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I know a ton of people that have moved south and i'll tell you why. They are mostly moving for jobs.......most of the people i know that have moved south are teachers that can't find jobs here. There are others that move for the weather, but most move because there are jobs there.
The people i know w/business and engineering degrees still live in the north, they have just moved out of my area. For example, i know a ton of people that live in Columbus, Cleveland, Cinci, NYC, Chicago, and the suburbs of those cities.........
i always consider moving to the southwest (CA, AZ, NV), mainly due to weather. although, my canadian citizenship requires more hoop jumping, in order to work in the US.
People move to the south for cheaper housing and slower pace of life. Its the Dollar General region of the USA. Lots of house for little dough. People are also attracted to the milder winter weather.
This is not a slight to the south, but all the people who I know that have or want to move south do so because of the cheaper rent & cost of living. They work by the hour jobs & that type of work is the same all over, just with adjusted costs of living.
I don't blame them.............. Get yours. If you can live better down there, then do that. They have children & must live accordingly.
I'm good in North Jersey & don't plan on moving any time soon.
It certainly isn't only retirees moving south...it's people of all ages.
Southern cities have a very rich history and historical places located within. Before making such statements, you should look into this a little further.
Understood, Deacon. I moved south at one time myself, living in NC for 6 yrs. I agree that the south has a rich history, no doubt about it.
I do stand by my comment about many southern cities being virtual ghost towns after 5pm, back in the 80's. At that same time, many of the large, northern cities had pretty lively downtowns. Three decades later, most southern cities have joined their ranks.
I think stating that these cities have powerful schools is grossly misleading.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lakewooder
True.
You have to visit to see that our outer suburbs may be without culture, history, pwerful schools, interesting architecture, etc. -- but if you visit central Dallas, Atlanta, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, New Orleans, etc you will find quite a bit.
This is not a slight to the south, but all the people who I know that have or want to move south do so because of the cheaper rent & cost of living. They work by the hour jobs & that type of work is the same all over, just with adjusted costs of living.
I don't blame them.............. Get yours. If you can live better down there, then do that. They have children & must live accordingly.
I'm good in North Jersey & don't plan on moving any time soon.
Well, yeah. I'm a Chicago guy living in Birmingham now. One thing I've discovered is that most of my erstwhile Northern counterparts draw almost all of their conclusions based on old reruns of In The Heat Of The Night, the one-day drive on Interstates on the way to Disney World, or the bullet points handed them by their local union representative.
I've lived in Chicago, Cleveland, Baltimore and San Diego. Yes, the cost of living here is considerably lower. However, the big difference is in taxation. At the same time Southerners seem to be far more efficient with their tax dollars. I live in a very nice suburb with a school system that's ranked in the top 20 of all public school systems in the country. Further, within ten minutes of my house are two other public high schools that have, in recent years, both achieved a #1 ranking by USN&WR for the quality of the schools. Just the other night, a tree fell from my property into the street at 2 a.m. The city had the tree cleared off the road by 2:30, and were cheerful about doing it.
Yet, my property taxes are less than half what we had to pay in Chicago. The garbage gets picked up, the police and fire departments respond quickly and courteously, and the potholes get filled. The biggest shock was the first couple of weeks after moving here and we called somebody in the local government about a problem with our recycling pickup. The person on the other end of the line, "Why, sir, we'll have somebody out there right away." And they DID. Try getting that response up north.
Further, as another poster noted correctly, the wage gap has closed almost to the point of being nonexistent. For example, the per capita income in Alabama is due to exceed that of Michigan's in 2009, with a lower level of taxation to boot.
I've also found that most good-sized Southern cities have plenty of amenities, whether cultural, shopping, or whatever else. While Birmingham certainly isn't Chicago in terms of offerings, it's actually pretty respectable. What's more, I don't have to kill myself to get tickets to quality events. Yes, shows sell out, but it doesn't cost an arm and a leg to get in, either. I have my tickets to see Yo-Yo Ma come April and I didn't have to get on a waiting list or put my name into a lottery to get them. What's more, I live two miles from one of the country's top five restaurants, according to Gourmet Magazine. Yet, I can pick up a phone and get reservations for a table for two tonight with my wife--something that would have been impossible back in Chicago unless one had serious pull with the maitre'd.
I think the lifestyle is also very important here. I wouldn't say it's any slower here than elsewhere, but I would say it's more relaxed. People are much more polite and less confrontational and pushy. This, too, was kind of a shock when we first moved here. Now, it's really jarring when I go back home to visit. I find myself wanting to tell snotty sales clerks in my hometown, "Is that attitude really necessary?"
