Posted on 04/20/2006 1:59:51 PM PDT by Heartofsong83
Census: Americans Are Fleeing Big Cities By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER, Associated Press Writer Thu Apr 20, 12:15 AM ET
WASHINGTON - Americans are leaving the nation's big cities in search of cheaper homes and open spaces farther out.
Nearly every large metropolitan area had more people move out than move in from 2000 to 2004, with a few exceptions in the South and Southwest, according to a report being released Thursday by the Census Bureau.
Northeasterners are moving South and West. West Coast residents are moving inland. Midwesterners are chasing better job markets. And just about everywhere, people are escaping to the outer suburbs, also known as exurbs.
"It's a case of middle class flight, a flight for housing affordability," said William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. "But it's not just white middle class flight, it's Hispanics and blacks, too."
The Census Bureau measured domestic migration — people moving within the United States — from 1990 to 2000, and from 2000 to 2004. The report provides the number of people moving into and out of each state and the 25 largest metropolitan areas.
The states that attracted the most new residents: Florida, Arizona and Nevada. The states that lost the most: New York, California and Illinois.
Among the 25 largest metropolitan areas, 18 had more people move out than move in from 2000 to 2004. New York, Los Angeles and Chicago — the three biggest metropolitan areas — lost the most residents to domestic moves. The New York metropolitan area had a net loss of more than 210,000 residents a year from 2000 to 2004.
Richard Florida, a professor of public policy at George Mason University, said smaller, wealthier households are replacing larger families in many big metropolitan areas.
That drives up housing prices even as the population shrinks, chasing away even more members of the middle class.
"Because they are bidding up prices, they are forcing some people out to the exurbs and the fringe," Florida said. "Other people are forced to make moves in response to that. I don't have any sense of this abating."
The metropolitan area that attracted the most new residents was Riverside, Calif., which has been siphoning residents from Los Angeles for years. The Riverside area, which includes San Bernardino and Ontario, had a net gain of 81,000 people a year from 2000 to 2004.
Riverside has grown to become the 13th largest metropolitan area in the nation. It's a short drive to several mountain ranges, and it's within driving distance of the beach. Locally, it is known as the Inland Empire.
"When you look at housing prices in Southern California, along the beaches and coastlines, you're able to obtain a very large home for a much lower price" in Riverside, said Cindy Roth, president and CEO of the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce.
Homes in Riverside aren't cheap. The median price — the point at which half cost more and half cost less — was $374,200 in 2005. But they are less expensive than Los Angeles, where the median price was $529,000.
Other areas that attracted a lot of new residents also have relatively inexpensive homes, even if they are not the cheapest in the country. Phoenix, Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla., Atlanta and Dallas-Fort Worth round out the top five metropolitan areas.
Is there a lack of services outside the city in the countryside? What do they expect, a public library and concert hall every five miles?
It is never NOT rush hour in Atlanta!!!
Or like the city slickers moving to the rural area where I live complaining about the cows mooing at night.
He and 11 of his friends built an 18 hole golf course on the hillside at the Gold Coast, Hawaii, for their exclusive use. They developed their own water, roads, security, etc. Not one cent was required by local government. Schwab also built a huge home on the oceanfront under the same conditions. He is a great neighbor, pays his exorbitant property taxes, pays his staff well and does not get involved in local politics. Schwab and the like are not the problem.
They are escaping the 'smart growth' people warehouses. They are terrible places for people and children.
This type of housing is pushed by people who are the antihumans, IMO, in the federal government, and it is mushrooming up in every city in the country due to EPA, DOT and various state agencies funding it. It gets its cue from the United Nations conference on human habitation from back in the late 1990s.
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
Could they be escaping from liberalism?
The only possible reason I can see why anyone would live in a large city would be for the employment. I'm retired but I moved from a large city 30 years ago. I just didn't need the aggravation. Right now I'm living in a small town in East Texas with a population of 18,000. I have everything I need right here and I don't have to drive all over Kingdom Come. I just don't get these big cities. What's the advantage? I don't see any. I'm on the internet. I get all of the television programming. All the shopping I need is close in. My car dealer is a mile away. Hospital is across the street. Restaurants aplenty. What I can't find locally, I can get off of ebay or Amazon. The P.O., UPS and FedEx comes to my door.
I don't get it. Who needs the aggravation, lousy weather, ice and snow up to one's butt. Doesn't make any sense to me.
It sounds to me like everyone else is just now figuring out what we in the South already know. :)
Best move I ever made.
"I'd prefer Arizona or Nevada to Florida. No need to worry about hurricanes!"
Point taken. OTOH, our sand ends at the water, your sand ends at the .... sand.
"Just moved to Scottsdale ~Bump!"
TeePee's has very good MX food; Indian School and some numbered street. That's where GW went to eat while in Phx!
If you gave every man, woman and child in the United States a quarter acre of land each to live on, you would use up less than half the land in .... Texas. Yep. Do the math. "Sprawl" has been oversold.
You are correct they have moved to the Triangle here in NC and bringing their stupid ass ideas on how us dumb ole southerners should do things..
The problem, of course, is that many people who escape the parasite nests - - nests they largely fouled by voting Democrat - - bring their voting tendencies with them out to the suburbs and rural areas.
What a beautiful area! We leaving California and moving to an area called Cherokee Village, Arkansas....
And it's also a bit of heaven!
Good luck finding an open store at 2am for that special bottle of J.D. (for medicinal purposes, of course)
What all you guys are missing is the 2010 and 2020 census. Lets say Northeastern states see a 10 percent drop in population, and LA residents finally give up and start moving toward Arizona and Las Vegas. The electoral college vote will shift even more away from liberal states to "red" states. We already can guess that the population in Mass...in 2010...will be less enough to take away one more representative...and Louisiana may lose one if the New Orleans folks don't move back by then. So what about 2020? I could see Blue states losing 5 or 6 representatives...and it becomes even more difficult for a democrat to win unless he's some southern governor who is popular.
There are major implcations by this story...we ought to forecast ahead.
So what! I'm never out at 2 am! Who needs stores open every hour of every day???
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