Are kids moving south?

Applying to College
184

As does, Durham, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Wilmington, Asheville. All the cities are blue. Same as all the cities in the south.

185

150% blue

1 Like
186

Ya’ll Means All!

2 Likes
187

We live in NJ outside NYC. In 2003 my husband went house hunting in Charlotte, his company moved headquarters from a whole block in manhattan to charlotte. I had recently given birth to twins, #4 and #5, my parents lived a 1/2 mile away, his an hour away. We both grew up here. The thought of relatively inexpensive housing (and newer) was tempting, his salary would remain the same, but he felt it was a little Disney like and we had a nice tribe here. He got a position in the Princeton branch. Recently a branch moved to Texas from a blue location, getting tax breaks from promising non remote workers. Needless to say folks aren’t happy.

188

People arent going to be happy if they’re asked to uproot their family to another place thousands of miles away.

It’s the same if the opposite happened. Imagine if you lived and worked in Austin Texas and was asked to move to Newark. I think most people would balk at that.

I believe NJ is ranked 48th in the nation in outbound moves vs inbound moves.

1 Like
189

Living in NC, I know soooo many people who have done it though. And it’s been going on for many decades. A good friend’s family was in the wave of relocators who moved from NY with IBM in the 70s. It’s super common for families to relocate and they often bring the grandparents and their work friends who are also relocating.

1 Like
190

I moved 9 times and lived in 6 states in the northeast, mid Atlantic, the south, and the midwest. Everything from big city to rural middle of nowhere. It’s what was necessary for my H’s career advancement and he has always been the main income earner.

Eventually my parents moved to be near us when our D was young because they wanted to see her grow up. They got lucky that we stayed there for quite a while but they knew it wasn’t going to be permanent for us.

I will admit that it was very hard having a newborn with no help around and having to put my own career aspirations on hold but I knew what I was signing up for when we got married.

And to this thread, I’m a NYer and my H is from New England. I loved when we lived in NC and was sad to have to move. We lived near a college, had lots of displaced northerners in our friend circle, cost of living was peanuts compared to NY/NJ, and we had a really high quality of life. And that was 25 years ago.

My D lives in NC now and has found it surprisingly open and welcoming. (She also lives in a different college town which I do think helps a lot).

191

Ive traveled to almost every state, and many multiple times. There are definitely regional differences but for the most part, people are more similar than dissimilar, despite all the media rhetoric.

Every place will have great people and not so great people. And now more and more people move multiple times so it’s not like any place will be static.

2 Likes
192

I’d also add:

  1. People often want what they don’t have. Northern/midwestern kids want to get away from snow and cold. My own southern kids want to get away from living in a place where it’s unpleasant to be outside for 8-9 months of every year.
  2. Speaking of NC specifically, it was a vastly different place in 2005 (when I moved here) than it is now, and I have to suspect that the changes take a really long time to make it into the consciousness of people who don’t live here. I know people whose full time job it is to keep up with everything that’s been/being changed, and they aren’t even able to follow it all, let alone articulate it in a way that most people can digest. (for one tiny example, google UNC’s School of Civic Life).

I’ve mentioned before, I am fully supporting my kids’ wishes to leave NC. I loved raising them here and I love the town where I live. But I can’t wait to leave this state behind.

1 Like
193

You were late to the wave of newcomers. They been coming since RTP was built in the 60s/70s. As a lifelong NCer I don’t find it vastly different now than it was 20 years ago. I think the 90s brought a lot more change personally.

Good luck in your next chapter. NC will always be home to me.

2 Likes
194

Ive been to NC multiple times and it’s one of my favorite states in the country. It’s beautiful and in my experience has friendly and welcoming people.

2 Likes
195

I moved from Austin to Maine for a job. I miss the people but not the heat.

196

100%. Ill probably move back to Texas at some point but will need to get a summer home somewhere else. It’s way too hot from June-September, but fantastic from late October - April.

Maybe rent an AibnB in LaJolla for 3 months.

2 Likes
197

It got to 92 or so in Austin in November this year. Highest temperature ever recorded for the month. The hot season is lasting longer and longer. It was HOT at my nephew’s outdoor wedding on October 18.

198

That’s crazy. I dont remember it being that hot when I went to school there.

Summer/fall/early winter home somewhere else.

199

Let’s return the conversation back to the kids please

2 Likes
200

My CA kid was home from UF for Thanksgiving. He couldn’t wait to get back to school and advised his plan is to have an internship in FL as soon as he can. He already plans to stay in FL or the Southeast if possible after graduation. He couldn’t be any happier to leave CA behind.

4 Likes
201

This moving trends data from PODs came out in May but I just saw it elsewhere today. Sixteen of their top twenty destinations are in the South. Five and a half are in my state of North Carolina.

20 Cities With the Highest Number of Move-Ins Ranked

  1. Myrtle Beach, SC/Wilmington, NC (1st in 2024)
  2. Ocala, FL (2nd in 2024)
  3. Raleigh, NC (6th in 2024)
  4. Greenville-Spartanburg, SC (4th in 2024)
  5. Dallas-Fort Worth, TX (Not ranked in 2024)
  6. Charlotte, NC (5th in 2024)
  7. Boise, ID (11th in 2024)
  8. Knoxville, TN (8th in 2024)
  9. Nashville, TN (13th in 2024)
  10. Jacksonville, FL (9th in 2024)
  11. Chattanooga, TN (Not ranked in 2024)
  12. Huntsville, AL (16th in 2024)
  13. Portland, ME (12th in 2024)
  14. Johnson City, TN (15th in 2024)
  15. Spokane, WA (Not ranked in 2024)
  16. Atlanta, GA (14th in 2024)
  17. Greensboro, NC (20th in 2024)
  18. Asheville, NC (10th in 2024)
  19. San Antonio, TX (Not ranked in 2024)
  20. Dover, DE (17th in 2024)
1 Like
202

University of Georgia, University of Texas, University of Florida have all announced record breaking application volume.

I think the number of graduating high school seniors is no more than last year, and likely less. So there are only two possibilities: 1. Kids are applying to more schools, or 2. They have indeed shifted their preferences.

If #2, then we should expect to see declining application volume elsewhere. Maybe it is indeed a shift to the south. Or a shift to state flagships. Or something else. But it has to show up somewhere.

2 Likes
203

But are PODS users a different demographic from college students? Seems like a PODS user is more likely to be a retiree than a college student who is unlikely to bring a shipping container of stuff to college.

3 Likes