Posted on 12/31/2002 6:28:55 AM PST by Theodore R.
Out-migration plagues Louisiana Robert Morgan Posted on December 31, 2002
BATON ROUGE - The flow of Louisiana residents out of the state continues to haunt the state. And there is little on the horizon to indicate it will slow any time soon.
The Bayou State lost a congressional district after the 1990 Census and the number of Louisiana congressmen could drop from seven to six in another 10 years if other states continued to grow at a faster rate.
Not surprisingly, when 625 voters were questioned in a poll done for Gannett Newspapers Dec. 2-3, 59 percent said they have a family member who moved out of Louisiana during the past 10 years.
Despite the seemingly high number of residents exiting the state, 61 percent answered "yes" when asked, "Over the last 10 years, do you feel Louisiana has become a better place to live or not?"
Just 33 percent of respondents said they didn't think the state is a better place to live and 6 percent were unsure.
"It does seem contradictory," said James Brandt, president of Public Affairs Research Council. "I think it's the job opportunities. People are having to leave to get job opportunities."
James Richardson, director of the LSU Public Administration Institute, said the issue of improved conditions in Louisiana is "a relative issue.
"Things may have gotten better in Louisiana, (but) they've gotten better in other states too," Richardson said. "You talk to people in Louisiana (and they say) they like the culture, they like the lifestyle. They don't like going hungry," he said.
Loren Scott, a retired LSU-Baton Rouge professor and economic consultant, said the wording of the question on population loss may be overly broad because different people define "family member" differently, with some including extended family and others only immediate family.
"Given the way that question is worded, it' s not too surprising that a majority of people said yes," Scott said.
He said, however, the out-migration from Louisiana is not surprising.
"Louisiana has always had out-migration," he said.
"There probably was one time in the late 1970s and early 1980s when we had a lot of in-migration. That was when Louisiana sweet crude (oil) was selling for $37 a barrel which, if you adjust it for today' s dollars, would be about $70 a barrel," he said.
In comparison, Louisiana sweet crude was selling at just over $33 per barrel Dec. 26 in today's dollars.
"There's not a lot of economic opportunity here," Scott said.
Louisiana ranks 45th in per-capita income, he said.
One very interesting point is that "conservative" NH has a per capita income of $7,000 more than its "socialist" neighbor, VT. This could be used in the primaries by some enterprising Democrat (if there are any) against outgoing VT Governor Dean. And how do Senators Leahy and Farmer Jim explain VT's poor performance?
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