West Coast residents have been fleeing big cities for years, and the coronavirus pandemic has only accelerated that trend.
In most parts of the United States, people moved less than they normally would due to shelter-in-place orders and coronavirus restrictions. But big cities such as San Francisco and Los Angeles still experienced a bit of an outmigration, especially as restrictions were loosened and city dwellers realized that living in an urban center during a global pandemic is not ideal. Home sales hit a historic record increase in July, and moving companies reported a surge in interest in June.
Many of the families leaving big cities said they were moving because they could no longer afford city housing due to coronavirus-related income loss, according to a survey conducted by moving company Hire A Helper. About 33% said they were moving to be closer to friends and family during the pandemic, and 24% said they no longer felt safe in the city. Simply put, the coronavirus put things into perspective. As San Francisco resident Michelle Lai told the San Francisco Chronicle, “All of the things that we love about the city are just gone right now.”
Not everyone is fleeing the cities for good, though. A good number of those who moved during the pandemic simply relocated to a different urban center, according to a report by Bloomberg City Lab. For example, many of the West Coast families looking for an out moved to one of Texas’s big cities. Indeed, the number of Californians fleeing the state during the pandemic surged during the summer months, according to Marie Bailey, an Orange County native who moved to Dallas a little more than three years ago and now runs a business helping Californians move to Texas.
All of this points to a regional shift taking place over in the Western part of the country. Looks like the coronavirus pandemic finally gave hesitant urban dwellers the reason they needed to make the move.
