
PARALYZE TRAFFIC ON THE PENINSULA  read more »

California’s Attack on Rule of Law

Morris Brown, founder of Derail (a citizen group opposed to California’s high speed rail project) writes over at Fox and Hounds Daily that newly enacted California Assembly Bill 1889 is unconstitutional.  read more »

Problems in the Orange County Grand Jury Light Rail Report

Earlier this month (May 9, 2016) the Orange County (California) Grand Jury issued a report entitled: “Light Rail: Is Orange County on the Right Track,” which is on the Grand Jury website here. The report largely concludes that it is not and that there is a need for a light rail system in Orange County.  read more »

More Californian’s Continue to Drive Despite Policies to Discourage

“California Commuters Continue to Choose Single Occupant Vehicles,” according to a report by the California Center for Jobs and the Economy. The Center indicated:  read more »

California Companies Head for Greatness – Outside of California

Why would companies located in one of the most beautiful states in the country – California – undertake the costly proposition of relocating to places with less scenic appeal and less-than-ideal weather?

There are three answers and they relate to California’s business environment: Regulations, taxes and anxiety.  read more »

California Dreamin’ or California Nightmare?

Our recent report on “California Social Priorities” — released by Chapman University’s Center for Demographics and Policy and the topic of the first meeting of the Houston based Center for Opportunity Urbanism — stirred up some controversy. A largely negative response came from Josh Stephens from the California Planning and Development Report.  read more »

Srirachagate Gives a Window Into California’s Business Climate Problem

I love Huy Fong Foods’ Sriracha sauce as much as the next guy, which is to say a lot. The red hot sauce with the rooster on the bottle has a cult following across the nation. So unsurprisingly it made national news when the city of Irwindale, CA sued to shut down production at the company’s processing plant there.  read more »