
The Cities Americans Want to Flee, and Where They Want to Go - pseudolus
https://www.citylab.com/life/2020/01/where-to-move-most-affordable-cities-apartment-list-rentals/605371/
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generalpass
[https://www.apartmentlist.com/rentonomics/2020-q1-renter-
mig...](https://www.apartmentlist.com/rentonomics/2020-q1-renter-migration-
report/)

> Methodology

> Results are based on searches of Apartment List users occurring between June
> 1, 2019 and December 31, 2019. We include data from both registered and
> unregistered users. While registered users are uniquely identified,
> unregistered users who perform multiple searches may be counted multiple
> times. For users who search in multiple locations, we consider the initial
> search location to be the primary one. Each user’s current place of
> residence is defined by the IP address from which the user is searching. All
> results are aggregated at the metro level, using Census definitions of
> metropolitan statistical areas.

I forget what its called, but this is the sample population problem where all
of the sample is based on people who voluntarily come to a website. This can
substantially skew the results, IIRC.

For example, I can't determine if the study demonstrates the impact of
Paradise, California being completely evacuated. It's a bombed out ghost-town
and probably 20,000 people have moved some place else, even if to nearby
Chico, Red Bluff, Redding, and Sacramento areas.

I also wonder about other factors. California has a looming tax-base problem
in that new company formation outside of tech and biotech is slowing, new
small businesses creation is slowing, the number of public employee pensioners
is rapidly growing and the pension fund is backed up by tax dollars, should
the fund lose money in a downturn. Most of the people leaving the state are
taxpayers and not government employees and the rate of business exodus
continues to grow, even for capital-intensive manufacturers but including
large publicly-traded companies such as McKesson.

Gaining a better understanding of _who_ is leaving will provide a far more
valuable insight into how this activity is going to affect the state than just
broad stats on where people are leaving and where they are going to.

