News: 0175483671

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Is Remote Working Causing an Exodus to the Exurbs? (apnews.com)

(Sunday November 17, 2024 @11:34AM (EditorDavid) from the left-a-good-job-in-the-city dept.)


Last year 30,000 people moved into central Florida's Polk County — more than to any other county in America. Its [1]largest city has just 112,641 people, living a full 35 miles east of the 3.1 million residents in the metropolitan area around Tampa.

But the Associated Press says something similar is happening all over the country: " [2]the rise of the far-flung exurbs ."

> Outlying communities on the outer margins of metro areas — some as far away as 60 miles (97 kilometers) from a city's center — had some of the fastest-growing populations last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Those communities are primarily in the South, like Anna, Texas on the outskirts of the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area; Fort Mill, South Carolina [just 18 miles from North Carolina city Charlotte]; Lebanon, Tennessee outside Nashville; and Polk County's Haines City... [C]ommuting to work can take up to an hour and a half one-way. But [Marisol] Ortega, who lives in Haines City about 40 miles (64 kilometers) from her job in Orlando, says it's worth it. "I love my job. I love what I do, but then I love coming back home, and it's more tranquil," Ortega said.

>

> The rapid growth of far-flung exurbs is an after-effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Census Bureau, as rising housing costs drove people further from cities and remote working allowed many to do their jobs from home at least part of the week... Recent hurricanes and citrus diseases in Florida also have made it more attractive for some Polk County growers to sell their citrus groves to developers who build new residences or stores...

>

> Anna, Texas, more than 45 miles (72 kilometers) north of downtown Dallas, is seeing the same kind of migration. It was the fourth-fastest growing city in the U.S. last year and its population has increased by a third during the 2020s to 27,500 residents. Like Polk County, Anna has gotten a little older, richer and more racially diverse.

The article points out that in Anna, Texas, "close to 3 in 5 households have moved into their homes since 2020, according to the Census Bureau."



[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakeland,_Florida

[2] https://apnews.com/article/census-exurbs-growth-moving-florida-texas-c98972d87c37faa9ceb89cfcfa07ce1d



Yes. Obviously. (Score:2)

by LindleyF ( 9395567 )

You can afford more home and more land further out, so why not?

Re: (Score:3)

by serviscope_minor ( 664417 )

There's fuck all around and you have to drive a lot to do anything or see anyone.

You might not mind that or not want to see anyone, but you asked why and plenty of people want to do things and see people and don't especially relish driving.

Re: (Score:2)

by Valgrus Thunderaxe ( 8769977 )

but you asked why and plenty of people want to do things and see people and don't especially relish driving.

Apparently you're wrong, because the article states these areas are the fastest growing areas in the country.

Re: Yes. Obviously. (Score:2)

by LindleyF ( 9395567 )

You can find places that balance space and stuff to do.

Re: (Score:2)

by Narrowband ( 2602733 )

Plus it's a question of what do you want to do. Not everyone wants to go clubbing in the city, a lot of people would rather balance the distance it takes me to get to shopping/groceries/etc.. and the distance it takes me to get to parks/hiking/dark sky stargazing, etc.

Re: Yes. Obviously. (Score:2)

by fluffernutter ( 1411889 )

I own two big dogs. Very difficult to find a lot but enough for them in the city.

Re: (Score:2)

by geekmux ( 1040042 )

> There's fuck all around and you have to drive a lot to do anything or see anyone.

> You might not mind that or not want to see anyone, but you asked why and plenty of people want to do things and see people and don't especially relish driving.

The people you claim don’t especially relish driving, are the same people who waste an entire workweek every month commuting to “things”. Including work.

Those who actually don’t relish driving, don’t fucking do it.

Re: (Score:2)

by quonset ( 4839537 )

> You can afford more home and more land further out, so why not?

Because it doesn't fit the narrative that people need to be caged like rats in cramped, overcrowded blocks of concrete, [1]such as this [boredpanda.com], with high temperatures because of lack of greenspace. The narrative doesn't foresee people wanting to walk out their back door onto grass or lay out under their trees, which helps to keep temperatures down, and not bump into their next door neighbors every time they open the door.

[1] https://www.boredpanda.com/big-blocks-of-flats-in-china/

Re: (Score:2)

by ArchieBunker ( 132337 )

Can you point on the doll where the narrative touched you?

Re: Yes. Obviously. (Score:2)

by i_ate_god ( 899684 )

The burbs are soulless and lonely and the peak of inefficiency.

