It's easy to understand why people moved to California—and it's just as easy to understand why they are now leaving.
In the 1950s, planned developments of sprawling single-family ranch houses sprung up throughout California. Postwar abundance meant normal people could have garages and swimming pools. Real estate magnates set their sights on creating full towns, with all the modern amenities, out of sparsely populated ranchland. Jobs, meanwhile, were abundant—defense, entertainment, infrastructure, service, and engineering, specifically semiconductors.
