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I love Southern California. I’ve lived in the Los Angeles area the majority of my life, and my outlook on the world has been shaped by this adopted home of mine. However, despite my love for this wonderful stretch of America, I am seriously considering not living here when I start a career and a family. Why?

For one thing, California ranks in the lower half of the United States in educational quality and 46th in per capita educational spending. California is also home to rising living costs and a dysfunctional transportation system. These problems keep me from wanting to stay here. They also deter businesses that could bring quality jobs to our state.

For these reasons, it is crucial that our state and national governments do something to end these shameful problems.

One of the biggest hindrances to our economic progress as a city is the lack of a comprehensive transportation network like that of New York. Our freeways are packed with bumper-to-bumper traffic during peak hours, making them among the busiest in the country.

As a result, commuters are forced to leave for work hours before they clock in and may not reach home until several hours after leaving their workplaces. From personal experience, I certainly can confirm that this leads to exhaustion, which decreases productivity.

Furthermore, it dramatically reduces the quality of life, which makes high-end businesses less likely to come to our city. Some may point out that there is public transportation available; however, even a cursory examination will show that the public transportation system is disjointed and spotty compared to the systems in other major cities like New York, Boston and San Francisco. As a result, many workers who do not have cars are forced to undergo numerous difficulties to reach work, and those of us who do have cars are not much better off after being forced to spend hours in them. All of this hinders businesses from coming to Los Angeles and Southern California, in general.

Even worse than transportation is our crumbling educational system. Los Angeles Unified School District, just like school districts throughout the state, have taken substantial funding cuts as a result of the nightmarish state budget situation.

While these cuts may merely be dollar amounts to many Sacramento legislators, the harsh reality is that children are left less prepared to compete in the future. This creates an underskilled work force, which again makes businesses less likely to come to our area. In fact, a panel of economists and urban planners speaking at UCLA recently highlighted education as one of the keys for future economic success.

But if we acknowledge the importance of education, why is so little being done to improve it?

Part of the problem starts at the federal level. According to taxfoundation.org, California is a “donor state.” By its calculation, “California taxpayers benefit less than almost any other state from each tax dollar sent to the federal government. In 2002, only five states received less in federal funds than they paid in federal taxes. California taxpayers received only 76 cents in federal expenditures for every dollar in federal taxes.”

In other words, money generated in California does not end up in California’s economy after the federal government is done subsidizing poorer states and countries like Iraq.

This all leads to a lack of money for education – and contributes to an uneducated work force, which keeps away employers that require highly skilled workers. Until we force our city, state and nation to prioritize education, Los Angeles will be a second-choice location for many top jobs. Of course, there are many high-paying jobs in L.A. But how many more would be attracted here were our education system better?

Like me, you might be contemplating moving out of this city after graduation. After all, who wants to live in a city with a job market that is hindered by so many different factors? And I haven’t even touched on housing costs yet.

According to the Daily Bruin, the average home price in Orange County is over $500,000, a 15 percent increase from just two years ago. The situation in Los Angeles is similar, with home prices skyrocketing much faster than family incomes. As a result, a business that wishes to set up shop here has a major issue concerning its employees. To attract quality employees in an area with such high housing costs can be difficult, especially when dealing with lower-income jobs that are still vital to the economy. And, because the transportation system is so poor, commuting to work is often hellish.

So businesses will have to pay workers more money, or workers will have to commute outrageous distances to reach work. As a result, many of these businesses may be deterred from coming to Los Angeles.

Years ago, Los Angeles became the economic, social and political powerhouse that it is largely because it was an attractive place to live and work. The moment this incentive disappears, so too will many of the innovators who made this city what it is.

People living in Los Angeles need to take personal responsibility and work to improve the situation; they should drive cleaner cars, demand more public transportation, and accept the taxes necessary to pay for education. People must also force politicians to make the economic future of Los Angeles and Southern California a priority, more than spending on prisons or unjust wars across the globe. Demand that your elected officials do their part to improve the economic future of this state as well.

Bhaskar is a third-year political science student. E-mail him at sbhaskar@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.