Half of people living in Illinois and Connecticut want to get the hell out

[Midpack]

Might be of interest to anyone considering relocation.

Good thing I don't live in IL...

Half of people living in Illinois and Connecticut want to get the hell out - Vox

 

[RetiredAndFree]

I actually find the four states where people have the lowest desire to move to be interesting: Oregon, Montana, Texas and Maine.

None would work for us, as we're attached to the beautiful weather, coastlines, and numerous national parks in our state, in spite of it's high cost, but having been to all four of the above, I can guess what the appeal is for each. I'd love to hear more from any here that might live in any of the four, however, as one of them at least (Oregon) we've kicked around as being a possible place we might considering living in some day.

 

[eytonxav]

You beat me to posting this link. I guess I am glad we left CT for TX 21 years ago.

 

[RetiredAndFree]

I guess I am glad we left CT for TX 21 years ago.

Would love to know why specifically, as I find the nuts and bolts of these type of decisions to be very interesting.

 

[eytonxav]

Would love to know why specifically, as I find the nuts and bolts of these type of decisions to be very interesting.

Mega Corp moved my department. Wasn't happy about it at the time, but things worked out well for me career wise and housing wise.

 

[Midpack]

Among Americans who say they plan to leave their states, the most common reason given was work- or business-related — a reason given by 31 percent of respondents. Different states, however, had different mixes of reasons; New York, Illinois, and Maryland residents all cited taxes as a key reason. New York and Connecticut residents were also significantly more likely to cite a high cost of living.

Migration south for weather (winters) and lower cost of living has been a long standing trend from everything I've read (almost since air conditioning). Long ago we planned to retire in Mystic CT, but struck that off our list once we looked at cost of living - real estate, taxes, etc.

But it's mostly talk anyway.

Only six percent of all people said they were either very or extremely likely to change states in the next year, and even that is higher than the number of people who will likely move. That share of people who as of July 2013 were in a different state from a year ago was around 1.5 percent.

 

[pb4uski]

You beat me to posting this link. I guess I am glad we left CT for TX 21 years ago.

Mega Corp moved my department. Wasn't happy about it at the time, but things worked out well for me career wise and housing wise.

That's interesting. Megacorp moved my department to CT in 1986 but I decided not to go (along with 34 of 35 other employees). I was going to have to double my commute and double my mortgage to live in a similar house to what we had at the time, and they were not offering to double my pay. Plus, they were offering 3 months pay continuation so I took the deal, took a little time off, found a new job where we wanted to be and double-dipped for a couple months.

If I use that period of double dipping to offset some time off between jobs, I was lucky to never be without a paycheck from when I started my first job out of college to when I retired 34 years later.

 

[molly]

I find many of these “studies” to be of little value. Fact is that there is a HUGE difference in how you feel about your state if you live in ANN ARBOR or DETROIT. Ann Arbor always has relatively low unemployment, highly educated community, great medical, many wonderful parks, and always mentioned as a great retirement city. Detroit, once a great city, is now an ailing is remnant of a war zone. I am not a state resident but was for 40 years and still spend a lot of time in Michigan.

Missouri was hanging at the bottom of the previously cited poll that was posted here. Again – a HUGE difference when you compare Columbia, another university town, to St. Louis. The same descriptors used for Ann Arbor and Detroit could be used for these locations also.

We lived on the Northshore across Lake Ponchatrain from New Orleans for many years. We loved the Gulf Coast and lived in an area with very good schools. We enjoyed frequent visits to New Orleans but………as a place to raise a family……..not so good.

Personally, we like university towns the best.

You could go down the list of nearly every state and find stark differences in the various communities. In the end, it is the community that really matters. Nobody lives all over one state. They pick a community that suits their individual needs.

Any geographical location that matches your personal priority list is the best place to live.

 

[Midpack]

I find many of these “studies” to be of little value. Fact is that there is a HUGE difference in how you feel about your state if you live in ANN ARBOR or DETROIT. Ann Arbor always has relatively low unemployment, highly educated community, great medical, many wonderful parks, and always mentioned as a great retirement city. Detroit, once a great city, is now an ailing is remnant of a war zone. I am not a state resident but was for 40 years and still spend a lot of time in Michigan.

The study is simply an aggregate at the state level. Of course there will be variation within the state. I am sure there are parts of Ann Arbor that are undesirable and it's well known there are still desirable neighborhoods in the Detroit metro area, preferable to parts of Ann Arbor. If you're going to generalize about cities/metro areas, why not about states?

Any geographical location that matches your personal priority list is the best place to live.

Of course, ultimately it comes down to a single house...

 

[ERD50]

...

But it's mostly talk anyway.

That share of people who as of July 2013 were in a different state from a year ago was around 1.5 percent.

