The Patriot Post® · To Move, or Not to Move?

For years now, conservative Californians have left the state in droves to escape the radical social and economic policies of Governor Gavin Newsom and his fellow Democrats in the state legislature. Likewise, with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani promising socialism for the Big Apple, residents are considering moving out of New York to find a place where they can afford to make a living. Across the country, Americans are voting with their feet to avoid politicians who no longer represent their core values or care about their economic well-being.

However, it’s not only conservatives who are packing up U-Hauls and heading into the heartland in search of the American Dream. Democrats in Republican states are putting up “For Sale” signs and moving to places where they can congregate with neighbors who share their worldview.

All in all, though, it’s conservative-leaning residents who think their quality of life in Democrat strongholds is bad enough to break ties with communities where, sometimes, they and their families have lived for generations.

In fact, The New York Times found that nine million more people moved from blue to red states over the past 20 years than the other way around. As Times columnist David Brooks elaborates, “Between 2010 and 2020, the fastest-growing states were mostly red — places like Texas, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, and South Carolina. During the pandemic, that trend accelerated, and once again, most of the big population-gaining states are governed by Republicans. If you go back farther, you see decade after decade of migration toward the more conservative South.”

But they’re not moving in search of warmer weather or simply because they don’t like having a Democrat governor. It has to do with affordability.

A few years back, the American Enterprise Institute analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau and sought to answer this question: “Are there any significant differences between the top ten inbound and top ten outbound states when they are compared on a variety of measures of political party control, business climate, business and individual taxes, fiscal health, electricity and housing costs, economic performance and outlook, and labor market dynamism?” AEI concluded, “The evidence suggests that Americans are moving from blue states that are more economically stagnant, fiscally unhealthy states with higher tax burdens and unfriendly business climates with higher energy and housing costs and fewer economic and job opportunities, to fiscally sound red states that are more economically vibrant, dynamic and business-friendly, with lower tax and regulatory burdens, lower energy, and housing costs and more economic and job opportunities.”

The decision to move to another state with a friendlier political environment is certainly understandable. Still, economic conditions shouldn’t be so different from state to state to cause people to take their kids out of schools or break important bonds with neighbors, churches, and workplaces. To move from one town to another is one thing, but there’s clearly a segment of society that feels the American Dream isn’t possible where they live.

It’s not all about identity with a political party or movement. Axios reports, “Politics isn’t the main reason people consider moving to another state. The biggest drivers are more likely to be economic reasons, like cost of living and jobs, or personal or family reasons, the poll found.” This may be true, but political ideology has a direct impact on these issues. A person moving from a blue to a red state might not be thinking of politics in the moment, but it’s the decisions of elected officials who’ve created the conditions they are fleeing.

More broadly, it’s not good for the country to have citizens uprooting at such high levels. It takes time, sacrifice, and compromise to build strong communities made up of people with different viewpoints who also share cultural ties and interests that transcend the politics of the day. Simply walking away neglects a vital commitment to civic responsibility and destabilizes communities.

Adam Johnston writes at The Federalist, “For millions of Americans priced out of the towns and cities where their families remain, ‘just move’ isn’t a serious solution but rather a callous dismissal of the deep, conservative, human need to build families, maintain community, and preserve continuity across generations. That human instinct is precisely why socialists like Zohran Mamdani are resonating with a larger swath of Americans: They at least acknowledge that people are not fungible cogs in an economic machine.” Johnston adds, “The founders saw liberty as ordered freedom, a freedom that is tied to moral responsibility, balanced by duties to others and the community. In short, they believed in promoting the common good. This vision rejects the libertarian model of economics entirely. We are not atomized individuals but members of a political community with obligations to one another.”

It’s good news that Republican states are creating favorable economic conditions for those seeking a better life, but all states should provide the same opportunities. Political analysts might enjoy the concept of red and blue states, but America cannot survive if we’re so divided along political lines that we can’t live next to one another.