Out of the blue (states)
Timothy P. Carney
If there’s anything we’re supposed to fear these days more than climate change, it’s Republican governance. Somehow, though, despite rising temperatures and promises of more hurricanes, people keep moving south. And despite the constant message that the GOP is destroying democracy, residents keep voting with their feet for Republican governors and legislatures.
“Texas, Florida and the Carolinas were the preferred destinations of one-way U-Haul truck customers during 2022,” the moving giant reported in early January. Texas and Florida have been at or near the top for the past five years.
“Demand for equipment out of California, Illinois and New York remained strong in 2022, as more people opted to leave areas of the West Coast, Northeast and Midwest.”
The two states with the greatest net negative in one-way rentals? California and Illinois. In short, people are fleeing the big blue states for the big red states.
Poignantly, this is largely a nonwhite phenomenon. The 1900s began with the “Great Migration” as black people moved out of the South into Northern cities. The new Great Migration sees their grandchildren moving back down. Since the mid-2000s, a net total of 800,000 African Americans have moved into the South, while a net total of 550,000 have moved out of the Northeast.
Specifically, Atlanta, Dallas, and Phoenix have seen large inflows, while New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles have seen huge outflows of black residents.
Hispanics and African Americans made up almost all of Texas’s population growth in the last decade.
It seems that there’s something making certain states in this country broadly more attractive than other states.
If you believe that the governance of a place has a serious impact on its desirability (which is something that everyone ought to understand, especially any liberal who promised to move to Canada upon President Donald Trump’s election), then the inflows into Florida and Texas ought to tell you something about governance. So should the lack of inflows into New York and California.
Those concerned about the future of democracy should be cheered that people are continuing to vote with their feet — and their one-way rentals.