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Source
Actually, that story is from the Associated Press.
Fixed
Thanks.
Who said
headline writing is a lost art?
What is this, woouniversalhub
What is this, woouniversalhub?
Wooniversal Hub!
Wooniversal Hub!
I imagine some white people won’t like this
And I don’t mean in a racist way for the record. Just that some people fear a changing America. Also the lack of growth among the black population is no surprise. ‘Black flight’ or whatever the catchy term is, is a very real thing. Mass becoming older also isn’t a good sign. This state has a real problem holding on to its most dynamic youth.
This state won't hold on to its youth
Because it has given total control over the production of housing to NIMBYs. Without adequate production of new housing units, young people at the start of their careers will find housing in Massachusetts unaffordable and leave. Unlike Silicon Valley, living in your car or an RV isn't really viable in winter here.
Maybe the data doesn't support this...
...but I think a lot of older young people (late 20s, early 30s) who are ready to start a family have also grown-up in single family houses and aren't ready to start/raise families in apartment blocks. And single family (or even duplex) property is insane so those are the folks who might bail for places like Charlotte, Atlanta, etc...
Annecdotal
I relocated away from Boston for a job and I was thrown for a loop by the number of 30-year-olds with kids in the Midwest vs what I was used to in Boston. There's a cultural component I'm sure, but the bar of entry to do the family thing is much much lower elsewhere. Anyone not super wealthy wanting that kind of life is going to struggle a lot harder in Boston.
They will be back
Well, maybe not them, but their children.
New England is one of the best prepared places and one of the better places overall when it comes to the impacts of climate change. Sure, sea levels are rising and it is getting hotter and wetter, but we are adapting rather quickly compared to many places in the US where wildfires and storms are making things uninsurable - if not downright unliveable. https://www.policygenius.com/homeowners-insurance/best-and-worst-states-...
What is most insidious about
What is most insidious about this though is many of these people do not notice the decline in local young people until it is too late. Partially because we always seem to be awash in young people because of all the colleges but those are not local kids who will stick around and raise families. Yet at the same time they absorb housing that would otherwise house families.
Racism doesn't have to be slurs and lynching
Fearing that more people of color changes America for the worse is a racist belief.
You said worse, not me
I said some people fear change. That’s a general statement. Yes, some people will hate it because of the ‘browning’ of America. But I don’t think it’s fair to say they all would be racist. You can be white, and think of America as a white country, and not be racist. Obviously as a black man I don’t share that same view but it is what it is.
Immigration will bring us more and better restaurants
no matter what else it does. I welcome it.
Are you saying there has been
Are you saying there has been no immigration to the Boston area?
No, I'm saying that immigration has been good for Boston
There is nothing new under the sun
I wish I could track this down, but a while back I was perusing some report written after the 1850 federal census noting the process of "replacement" in Boston, that being the rise of the Irish population in the city and how native born were becoming less and less. In so many ways, things change, but they also stay pretty much the same.
This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone
I noticed that the 2000 census findings meant that schools would be a lot more diverse than the general population. It was clear then that a white majority would not be a thing for much longer if you looked at the under-18 population.
Very strong growth in cities north of Boston
How come no one mentions that Boston has now dropped to being only the 5th most dense local city, with Everett's 18% growth over the decade putting it with Somerville, Cambridge, and Chelsea as more dense than Boston itself?