Its apparently official....US Cities are dying!

originally posted by: mysterioustranger
a reply to: peter_kandra

Ever notice your local newcasters call themselves "locals"...but most live our in the suburbs.

In retrospect, Washington D.C....is surrounded by low income..and housing to match.

Live there?

Most cities are like that. People attempt to move out of an inner city area and move to the very near suburbs.
When I lived in New Jersey, I lived mid-way between Philadelphia and New York and everyone who moved into the area was moving from either North Jersey or Southwest Jersey trying to escape further from those 2 metropolitan areas.

Now that I'm in Georgia, I live in a far Northwestern suburb of Atlanta and the same thing is happening.

originally posted by: peter_kandra
a reply to: TonyS

I'd be curious to ask some of them why they moved. If they say high taxes, or high crime, then continue down that road and ask why they feel taxes or crime are high. Some people may simply be cashing out due to property appreciation, and some are probably fleeing from issues and problems they may have contributed due to their voting habits.

I left NYC after 12 years and moved to a very rural area in the middle of Tennessee.
I left because after 5 years in Los Angeles and 12 years in NYC, I just wanted to actually own something.
It just slowly dawned on me that there was no good reason for me to be there. Sure I made good money, but it's all relative when compared to quality of life.
Now I have 8 chickens, 2 guineas, 3 dogs, 6 cats, and 2 children. It's...... better? Way better!

a reply to: TonyS

It's an opinion piece.

In line with the "country mouse vs. city mouse" narrative so popular in the corporate media.

We'll see.

a reply to: Edumakated

I'm trying to convince my wife to move to a community about 30 miles outside of Atlanta. It is far enough away that it feels rural and isolated, but close enough that it is easy to drive to the city on weekends for museums, etc. I'd like 5 to 20 acres of land so kids can run around unencumbered.

Unfortunately 30 miles may not be far enough, depending on the direction...especially with the HOV lanes. If it were up to me, I'd be up in Fannin County and the mountains permanently.

a reply to: Edumakated

West of Atlanta along I-20 might suit your needs.

A bit further than Douglasville, I should think.

originally posted by: ketsuko
Maybe they'll live in small towns enough for it to sink in why those areas are conservative like they are. We can hope. There is often a reason for it, and it has to do with the way of life. Leftists policies just plain are unworkable in rural parts. For example, electric cars just aren't practical. Guns are actual necessary tools of rural life. I could go on.

Exactly. This is what I'm hoping for... that they move in and learn to live as we do and understand why.

A few years ago, we had a huge influx of people from wealthier areas that drove local property prices so high that locals couldn't afford to buy homes. Even rents went sky high. I got caught up in it too as I was on the verge of buying a house that had sat at a glacial yearly value increase when suddenly the market got hot and the price was jumping up almost by 30 to 40 thousand a year. I almost couldn't make it happen as our local, minimum wage jobs no longer cut it but the people coming in were either retiring or selling over priced city properties and snapped everything up. This forced a lot of young families into the local towns and into less than desirable low income housing. Developers hit the area like vultures.

The biggest problem was that the new people were previous movers and shakers and had big ideas for the town. It would have been nice if they had brought a little culture but it was all politics. They didn't like the fact that people here just deal with stuff in their own way and, of course, they were experts and knew better, lol. Anyhow, after a few years and a few battles they seem to have chilled out a bit. I expect we will get another covid wave of them soon.

a reply to: TonyS

When society is on the verge of collapse or turmoil the cities tend to go first. People venture out, and things get worse from there. People are already worried those who are moving away from the cities will bring their political bias with them. Some tolerance will be needed.

Its happening here too.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

I live about 10 miles outside Manhattan, the influx of families moving here from NYC is due to the shutdowns. We've gotten 6 new neighbors in the past couple months and each have said they needed to move somewhere where they could go outdoors comfortably. Anecdotal, but that's what I'm seeing.

To us country folks where you live is still the city

Companies still aren't getting the message however. For the last ten years companies have been fleeing one large city for another. So, okay, I don't have to live in San Francisco but now I live in Austin. No longer am I in NYC now I'm in Arlington. No more Detroit, now it's Nashville.

One big city for another where sure the cost of living might be less and for now the general area is Republicanish but it won't be for long and you still live in a huge metro area where to be "rural" you have an hour and half commute.

a reply to: Identified

Companies still aren't getting the message however. For the last ten years companies have been fleeing one large city for another. So, okay, I don't have to live in San Francisco but now I live in Austin. No longer am I in NYC now I'm in Arlington. No more Detroit, now it's Nashville.

What is your suggestion, to put a company in the middle of the boondocks?
How will they attract and retain talent?
There is a reason companies like to stay close or in cities or dense suburbs.

Many times companies flee certain places for a variety of reasons. Lower taxes, cheaper building/or leases,
more dense or younger talent pool, but almost none of the reasons include employee happiness or ease.

originally posted by: peter_kandra
a reply to: Edumakated

I'm trying to convince my wife to move to a community about 30 miles outside of Atlanta. It is far enough away that it feels rural and isolated, but close enough that it is easy to drive to the city on weekends for museums, etc. I'd like 5 to 20 acres of land so kids can run around unencumbered.

