Northerners Moving South (for sale, insurance, home)

[StuckPA]

When did this big boom start of northerners all moving south?
When I lived in FL in 1996 it was pretty common seeing alot of New Yorkers there. Then when I moved to Roanoke VA in 1997,that just seemed to be starting to become a retirement area. And as I would pass through places like Charlotte NC it just then seemed to be 'starting to grow' and was like the 'secret of the south',a place where the incomes were rising yet it was still the south...
Now it's all I hear about is everyone heading down south in what seems like a mass exodus from the north!
My theory is that 1)The economy has been taking a dive plus the pricing bubble of the north is bursting,and 2)All of the hurricanes that nearly wiped out FL recently sent people heading for higher ground(and less insurance risk)
I've also been hearing people say it's too hot in FL so the mid atlantic is 'just right'.
Well thanks alot Goldilox,now the little secret is not so little anymore
Now I must continue to move on in search of other lands to find peace & quiet

[ajf131]

In Florida it's been happening i'd say for the last 50 years or so, possibly longer. In the rest of the South I think that Northerners have started moving there ever since the industries dried up in much of the Midwest and Northeast.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by StuckPA

When did this big boom start of northerners all moving south?
When I lived in FL in 1996 it was pretty common seeing alot of New Yorkers there. Then when I moved to Roanoke VA in 1997,that just seemed to be starting to become a retirement area. And as I would pass through places like Charlotte NC it just then seemed to be 'starting to grow' and was like the 'secret of the south',a place where the incomes were rising yet it was still the south...
Now it's all I hear about is everyone heading down south in what seems like a mass exodus from the north!
My theory is that 1)The economy has been taking a dive plus the pricing bubble of the north is bursting,and 2)All of the hurricanes that nearly wiped out FL recently sent people heading for higher ground(and less insurance risk)
I've also been hearing people say it's too hot in FL so the mid atlantic is 'just right'.
Well thanks alot Goldilox,now the little secret is not so little anymore
Now I must continue to move on in search of other lands to find peace & quiet

Many of those "Northerners" moving to the South were originally Southerners who moved to the North in the 50s and 60s in search of jobs. Now they're retiring and moving back home. Many of their Northern friends are coming, too, because of the lower taxes, milder climate, and closer proximity to the North than Florida.

There are a lot of Northerners who had originally retired to Florida, got sick of the hot weather, crowds, insane regulations, etc., and are moving to places like North Carolina and Tennessee. Because they're moving half-way back to the North, they're referred to as "Half Backs." (Or "Floridiots" because many of them get to the mountains and can't figure out how to drive on the mountain roads; their Florida license plates are a cry for help.)

[StuckPA]

Then apparently it's either the really new or really old southerners that don't want them there because they don't seem to recognize them 'coming back'

[motormaker]

More folks are retireing or retireing early is a possible reason.

[cpg35223]

Here's what I don't get about this trend.

Southerners lagged behind the North for years. But 25 years ago, the South began throwing off the vestiges of the old South in terms of attitude, education, etc. etc. As a result, the South has gone through a very long, pronounced economic boom with a broadbased economy, good transportation, reasonably efficient services, and rapidly improving education. All in all, it's become a pretty good life south of the Mason Dixon line, so much so that the department of commerce projects that 60% of the US's growth will take place in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Tennessee ever the next 15 years. For example, where I live, unemployment is the lowest in the country, and per capita income growth is the highest percentage in the country over the past 25 years.

Yet, when Northerners move down here, they quickly divide into two groups: The people who like it here, and the people who complain about EVERYTHING. Honest to God.

They don't like how people vote.
They don't like how many Southerners go to church.
They don't like Southerners mania with football.
They don't like that there's no professional sports in town.
They don't like that they can't take in a German Expressionist film whenever they want.
They don't like this.
They don't like that.
The list goes on and on and on. Whine whine whine whine.

Yet the reason all these transplanted Northerners are down here is that Southerners are apparently doing something right, after lagging behind the rest of the country for so long. Last time I went home up north, I saw a lot of shuttered factories, deteriorating roads, and For Sale signs in a lot of front yards. So I'm pretty glad that I'm here, earning a good living and raising my children in a pretty great place with good neighbors and a nice way of life.

And I'm sure not going to complain because they don't do it the way we did it back in Chicago.

[Wandering Mind]

i guess im gonna be an exception to the rule then

weatrher is very important to me and its horrible here

[CHIP72]

Originally Posted by cpg35223

Yet the reason all these transplanted Northerners are down here is that Southerners are apparently doing something right, after lagging behind the rest of the country for so long.

It's called central air conditioning.

[StuckPA]

Originally Posted by cpg35223

Here's what I don't get about this trend.
When Northerners move down here, they quickly divide into two groups: The people who like it here, and the people who complain about EVERYTHING. Honest to God.

They don't like this.
They don't like that.
The list goes on and on and on. Whine whine whine whine.

Now that definitely Is a northern thing!
(Ah I'm becoming northern again! I need to get back to at least VA)

[metro223]

So does Northerner = Northeasterner in this thread? Or is this Northerners like where I'm from in IA as well?...it sounds like you're refering to people in NYC/Phila etc... I can't tell.