Population Growth/Shifts (living in, cost of, moving to)

[baystater]

New Census Data Shows Northeast Population Growth is Lagging - US News and World Report

I'd like to ask the people of city data. Do you find this article to be accurate?

[southernnaturelover]

Many people today are more self centered than they used to be. Instead of having children they are more worried about their careers and having material things. Typically, the more liberal minded a person is, the fewer children they have. That may explain the situation in the northeast.

[compelled to reply]

Everybody is moving to North Carolina.

[GraniteStater]

The most rural counties and the most dense urban counties are going to see population decline for the most part. The Midwest is getting hit the hardest with the core urban areas like Cleveland, Detroit, Dayton, Milwaukee, and Toledo all losing quite a bit of population.

[Chicago60614]

While those cities are slowly shrinking (although that doesn't really mean they're inherantly unhealthy, Milwaukee is doing fine, even though it's losing some people), people have to realize that 97% of the people who live in the Midwest live OUTSIDE those core areas that are struggling. Most people in the Midwest live in generally prosporous suburbs or smaller/mid-sized towns/cities.

Even though Detroit is doing poorly, almost 85% of the people in Metro Detroit live out in the burbs, not in the city itself. 87% of people in the St. Louis area live in the burbs, and 66% of people in Milwaukee live in the burbs. In Chicago, you have more people living in the suburbs alone than live in the entire states of Arizona and Hawaii combined.

[NEsananto]

Many people today are more self centered than they used to be. Instead of having children they are more worried about their careers and having material things. Typically, the more liberal minded a person is, the fewer children they have. That may explain the situation in the northeast.

So you're saying that if I don't have kids and concentrate on my future I would be self centered?

[neonwattagelimit]

Sheesh, does it amuse me when people try to tie demographic issues like these to the supposed "liberalness" of the Northeast.

Anyway, people have been moving to the Sun Belt from the Northeast and Midwest ever since the Second World War. This is nothing new and has been discussed ad nauseam on these forums. To summarize: manufacturing declined, which created economic problems which were compounded by high cost of living and the fact that a lot of people dislike winter. Air conditioning also enabled the South, which had previously lagged behind in terms of economic development, to catch up.

I'm pretty sure the relative decline of the Northeast's population actually peaked in the 70s and 80s. Growth has gone up a bit, or at least generally flatlined, in the past ten or twenty years, though it still lags considerably behind much of the Sun Belt.

[Duderino]

Originally Posted by neonwattagelimit

Anyway, people have been moving to the Sun Belt from the Northeast and Midwest ever since the Second World War. This is nothing new and has been discussed ad nauseam on these forums. To summarize: manufacturing declined, which created economic problems which were compounded by high cost of living and the fact that a lot of people dislike winter. Air conditioning also enabled the South, which had previously lagged behind in terms of economic development, to catch up.

Very true, and well said. When stories like this are put out, people who don't live in the Northeast or Midwest have this misperception that these areas are "dying," when that just simply isn't true. There are some core urban areas that are certainly losing population, but that hardly gives the entire picture. When you look at METROPOLITAN AREA or STATEWIDE growth -- which also includes suburban and rural areas -- the Northeast and Midwest are doing perfectly fine.

Everything works in trends. There's evidence to even suggest that growth is slowing in some portions of the Sun Belt. For all we know, in the next 20 years, people may flock North again.

[Minnehahapolitan]

Originally Posted by Duderino

Very true, and well said. When stories like this are put out, people who don't live in the Northeast or Midwest have this misperception that these areas are "dying," when that just simply isn't true. There are some core urban areas that are certainly losing population, but that hardly gives the entire picture. When you look at METROPOLITAN AREA or STATEWIDE growth -- which also includes suburban and rural areas -- the Northeast and Midwest are doing perfectly fine.

Everything works in trends. There's evidence to even suggest that growth is slowing in some portions of the Sun Belt. For all we know, in the next 20 years, people may flock North again.

Just look at them running from South Florida right now.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by Duderino

Very true, and well said. When stories like this are put out, people who don't live in the Northeast or Midwest have this misperception that these areas are "dying," when that just simply isn't true. There are some core urban areas that are certainly losing population, but that hardly gives the entire picture. When you look at METROPOLITAN AREA or STATEWIDE growth -- which also includes suburban and rural areas -- the Northeast and Midwest are doing perfectly fine.

Everything works in trends. There's evidence to even suggest that growth is slowing in some portions of the Sun Belt. For all we know, in the next 20 years, people may flock North again.

This is true. What I mentioned was that the metro core counties in many Midwest cities are losing population, but almost all of the suburban counties surrounding the dense urban core are still gaining population. This holds true even for Detroit.