Unfortunately 30 miles may not be far enough, depending on the direction...especially with the HOV lanes. If it were up to me, I'd be up in Fannin County and the mountains permanently.

Also, think to the far future... I came here twenty years ago. It was a sleepy crossroads town with cheap land and no building codes. No nothing but true freedom and good people. Now it's developer heaven. If I could go back in time, I'd move much, much, much further remote. It took those decades to set myself and the farm up and I'm too old to start over.

originally posted by: JAGStorm
To use country folks where you live is still the city

Huh? Where did I bring up 'country folks'?

a reply to: JAGStorm

I agree that companies never move for employee comfort. They also rarely move because of the supposed "talent" of the area either. Most major corporations will pay the talent to move no matter where their headquarters are.

My solution is the outskirts. Why set up in downtown when you can set up on the outside of the metro area and still have a large workpool from the city and only those who absolutely want to live downtown will have to live in the city with a long commute. Wanna live rural then live on the other side and still never have to drive through the metro area. It's also cheaper for the company to be outside the metro area.

I've seen firsthand a company move from NYC to Nashville and then plop the headquarters right in the middle of town when moving 20 miles outside in either direction would have been great for getting a more rural vibe and still would afforded the company the tax benefits and workforce pool.

originally posted by: Gryphon66
a reply to: Edumakated

West of Atlanta along I-20 might suit your needs.

A bit further than Douglasville, I should think.

We've been considering buying a home in Serenbe. Otherwise, I want to go North GA in Blue Ridge, Dahlonega, Ellijay area...

I was born and raised in Atlanta...moved away in 1999. I don't recognize the city anymore. Thought about moving to Morningside or Iman Park but I am kind of over city living, but sure wife would prefer that...

originally posted by: TonyS
I dont post very often anymore, but when I saw this I just had to share it.

thehill.com...

This is the year that officially ended the boom of cities that started in the 1990s. The mirage of cities buffeted by white-collar jobs and supported by wealthy citizens willing to take on just one more tax increase is officially kaput. It is easy to blame the deluge on the coronavirus, but in reality a unique combination of factors heralded the end of the growth in places like New York while introducing population booms in medium-sized cities and suburbs across specific regions of the country. Significant populations of each social class decided it was no longer worth living in major metropolitan areas.

City statistics are cited in the article. In a way, I guess this isnt surprising. COVID seems to have accelerated the trend. Closures have been an attendant affect and have accelerated the movement along with ever higher taxes.

I see this as something of a mixed blessing. We have noticed an increase of people moving in from cities in Texas and this is an extremely remote area of Texas. We have even encountered a couple from California that recently moved to the area.

There may well be adverse political effects for the rural areas that will see the newcomers vote for the same high tax agendas they are fleeing from. Apparently I am not the only one who fears that effect.

From the "About the Author" section of the article:

Kristin Tate is a libertarian author and an analyst for Young Americans for Liberty. She is a Robert Novak journalism fellow at the Fund for American Studies. Her newest book is “The Liberal Invasion of Red State America.”

Young people move to cities for a number of reasons.

If they don’t leave by the time they have children, they’re a socialist.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Huh? Where did I bring up 'country folks'?

That was a typo on my part. It should have said "To US country folk"

I meant that you were saying people were moving from Manhattan to escape the city, your area. To
us, that wouldn't be much different.

a reply to: Edumakated

We've been considering buying a home in Serenbe. Otherwise, I want to go North GA in Blue Ridge, Dahlonega, Ellijay area...

We might be neighbors in the future..

Been looking at Big Canoe area...

a reply to: Identified

They also rarely move because of the supposed "talent" of the area either.

You're wrong on that. Companies move all the time and looking at talent in the area is a big aspect of it.
That is Why a tech company would move from Silicon Valley to Austin, or Seattle etc and not Green Bay Wisconsin. LOL

originally posted by: Identified
a reply to: JAGStorm

I agree that companies never move for employee comfort. They also rarely move because of the supposed "talent" of the area either. Most major corporations will pay the talent to move no matter where their headquarters are.

My solution is the outskirts. Why set up in downtown when you can set up on the outside of the metro area and still have a large workpool from the city and only those who absolutely want to live downtown will have to live in the city with a long commute. Wanna live rural then live on the other side and still never have to drive through the metro area. It's also cheaper for the company to be outside the metro area.

I've seen firsthand a company move from NYC to Nashville and then plop the headquarters right in the middle of town when moving 20 miles outside in either direction would have been great for getting a more rural vibe and still would afforded the company the tax benefits and workforce pool.

Several problems:

1) Traffic. Commuting from center city sucks due to traffic in most cities.
2) Talent. Younger work force prefers to be in the city. Companies that want younger workers want to locate where they are likely to live which is the city center.

Over the past several years, many major companies (at least here in Chicago) have relocated from close in suburbs mainly due to the fact they were having problems recruiting younger talent who wanted to live in the city property. Of course now, we may see an exodus back out to suburban office parks sense people are leaving the city in droves.

a reply to: TonyS

I made a post last month about similar topic.

I'm no genious but I'd be willing to guess there is ways to make cities work better, maybe only with total consolidated power. It is obvious though people and the government's that run these cities now.. have wrong ideas and methods in place for decades.