The Atlantic has a different “take” on the internal migration story we’ve been tagging “the big sort.” Here msn.com has echoed it for us outside the paywall.
Author Jerusalem Demsas tends to view internal migration as largely driven by housing costs, whether or not a family with a median income can afford a median house or other dwelling. While she focuses on FL vs. NY, her analysis probably can be generalized to other parts of the country. She concludes:
I don’t have a lot of faith that the Republican regimes now attracting Americans will be invested in … inclusive growth. We’ve seen these states become hostile to LGBTQ rights, educational freedom, voting rights, racial equality, and more. Many Americans are being forced to choose between liberal values and financial security. Reversing that dynamic will require blue states to prioritize (housing) affordability.
Normal folk associate Demsas’ urban liberal values with homeless encampments, open drug use, street prostitution and violent criminals released to commit more crimes. Isn’t it likely that those choosing to move where “liberal values” aren’t so honored are those for whom such values have become more millstone than lodestone?
The other factor Demsas considers is the work-from-home movement accelerated by the Covid pandemic. Downtown high rise office warrens fed workers by subway systems may be largely a thing of the past, and (personal aside) won’t that be wonderful if true?
Full disclosure: I did the “commute on public transit downtown to work” thing for six weeks as a new college grad, hated it, and found a job in the suburbs where I could reasonably drive to work. As a CA native I have always considered an ignition key a birthright and my “wheels” a freedom machine.