I'm not sure what (if anything) these numbers mean. So if 1.5% is the overall average of people who change states each year, I don't think that tells us anything about patterns. The net change for any state could be positive, negative or flat, right?

But taking a stab at it, if 1.5% is average, and IL was 2X, that would be a population decline of ~ 26% in ten years (1-.97^10).

So the first credible data I found (rather short term though):
Illinois QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau

Population, % change, April 2010 to July 2013 0.4%(IL) 2.4%(USA)

So IL population has grown less than the nation on average. I know there was an interactive posted here a while back that had arrows of in/outflows from state to state that might be a clearer picture. It's tricky to put these things in proper perspective, and I think a catchy headline is more important to a journalist than 'proper perspective'.

But there certainly are valid reasons for thinking about leaving IL. The can kicking seems to be catching up with them/us. I'm afraid that attempting to tax our way back to solvency, without attracting more revenue producing businesses, is just going to be a downhill spiral of higher taxes on a smaller and smaller base, that keeps leaving to escape the higher taxes, Rinse, repeat, see others for examples.

-ERD50

 

[anethum]

The gallup article cited by vox.com had an additional table I found interesting. It has the % of people in each state who said they were "Extremely/Very/Somewhat likely to move". Half in Illinois and Connecticut Want to Move Elsewhere

 

[Ronstar]

....
But there certainly are valid reasons for thinking about leaving IL. The can kicking seems to be catching up with them/us. I'm afraid that attempting to tax our way back to solvency, without attracting more revenue producing businesses, is just going to be a downhill spiral of higher taxes on a smaller and smaller base, that keeps leaving to escape the higher taxes, Rinse, repeat, see others for examples.

-ERD50

Yes the state's can kicking and "tax our way back to solvency" model is more than enough to make people want to leave. And then there's the nasty winters.

 

[W2R]

I am so surprised! From a distance, both Illinois and Connecticut seem like wonderful states compared with Louisiana. Each has a few problems, but then what state doesn't?

Wow. Live and learn.

 

[eytonxav]

That's interesting. Megacorp moved my department to CT in 1986 but I decided not to go (along with 34 of 35 other employees). I was going to have to double my commute and double my mortgage to live in a similar house to what we had at the time, and they were not offering to double my pay. Plus, they were offering 3 months pay continuation so I took the deal, took a little time off, found a new job where we wanted to be and double-dipped for a couple months.

If I use that period of double dipping to offset some time off between jobs, I was lucky to never be without a paycheck from when I started my first job out of college to when I retired 34 years later.

For me it was hard to say no as I had about 15 years of service under my belt. Back then, job hoping was not so common. If we stayed, I would probably have ended up in NYC to get a comparable or better job, and I was not willing to make that commute from CT.

 

[Mulligan]

I find many of these “studies” to be of little value. Fact is that there is a HUGE difference in how you feel about your state if you live in ANN ARBOR or DETROIT. Ann Arbor always has relatively low unemployment, highly educated community, great medical, many wonderful parks, and always mentioned as a great retirement city. Detroit, once a great city, is now an ailing is remnant of a war zone. I am not a state resident but was for 40 years and still spend a lot of time in Michigan.

Missouri was hanging at the bottom of the previously cited poll that was posted here. Again – a HUGE difference when you compare Columbia, another university town, to St. Louis. The same descriptors used for Ann Arbor and Detroit could be used for these locations also.

We lived on the Northshore across Lake Ponchatrain from New Orleans for many years. We loved the Gulf Coast and lived in an area with very good schools. We enjoyed frequent visits to New Orleans but………as a place to raise a family……..not so good.

Personally, we like university towns the best.

You could go down the list of nearly every state and find stark differences in the various communities. In the end, it is the community that really matters. Nobody lives all over one state. They pick a community that suits their individual needs.

Any geographical location that matches your personal priority list is the best place to live.

It is definitely about personal preferences. I spent my first 30 years living around Columbia. My father still does. Although crime activity has picked up over the years, it is not the war zone my Dad makes it out to be. He needs a hobby as he watches the news too much. I much prefer "St. Louis" to Boone County. But if St. Louis means the downtown area, no not so much.


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[NW-Bound]

According to the poll quoted here, New Mexico is about average in terms of residents wanting to leave, while Arizona is worse than average.

Yet, in another poll also by Gallup and quoted recently in another thread, New Mexico residents did not have a high regard for their state, while AZ residents had a higher opinion for theirs.

See: http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f27/the-best-and-worst-states-to-live-in-71751.html.

Come on people! Make up your mind whether you like to stay or leave. Don't you hate it when people are so wishy-washy?

Or is it that some people are saying "my state stinks, but I like stinky?". Or "my state is good, but I want to leave anyway?".

Are these the same people who rate wine?

 

[ERD50]

According to the poll quoted here, New Mexico is about average in terms of residents wanting to leave, while Arizona is worse than average.

