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I moved to Louisiana because I was recruited here and because my cousins live here. Do you think everyone moves for purely monetary reasons?

• rayiner 3y ago
  When those individual reasons lead to a net migration from blue states to red states (e.g. more people being recruited in red states in the aggregate than in blue states) that’s meaningful. I’ve got some cousins in DFW now and they love it. One, after studying in Queens, is marveling at how “everything is bigger in Texas.” They move for jobs and schools and neighborhood safety; same reason my parents immigrated to red state Virginia instead of blue state Maryland. (Then they helped turn Virginia into a blue state and are now surprised at e.g. democrats trying to “equity” TJ.) I think your point even cuts in the opposite direction. The Bangladeshis I know who moved to Queens did so not because they think New York City is great, but because of the large community of other Bangladeshis. Most of the folks who could afford it migrated out to purple Long Island, etc.
  • dctoedt 3y ago
    Another possibility: Blue states got so expensive precisely because so many people wanted to live there and consequently moved there — supply and demand, etc. And so, when opportunities opened up in red states, it made sense for some of the newly-dissatisfied blue-staters to relocate there. Yeah, they might well gradually turn some of those "nice" red states purple, or even blue — c'est la vie.