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Civitas Outlook
Topic
Pursuit of Happiness
Published on
Aug 25, 2025
Contributors
Joel Kotkin
Photo by Logan Bonjean on Unsplash.

The Next Californias

Contributors
Joel Kotkin
Joel Kotkin
Senior Research Fellow
Joel Kotkin
Summary
Colorado, Washington, and Oregon have adopted many of the policies contributing to the Golden State’s decline.
Summary
Colorado, Washington, and Oregon have adopted many of the policies contributing to the Golden State’s decline.
Listen to this article

Not long ago, Colorado, Washington, and Oregon were widely hailed as states with bright futures. For decades, they attracted scores of out-of-state migrants, turning Denver, Seattle, and Portland into celebrated urban hubs.

But that changed as these states began adopting the very policies—above all on energy, housing, and regulation—that many newcomers had fled from in California. Once politically purple, Colorado, Washington, and Oregon have turned solid blue, embracing the same agenda that even the New York Times concedes has turned “the California dream” into “a mirage.”

True, Colorado, Washington, and Oregon have yet to reach California’s levels of dysfunction. Yet each shows signs suggestive of the Golden State’s experience, including lower job growth, sluggish housing-construction rates, a deteriorating business climate, and surging domestic out-migration.

Continue reading at City Journal.

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