| Location | Yearly Rate (plus - in/negative - out) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1990-2000 | 2000-2004 | |
| Santa Clara County | negative | -2.5% |
| Bay Area | -0.55% | -1.47% |
| California | -0.69% | -0.28% |
With the highest net out-migration of any county in California, and the 12th highest rate in the nation based on the latest available domestic migration statistics, it is clear that the city councils of Santa Clara County have failed. They have made the county a place where Americans prefer not to live. This is in stark contrast to the decades of in-bound migration from other parts of America that the county had up until some time in the 1980's. And yet the response in the poorer Santa Clara County cities - Santa Clara among them - is more of the same. More high density residential and commercial development.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau and their report on Domestic Net Migration In the United States: 2000 to 2004 - California, the Bay Area, and Santa Clara Clara County are all exporting people. There are more people flowing out to other parts of the country than are flowing in from other parts of the country. Despite having the best weather in the country, despite having a long coastline, despite having large forests, despite having beautiful mountains with skiing, California is exporting people to the rest of America. While having a net influx of people from other parts of the country for well over a century, in 1982, people started leaving California for other states, faster than people from those states were coming in. Despite its climate and geographic advantages, mayors and city councils around the state had allowed conditions to deteriorate so badly that it was less attractive to Americans than other states.
| Total Number | Average annual number | Average annual rate | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990-2000 | 2000-2004 | 1990-2000 | 2000-2004 | 1990-2000 | 2000-2004 |
| -2,208,709 | -396,156 | -220,871 | -99,039 | -6.9 | -2.8 |
People are migrating out of the San Francisco Bay Area at an even faster rate than the state of California:
| Average annual number | Average annual rate | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990-2000 | 2000-2004 | 1990-2000 | 2000-2004 |
| -21,587 | -60,984 | -5.5(-0.55%) | -14.7 (-1.47%) |
For the period 2000-2004, the county of Santa Clara lost people to other parts of America at a rate faster than the Bay Area (and California):
| County | Rates per 1000 population |
|---|---|
| Santa Clara | -25.6 (-2.56%) |
| San Francisco | -24.6 |
| San Mateo | -21.6 |
| Marin | -19.9 to -10 |
| Alameda | -19.9 to -10 |
| Solano | -9.9 to -0.1 |
| Sonoma | -9.9 to -0.1 |
| Napa | +0.0 to +9.9 |
| Contra Costa | +0.0 to +9.9 |
Santa Clara County has the 12th highest net out-migration of residents to other parts of America of U.S. counties:
| County | Rate per 1000 people |
|---|---|
| Chattahoochee, GA | -40.5 |
| Geary, KS | -40.5 |
| Reeves, TX | -35.3 |
| Finney, KS | -35.0 |
| Charlottesville, VA | -31.9 |
| Kodiak Island, AK | -30.8 |
| Alexandria city# | -31.1 |
| Arlington, VA | -30.8 |
| Suffolk, MA | -28.2 |
| Vernon, LA | -27.7 |
| Seward, KS | -26.0 |
| Santa Clara, CA | -25.6 (-2.56%) |
For both the 1990-2000 and 2000-2004 periods, the counties of Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Solano all had a out-migration. The counties of Napa and Contra Costa had a net in-migration. Sonoma county had net in-migration in the period 1990 and net out-migration in the period 2000-2004.
So it's important to note that the Santa Clara City Council is working diligently to provide more housing as people are fleeing the city. They are making the city more crowded, proclaiming that there is a desperate need for housing, and yet the facts show that the only people who require new housing are people who don't currently live in the country. Is the city obligated to provide housing for future international economic migrants? No. In fact, one of the rationalizations of continuing to increase the country's population (population increase being something that exacerbates all the environmental problems) via international economic migration is that there is plenty of room - in the midwest of the United States. Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, etc. have the room. Santa Clara, California has been completely paved over and developed wall to wall.
