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Nov 6, 2009 2:52 PM
by: cadman
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Liberal Locusts, and Why the middle-class are fleeing for the hills.
Posted:
Nov 3, 2009 10:44 AM
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For the past decade a large coterie of pundits, prognosticators and their media camp followers have insisted that growth in America would be concentrated in places hip and cool, largely the bluish regions of the country.
Since the onset of the recession, which has hit many once-thriving Sun Belt hot spots, this chorus has grown bolder. The Wall Street Journal, for example, recently identified the "Next Youth-Magnet Cities" as drawn from the old "hip and cool" collection of yore: Seattle, Portland, Washington, New York and Austin, Texas.
It's not just the young who will flock to the blue meccas, but money and business as well, according to the narrative. The future, the Atlantic assured its readers, did not belong to the rubes in the suburbs or Sun Belt, but to high-density, high-end places like New York, San Francisco and Boston.
This narrative, which has not changed much over the past decade, is misleading and largely misstated. Net migration, both before and after the Great Recession, according to analysis by the Praxis Strategy Group, has continued to be strongest to the predominately red states of the South and Intermountain West.
This seems true even for those seeking high-end jobs. Between 2006 and 2008, the metropolitan areas that enjoyed the fastest percentage shift toward educated and professional workers and industries included nominally "unhip" places like Indianapolis, Charlotte, N.C., Memphis, Tenn., Salt Lake City, Jacksonville, Fla., Tampa, Fla., and Kansas City, Mo.
http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/02/blue-state-middle-class-exodus-opinions-columnists-joel-kotkin.html
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1,054
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1/17/09
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Re: Liberal Locusts, and Why the middle-class are fleeing for the hills.
Posted:
Nov 3, 2009 9:54 PM
in response to: cadman
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> This narrative, which has not changed much over the
> past decade, is misleading and largely misstated. Net
> migration, both before and after the Great Recession,
> according to analysis by the Praxis Strategy Group,
> has continued to be strongest to the predominately
> red states of the South and Intermountain West.
It is cheaper to live in the south. Expect an H1B invasion. Jindal is Louisiana, right? Expect an H1B invasion.
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Posts:
2,549
Registered:
5/2/09
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Re: Liberal Locusts, and Why the middle-class are fleeing for the hills.
Posted:
Nov 3, 2009 10:36 PM
in response to: -l0l0l-
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I really am not so sure about the chances of any H1B in those cracker states
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Posts:
25
Registered:
10/13/08
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Re: Liberal Locusts, and Why the middle-class are fleeing for the hills.
Posted:
Nov 5, 2009 9:46 PM
in response to: NHJoan
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Yeah and?
-Newly minted cracker, by way of Corzine's NJ
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719
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Re: Liberal Locusts, and Why the middle-class are fleeing for the hills.
Posted:
Nov 6, 2009 3:05 AM
in response to: -l0l0l-
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We'll see how much cheaper it is to live in the South soon enough. Prices of goods within Asheville city limits were = to NYC suburbs (high!). Prices outside the limits appeared a little lower (taxes on homes) but grocery prices (taxed at 2% ... unlike 0% in NY) and national store chains are also = to NY. I also suspect health insurance is going to kill us. We're renting for a year and if the prices are as high as anticipated, we'll move again.
We could move to Bristol, VA/Kingsport, Johnson City TN but the air is so polluted from mining that our health may be greatly jeopardized. In addition, there are so many houses in TN that were used as crack and other drug dens that the homes are also toxic. When we're both in our mid 60s/70s (ten years from now), toxicity won't matter.
So, we are fleeing for the hills (thanks, in part, to Obama's first-time homebuyers' tax credit) but who knows how it will all turn out.
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10/13/08
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Re: Liberal Locusts, and Why the middle-class are fleeing for the hills.
Posted:
Nov 6, 2009 7:23 AM
in response to: Gracie
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Not sure where Ashville is, but the implication is... your job is in NOT in NYC and appears to be in a red, low (income) tax state. I moved from a very good commuter suburb in NJ to FL, and my experience is that prices for goods and food are almost always the same or slightly less everywhere, but service industries (restaurants, gyms, etc) are usually cheaper because they are desperate to keep their clientele. FWIW, most states have no taxes on produce.
Second:
Are you expecting to get killed by health insurance because you never bought any before? If so, welcome to responsible adulthood at the age of 50/60. That's a cost of doing business (the business of breathing). If you can't pay for it then pick another career with stable work that provides benefits, like something in the bankruptcy or foreclosure industry. ---And if you're hoping Obama will make the mean rich people pay for it than go get stuffed, because you're part of the "solution" that's going to make the private insurance that any reasonably employable person can afford (such as the Freelancer's insurance ~$600 for a family) impossible expensive and/or illegal.
Third:
You qualify for a first time homebuyers credit at the age of 50/60? Wow. No disrespect, but you flushed all that wealth to a landlord just so you could live in NYC?