Why would I want so much house that my precious spare time is wasted on maintaining it?

Re: Yes. Obviously. (Score:2)

by fluffernutter ( 1411889 )

And urban concrete jungles have soul?

Hove fun with those HOAs! (Score:4, Interesting)

by dmay34 ( 6770232 )

HOAs are great! You guys will love them! Imagine the worst most awful people on Nextdoor and now give them power to fine you and even repossess your home. You'll love it!

Now... Home prices in the awful inner scary cities with no HOAs to protect your home values should drop aaaaaaaaany day now....

Re: Hove fun with those HOAs! (Score:3)

by LindleyF ( 9395567 )

No, you have to go further out to find the No-HOA houses. Worth it, HOAs are trash.

Re: (Score:1)

by Valgrus Thunderaxe ( 8769977 )

Right, because they're so much worse than condo and apartment boards, lol.

Re: (Score:3)

by dmay34 ( 6770232 )

I mean, at least condo/apartment boards make some sense. You are actually sharing spaces. HOAs exist only to give Karen's power over their neighbors. ... and racism. Of course suburban HOAs literally exist as a way to legally continue racial segregation.

Re: (Score:2)

by dmay34 ( 6770232 )

Either way, if you aren't on your HOA's board (condo or suburban neighborhood) you are a fool.

Re: Hove fun with those HOAs! (Score:2)

by Ceseuron ( 944486 )

What are you nattering on about? There are plenty of houses in the suburbs being sold without the onerous requirement of a tyrannical HOA. The last two homes I have purchased are literally 10 minutes out of town and have no HOA. I refuse to consider any property that has an HOA.

Sure thereâ(TM)s an HOA in those developments where every third house is the same and theyâ(TM)re all built like shit by the lowest bidder. But that is not the only option out there.

Re: (Score:2)

by Registered Coward v2 ( 447531 )

> Especially with the latest Tik-Tok craze of trying to kick down people's doors for views.

Must be a localized thing. In a lot of places in the US, you do that and the last thing on the video would be the bullets about to pierce your chest.

Re: (Score:2)

by ArchieBunker ( 132337 )

Well that’s a bit sexist. Are there no dangerous women too?

exodus (Score:2)

by gary s ( 5206985 )

Hmm, Lets see, Get out of town, away from the crowds of urban areas. Get away from housing developments that are just twisty tiny passages with houses all alike. Often run by Nazi inspired HOAs. Now move out, land, home that dont come out of cookie cutter. Neighbors that care or will leave you alone if thats what you want. A slower pace, more the likey a larger home for the same price. Hmm. Why would be move out of the city?

Re: exodus (Score:2)

by fluffernutter ( 1411889 )

I suspect a lot of it is precisely neighbors that leave you alone. If you live close to people you have to somewhat do what they want you to do. If you have big dogs they will get scared and it won't be hard for them to force you to muzzle. If you want to take up blacksmithing, people will have the police on your doorstep because of the noise, etc etc. Out of the city you can do what you want to do.

Reverse exodus already happening (Score:2)

by BeepBoopBeep ( 7930446 )

Back to office suckers. Look at DFW area exurbs, they all free fall now, built too much, and demand is reversing.

Great (Score:2)

by cowdung ( 702933 )

Great! Let's bring new life to small town USA.

We've got choices, and that's good (Score:3)

by Balthisar ( 649688 )

So not everyone wants to live in high density urban areas? People value different things? And they're able to act on their values? Good.

Like an expensive sports car, fine-tuned and well-built, Portia was sleek,
shapely, and gorgeous, her red jumpsuit moulding her body, which was as warm
as seatcovers in July, her hair as dark as new tires, her eyes flashing like
bright hubcaps, and her lips as dewy as the beads of fresh rain on the hood;
she was a woman driven -- fueled by a single accelerant -- and she needed a
man, a man who wouldn't shift from his views, a man to steer her along the
right road: a man like Alf Romeo.
-- Rachel Sheeley, winner

The hair ball blocking the drain of the shower reminded Laura she would never
see her little dog Pritzi again.
-- Claudia Fields, runner-up

It could have been an organically based disturbance of the brain -- perhaps a
tumor or a metabolic deficiency -- but after a thorough neurological exam it
was determined that Byron was simply a jerk.
-- Jeff Jahnke, runner-up

Winners in the 7th Annual Bulwer-Lytton Bad Writing Contest. The contest is
named after the author of the immortal lines: "It was a dark and stormy
night." The object of the contest is to write the opening sentence of the
worst possible novel.