next_migration | Go Northeast, young man!

Although I haven’t finished posting discussion of America’s cultural divisions and the possible implications for the breakup of the Union, I want to get more into the nitty-gritty of which areas are good destinations and why. This post is introductory material for my chapter proposing some suitable destinations in the Northeast. The introductory comments on the Southeast, aimed at potential migrants with allegiance to the Red faction, will follow in a separate post. Then, I’ll return to posting comments on individual states one at a time, alphabetically from each section unless someone asks me to bump something up.

To recap, climate migrants who prioritize future secular, democratic government over mild winter weather should focus on non-megalopolitan parts of the Northeastern U.S. I do not discuss or recommend the smaller coastal states with large urban populations, including New Jersey, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware, and Maryland. These states already represent by far the most densely populated region of the U.S., have little room to absorb newcomers and little farmland relative to their population, and are, therefore, often very expensive. New York is larger, and has plenty of counties outside the megalopolis that have been losing population. However, because of the state’s high-to-excessive overall population, it might be best for most out-of-staters to leave those areas free for escaping NYC residents to move into.

New England states that remain mostly rural are sparsely populated because they have harsh environments and poor soil, and some are quite small. They cannot readily absorb hundreds of thousands more people apiece or feed them sustainably in future. I will admit that the state of Vermont is actively trying to encourage migration because its population has been declining, despite the fact that it is already overpopulated for long-term sustainability. New Hampshire is about as big as Vermont but has twice the population, and should certainly be avoided. Maine has low population density and is large enough to take a few migrants, but high costs of living indicate that there’s not as much room for expansion as you would think from looking at a map. If New England is truly your dream home you can move there, but there isn’t room for half a million others to do the same.

The states that will most likely be part of the future Northeast, should the Union break up, and that seem to have the most room for new residents are Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, probably Pennsylvania, and possibly Iowa. Notwithstanding the current minority-rule situation in three of these, and the real possibility that their legislatures will facilitate a fascist coup in the near term, they have historically shared cultures that believed in democracy, and all have large amounts of farmland. They have a great deal to recommend them. They are all cold and dark in winter. However, as the residents of western towns now burning to the ground could tell you, there are worse things than heavy snowfall. Maybe you could just buy a warm coat and snowboots and take vitamin D.

Ohio, Virginia, and North Carolina could be questionable choices not because of their large populations, since Ohio is relatively sustainable, but because of their iffy political situations. If pre-Internet culture, economy, and geography were considered, Ohio and even Indiana ought to be part of the Northeastern bloc, and Virginia and North Carolina Southeastern, but in today’s world, I wouldn’t be too confident of any of those. I treat Ohio as a Northeastern state with significant caveats, and the other three later in brief.

I will offer some suggestions for some communities and regions of potential interest in each of the most suitable Northeastern destination states based on the assumption that you want to follow my advice to avoid the biggest cities and remote rural areas. These suggestions are subjective and individual. Some people have good reasons to feel safest in a big city. Contrarily, if much of your family lives in a rural region I’ve written off as having little potential, it would have much more potential for you, as long as your family doesn’t hate you. I wish to make it clear that I’m not saying these are the only places in each state worth living in. There are some very nice-looking communities that I didn’t list because they were so expensive, but if you happen to be a brain surgeon, that won’t bother you. There are others, perhaps now economically stagnant and not very pleasant or friendly, that might be revitalized over time by the spread of climate migrants into a greater variety of smaller towns, bringing new blood and money. Diversity of choice is good. These are starting points that some people may find useful; after the first migrants learn about their new home town and the surrounding region, they will be able to help their friends and relatives to make good choices within that region.

Almost all medium-sized cities (at least 40,000 to 50,000 people) in the Northeast have some public transit and a variety of cultural institutions, including performing arts (usually at least a theater and orchestra), small museums, parks, public festivals, and usually at least one or two minor league or semi-pro sports teams. Therefore, if you are a lifelong big-city resident you should know that you can move to a much smaller place with confidence that you can find many, many things to do with your spare time. To save space, I have not listed all of the available cultural amenities for every city; their absence would be more noteworthy.

On the other hand, small cities (or large towns) of 20,000 or so usually lack public transit and the sort of cultural institutions that require many participants and significant funding. When small towns have amenities in excess of what their size would lead one to expect, I remark upon the fact. If a town has a noted unusual feature, even if it’s something that most people wouldn’t care about (e.g., a stained glass industry, a drum and bugle corps), I mention that for the sake of the few people out there for whom that might be so interesting as to be a determining factor. I like to mention one or two prominent local events or popular activities for smaller towns, not because such things are important enough that they should cause migrants to prefer those towns over others, but because it might help you to picture your possible life as a small-town resident: not just toiling away at some grim job as a displaced person, but as a citizen out having fun with your neighbors.

Comments on promising regions of Northeastern states will be presented in alphabetical order by state.