Urban Migration

[bigedole]

So this has been a topic that has been on my mind a good bit lately and I was hoping I could get people to weigh in. Urban Migration is the phenomena of populations migrating from rural/countryside areas to urban/metropolitan city areas. The effects of this have been profound, so I really want to focus this conversation on 2 specific questions:

1) Why is it happening and more importantly what are the implications? I've had trouble finding good discussions of this online. Most of the observations boil down to younger generations doing it out of necessity for good jobs and what little discussion there is about legislative approaches seems to indicate governments are in favor of this shift.

2) What is it about Rural vs Urban that seems to result in the former mostly being (American) Conservatives and the latter mostly being (American) Liberals? This carries some very obvious implications for politics, especially as there doesn't seem to be any reason to think the trend is going to even slow down, let alone change. What is it about the big metro areas in America that basically all of them are Democrat havens?

 

[Torrent of Pork]

As somebody who has driven a semi in LA, NYC, various New Jersey cities, etc. I can't think of a more accurate vision of hell than living in some massive concrete jungle with millions of other assholes I want nothing to do with. I live in a town of about 16,000 people, and even then it's about as much as I can take.

My paradise is a dozen or two acres of land with my nearest neighbors being at least 5 miles away.

 

[ssolitare]

A lot of people want different living standards than the ones that they grew up in.

They want to be around more people and things, and want to travel less for work.

Maybe in the next few generations the kids-kids will move back to the burbs supposing that public transportation in and to/from cities gets better.

Ideally burbs will get to 100-200k population 40 mins away from a major city and giving people a reason to stay there.

 

[Sqorin Hammerfarf]

It happens for a lot of reasons. Probably the biggest is talent tends to pool together, and where the talent is, the companies are - and where the companies are, the talent goes. That's why the game industry is largely situated on the West Coast. Now multiply that by pretty much every industry. Large metropolitan areas also have advantages in taxes, transportation, labor, influence, and stuff like that, while also having advantages in entertainment, education, accessibility, and whatever. Everything you could want or need, centrally located. You try to find a decent Thai restaurant in a village of 8,000 people. My sister moved to Atlanta not because of a job, but because they have museums (and now she apparently does improv, which I can't imagine even in my worst nightmares).

As for why rural people are more conservative, I think that's largely because they have to be more self sufficient in their day to day lives. You live two hours away from a police station, you can't rely on a 911 call to save your life. You're closest grocery store is a Dollar General, and how you prepare food changes. Ultimately, it leads to less reliance on government organizations and more reliance on neighbors, and I think this leads to a more conservative attitude, politically and socially. After all, even a minor change can make a huge difference in an environment where adapting is not trivial.

I also think large cities are more liberal because they have so much comfort - they can afford their viewpoints when others can not. And because these cities are so large and easy to organize in, then rarely have any actual ideological competition from others. They don't realize where that comfort comes from or what they've given up to get that comfort. All they know is that they are comfortable, and hey, if you cave men and NASCAR fans just followed our lead, you'd be comfortable too!

 

[Ke0]

A lot of people want different living standards than the ones that they grew up in.

They want to be around more people and things, and want to travel less for work.

Maybe in the next few generations the kids-kids will move back to the burbs supposing that public transportation in and to/from cities gets better.

Ideally burbs will get to 100-200k population 40 mins away from a major city and giving people a reason to stay there.

I mean at that point wouldn't that burb effectively be a city? So now they have to move out to the...sub-suburbs?

 

[ssolitare]

I mean at that point wouldn't that burb effectively be a city? So now they have to move out to the...sub-suburbs?

Yeah basically. But it's a nice middleground.