Victor David Hanson, who has written frequently and vividly about the social decay of the valley over the years, had a moving book published in the 1990s, "Fields Without Dreams," about the decline of family farms and the consolidation of agriculture into what are effectively absentee plantations. (The Resnicks are the most famous farmers who live in Beverly Hills, but there are others.) I don't quite recall his specific diagnosis of the cause then, but farming has always been very hard work that kids look for ways to avoid.
As an aside, almost a decade ago there was a ballot measure proposed to split California into six states. Never actually got enough signatures, but there was an interesting analysis by the Legislative Analyst's Office.
If the plan passed, the state that he designated "Silicon Valley" would have been the richest of U.S. states, while "Central California" (mostly the San Joaquin Valley) would have been the poorest. And they are right next to each other, so the economic gradient feels especially steep.
Victor David Hanson, who has written frequently and vividly about the social decay of the valley over the years, had a moving book published in the 1990s, "Fields Without Dreams," about the decline of family farms and the consolidation of agriculture into what are effectively absentee plantations. (The Resnicks are the most famous farmers who live in Beverly Hills, but there are others.) I don't quite recall his specific diagnosis of the cause then, but farming has always been very hard work that kids look for ways to avoid.
As an aside, almost a decade ago there was a ballot measure proposed to split California into six states. Never actually got enough signatures, but there was an interesting analysis by the Legislative Analyst's Office.
If the plan passed, the state that he designated "Silicon Valley" would have been the richest of U.S. states, while "Central California" (mostly the San Joaquin Valley) would have been the poorest. And they are right next to each other, so the economic gradient feels especially steep.
https://lao.ca.gov/ballot/2013/130771.aspx