Even hardcore lefties have had it...

New Yorkers Are Abandoning the Big Apple in Droves Despite Cheaper Rent, Report Shows

Even before COVID-19 hit and the government pummeled the economy with its lockdowns, New York was losing people.

A new CNBC report shows that 300,000 New Yorkers have bailed on the Big Apple since the beginning of the lockdowns.

The figure is based on change-of-address requests and likely masks the full picture. Many households include more than one person, and an address only registers in the report when 11 or more forwarding requests are made to a particular county.

Evidence of this mass migration has been apparent for months. Moving companies and trucks have been hard to come by as the demand to leave the city rises, and a record number of apartments have sat empty as landlords struggle to find occupants. The median rental price on studios in Manhattan fell 7.1 percent this year, but the cheaper rent and other incentives have not been enough to entice most people back.

Even before COVID-19 hit and the government pummeled the economy with its lockdowns, New York was losing people. More than a million people left the five boroughs in the past decade citing excessively high taxes, lack of space, failing infrastructure, and decreasing quality of life.

Those existing problems were exacerbated during the pandemic. Schools were closed. Businesses saw their revenue plummet. Workers could no longer afford the exorbitant cost of living imposed by the city’s policies (like rent control). And people realized that a city with dirty streets and hard-to-come-by washer/dryer units was less than ideal for combatting an infectious disease.

Most small businesses are unlikely to withstand the ongoing assault on their very being.

Furthermore, the city’s COVID-19 regulations and mismanagement forced residents into overcrowded public hospitals and nursing homes at the height of the crisis – contributing to some of the highest coronavirus death rates in the country.

The city’s reaction to the pandemic has had a domino effect, and the pieces are likely still falling. As both businesses and their employees have eased into remote work, many have realized it isn’t necessary to cram a workforce into one centralized, expensive location. As a result, it is likely that some businesses and employees will leave the city permanently.

On top of that, most small businesses are unlikely to withstand the ongoing assault on their very being. More than a thousand restaurants have already closed permanently. As we head into the winter months – with anticipated spikes in COVID cases and ensuing shutdowns – we will almost certainly see many more. What restaurant can afford New York City rents with a 25 percent capacity allowance?

As these businesses leave, so does the city’s charm. New York is known for its local, independent shops. People move to the city and deal with its hassles for the best food, fashion, and entertainment in the world. Oh, and for the networking. Without this dynamic environment, those with options to go elsewhere will continue to do so.


And those with options are precisely the people who have left. The wealthy and mobile got out months ago and aren’t likely to return anytime soon – leaving the city’s poor and working class to face the $13 billion budget deficit.

New York has practiced backward economic and social policies for decades, but until recently, enough people believed the difficulties imposed were worth it.

New Yorkers already suffer under the highest tax burden in the country. Those left to make up the difference are the least able to pay it and the most likely to consume public services. This is a recipe for disaster.

I was briefly a New Yorker myself, having just relocated to the Big Apple four months before coronavirus swept the nation. I stayed for March and April, unwilling to give up the ghost. But by this spring it was clear the city would not be coming back any time soon. The streets were deserted and eerie. One day I stood in the middle of Times Square and was one of the only people there. It felt like the apocalypse (see main image).

As the city’s amenities vanished, there was nothing left to focus on but its infrastructure. And I was terrified. For the first time in my life, it was unclear whether or not I would be able to obtain a hospital bed or medical care if needed. Close to 800 people were dying a day. I spent two months barely leaving my 400 square foot Chelsea studio, unable to find a mask, hand sanitizer, or alcohol-based cleansers anywhere in the city. In May, I put my clothes and possessions in storage and went back to a red state.

Why pay for New York and endure its hardships when there’s more to do in South Carolina at a far lower cost?

Admittedly, I do miss city life and ultimately wish to return. But it is clear there will not be anything to return to in the foreseeable future. The city is working to shut schools back down, a second wave of shutdowns has already been imposed for some zip codes, and the majority of businesses remain closed.

In society, everyone makes trade-offs. New York has practiced backward economic and social policies for decades, but until recently, enough people believed the high taxes, cost of living, and difficulties imposed were worth it for the glitz, glamor, and opportunity. But as the city’s government continues to hinder the latter, the cost-benefit analysis of many has obviously changed.

