What was the housing boom?

Answer 1

The military was largely responsible for the housing booms. When WWII was going on, US citizens from all other states were sent to the coasts for embarking overseas, or for military training, or for SHIPBUILDING. They liked what they saw (California), they told their relatives to come "to California", they told their friends, who told THEIR relatives, etc. If you see the old film, "China Town" starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway, Jack plays a 1930's LA (Los Angeles, CA) private eye (private detective). When the bad guys proceed to cut up his nose with a knife, and later it gets bandaged up, he makes a statement to some fellas, "...You know, people talk, LA's a small town, ya know what I mean..." SMALL TOWN! LA?! Well it was a small town, until WWII hit. Today, California (is the 3rd Largest State-Sq miles) has over 35 million people (compared with Montana's ONE million (Montana is the 4th largest state-Sq miles), and Alaska's (the biggest state-Sq miles) less than a million in the whole STATE). And is within the top ten in world economies, if California were a separate nation.

WWII created the population booms when people in Minn, Ill, Maine, etc. saw that California "really was the land of milk and honey (it never SNOWs here)", everybody and their neighbor moved out to California. In, California, during the 1960's nearly every high school student or junior high school was from out of state. Very few people were born in California. Even today, a 40 year male may be born in CA, but odds are, his parents are from out of state. Because they were from that 1960's crowd. California experienced the BIGGEST housing boom (1940's, 1950's, 1960's, 1970's, then somewhat leveling off in the 80's & 90's, mostly due to "Environmental Laws & Restrictions which effected the construction industry). Next came the rest of the west coast; Oregon & Washington, with Washington the most, because it still has a military base(s) there, which creates jobs and helps to stabilize the economy.