
Why So Many Americans Are Saying Goodbye to Cities - danielam
https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/04/why-is-everyone-leaving-the-city/521844/?single_page=true
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nxsynonym
The title (of the article, not this post) is misleading.

Americans are leaving New York City. The numbers they use followed by

"That means that, since 2010, almost a million more people have left New York
for somewhere else in America than have moved to New York from another U.S.
metro—more than any other metro in the country"

indicate that people are leaving NYC. They don't say where these people are
moving to, or if they are moving to other cities or rural communities.

NYC, SF, LA, etc are dying. Other cities are booming. People aren't leaving
behind City life, they're leaving behind city life in a few cities that are
too expensive, too competitive, and offer very little in return.

Why pay $1500 / month for a shoebox in NYC when you can spend 1/3 of that in a
smaller (albeit less romanticized) city?

There is a middle ground between the rat race of the Big Cities and the
classical 60s American dream house, and people are going there.

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droidist2
Which cheaper cities? Like in the Midwest?

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bigzen
I'll drop Indianapolis in here. It is becoming a midwestern tech haven with
large companies such as Salesforce making headquarters there.

Speaking from personal experience it is also dirt cheap compared to any other
cities mentioned here and the salaries have been higher than what I have been
able to find elsewhere.

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muninn_
Add to that even Chicago, Pittsburgh, Columbus, and places like Nashville.

I love big cities, but not for anything less than $250,000+. I like my cost of
living in the Great Lakes Region

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tluyben2
I am weird but I have no clue why so many people are in cities. I have
chickens, goats, dogs, large garden with fruit and veg, pool for very little
money. No concrete, polution, noise and people, no attacks, less chance
(history) of contagious disease, far less stress (for me). I like visiting
cities for a few days but no clue why people insist on living there.

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marcusarmstrong
> have chickens, goats, dogs, large garden with fruit and veg, pool

I have no interest in any of those things. And, in fact, negative interest in
some of them.

I can walk to dozens of unique and interesting restaurants, share a bottle of
wine and not worry about driving home. I can attend plays, concerts, and
comedy shows whenever I'd like (again, all without driving). My friends can
stop by and say hi without it being out of their way or even a big deal.

Where you live is a matter of trade offs. Different people have different
value systems along these things. That shouldn't really be a surprising thing.

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tluyben2
Yes, that is true and in that sense it is not that surprising but I do not
think that is why _most_ people live in cities. And I do those things too when
I visit cities, but am happy when I can go home. Matter of taste for sure.

Edit: also age maybe. Needs change during life. I know enough people who
'would never leave the city' for all the reason you cite and now claim they
will never go back.

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chiph
My guess? Money. Big cities are expensive (NYC has a ~3.5% city income tax).
While incomes in rural areas are lower, the cost of living is lower too. And
it doesn't have to be a rural area - just a city or region with a lower
financial impact on a household could be enough to induce them to leave a
high-tax area.

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gozur88
One reason may be the recent increase in crime. Prices are already
intolerable. Prices _plus_ crime might be enough to get people moving.

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popopobobobo
If i can't make it here, i can't make it anywhere.

