Patricia Heaton, the celebrated three-time Emmy Award-winning actress, has made a decisive exit from Los Angeles after calling the city home for over three decades. The star, famed for her roles in Everybody Loves Raymond and The Middle, has relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, citing a potent mix of soaring taxes, escalating crime, and pervasive homelessness as her primary motivations.
The Breaking Point: Why LA Lost Its Lustre
In a candid conversation on The Rubin Report podcast with host Dave Rubin this Monday, the 67-year-old actress laid bare her reasons for departing. "We just thought that the taxes are high. The crime is high. The homelessness is high, and we're not working in LA as much as we're working outside of LA," Heaton explained. This stark assessment led her to a simple conclusion: "So, why don't we leave?"
Heaton, who arrived in LA 36 years ago, noted that the decline felt palpable. She reflected on recent visits, questioning, "When I go back now, I think, 'Does it feel different to me because I'm not working here anymore, or has it really changed?'" Her verdict was sombre: "I think there is a little bit of a sadness about it that I think is real, and it's not just because of my experience."
A City in Decay: Pandemic Fallout and Industry Flight
The actress painted a bleak picture of a Hollywood transformed, where the combined impact of the pandemic and the writers' strike turned major film production sites into ghost towns, locales she remarked now look fit only for a "zombie movie." This decline in local work opportunities contrasted sharply with the projects she found elsewhere, such as her new film Unexpected, which was shot in Oklahoma.
Heaton is far from alone in her departure. She revealed that a writer told her she "got out at the right time," adding that many writers from her previous shows have also left the city. Host Dave Rubin, who himself left LA, echoed her sentiments, referencing the "decay that was happening around COVID and everything else."
Criticism of Leadership and a New Home in Nashville
Heaton, known for her outspoken Catholic faith and support for Israel, has previously criticised LA's officials. She pointed to the city's overwhelmed response to the devastating wildfires in the Pacific Palisades in January, which killed at least 31 people and destroyed over 18,000 buildings. "You should know that and have been prepared for that," she argued, questioning the management of public funds.
She also took aim at water management policies, noting a 2014 proposition to create new reservoirs had resulted in "zero" being built, allegedly due to protections for the delta smelt fish—an initiative of California Governor Gavin Newsom.
For her fresh start, Heaton chose Nashville, a city she was familiar with and where she already had friends. She observed that it is "filling up" with fellow Californians and predicted a further influx of creative talent following the recent fires. "They can be creative without worrying about houses burning down and taxes going up and crime and all that stuff," Heaton stated.
Despite her move, Heaton maintains connections to LA, where her four sons still live, and she returns for visits and business meetings. However, her relocation marks a significant personal and professional pivot, symbolising a growing trend of industry talent seeking refuge from California's mounting challenges.
