California remains No. 1 in the hearts and minds of people who don't live there. But if the place is so great, why is it that the Golden State lost more people than it gained between 1995 and 2000? Could it be the extremely high housing costs?

According to the latest Census Bureau figures, California had a net out-migration of 755,000 people to other states during the five-year period, second only to New York's net population loss of 874,000.

Yet, according to a recent Harris Poll, more Americans would like to live there than in any other state.

Despite the political upheaval in California resulting from the state's financial mess, it was the second-year running that the Golden State bested Florida as the nation's most desirable state, a position the Sunshine State held from 1997 until 2001.

Many of the folks leaving California end up in Nevada and Arizona, where housing prices are far more reasonable and which had the highest rates of net in-migration during the ‘95-‘00 period, Census reported.

Nevada led all states with by far the highest rate of net in-migration, gaining 151.5 people for every 1,000 residents. Though its rate was second, Arizona gained only half as many people (74.3) per 1,000 residents.

Other states with high levels of net in-migration were Georgia (48.6), North Carolina (48.4), Florida (44) and Colorado (43.8).

In contrast, high rates of net out-migration were found in the District of Columbia (which lost 81.7 people per 1,000 residents), Hawaii (65.4), Alaska (51.0), New York (48.8) and North Dakota (40.6).

The migration of 300,000 people from New York to Florida was the single largest state-to-state flow, and was far larger than the reverse flow of 70,000 people from Florida to New York. But in something of another irony, many of the people migrating to fast-growing Georgia were from Florida.

In the Harris poll, moreover, New York was the fifth most popular state, topped only by Hawaii and Colorado. Last year, New York was eighth. Go figure.

The next five most popular places rated by the 2,125 adults who participated in the on-line survey were Arizona, Texas, North Carolina, Virginia and Washington.

Besides New York, several states improved their ranking over last year: Texas went from No. 14 to No. 7, Virginia rose from 12th to ninth, and Nevada, which didn't even make the top 15 last year, moved up to 12th.

But several states lost ground, too: North Carolina dropped from fifth last year to eighth this year, Montana slid from No. 11 to No. 13, Alaska fell to 15th from 12th, and Tennessee, which was No.7 last year, slid all the way out of the top 15.

Most of the top 15 are in the South (4), the West (3) or the Southwest (3). New York is the only state in the Northeast on the list. No Mid-Atlantic or Midwestern states made it.

Meanwhile, the Census Bureau said the South experienced the greatest net migration gain of older people (65 and over) from other regions: 233,000. And it found a net migration gain in non-metropolitan areas of about half a million people. In 1990, the non-metropolitan net migration gain for the previous five years was just 50,000 nationwide.

Published: August 27, 2003

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When Lew Sichelman first started writing about housing in 1969, he was the youngest real estate writer in the country. Now, 37 years later, he's one of the oldest -- and most decorated. He has been rated the top housing columnist in the country by the National Association of Realtors as well as by his peers in the National Association of Real Estate Editors. Indeed, NAREE has recognized his work on numerous occasions. One year - due to his advancing age, he can't recall which one - he earned top honors in the annual NAREE Journalism Contest in three out of the four major writing categories. It was the first time one writer has won so many NAREE awards in a single year. Known for his ability to make even the most difficult topics understandable, Sichelman also has been honored by the National Association of Home Builders and the Mortgage Bankers Association. He began providing in-depth coverage of and consumer-oriented information about housing and housing finance at the Washington Daily News, where he was real estate editor. He held that same position for nine more years at the Washington Star, which purchased the News in 1972. The Star, a so-called "writer's newspaper" which also had the misfortune of being an evening paper, was put out of its misery in 1981, and Sichelman, who had begun self-syndicating his column in 1978, decided to become a full-time columnist. Today, his column, "The Housing Scene," is distributed by United Media to newspapers throughout the country. He also is on the staff of National Mortgage News, an independent newspaper which is considered the bible of the mortgage business. And he writes for numerous other publications, including MarketWatch.com, where he answers readers questions once a week, Sports Illustrated (don't ask), RealtyTimes.com, BigBuilder and others. Sichelman is married, the father of five and grandfather of eleven.