Posted on 12/30/2016 1:09:50 PM PST by Kaslin
Americans see themselves as people on the move. When the going gets tough or when opportunity beckons, we get up and go. We move around a lot.
Actually, we don't -- or don't nearly so much as we used to. The percentage of Americans moving every year is less than half that of a half-century ago and down significantly since the early 1990s.
Some of that decline is a response to the economic cycle. Contrary to widespread impression, mobility tends to decline in bad economic times. The Okies moving from the Dust Bowl to the Central Valley of California made a big impression in the 1930s because they were the exception, not the rule. Most Americans stayed put and ate vegetables raised in their gardens or window boxes, making do as best they could.
The vast movements to the western frontier had ended decades earlier, and farm-to-factory migration went on pause. Foreign immigration was almost nonexistent, even below the low quotas set in the restrictive Immigration Act of 1924.
Then, during World War II, Americans moved around a lot, serving in the military, working in defense plants, leaving behind farm counties whose population peaked in the 1940 census.
It became a habit. In the postwar years, millions of whites moved to California, the golden state they had seen in the war and the movies, while one-third of American blacks moved from the segregated rural South to what they believed was "the promised land" of northern industrial cities.
You can see in the statistics similar movement away from the Rust Belt in response to factory closings during the recessions of 1979-83. Laid-off autoworkers in Detroit bought copies of the Sunday Houston Chronicle to scan help wanted ads. Steelworkers in Pittsburgh and coal miners in West Virginia rented U-Hauls for points south and west.
You haven't seen similar mobility in the slow-growth years of this century. There is heavy domestic outmigration from high-cost, high-immigration metro New York, Chicago and Los Angeles to the interior. But people in the Rust Belt have been staying put.
To understand why, read Ron Bailey's riveting Dec. 10 article for Reason, titled "Stuck," about his family's ancestral home in McDowell County, West Virginia. It was the nation's No. 1 coal-producing county in 1950, when the Baileys left. Many others did, too; McDowell County's population declined from 98,000 in 1950 to 22,000 in 2010.
But few people are leaving now -- even though those who remain are in miserable shape. McDowell County has the lowest male life expectancy of any American county, and it has a high percentage of heroin addiction. Only about half of children are raised in two-parent families.
It also has a very high dependency on government. As Bailey reports, nearly 47 percent of personal income comes from Social Security, disability insurance (some 9 percent of West Virginia adults get disability payments), food stamps and other federal programs. McDowell County is a prime example of the dysfunctional communities that have caused the increase, identified by economists Angus Deaton and Anne Case, in mortality rates of middle-aged white Americans.
Government benefits, even federal benefits, are not readily transferable and tend to keep beneficiaries stuck in place. They often can't obtain jobs in growth areas because of occupational licensing laws or drug testing, and they aren't interested in competing for jobs with low-wage immigrants jammed into expensive housing in coastal metro areas.
Labor market economic theory posits that workers will move to jobs. But history teaches that mobility is not just a matter of economic calculation. For most people, staying put is the default mode. They only take the unusual step of moving to pursue dreams or escape nightmares.
And they don't move where they think they are not wanted. Only 2 million black and white Southerners moved to the higher-pay North between 1865 and 1940, even as 30 million European immigrants streamed there. Southerners considered the North a nightmarishly alien territory; Europeans sought escape from the nightmare of second-class status in multiethnic empires.
The World War II experience convinced a generation or two of Americans that they could realize their dreams by getting up and going. But the war ended 71 years ago, and the postwar years are dimming in the rearview mirror. Some Americans are still on the move. But many are stuck in nightmare settings that they seem unable to escape.
I’ve been reading about people just saying the heck with it and hitting the road, in renovated old RV’s or even converted work vans, a surprising number of people just caravanning around the country, trying to follow mild weather while following contract work. “Workampers,” is one term that has arisen to describe them. Amazon even has programs designed to accommodate them.
Me, I’m tempted. My circumstance has been up and down, mostly down, since 2008 which hit me personally in a very bad way, a complete life changing event. Went from fairly prosperous owner of a small business in decent financial shape, primary residence ten years from payoff, lake house, three vehicles, all the toys I wanted and bought what I wanted whenever I wanted it, to having to really work and plan to hang onto what’s left, that being the primary residence and a paid off car. Sold everything else, no repos thank goodness. In that I’m in far better shape than many in my acquaintance. Small business people have been destroyed trying to hang on for better days. They didn’t come. Maybe that’s about to change.
