Why I Left California for Florida

The Golden State is terribly run, but that's not the main reason from my move. Most of life isn't about politics, thankfully. 

Full text and links: https://reason.com/video/2021/11/03/why-i-left-california-for-florida/

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I left California and moved to Florida. 

After 14 transformational years in Los Angeles, where my wife Lindsey and I built careers, bought a house, got married and had three kids, we decided to pack up and relocate. And we're not alone. California's approach to the pandemic made life harder than ever before. 

I've reported extensively on California's policies, from the expensive and unreliable energy grid to the aggressive taxation and regulation, from the draconian lockdowns that permanently damaged small businesses and kept children out of school for longer than anywhere else, to the failure of city leaders to cope with the nation's worst homelessness and mental crises. I've seen it all firsthand. But my main reasons for moving aren't political; they're personal.  

California: I still love you. Sometimes I don't feel it. But I really do. 

Fourteen years ago, my future wife's Honda Accord hustled us 2,400 miles in three days so that she could make it for a job interview in Los Angeles. We left behind friends, family, and Florida—trading the swamps of the Sunshine State for the glamour of Hollywood. We memorialized the moment with blurry digital photos snapped from the car window.

We soaked in the famous SoCal weather, so consistently pleasant that it spoils you for the rest of the world. We gawked at the natural beauty, and gorged ourselves on the rich, variegated culture of Los Angeles—a city packed full of people creative, daring, and delusional enough to follow their dreams. 

My kids are all California natives and life here on balance was good to them. They trounced through mountain streams in the Sierras, hid inside centenarian redwoods, splashed at the edge of the vast, cold Pacific, played and learned alongside other kids from around the world, learned how to count in Mandarin, greet in Spanish, and express their gratitude in Korean.

Then things started to change, both for us and in the world. 

On March 19, 2020, Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom issued the nation's first statewide stay-at-home order. As the dynamism of L.A. ground to a halt, the smog cleared, the birds chirped, and we would see and hear our surroundings in a way we never had before. It made us look at California differently, the upsides and downsides each coming into sharper focus.

Produced, edited, and shot by Zach Weissmueller. Graphics by Isaac Reese. Additional footage shot by Paul Detrick. 

Photos: Xinhua / Xinhua News Agency/Newscom; William Perugini/Westend61 GmbH/Newscom; ROBIN UTRECHT/SIPA/Newscom; Cody Williams/FLICKR Creative Commons 2.0 Generic; Raquel Natalicchio/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom. 

Sound effects licensed from soundslikewillem under a Creative Commons license.