Two weeks ago, the US Census Bureau released data on where Americans are moving from and moving to. The states with the biggest moves are people leaving California (one million) and New York (half a million). Most Californians went to Texas, Arizona, Florida, and Washington State. Most New Yorkers went to Florida, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
There was another group of people, about 50K, who left Florida for Georgia. Census officials suggest it was because they were fleeing the rising cost of living in Florida. The cost of living rise in Florida comes in no small part from the Californians and New Yorkers moving in and pushing up prices.
There’s some data on which US cities are the least and most expensive in case you’re thinking about a move yourself. It compared the cost of living in each. The top three cheapest cities include 1) McAllen, Texas; 2) Augusta, Georgia, and 3) Amarillo, Texas.
If you’re just looking for cheap grocery bills, your best moves are to 1) Pierre, South Dakota, 2) Houma, Louisiana 3) Thibodaux, Louisiana (the cities in Louisiana are west of New Orleans).
There’s one place you should definitely not move to, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Three years ago, the George Floyd riots in that city destroyed hundreds of buildings and businesses. There was over $500M in damages. An after-riot report found the Mayor, Democrat Jacob Frey, and the city officials profoundly failed in their duties to protect the people and facilities of their town. It is three years later. The city is still struggling to rebuild and rehab itself and its image.
Two weeks ago, the Minneapolis City Council and Mayor Frey agreed to spend $14M to build a new police station. It replaces the one that they wouldn’t protect. BLM and Democrat rioters burnt it down. You would think the new police station would be good news.
But here’s the bad news. This week, the city council rejected a plan to hire the police necessary to fill that building. Minneapolis has about 500 police officers right now, down 40% since the BLM riots.
Sure, the police chief is disappointed. He and others are asking local citizens to get involved. They better hurry. Minneapolis is in the middle of a crime wave. Murders, shootings, and carjackings are all dramatically up since the BLM riots.
There’s a lot of power locally if we get involved. Life can get a lot better. But involvement is required. If Minneapolis were serious about righting its ship, it would not be replacing a building and not restaffing its police force.
An empty building will not stop their crime problem. The city’s leadership will claim victory. They will say they spent money on the problem. They will let their citizens assume dollars spent equate to problems solved. But it just ain’t so. It just does not work that way. You need police on the street to reduce crime. Just think about it.