New York Sun - December 27, 2007
Census Shows Many Leaving
New York
By Tatyana Gershkovich
ore
people are leaving New York than any other state, new population estimates
from the U.S. Census show, making it one of America's most stagnant
populations.
Experts blame the exodus — nearly 1.5 million people have moved out of
New York since April 2000 — on high property taxes and fewer jobs, among
other factors.
"Basically what you have is a high-cost state that isn't producing a lot
of jobs," a senior fellow at the Center for an Urban Future, Joel Kotkin,
said.
A middle-class population, which Mr. Kotkin said includes skilled
blue-collar workers and families making $120,000 a year, is leaving the
state because of a combination of high taxes and fewer available jobs, he
said.
The Census study said New York's population grew by about 1.7% between
2000 and 2007, and now stands at about 19.3 million people. The population
has grown slightly, according to the data, because birth rates are higher
than death rates and foreign immigrants continue to pour into New York City.
The study suggests, however, that many people who move within America are
choosing to leave New York.
A senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, Steven Malanga, attributed
some of the outward migration to a diminished economy in upstate New York
and to companies relocating their headquarters to places with lower property
taxes. "There's no single explanation, but the patterns are very clear," he
said. "People are following jobs."
The number of people leaving the state peaked in 2005, with a net
population loss of 250,000, according to a demographer with the Census
Bureau's population division, Gregory Harper. Population loss due to
migration has decreased slightly in the last two years.
The Census Bureau now ranks New York the eighth-slowest-growing state,
behind Massachusetts, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Rhode Island, West
Virginia, North Dakota, and Louisiana. Although no new data are available
for New York City, researchers say the city has fared better than the state
because foreign immigrants are replenishing its population. This year, for
the fourth year in a row, the city has successfully challenged the federal
Census Bureau's annual population estimates, raising its official population
count by more than 36,100, to more than 8.25 million people.
Experts warn, however, that the city and the state may be losing a
generation of young professionals who are balking at the high cost of living
in New York.
"It's not the best scenario for a sustainable society when you are losing
the bulwark of your society," Mr. Kotkin said.
America's fastest-growing states, according to the recent census data,
are Arizona, Nevada, and Utah.
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