Americans Are Casting Their Votes--with Their Feet
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
by Merrill Matthews | Publications | PolicyBytes
It's Nov. 2 and Americans are going to the polls.
That fact has created a lot of excitement, as well as anxiety, that voters will send a message that they are dissatisfied with the past nine months of complete Democratic control in Washington.
But Americans don't just show their dissatisfaction with government overreach at the polls. They also show it with their feet, by fleeing mismanaged, high-tax, heavy-regulation states.
And we just got what you might call the "poll results" of that voting with their feet.
The Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University just released an assessment of where newly arrived Texans came from during the pandemic. "More than one out of every ten people moving to Texas in 2020 was from California," according to the report.
The report also points out that has been the case for 19 of the past 20 years. The only exception was in 2005, when Louisiana supplied the most new Texans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Lesson: Only a historic natural disaster provides more new Texans than an endemic, multi-year political disaster like California.
It's also interesting to note where these fleeing Californians are moving to in Texas. The report says Travis County, which is Austin, is their top destination. And that makes perfect sense.
Austin has become a major technology hub, which would attract lots of Californians. The cost of living is also much more affordable than the Golden State, though that's beginning to change as new arrivals bid up the price of housing.
And Austin has a reputation as one of the more liberal cities in the state, which could appeal to some California ex-pats who want to retain their liberal inclinations, while the conservative state legislature and governor protect them from the higher taxes and more regulations that drove many of those Californians to Texas in the first place.
The media keep warning that Tuesday's election could be bad news for the Democratic agenda. But whatever voters do on Tuesday doesn't negate the fact that millions have already, in effect, cast their ballot—by voting with their feet.
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Just because...
Got kind of the same problem here...............
And Maryland and "Joisy"
Yeah, and I personally find that offensive. Holy stereotype.
If you knew what the "migration" from the northeast is doing to real estate prices you may not find it offensive. People are paying 10-15% OVER asking price making it terribly difficult for Joe Average to buy a home. They have sold their mega high priced homes up there and have plenty of money to put down on a home here and up until a couple years ago, real estate was fairly priced. And it isn't just real estate. And it isn't ALL New Yorkers so don't be.
Jim,
I have lived in the south when I was a kid, and come on, that is not what your sign is saying. I used to hear about not bringing my "NY ways" with me. Geeze, I was a nice respectful kid. Oh, and I can't tell you how many times I would get a "Bless your heart" for no reason. So that sign is nothing but an insult to NYers.
Real Estate is up everywhere. On Long Island, it has jumped 26% if you can even find a house. People are buying over asking.
The issue for southern states is when Northerners move in, the state becomes purple and that is what is at issue, isn't it?
North Carolina is trending more Democratic...
That may be true for some. The state has been screwed up since Cooper, the Governor, got elected and is on a power trip vetoing almost every sane piece of legislation that crosses his desk. Charlotte's city council is all but one Democrat and it's spend spend spend right up to and including practically doubling their pay this last year. And trust me. You are taking this waaay too personally. It isn't just NY. Maryland and Pennsylvania and Joisy are much of the problem.
I have no doubt you were a nice kid when you lived here and sorry but that is the way things were those years ago. There were still some sore asses over the Civil War LOL
That's the reason I avoid the Triangle as much as possible.
Colorado and New Hampshire have seen fifty years of pussification. I don’t know why the liberals can’t live with the monsters they created.
I feel the exact same way about Florida. Unfortunately, there has been an influx of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut plates here in north Florida. Thankfully, they are on 95 headed south.
I believe it is almost too late for some of central Florida and much of south Florida, as that is where these snow birds that won't leave typically land.
It has gotten so bad that you have a hard time finding sweet tea south of Gainesville. Most places have that nasty raspberry tea crap. Yuck!!!
LMAO, now that is funny, since NYers have always been snowbirds to Florida, including my parents. They like the winter there, but still love NY.
And for the record, and your economy counts on that.
I don't think I said what you hallucinated I did.
I don't care if they come here for the winter, or any time of the year for that matter. That's fine.
It's those that come here, STAY here, then believe Florida should conform to northeast standards, even though they fled those states because of stupid high taxes.
If they want to come here to live, then again..fine...but don't turn the state blue simply because you voted democrat in New York, Jersey, or pretty much anywhere in the northeast. That only invites high taxes, high crime and inn er cities go to crap.
You do realize that you don't get to get it both ways. You can't get the benefit of increased revenue and then dictate how people can vote.
I live on Long Island. All of Suffolk county votes red and most of Nassau votes blue, yet we all manage to live together.
In PA they're known as front-platers. The state-run shooting ranges are choked with them on weekend mornings.
I am sure highly paid executives appreciate Texas not having a state income tax. The end result though is that Texas is becoming more liberal with the influx of corporate offices from the coasts. Like the rest of the country Texas is getting a lot browner and more liberal with each passing year, just a little bit faster now!
The rest of us like that, too.
Texas has always been purple. Not much has changed.
It's not difficult to imagine a future where Latinos have taken over the Republican Party. Historically, Republicans certainly align more with their values.