this post was submitted on 16 Nov 2024
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You got a better explanation? People are leaving Massachusetts and the cost of living is high . The most likely reason is that poorer people who can't afford to live there any more are leaving. Otherwise why would you leave a state with such a high quality of life?
The people leaving largely aren't the poor, though. They're the middle and upper class looking for lower taxes. They're leaving because the high quality of life there benefits those with less money disproportionately compared to those with more money; public transport and good public schools matter less to the wealthy than to the poor.
Will also add, not sure how big of a difference it makes, but the data in that article also captures the window of time when Mass implemented its millionaire tax. There was a lot of blustering from the 1% about moving out of state and taking the jobs with them; I doubt the last part but wouldn't be surprised if a good chunk ended up leaving for elsewhere to avoid paying.
Also worth looking at how the transition to remote work is a contributing factor. Since the pandemic, it's no longer necessary for a lot of people who used to work in Boston to live around Boston, and so they can keep their high-paying jobs while moving to more affordable surrounding states (or even other parts of the country). That is definitely middle-upper class migration and it affected regions with high percentages of pre-pandemic office jobs the most, which applies significantly to Boston.
That being said, I know anecdotally many members of my generation here in Mass (80's-90's Millennials) still live with their parents well into their 30's, and those who did not have that as an option often resorted to moving out of state. Rent remains high and property is even higher, so it's a waiting game to see if/when this bubble pops. Mass also happens to be close to the bottom in the US in fertility rate (which is not an inherently terrible thing) but speaks to the difficulty of starting a family here.
I guess the medical care is just so good here that the old people aren't dying off fast enough!
Every company I know are careful to watch where their employees live and adjust wages appropriately. That’s probably the real reason most are hybrid: if you have to come into Boston twice a week, can you really live up in the mountains somewhere cheap?
Supply and demand. High quality state is going to be more desirable and so more expensive, where the dumpster states that noone WANTS to live in are so cheap anyone can afford to live there, even if they don't want to. I would rather bring the whole country up to MA standards, increasing supply of QoL, instead of bringing it down to OK standards because "bUt iT CheEp ThEir".
I only know that my town has high population of immigrants and if blue collar jobs and we’re growing like crazy.
I mean all the land was developed a couple hundred years ago, so we’re getting taller