What's more, I've noticed Southerners tend to be far more people-oriented. It is not unusual to see total strangers have meaningful conversations in the checkout line of a grocery store. Further, Southerners can be pretty embracing people. All you have to do is step out of your own comfort zone and work to make friends. I'm always amazed at people who move here and call Southerners aloof and unfriendly. I always think, "Hello? Are we talking the same part of the country here?" That being said, I think those northerners who struggle when moving here are the ones who expect the culture to be precisely the same as the one they left behind in Illinois or Connecticut. Southerners do not like being told how to live by people who just moved here. And I really can't blame them for that.
What's more, the economy is moving quite well. For example, my city has one of the country's lowest unemployment rates, and there is a great deal of industrial location. Having dealt with relocating firms, I can tell you that it's not chiefly about low wages--for, again, the income gap has shrunk to an almost imperceptible level. Instead, it's the total cost of doing business, from the labor laws to the cost of energy to the business taxes. Michigan, for example, reacted to the slide in manufacturing by hiking business taxes a few years back. Can anybody possibly explain that to me?
Yes, Southerners are indeed more politically conservative. However, I believe that label is a little misleading. Southerners are actually less in-your-face about their politics than elsewhere, and tend to be more libertarian than anything--which probably explains their strong economic growth over the past two decades. Remember that the South used to have the most strongly statist economies in the country up until the 1970s and early 80s, which might explain why they were the country's economic laggards for so long. The political philosophy of the South changed, and their economic dynamism changed along with it. And, to dispel another canard, Southerners are not browbeating you to go to church with them. We've been asked once or twice by random people, politely declined, and still enjoyed a fine relationship with those people afterwards. But if a tree falls in your yard or you've had car trouble, somebody is going to drop what they're doing and help you. And that's something that's hard to put into words.
Finally, when we moved here, we expected race relations to follow the script of Mississippi Burning. It just was nothing like that. In fact, I would offer that things are more harmonious than they are up north. No, it's not because blacks have been put in their place, given that I work with blacks and whites everyday in positions of responsibility and management. I just think the races down here got it out of their system in the 60s and realized that they have to work together.
So, in my long, rambling essay, I think the South has become a really attractive place to live--and not just for the warmer temperatures. My wife had to be dragged onto the plane for my job interview here, and now refuses to ever leave here again. My friends all made fun of us for moving here, making the predictable jokes about pick-up trucks and improper relations between relatives. Now, two different couples live within five miles of us, and a third is flying down in January to start looking at houses.
Do not move South for cheap, pretty or weather. In fact, don't move anywhere for cheap, pretty and weather. It will not make you happy. Move someplace because you want to be there, doing things in the new place that the new place offers, not because you want to escape from some intolerable condition where you live now. If you move someplace just because of cheap, pretty, traffic or weather compared to where you live now, you'll be moving again in less than 3 years or you'll be whining in some City Data forum about how there is something wrong with the people (translation: they aren't like you), how the place doesn't have anything good (translation: anything YOU like), doesn't do things the "right" way (translation: the way it was done where you used to live).
The truth is there is nothing wrong with the new place. You just weren't smart enough to pick a place that was the right match for you.
Do not move South for cheap, pretty or weather. In fact, don't move anywhere for cheap, pretty and weather. It will not make you happy. Move someplace because you want to be there, doing things in the new place that the new place offers, not because you want to escape from some intolerable condition where you live now. If you move someplace just because of cheap, pretty, traffic or weather compared to where you live now, you'll be moving again in less than 3 years or you'll be whining in some City Data forum about how there is something wrong with the people (translation: they aren't like you), how the place doesn't have anything good (translation: anything YOU like), doesn't do things the "right" way (translation: the way it was done where you used to live).
The truth is there is nothing wrong with the new place. You just weren't smart enough to pick a place that was the right match for you.
A good point. If you're emotionally unhappy in one place, chances are you will be emotionally unhappy wherever you go. If you find it hard to make friends where you are now, why do you think it will be hard for you in some other city? Take care of the person inside you before making a change of address.
A good point. If you're emotionally unhappy in one place, chances are you will be emotionally unhappy wherever you go. If you find it hard to make friends where you are now, why do you think it will be hard for you in some other city? Take care of the person inside you before making a change of address.
I agree and Florida gets a number of folks who are moving "away" from someplace more than moving "to" Florida. Those are the grumpy ones- they expected things to change, when the change that they needed was internal.
That said, I'm sitting here with my windows and glass doors open right now and it's December 17
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