I don't know a single person that lost a job in 2007/2008. Everyone just hunkered down. Stopped job hunting, employers stopped hiring, everyone just stayed quiet.

Now, I know my anecdote doesn't mean much, because supposedly unemployment went up. Traffic certainly got better. But my point is, the anecdotes aren't worth a ton. I'm not making mine up -- I'm dead serious. Nobody I know got laid off, nobody I know left the area.

I also know far more people who have moved TO California than out of it, and the only people I know who moved out were a couple of people in the past 3 years.