Nolte: Cost of Living in Democrat-Run California Creates Exodus of Film/TV Workers Al Seib/Los Angeles Times via Getty

The far-left Los Angeles Times writes of an exodus of film and TV workers from Los Angeles, but misses one crucial point—well, two.

“Los Angeles has long been a magnet for those chasing their big break in film and TV, drawn by the allure of creative fulfillment and fame,” writes the Times. “But conversations about a growing exodus are getting louder, as escalating housing costs and dwindling career opportunities push many to pursue their dreams elsewhere.”

“The city’s entertainment industry workforce has been rocked by a series of unprecedented shocks, from a global pandemic to last summer’s double labor strikes by writers and actors,” adds the Times. “As the streaming boom has faded, entertainment companies have hemorrhaged jobs, and networks, studios, and streamers have pared back their programming slates.”

This industry-wide slowdown coupled with the “still high….cost of living in L.A.” means “many have simply been unable, or unwilling, to continue to tough it out in a city where rents have risen and home prices linger at an all-time high.”

The Times then focuses on three people who have fled, people who had been making a pretty good living in some form of movie or TV or video production.

If there’s a single theme in these three stories, it’s that everyone cannot cover insanely high rent costs.

One guy was paying $2,626 a month in rent for a three-bedroom house. But after “their landlord decided to sell their house, they knew something had to give.” The problem is that a comparable house would cost closer to $4,000 a month, which they could not afford.

Another woman saw the rent on her one-bedroom apartment jump from $2,500 to over $3,000.

Another made “around $60,000 a year, but that was still not enough to afford a decent place of her own in Los Angeles.”

The first crucial point missed by the Times is the fact that it wasn’t always like this. Until recently, and I’m talking a few years ago, people could afford to live in Los Angeles and wait tables as they waited for their show business dreams to come true. I moved out to Los Angeles in 2003 and rented a two-bedroom house for $1250.

You see, that was part of the allure and magic of Los Angeles—it was a place where anyone could go to get a second chance, to make their dreams come true. Most, like me, failed, but it was still possible to at least try. Worse case, you had an adventure to share. But with rents insanely (and unnecessarily) high, that dream is dead. No longer can you wait tables in between auditions and have a place to live.

The second crucial point the Times ignores is why this is happening. Why are rents so high? The answer is two-fold: extremist environmental policies and illegal aliens.

Extremist environmental policies make building new housing very expensive, if not impossible. Democrats do not want new housing. They see people as a virus on the planet.

Well, Democrats do love illegal aliens, which is why California has opened the state to the Third World. And when millions of illegals compete with starry-eyed Americans for scarce housing, those starry-eyed Americans are forced to stay in Milwaukee.

I sure wish the Los Angeles Times had asked these three people profiled who they voted for. What do you want to bet all three are getting exactly what they voted for?

John Nolte’s first and last novel, Borrowed Time, is winning five-star raves from everyday readers. You can read an excerpt here and an in-depth review here. Also available in hardcover and on Kindle and Audiobook. 

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