Actor and film producer Mark Wahlberg has joined the growing list of Hollywood celebrities fleeing California amid the state's crisis. High taxes, skyrocketing crime rates and rising housing prices are some of the reasons why the Golden State is experiencing one of the largest exoduses in its history.
From California to Nevada
During an interview on CBS's The Talk, the artist said he moved from California to Nevada to give his four children "a better life":
I moved to California many years ago to pursue acting and only made a couple of movies in all the time I was there. So, to be able to give my children a better life and follow and pursue their dreams, whether it's my daughter as an equestrian, my son as a basketball player, my youngest son as a golfer, this made a lot more sense for us.
Wahlberg follows the example of other celebrities such as Katy Perry, Matthew McConaughey and podcaster Joe Rogan, who packed their bags to move to other states in the country that offer better living conditions. Last April, the actor put his 12-bedroom, 20-bathroom home in the upscale Beverly Park neighborhood of Los Angeles up for sale for $87.5 million, Yahoo News reported .
In addition, the actor commented that he expects that in the upcoming mid-term elections - in which Democratic incumbent Governor Steve Sisolak is seeking re-election against Republican candidate and Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo, who is also the candidate for the Republican nomination - Sisolak will be able to win the election and later, pass a bill in the legislature that would give "tax credits to citizens so we can build a state-of-the-art movie studio called 'Hollywood 2.0': We came here to give ourselves a new image, a fresh start for the kids, and there's a lot of opportunity here.... I'm very excited about the future."
California: "A socialist nightmare"
Strict business regulations and substandard public services are reasons to explain the massive Exodus from California. This is compounded by the growing tax burden, which contributes further to migration trends. Per capita public spending has risen in California by 52% over the period 2000 to 2019. And, although it is considered "the world's fifth largest economy," a looming fiscal crisis is inevitable.
Residents across the state are fleeing in their droves from the policies of Governor Gavin Newsom, who some in the media blame for "turning California into a neo-feudal nightmare" or as some conservative leaders call it, "a socialist nightmare."
A recent report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago tracked data released by a real estate firm which stated that California had an out-of-state move rate of approximately 56% between 2018-2019. Following the pandemic, that rate increased to nearly 60% by 2020-2021.
The Los Angeles Times reported that a California Department of Finance statistic showed that more than 352,000 residents packed up their belongings and moved elsewhere between April 2020 and January 2022.
