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Homeowners Flee Cities For Lower Prices

Cities See Increase In Richer Residents

By Martin H. Bosworth
ConsumerAffairs.com

April 24, 2006
Never mind rising gas prices. Homeowners and families are moving from cities to outer suburbs in greater numbers, seeking lower housing costs, safer areas to raise children and new job markets, according to a new report by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The report tracked migration patterns in the U.S. from 2000 to 2004.

During the period studied, virtually every major coastal and metropolitan area experienced "outmigration," or movement from the area to another area.

The explosive growth in outer-suburban residency has contributed to record levels of commuting between home and work, according to another Census Bureau report.

About 2.8 million Americans have "extreme commutes" of 90 minutes or longer between their homes and jobs, according to the Bureau.

With gas prices apparently headed for new heights, the longer commutes coupled with big mortgages on new tract homes could put many of the newly-arrived suburbanites in a financial bind.

Some States See Losses Slowing

Migration rates differed according to region, and many states lost fewer residents than they did in the 1990's.

Riverside, California, was the fastest-growing destination for new residents in the U.S., with a net "inmigration" growth of 81,000 new residents from 2000 to 2004.

The "Inland Empire" was touted as an attractive destination for Southern California residents due to lower home prices. Although median home prices for Riverside were expensive at $379,000, they still beat the median Los Angeles home price of $529,000.

Leaving the Bay Behind

The San Francisco Bay Area had the largest amount of net outmigration in the 2000-2004 period, with a loss of about 60,000 residents. The Bay Area's housing prices are generally considered to be the highest in the nation.

Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia recorded lower levels of outmigration than comparable periods in the 1990's, with high rates of new arrivals in counties and areas immediately surrounding the city centers.

Richard Florida, a public policy professor at George Mason University, said that "smaller, wealthier" families with higher income were pushing prices up for city homes, driving middle class residents further and further out in search of affordable living.

Fewer But Richer

Meanwhile, a study conducted by researchers at West Virginia University found that even as populations of large cities continue to shrink, the net incomes of the remaining residents are rising.

Planning professors William Lucy and David Phillips told USA Today that the shift was due to young professionals, retirees, and "empty nesters" with higher disposable income moving in, even as families and middle-class workers move out.

The study of 22 cities from 2000 to 2004 found that seven locations experienced jumps in per capita income as compared to their nearest suburbs.

The cities included Cleveland, OH, Pittsburgh, PA, and Buffalo, NY, all long thought of as "industrial" cities in a state of perennial decline.

Ironically, Lucy cited increases in suburban housing prices, commuting times, and rising gas prices as reasons to move back to urban centers.

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