Yet, in another poll also by Gallup and quoted recently in another thread, New Mexico residents did not have a high regard for their state, while AZ residents had a higher opinion for theirs.


Come on people! Make up your mind whether you like to stay or leave. Don't you hate it when people are so wishy-washy?

Or is it some people are saying "my state stinks, but I like stinky?". Or "my state is good, but I want to leave anyway?".

That is not necessarily a conflict. There is a difference between someone being dissatisfied with something, and their motivation (or available choice) to do something about it.

There are a lot of things that can affect what you 'want'. For example, even if I thought IL sucked big time in every way (there are pros/cons for me), maybe I want to stay near family? So in that case, do I 'want' to leave? I guess you could answer it either way. But I say, if I'm not actually searching home listings in another state, taking action, then I don't really 'want' to leave. Or I would.

There is also 'the devil you know' issue. Maybe people from different areas weigh this differently? It's an issue for me - would I really be happier somewhere else, or am I trading one set of circumstance for another? I'm cynical by nature, so I am always on watch for 'the grass is greener' syndrome.

But I am truly concerned that IL will not be a good place for a long-term retirement, due to the fiscal issues. I'm also afraid that if I wait too long to decide, it may be too late. Though I guess my home NW isn't that huge of a % of total NW, so maybe delaying a move isn't that big a deal.

-ERD50

 

[KiraC]

I would take IL over IN any day. IN established 1816, not much as changed since then.

 

[Midpack]

I would take IL over IN any day. IN established 1816, not much as changed since then.

You mean Chicago? Ever visited southern Illinois, or most any part away from Chicago or Springfield?

Big cities and many coastal cities aside, I can't tell much difference in small town/rural IN, IL or most any midwestern state. Having visited many of them, they seem almost interchangeable to me. YMMV

 

[KiraC]

Lived both north and south in IL. Chicago's cool, but prefer the rolling hills of the south.

IN government recently has shown how discriminatory and backwards they are in a 2014 society which makes it a factor in considering moving to a different state. (no I did not vote for those government people that are backwards)

 

[Ronstar]

....

But I am truly concerned that IL will not be a good place for a long-term retirement, due to the fiscal issues. I'm also afraid that if I wait too long to decide, it may be too late. Though I guess my home NW isn't that huge of a % of total NW, so maybe delaying a move isn't that big a deal.

-ERD50

+1, but the way I look at it is that I'll be downsizing, so the lesser $ I make in the sale of my house because of it being in Illinois will be offset by the lesser that I'll have to pay for a smaller house elsewhere

 

[Andre1969]

I think some of those "Best and Worst States" to live in, retire in, etc polls might use the whole aggregate of the state, while others simply use data from the capital cities, and that's one reason why results can vary.

Looks like my home state of Maryland ranks high on that list too, #3 at 49% of the people. Personally, I don't have a problem with the state. I'm not crazy about certain parts of the state, mainly the areas that are more crowded, corrupt, or crime-ridden. But, you get that anywhere.

Now, in the next 5-6 years I would like to leave the county I'm in, and maybe move about 20-30 miles out from where I'm at, to a place where you can get more land and seclusion, and lower property taxes, but still not be *too* far from everything. But I'm happy, for the most part, with the state. I have found that as I get older, I do get less tolerant of winters though. Maryland's winters usually aren't that bad, though.

 

[Midpack]

Lived both north and south in IL. Chicago's cool, but prefer the rolling hills of the south.

IN government recently has shown how discriminatory and backwards they are in a 2014 society which makes it a factor in considering moving to a different state. (no I did not vote for those government people that are backwards)

Got it, the governments of IL and IN do have their differences. Didn't realize that's what you were getting at. I'd contend that geographically and culturally, you could drop most small towns in MI, WI, IL, OH, IN, PA, MO in any other of those states, and no one would notice. I had a lot of customers in those states, surprisingly alike, though most residents wouldn't have known.

OTOH, Chicago seems unlike any other Midwestern city IME. Not surprising given it's size. More progressive and more expensive, with outsized issues as well. Truly wonderful place to visit IMO. And Chicago is unlike most of the rest of IL as well...

 

[Mulligan]

Got it, the governments of IL and IN do have their differences. Didn't realize that's what you were getting at. I'd contend that geographically and culturally, you could drop most small towns in MI, WI, IL, OH, IN, PA, MO in any other of those states, and no one would notice. I had a lot of customers in those states, surprisingly alike, though most residents wouldn't have known.

I would agree....And as unofficial spokesman for MO., I don't think we would have any concerns annexing Southern Illinois.


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[Jack_Pine]

Will be leaving Il on retirement.

Will split time between FL and WI with residency in FL. Park systems, taxes states 2nd amendment stance are important amoung other things.