As I drive along the roads, one of my habits is to check out the license plates on the cars around me. It is a small measure of who is visiting the area, or who has just moved into town. Usually you see plates from New York, Ohio, Michigan, and various New England States; but more frequently I've noticed California plates.
I am a transplanted Yankee. I first moved to Florida from a northern state; then moved to North Carolina. People like me have been given the moniker "half-backs" because we moved half way back home. I actually find that amusing.
I left my home state for a reason. I realized a long time ago that I can never go back. The state that I grew up in, where my family and friends live; is a financial nightmare. And the demographics demonstrate the disenchantment of those who have decided to leave it.
Michigan is a perfect example of how to economically screw up a state. The fiscal policies and entitlement mentality of the populace (through the actions of their state politicians) have hamstrung intrastate business, and discouraged others to relocate there. In 2009, Forbes.com published its annual "The best states for business," Michigan ranked 49th. The biggest factor for Michigan's low ranking is the cost of doing business. And that of course is taxes.
The exodus from that once great state is astonishing. Detroit, once the powerhouse of the Midwest, with a 1950's population of 2 million has lost more than half that number. Detroit has 40 square miles of vacant property, and finds it impossible to service these areas. Michigan as a whole has lost 25% of its population. Just where are these people moving?
The United States Census Bureau has published a report of migration trends in the past decade:
Net Domestic Migration by State | ||||
2009 Rank | Net Domestic Migration | Rank 2000-2009 | ||
State | 2009 | 2000-2009 | ||
1 | Texas | 143,423 | 838,126 | 2 |
2 | North Carolina | 59,108 | 663,892 | 4 |
3 | Washington | 38,201 | 239,037 | 9 |
4 | Colorado | 35,591 | 202,735 | 10 |
5 | South Carolina | 31,480 | 306,045 | 7 |
6 | Georgia | 26,604 | 550,369 | 5 |
7 | Tennessee | 20,605 | 259,711 | 8 |
8 | Oklahoma | 18,345 | 42,284 | 19 |
9 | Virginia | 18,238 | 164,930 | 12 |
10 | Oregon | 16,173 | 177,375 | 11 |
11 | Arizona | 15,111 | 696,793 | 3 |
12 | Louisiana | 14,647 | (311,368) | 45 |
13 | Alabama | 11,044 | 87,199 | 14 |
14 | Utah | 8,623 | 53,390 | 17 |
15 | Wyoming | 7,192 | 22,883 | 25 |
16 | Kentucky | 6,268 | 81,711 | 15 |
17 | Arkansas | 5,298 | 75,163 | 16 |
18 | West Virginia | 4,510 | 17,727 | 26 |
19 | District of Columbia | 4,454 | (39,814) | 37 |
20 | Massachusetts | 3,614 | (274,722) | 44 |
21 | New Mexico | 3,366 | 26,383 | 24 |
22 | Delaware | 2,580 | 45,424 | 18 |
23 | Montana | 2,410 | 39,853 | 21 |
24 | South Dakota | 1,619 | 7,182 | 27 |
25 | Idaho | 1,555 | 110,279 | 13 |
26 | North Dakota | 1,375 | (18,071) | 31 |
27 | Pennsylvania | 1,346 | (33,119) | 34 |
28 | Alaska | 979 | (7,360) | 29 |
29 | Missouri | (124) | 41,278 | 20 |
30 | Nebraska | (956) | (39,275) | 36 |
31 | Vermont | (975) | (1,505) | 28 |
32 | Kansas | (1,242) | (67,762) | 41 |
33 | Iowa | (2,135) | (49,589) | 40 |
34 | New Hampshire | (2,602) | 32,588 | 22 |
35 | Maine | (2,937) | 29,260 | 23 |
36 | Nevada | (3,801) | 361,512 | 6 |
37 | Hawaii | (5,298) | (29,022) | 33 |
38 | Mississippi | (5,529) | (36,061) | 35 |
39 | Wisconsin | (5,672) | (11,981) | 30 |
40 | Rhode Island | (6,172) | (45,159) | 38 |
41 | Indiana | (6,805) | (21,467) | 32 |
42 | Connecticut | (7,824) | (94,376) | 42 |
43 | Minnesota | (8,813) | (46,635) | 39 |
44 | Maryland | (11,163) | (95,775) | 43 |
45 | Florida | (31,179) | 1,154,213 | 1 |
46 | New Jersey | (31,690) | (451,407) | 47 |
47 | Ohio | (36,278) | (361,038) | 46 |
48 | Illinois | (48,249) | (614,616) | 49 |
49 | Michigan | (87,339) | (537,471) | 48 |
50 | New York | (98,178) | (1,649,644) | 51 |
51 | California | (98,798) | (1,490,105) | 50 |
Derived from US Bureau of the Census data | ||||
And with the changes in demographics comes the change in socio-political trends within a state. North Carolina once considered a red state is now purple. The election of socialist politicians such as Barack Obama and Kay Hagan is just a small indication in the shift from conservative, self-reliant people to a government handout, its all about me mentality.
The past decade democrats have owned the governorship and state general assembly. North Carolina subsequently has the highest tax rate in the southeast. Now that is something to brag about. Let's turn this great state into another Michigan or California.
With that in mind I look out my window and glance at my next door neighbor's porch, which hails a Boston Red Sox flag. And every election cycle you can bet that a sign for every leftist radical will be planted in his front yard. I wonder if he has ever contemplated the reasons why he left his home state? I doubt it.
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