California attorney, 40, tells how she fled to Florida after being driven out of Golden Gate state by machete-wielding homeless person, Covid restrictions and rent rises

A California lawyer has revealed how she fled to Florida after being driven out of the liberal state by violent homelessness, draconian lockdown restrictions and rising rents.

Krystle Meyer, 40, left the Golden Gate State after 20 years due to rising costs and lack of security.

The lawyer rented a $3,500-a-month one-bedroom house in Marina del Ray but was forced to move after a “terrifying” encounter with a homeless man with a machete.

She was forced to upgrade to a $5,000-a-month one-bed accommodation, with enhanced security, and began to feel the pressure.

“My salary increases were not greater than my rent increases,” she told the newspaper LA times. “I lost money every year.”

California is the epicenter of a massive homelessness and drug crisis overseen by Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, with scenes like this one in San Francisco popping up in many cities.

Meyer said she was forced to upgrade to a one-bed accommodation worth $5,000 a month, with improved security, and began to feel the pressure

But the Covid-19 outbreak was “the final straw” according to Meyer, who recalled the devastating impact of the state's strict lockdown restrictions on her mental health.

“When I landed in Florida, no one was wearing masks. No one cared,” she said. 'Everything was open. I thought, wait, you've been living like this for so long and you're not dead? I thought, 'What the hell am I doing?'

In her “amazing” new life in Palm Beach, she lives in a beautiful apartment twice the size of her California home, just steps from the ocean.

“I don't regret it,” she said of the decision to move.

Meyer is among 51,000 Californians who moved to Florida in the past year, according to census data.

The Democratic-led state's population has fallen by 500,000 under Governor Gavin Newsom.

The state is currently at the epicenter of a homelessness crisis and is gripped by rampant drug use in many of its major cities.

In contrast, Florida Governor Ron De Santis has presided over a population explosion of 700,000 people and the lack of individual income taxes is attracting more and more Americans.

Matt Pressberg left Century City with his wife for Boca Raton. The couple says their quality of life is higher in Florida because salaries continue to increase

Cheryl Ainsworth moved from Florida to California in 2007 over fears that the Sunshine State would become “more restrictive and less appreciative of diversity, cultural and otherwise.”

The state is known as a haven for the ultra-wealthy, including Ivanka Trump, Jeff Bezos and Tom Brady, all of whom live in Indian Creek's exclusive “billionaires' bunker.”

The favorable economic conditions are part of the reason Matt Pressberg and his wife moved to the state from Century City in 2021.

“Despite a lot of bad politics and legislation in Florida that I don't agree with, the overall quality of life for me and my wife is significantly better here,” Pressberg said.

The couple traded their small apartment for a 3,000-square-foot, four-bedroom house in Boca Raton, allowing Pressberg to run his PR job from the pool house.

“It's easy for right-wingers to say that Californians are moving because they're unhappy with progressive politics,” said Pressberg, who voted for Newsom.

“There are certainly quality of life issues in California that can be attributed to political choices, but it's not that simple. It's about housing and economic opportunity.”

The same was true for talent manager Guerin Farley, who returned to his parents' home in the Panhandle from West Hollywood.

“What was really sad was my wallet,” said Farley, 38. “Even if you make six figures in L.A., you're barely making ends meet.”

Florida is attracting economic migrants looking to take advantage of its lack of personal income taxes, which has also attracted the super-rich, including Ivanka Trump and Jeff Bezos, who own properties in the exclusive “billionaires' bunker” pictured.

Conversely, some Floridians talked about how the state's conservative politics forced them to move to California.

Cheryl Ainsworth, a friend of Meyer's, calls herself a “recovering Floridian.”

She left the Sunshine State during Obama's election campaign because the country became “more restrictive and less appreciative of diversity, cultural and otherwise.”

For Valsin Marmillion and his husband, attitudes towards LGBTQ+ issues, such as the controversial Don't Say Gay bill, were the reason he had to leave.

“Just the sense of openness, that's what we've been missing,” he said. 'The feeling of acceptance, the realization that individual rights are very important and that they should be protected and strengthened, and not taken away.'