The new internal American migration
People continue to vote with their feet as things get worse in some parts of the country
Over the past few weeks at Against Crony Capitalism we have considered the current divide between rural and urban. There is a clear rift. Lots of people see it.
I live in a county dominated by a small college city in Virginia. In some ways it’s like a mini Austin Texas, with a world class university but sans a state government. Regardless, it is an island of very “liberal” politics in a generally conservative area. When one goes from my county into the any of the counties directly to the north, south, east, or west it is like going into a slightly different universe. Gone are the Teslas, replaced by F-150s and late model Honda and Toyota sedans. No more Trader Joes. No more faded Bernie stickers. Once out of my county gun racks and Realtree print are the norm.
It’s quite a good set up for someone like me actually and I am not complaining. It is really interesting living on this little frontier of culture. I like the Second Amendment and Trader Joes.
The current exodus from California and New York (and some other places) is well documented. Many of the particularly well-to-do in New York have pulled up stakes and moved to south Florida. Where a generation ago Connecticut would have been enough refuge that is no longer the case. In an Internet world why not do one’s banking in the warmth of the Miami sun? In California, where the weather is as close to perfect as any human could ever expect, people have left for the hotter and drier mountain west because the Golden State seems incapable of righting itself from its current dystopian decline. That California is a one party (and deeply crony) state has much to do with this.
Many of the cities (and states) losing people are dominated by one party and have been for generations. Now, many of the old holdouts, the people and companies that have long funded the big northern cities are considering new digs. But do the refugees bring their politics with them?
Where I live this seems generally so. My town has become more liberal as northeasterners have moved in. But is this the case in Miami? Oklahoma City? Houston? Birmingham? Probably. But we’ll bet to lesser extent.
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