Let me just say how wonderful it is that my tax dollars are going to help homeowner neophytes put a whole $8K toward a 3.5% minimal downpayment that no bank would be crazy enough to underwrite in this economy just so Obank'rupt can pimp his vapor recovery. But don't worry, it's just the FHA and VA(?) taxpayer funded agency's which have picked up where Fannie & Freddie left off and leveraged us even further with these junk mortgages just to keep a housing market with too many unqualified owners from going into freefall, so what could possible go wrong when the taxpayer is on the hook and that minimal "home-dweller" equity could be wiped out in 1-3 months where housing is still depreciating at 1-1.5%/mo as is the case in many parts of the country?
Happy times.
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Posts:
25
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10/13/08
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Re: Liberal Locusts, and Why the middle-class are fleeing for the hills.
Posted:
Nov 6, 2009 7:27 AM
in response to: omegabit
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I mistakenly wrote "my taxdollars". I should have said: "my children's children's taxdollars".
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Posts:
25
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10/13/08
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Re: Liberal Locusts, and Why the middle-class are fleeing for the hills.
Posted:
Nov 6, 2009 7:29 AM
in response to: omegabit
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I misstyped again when I said "taxdollars". I should have typed "taxpesos", or "taxrupees", or "tax Renminbi's", or "tax gold ingots."
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Posts:
363
Registered:
1/20/09
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Re: Liberal Locusts, and Why the middle-class are fleeing for the hills.
Posted:
Nov 6, 2009 9:07 AM
in response to: Gracie
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My sister-in-law (lawyer) has lived in Asheville, the "Paris of the South" for about 20 years. Definitely has a quirky, liberal bent that sharply contrasts with predominantly conservative surrounding areas, i.e. a patch of blue in a red sea. Good high-paying jobs are mostly found in traditional professions, very little IT and technology and good luck getting the locals to open that door for you. It is more expensive to live there than one would expect, but it IS a beautiful place, and that may be enough for some to take the edge off, so to speak. As for living in the deep south, you are smart to choose the mountains because the heat and humidity at lower elevations in the deep south are downright oppressive in summer. The BBQ is unsurpassed though...
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Registered:
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Re: Liberal Locusts, and Why the middle-class are fleeing for the hills.
Posted:
Nov 6, 2009 11:01 AM
in response to: cadman
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RRright, Asheville is the Paris of the South. What a joke. It's a hick town with a bunch of arty people waltzing around coming up with ridiculous statements like that. It's worse than calling Emory the Harvard of the South. Hey, why not Atlanta, the Lisbon of the South.
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Re: Liberal Locusts, and Why the middle-class are fleeing for the hills.
Posted:
Nov 6, 2009 12:25 PM
in response to: cadman
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Yup, I went to 12 Bones (BBQ) and bought way too much food. I know IT jobs are rare to non-existent. I'm trying to stay out of IT (I probably can't get back in it due to my age and hearing loss). Yes, the heat down south outside of Asheville is oppressive in the summer. I went to my first year of college in Bristol, VA and remember baking in the sun.
In the summer of 1997, we went to Raleigh-Durham on an exploratory mission. I interviewed for a ton of jobs and had offers but we opted out because my allergies were killing me and the heat was awful. We were scheduled to stay for ten days but left for NY after about four.
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Posts:
363
Registered:
1/20/09
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Re: Liberal Locusts, and Why the middle-class are fleeing for the hills.
Posted:
Nov 6, 2009 2:41 PM
in response to: Gracie
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> Yup, I went to 12 Bones (BBQ) and bought way too much
> food. I know IT jobs are rare to non-existent. I'm
> trying to stay out of IT (I probably can't get back
> in it due to my age and hearing loss). Yes, the heat
> down south outside of Asheville is oppressive in the
> summer. I went to my first year of college in
> Bristol, VA and remember baking in the sun.
>
> In the summer of 1997, we went to Raleigh-Durham on
> an exploratory mission. I interviewed for a ton of
> jobs and had offers but we opted out because my
> allergies were killing me and the heat was awful. We
> were scheduled to stay for ten days but left for NY
> after about four.
I have a feeling that you will like living there once you're settled. Decent jobs in hospitality, or even with the National Park as an interpretive ranger may be had, depending on your background. One thing for sure, there are a LOT of good, caring people in them thar parts!
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Posts:
363
Registered:
1/20/09
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Re: Liberal Locusts, and Why the middle-class are fleeing for the hills.
Posted:
Nov 6, 2009 2:52 PM
in response to: NHJoan
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> RRright, Asheville is the Paris of the South. What a
> joke. It's a hick town with a bunch of arty people
> waltzing around coming up with ridiculous statements
> like that. It's worse than calling Emory the Harvard
> of the South. Hey, why not Atlanta, the Lisbon of the
> South.
Well, I agree, comparing Paris and Asheville may seem a bit far-fetched initially. But if you like art, food, music, nature, and good people (definitely more friendly than the typical Parisian), then there are most definitely parallels to be discovered. Definitely not a hick town, far from it.
http://www.exploreasheville.com/index.aspx
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Legend
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Helpful Answer
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