Why pay for New York and endure its hardships when there’s more to do in South Carolina at a far lower cost? As we have seen even in normal times, Americans vote with their feet - choosing to escape the results of bad economic policies for friendlier business climates.

Perhaps one reason Democrats failed to pick up a single state legislature this year is due to this migration pattern: Americans are escaping blue state policies (which include stricter lockdowns) and they aren’t about to vote for them to take control in their new red-state homes.

https://fee.org/articles/new-y...r-rent-report-shows/

Oh great, this kind of shit is why states like Arizona and Georgia are turning blue.

We are trying and failing to keep the fuckers out of Florida. They ruin everywhere they go.

Yep, the Commie idiots never learn. Their foul spread far outwieghs that of Covid.

quote:

Originally posted by hooch:
Oh great, this kind of shit is why states like Arizona and Georgia are turning blue.

Georgia didn't turn blue overnight.

The commies have cheated that state to death.

Not necessarily good news for the rest of us.

quote:

Originally posted by mikeyspizza:
Not necessarily good news for the rest of us.

No, it is NOT! Those mother fuckers bring their political slants with them!
We have been invaded by them. They are paying 2x the going price for homes. I often think about taking their money and buying a townhouse.

I hope the South will remain stable.

LOCUSTS!

Stay out of NE PA motherfuckers! Too many of you cockroaches infesting my state as it is!

What happening to the south from New Yorkers/Jerseyites is the same we have had going on in the Northwest (Washington/Oregon) from California.

Ahem: “Don’t Californicate Colorado.” (Bumper sticker in 1986 when I moved back here.)

I am going to be the optimist with the people moving to the more conservative states. This is wishful thinking on my part.
I my self was from New Jersey. I am now and was then a conservative moving from New Jersey.
I moved to get away from the crushing cost of living,high taxes,government over reach,lack of 2nd amendment rights and the overall stress associated with living in the north east. I did this over 20 years ago.
I am especially glad I did this based on how bad the government has become in light of the virus.
We can only hope most leaving the north east do this for the same reasons and do not bring the liberal mentality that ruined some of the states in the north east.
If this continues with New York city it could be worse than what happened after the riots of the 60s. After the riots the city went into a almost death spiral. In the 70s and into the 80s parts of New York city had become a shit hole that were very dangerous to visit.
If this keeps up New York city could become like Detroit.

That’s too bad. They got what they asked for and now that they find they don’t like it, like a cancer, they’re going to take their shit to a new state and start over.

I cringe when I see CA, OR and WA posted here in Arizona. Wish there was a bounty.

They need to be confined to the shithole they’ve created.

quote:

Americans are escaping blue state policies (which include stricter lockdowns) and they aren’t about to vote for them to take control in their new red-state homes.

I’d say the last line of the article is completely off base.
I bet they continue voting exactly how they voted before.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
I bet they continue voting exactly how they voted before.

I did not read the article, but I agree completely.

A Jesuit supposedly said, “Give me the child for seven years, and I’ll give you the man.”

It’s simplistic and not always accurate that we can’t change with time, education, and experience, but it’s far more unlikely than we’d prefer. The simple fact is that most people accept the teachings they were brought up with, and lack the education and analytical abilities to understand and accept that those teachings were wrong. If it were otherwise, Colorado (among many other states) would have not drifted as far to the Left as it has over the past decades. And, unfortunately, much of that here was self-induced; I cannot blame everything on immigrants.

One has only to look at the west coast to see how leftists “flee” the conditions they voted for, fostered, and grew weary of before moving and spreading their disease to “nicer” areas. New York trash will infect wherever they go for the most part.

The problem is that they bring their liberal indoctrination with them.

New Yorkers and Californians need to act like a refugee not a missionary when they arrive in their new state.

A refugee is glad to have escaped the hell hole and will vow to never let it happen in their new home.

A missionary will try to spread the failed policies and programs that lead to the high taxes, high crime, failing infrastructure, and low quality of life in New York and California.

In other words, DON'T CALIFORNIA MY TEXAS

quote:

Originally posted by nhtagmember:
I cringe when I see CA, OR and WA posted here in Arizona.

I just made this same comment the other day to my wife, too many damn California license plates. They are screwing up Arizona.