Scott Baio and his wife live in an apartment as their new home is built in Florida after fleeing California overrun by the homeless and out-of-control crime.
Baio spent 45 years on the west coast in Los Angeles before finally “left stage right.”
He announced the move earlier this month, pointing to statistics that estimate about 70,000 homeless people live in Los Angeles County, with about 41,000 living in the city alone.
Baio has been uprooted for Bradenton, Florida and currently lives in an apartment with his wife Renee as they wait for their new home to be built.
Renee revealed that the couple chose Bradenton for many reasons, including its proximity to Anna Maria Island and Siesta Key.
Scott Baio and his wife live in an apartment while their new Florida home is being built
“I love the feel and values of a small town in Manatee County and I support mom-and-pop businesses and want them to thrive,” she told the Herald stand.
The Happy Days star said he has been “displaced” from Southern California after decades and said the state has become “unliveable”, citing the homeless taking drugs on the sidewalk in the middle of the day, crime “out of the walking by hand’. ‘ and ‘graffiti on everything’.
The sitcom star, 62, said he has now moved to Florida’s west coast with his wife Renee Sloan and their daughter Bailey because they no longer felt safe in California.
Baio is the latest celebrity to escape California’s disastrous rise in homelessness and crime, with the star putting his $3.85 million home in Woodland Hills, LA, on the market last month.
The conservative-leaning star shared Fox news he’s watched Southern California descend into a “Third World country” over the last 45 years.
Among the homeless shitting on the sidewalk, doing drugs on the sidewalk in the middle of the day, illegal aliens everywhere, law means nothing, crime is out of control, graffiti on everything… all my tax money, I don’t know where they go ahead,” Baio said last night.
He added: ‘I am afraid to go to the mall, my wife and child are afraid to go to the mall. It has become an unlivable situation.
“I’ve been in California for a very, very long time and it’s so sad for me. I have family and I have friends there, and I didn’t want to leave, but I’m kind of forced to leave.’
Scott Baio and his wife live in an apartment while their new Florida home is being built
Baoi confirmed he had moved to Florida’s west coast after posting a photo of himself on a beach on Instagram with the caption, “Living our best life in Florida.”
The actor lives in a gated community called Westchester County Estates in California, according to broker. com.
A 6,300-square-foot property with five bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms, it also includes a grand ceiling, stone floors, a curved staircase, a great room, a dining room, and a home office.
The exterior includes a pool, spa and lots and lots of plantings and an unbuilt zone behind it.
Los Angeles’ wealthiest residents flee the city as Governor Gavin Newsom raises taxes on the wealthy and the city crumbles under rising crime rates – with actor Jim Carrey, the latest A-lister to put his home up for sale.
According to the LA timesthe state of California has lost more than 500,000 residents between 2020 and 2022. It is the fourth largest drop in the country at the time, after New York, Illinois and Louisiana.
Not only is California lawmakers pushing for legislation that would impose a new tax on the state’s wealthiest residents, there is also an increasing crime and homeless problem that has caused these celebs to flee.
Baio cited the state’s homelessness statistics, noting that “it lowers property values”
Actor Mark Wahlberg has sold his longtime Los Angeles home for just over $55 million, more than $30 million below its original asking price, as he leaves in favor of Nevada in a quest to eventually build ‘Hollywood 2.0’ in Sin City .
With these celebs all packing up and heading to greener pastures, even more could be fleeing with Progressive Democratic Rep. Alex Lee recently introducing a bill that would impose an additional 1.5 percent annual tax on residents – past and present – with a worldwide net worth of more than $1 billion, starting January 2024.
As early as 2026, the threshold to be taxed would fall. Those with worldwide net worth of more than $50 million would have to pay 1 percent annual wealth taxes, while billionaires would still have to pay 1.5 percent.
Global wealth includes diverse assets such as farm assets, art, and other collectibles, as well as stocks and hedge fund interest.
California already taxes the wealthy more than most states, with the top one percent of earners accounting for about half of the state’s income tax collections.
According to Forbes’ 2022 World’s Billionaires list, 186 billionaires live in California, up from 189 the previous year, but far more than any other state.
In 2020, California had the largest number of millionaire households in the US, with 1.14 million households with one million or more in investable assets.
While some are fleeing Los Angeles because of the tax increase, others worry that homelessness, poverty and crime are also on the rise.
Baoi is the latest celebrity to escape California amid the disastrous increase in homelessness and crime, with the star putting his $3.85 million home in Woodland Hills, LA, on the market last month
According to SafeWisethe Golden State saw “4.4 violent crime incidents per 1,000 people — more than the national rate of 4.0.”
Homelessness, and especially homelessness with the additional facet of serious drug addiction, is currently a significant problem for many major metropolitan areas in the US.
Especially in Los Angeles and San Francisco, where the drug-addicted homeless populations have taken over almost entire swathes of the cities, making it difficult for people to run a business and for parents to feel comfortable being their children walk to school.
Late last year, members of the Los Angeles City Council voted to prevent homeless people from pitching tents within 500 feet of schools in the city.
LA, like the rest of California, is struggling to come to grips with the homelessness problem.
Between 2010 and 2020, the state saw a 31 percent increase in homelessness, while the rest of the country experienced an 18 percent decline.
An estimated 40,000 people are homeless in the city, which has a population of nearly 4 million.