Affordable Housing Institute : US

Any doubt that Massachusetts‘ population loss is tied to its high housing prices has been eliminated by a recent Boston Globe poll (statistically valid and professional done; full data here), which found why people left:

 

Why are you leaving? What’s your hurry?

 

73% of those surveyed said they live in a home that is bigger than their home in Massachusetts was.

 

That is known as data.

 

54% said their standard of living is higher now.

 

The top reason people gave for leaving Massachusetts was [1] a better job, followed by [2] the cost of housing, [3] family ties, and [4] the weather.

 

Of these four possible motivations, family and weather can’t be the reason for a recent emigration — they’ve always been bad J.

 

“Everybody complains about his family but nobody does anything about it.”

 

No, the motives for these moves were economic:

 

In a separate set of questions, 50% of those surveyed said the cost of housing was a ”major factor,” and a better job was cited as a ”major factor” by 39%.

 

In other words, those who moved examined Mr. Micawber’s affordable housing rule:

 

Mr. Micawber’s affordable housing rule

 

Income enough to afford attractive home: result, happiness.

Income too little to afford attractive home: result, emigration.

 

Once a family explores emigration, where to? 

 

New Hampshire was the top destination for people who left Massachusetts. Florida was the second most popular state, followed by Texas.

 

New Hampshire rests on a Massachusetts foundation.

 

My two brothers live respectively in Providence and Texas, one a near-mover, one a far-mover, both driven by Micawber’s affordable housing rule.

 

Economics made him move from Massachusetts.

 

Him too.

 

Like the New Orleans diaspora, the emigres divide into two groups: far movers, who are remaking their lives, and near­ movers.  For the latter, relocation is merely a commute extension, as their economic locus remains behind:

 

Blue-collar and white-collar nonprofessionals and those who made less than $75,000 were more likely to move to New Hampshire than others who left the state. Those who moved to New Hampshire were also more likely to name housing costs as a ”major factor” for their move, the poll suggested.  They represent many middle-class people who feel they can no longer afford life in the Bay State, said William H. Frey, a demographer at The Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., who has studied migration patterns throughout the United States.

 

”They want a suburban lifestyle, they want a yard, they want a home, they want to have the American dream,” Frey said. ”And it’s persistently unaffordable in places like Massachusetts.”

 

House was the number one factor cited:

 

Housing and jobs were cited by 50% and 39%, respectively.  Taxes [which embraces real estate taxes — Ed.] were cited by 30%; a better place to raise kids, by 25%; the weather by 24%; and the traffic by 20%.

 

For near-movers, housing affordability is a necessity:

 

”To me, what’s new about this period is that now housing costs are being factored into people’s migration decisions,” Frey said. ”In the past, they would look more or less at the job and what the job paid, but housing costs would not factor as much.”

 

Meanwhile, just as in New Orleans, those with greater economic mobility looked father out:

 

Professionals and executives,

people under age 50,

people with post-graduate educations, and

people with incomes above $100,000

 

All these are indicators of economic mobility …

 

were more likely than other emigres to move to the Mid-Atlantic and to cite a better job as a major factor for moving, the poll suggested. Their exodus represents what some policymakers term a brain drain.

 

If I had the brains to which my sheepskin attests, I’d have left a long time ago!

 

Losing those who can move is doubly bad, first because it reduces economic growth, and second because those who leave are those whom we wish to keep:

 

The exodus from Massachusetts has been particularly acute in recent years. Between 2000 and 2004, Massachusetts lost residents at a greater rate than any other state except New York, according to Census Bureau estimates that were released last month. The exodus from Massachusetts averaged 42,402 people per year, according to the Census data.

 

More than one Fenway sellout per year!

 

As I hypothesized a few months back, driving out your smarter, more productive workers is a recipe for electoral marginalization.  The hear-movers might return, but even that prospect is fading with their vanishing nostalgia:

 

”It points out that people are not being dragged away from Massachusetts kicking and screaming: They go out, they look at other states, and they say, ‘You know what? This is pretty nice,’ ” said Andrew E. Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, which conducted the poll. ”I see so many people who move from Massachusetts and say they will never move back.”

 

What can’t be cured must be endured, but when you move away, you realize there are some things about Boston we merely endure:

 

Asked what they missed least, weather topped the list, named by 24% of respondents.  

Traffic and commuting were named by 19%, taxes by 16%, the cost of living by 10%, cost of housing by 6%, and state politics by 5%.

 

 

A majority — 69% — said they found Bay State residents either ”much less courteous” or ‘’somewhat less courteous” than people in their new state.

 

I find the natives of Boston remarkably lacking in diplomatic skills.

 

Some allegiances persisted, the results showed. Only 5% of those polled said they were now cheering for a different sports team.  The Red Sox, the poll suggested, were the most popular team among those who left Massachusetts, listed by 56% of respondents. The Patriots claimed 43%, and the Bruins and Celtics, 10% each.

 

You can move where you like, but citizenry in Red Sox Nation is bred in the bone, in your blood for life.

 

No other fans in the world quite like us!

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