I’ve had an opportunity fall in my lap, of buying one of the better regarded old RV’s and I’ve taken it. Didn’t cost much, I could sell it as is for a profit and have had people offer to buy it at a profit. But, I’m working through the systems, making sure it’s safe to drive and to operate. Propane, electrical, brakes, engine, transmission. I guess I should be glad I have enough savings left to even think about such things.
My field has many contract opportunities, not very many of them where I am, however. I’m seriously thinking of giving it a go. Come spring, the only thing I’m lacking is a car or small SUV that can be flat towed behind the RV.
Am I nuts? It actually sounds appealing to me right now. Even under the worst case scenario I can envision, I’d still be putting back a fair amount of money, even if I were to be six months on, six months off with the contract work.
If you are in the north then wait until you are south before buying a car.
I’m in North Carolina. Already know what the desirable flat-towable vehicles are, trouble is the tow capacity of the RV greatly limits the weight of the towed vehicle. Want a 4WD automatic, combined with the weight that limits it to exactly one vehicle. Everybody else seems to be looking for the same thing. Needle in a haystack, very few in any condition for sale. Found one in TX but turned out to be salvage title. I may have to back off of the 4WD, but if I’m to have only one vehicle I’d want the most utility out of it and that’s a major factor in utility, in my book.
/s
IMO it might be possible that many jobs do not require being on location therefore no need to move. You can climb the company ladder and rarely go to the office.
Globalism killed the industrial base and none of these “experts” ever talk about it.
My brother left Chi for Cali a couple years ago. My other brother is looking to move to Oregon.
Whether geographic mobility is a good thing or a bad one depends on your philosophy. Although there are exceptions, people who have roots in a community, who are close to immediate and extended family, who know their neighbors, tend to have better physical and mental health than those who don’t. They are better able to weather poor economic circumstances than those who are more isolated.
In today’s society of broken families or never-formed families, a particularly damaging outcome of moving is the final estrangement of parents (usually fathers) from children.
McDowell bounty is fairly accurately portrayed here. Problem number 1is drugs, number 2, no jobs and number three lack of high quality healthcare. I lived in a neighboring county, we left this year and we are warmer, have better jobs and better healthcare. I watched my husband almost die in gun grabber joe Manchins WV... by the time he received correct diagnosis, he had been having myocardial events for two years.. diagnosed as asthma.
bump
Info for anyone who is contemplating a move & doing it yourself:
I have my current property for sale & want to do the move myself for many reasons. Commercial movers won’t take many of my ranch items, and they are too expensive to leave behind & repurchase.
I immediately sat down with graph paper & tried to lay our what would go where & how many U-HAUL trucks I would need, etc. When I was all done, I had laid out a packing design & packing sequence that would require 2 trucks—26’ in length, and 2 12 x 6 trailers from U-HAUL.
The reason I couldn’t do it with less was: THE PAYLOAD IN A 26’ U-HAUL is only 7400 pounds, I called 3 local U-HAUL dealers, and NONE of them had a clue. I wanted to make sure I balanced my loads. I finally called U-HAUL central in the midwest, and the lady knew right away what I was asking—and said “7400 POUNDS” total payload., per each 26’ truck. The total of the RENTAL cost of those 4 units was over $5500 PLUS TAX. JUST the rental—no gas, etc. I had a pretty good idea about the total pounds I had—22,000. I had weighed every item I could pick up. I had pretty good guesses on refrigerators, washers, etc. I was determined to balance my loads properly.
Then I decided to do some more information research. I went into a Penske rental office. I asked what was the payload in their 26’ truck. The girl didn’t hesitate—”17,000 pounds”.!!! I verified that she knew what I was asking.
I went back home, got our more graph paper & started my packing & sequence layout all over again.
It took me a week-—but I ended up with only 2 Penske 26’ trucks—no trailers....and the cost of both the trucks, 2 appliance dollys- total insurance- is going to be UNDER $3500—with the taxes.
Cannot recommend U-HAUL when this is the comparison.
NOW- all I have to do is sell this property.
It helps if you’re married.
If you’re a single person, stay put. A move can be exhausting and I wouldn’t recommend moving around a lot.
You may need to move if your life circumstances change or the grass really is greener in another valley.
Learn to love where you are if its good to you.
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