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Location: Huntersville/Charlotte, NC and Washington, DC
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Kentucky is pretty popular with Amazon for the lower wage distribution jobs. I think you will likely see those with higher levels of education leave the South for more advanced jobs but overall not a mass exodus.
I moved from DC to Louisville KY for two years and the second I got my Bachelor's headed back to DC since nothing in Louisville that I could use my degree was available to me.
I'm not sure what states you are qualifying when you refer to the "South." I live in North Carolina and people from northern states such as New York and New Jersey are flocking down here in droves. I can't comment on any other states or areas.
+1. I'm in Houston, Texas, and the job growth down here is astonishing. Most of the available jobs are in the petroleum industry, health care, travel and real estate. The cost of living is also very low. You can find a really nice house in the suburbs for $160K or so. My buddies in NH are jealous. The average wage is around $20/hour, I believe, not the highest, but with the cost of living, definitely doable. Another plus is because of the excellent medical center we have available, when you need medical care, you don't have to wait a long time to see the doctor as you do in other areas. The real downside to this area is the terribly hot weather. It's pretty awful, IMO, so whenever it bothers me too much, I go back up to my Alaska home.
No. What they'll probably do is start to - or rather, continue to - migrate to the more prosperous southern cities in states like GA, FL, TX, MD, and VA. The decay hasn't spread so evenly that people need to leave the entire region, just like it hasn't in the Midwest.
Out of those states, GA is the only one I'd consider wholly Southern. FL is no longer culturally Southern in many of the major metros due to the influx of retirees from up north and Hispanics. TX is its own animal. MD is not Southern today in any fashion. The Southern areas of VA are not where the jobs are, and where the jobs are retain little Southern culture.
The OP has a trend, at least that is what I've noticed, of backhanded disparaging remarks about the South.
But, if I were to respond I would say no there will not be a mass migration barring any natural or regional economic disasters. Furthermore, I think a case can be made that while rural Appalachia and other pockets of isolated communities do exist in a state of perpetual poverty there are many areas in the South that are industrial, technology and manufacturing powerhouses. Oak Ridge, Chattanooga and Spring Hill, Tennessee come to mind.
There is mixture of culture and geographic isolationism that will ensure that certain areas will be the last to reap any benefits of society at large here in the South. That's just the way it is but it is not representative of the whole.
I for one am proud to be from the South and embrace the good characteristics of my culture while acknowledging the bad.
Do those auto jobs in Chattanooga pay as well as those in northern auto factories did, even when you factor in the low COL? My guess is no.
There are some highly specialized positions in Oak Ridge, but it's hardly an employment mecca.
Nashville is doing well overall and is an exception. Most of the rest of TN is terrible for employment.
1) The OP has a tendency to start threads with a VERY broad theory based on his very limited experience.
2) The South will not be abandoned. It's a ridiculous concept. If people didn't abandon it 120 years ago, they won't abandon it now, especially when we have super low property taxes and no need for snow blowers.
Besides, just like ANY state, there are successful areas and struggling areas. No broad brush will cover it all.
I've lived in five states since 2012 (TN, SC, IN, IA) for at least six months. I was in MA for a month for work, so I got a decent feel of that too. It's not like I've been under some rock for ages.
Why are states like NJ/NY/MA/CT so much more prosperous than impoverished states like TN, MS, and AL? The northern states have snowblowers AND high property taxes.
I've looked for jobs all over the country and am from the South. Wages there are low, even when you factor in the cost of living. Jobs overall are hard to come by, the region is still struggling with significant unemployment and poverty, as most of the country (even the Rust Belt) seem to be recovering better than the South. Any quality jobs pay less than they would in northern metros, and Southern offices often feel like red-headed stepchildren.
Do you think young people will begin abandoning the South due to a lack of opportunity there?
The blue-red (Electoral vote) migration was under 1/2 as sharp in 2010 as in 2000, so I do think the massive migration is over. Retirees will go south, but the actively working group migration has mostly disssipated.
No because the future debt of many cities is worse in many areas largely settled long ago. Actually cost is relative to what you earn and more and more urban areas are heavily in debt.
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