BENEFITS OF LIVING IN THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY

Central California Is Outpacing The State In Job Growth

    In the last two years, non-farm payrolls have risen 2.7%, unlike the Bay Area and Southern California .  This development has been attributed to cheap land and low interest rates and a development spree that has drawn young families, retirees, retailers and manufacturers.

Many of the jobs being created are low-paying positions in big-box stores, warehouses and construction sites.  Last year, the jobless rate in this farming area ranged from 9.9% to 15.1%.

Last year Kern County logged more than 5,500 housing starts.  That’s as many as Orange County and double the number builders were developing around Bakersfield five years ago.  In fact, the San Joaquin Valley is constructing more new housing in the state than any other place outside Southern California .  Housing construction has yielded a windfall of hard-hat jobs.  Construction employment in Kern County is up 11.0% in the last two years, and the gains are solid throughout the valley.

A report released last year concluded that Fresno had to evolve beyond its present role as a low-cost, low-wage center if it hoped to boost living standards and bring down an unemployment rate seemingly stuck in double digits.  To that end, hundreds of public and private sector leaders are involved in the Fresno Regional Jobs Initiative.  In the short term, it seeks to create as many as 30,000 jobs in the next five years paying average salaries of $29,500 a year.  In the long run, the goal is to boost educational achievement and create a diversified, more knowledge-based economy by nurturing existing but underdeveloped industries such as healthcare, logistics, water technology and tourism.

Affordable Housing

    Central California is one of the fastest-growing regions of the state, with cities such as Bakersfield adding residents at nearly twice the state-wide growth rate.

The attraction to Central California is affordable housing and people are heading for the San Joaquin Valley where the median home price is $438,500 – about half the statewide figure.   Some are retirees who have opted for spacious new homes on a golf course.  Others are commuters who are willing to make the drive south to Los Angeles or west to the Bay Area in exchange for more square footage and a proper backyard for the barbecue grill.  Still others relocate to escape the congestion and hassle of big-city living.

Pro-Growth Business Climate

   Favorable cost-of-living conditions in the area allows the area’s residents to have more money in their pockets because they’re not spending it all on housing and are able to have more disposable income.  Experts credit cheap land, low wages and favorable business conditions to the attraction of defectors from elsewhere in the state.

Target, IKEA, Gap, Inc. and others have built distribution facilities in the San Joaquin Valley .

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