Bay Area Impact: Can We Restore the California Dream?

We'll let the East Coast pundits write California's epitaph (again), but there's little question that the foundations of the Golden State's golden promise are badly teetering. California's population declined in 2020 for the first time in recorded history, a development that does not bode well for economic growth. Not a week goes by that we don't hear about employers and residents pulling up stakes or making plans to grow and invest elsewhere. COVID and the rise of remote work has only made that easier. Add in a persistent housing and homelessness crisis, rising crime and our notoriously high cost of living and doing business and, well, you get the idea. Small businesses, lower- and middle-income households and people of color are the hardest hit. Meanwhile, record tax revenue from the ultra-wealthy make it easy for those in power to ignore or downplay the problems. What's a housing crisis when you have a new unicorn?

On Thursday, February 24, Bay Area Council CEO Jim Wunderman led a discussion with Chapman University researchers Joel Kotkin and Marshall Toplansky on new research analyzing California's profound challenges and what it will take to refocus state policy makers on fixing them. The discussion, part of the Council's Bay Area Impact webinar series, also included viewpoints from Holland & Knight Partner Jennifer Hernandez and Raley's President and CEO Keith Knopf.