Bay Area people counting on another boom

This article I saw today documents a lot of the wackiness I’ve seen in the Bay Area. Here are some snippets that I found interesting:

Betting on a boom

The yin and yang of life here explain why 87 percent of residents say they are satisfied with the Bay Area as a place to live while 41 percent would pack up and leave if they could find a comparable job elsewhere.

[snip]

For all their differences, Bay Area residents are increasingly defined by and obsessed with their work.

About 49 percent of non-retired residents say nothing matters more to them than work — that’s where they draw their most satisfaction in life. That’s up from 39 percent of Santa Clara County workers in 1985 and 41 percent of workers in Santa Clara, San Mateo and Alameda counties in 1999.

Work isn’t what everyone lives for, but 74 percent say it helps define who they are, and 64 percent say what they do for work is more important than the paycheck.

Against such a backdrop, it’s understandable that most people say it’s a mark of disgrace to be out of work. Among the unemployed or “underemployed” — those in a job below their skill level or salary history because it was the best they could find — seven out of 10 say they feel there is a stigma attached to being unemployed.

As the balance between work and life has tipped toward work, frustration has mounted. Nearly six out of 10 workers complain that job-related stress pollutes their home life. About 33 percent say they’re staying longer at work than they did five years ago — nearly double the number who are working less. And 25 percent of all residents are less satisfied with the amount of time they spend with family and friends.

Put it all together and you have a big chunk of the labor force looking for change. Aside from the 41 percent who would leave the Bay Area if they could find a comparable job elsewhere, more than one-third are more willing to consider changing careers than they were five years ago.

[snip]

Nearly 60 percent are confident the Bay Area will enjoy another dot-com-sized economic boom — with most expecting the good times to roll within five to 10 years.

[snip]

That kind of optimism helps explain why 54 percent of residents are confident their household finances will be in better shape by 2010, while only 7 percent expect they’ll be in worse shape — a nearly 8-to-1 ratio of optimists.

Some experts say optimism is underpinned by the fact that many residents have suffered so mightily during the ground-shaking economic bust that they’re convinced things can only get better.

It seems to me that this would be an ideal place for more casinos