‘Happy Days’ star Scott Baio to leave California due to homeless and crime crisis

A Hollywood star has joined the growing list of A-listers leaving California over excessive homelessness and crime.

The happy days in the California sun are over for actor Scott Baio amid a growing homelessness and crime crisis in the US state.

On Wednesday, Baio, famous for playing Chachi on Happy Days, announced that he would be leaving the US west coast state due to the out-of-control homeless crisis.

“After 45 years, I’m making my way to finally ‘exit stage right’ from California,” the actor said, New York Post reports.

“‘The most recent survey conducted by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority found approximately 69,000 people experiencing homelessness in L.A. County and 41,000 in the city in 2022,’” Baio wrote.

The actor blames the state’s soft-on-crime initiatives for the rampant homelessness issues, tweeting that it “brings down property value” and, after decades of living in California, “it’s just not a safe place anymore”.

Baio, who was clapping back at haters on Twitter after making his announcement, said his fellow Californians would not “miss his ‘right wing’ views”.

After a Twitter user told Baio he would not be missed in California, he fired back with a witty response.

“Maybe not, but they’ll certainly miss the high taxes I pay.”

Baio, who purchased his home in the affluent suburb of Woodland Hills for $1.85 million in 2010, listed the home last month for $3.85 million, according to Realtor.com.

Scott Baio (left), famous for playing Chachi on Happy Days, announced that he would be leaving California.

Baio has put his Woodland Hills home up for sale.

The property includes five bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms, and a home theatre.

Baio has added his name to the long list of celebrities moving out of California.

High-profile stars like Joe Rogan, Mark Wahlberg and Matthew McConaughey have relocated to states like Texas and Nevada in past years after leaving Los Angeles.

It’s not just celebrities leaving either: Around 500,000 people moved out of the state between April 2020 and July 2022.

Baio blames the state’s soft-on-crime initiatives for the rampant homelessness issues.

He says California is ‘just not a safe place anymore’.

Since 2020, the homeless population in California has jumped 6 per cent, compared to just 0.4 per cent in the rest of the US, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.

In 2022, 30 per cent of homeless people in the US were in California, with over 115,000 of them being listed as unsheltered.

Also in 2022, the Los Angeles Police Department reported over 229,000 crimes, an 11.6 per cent increase over the previous year, according to Crosstown.

California experienced an increase of 6 per cent in violent crimes across the state from 2020 to 2021.

This article originally appeared in the New York Post and was reproduced with permission