Blacks leave the cities, move South

This AP story makes the return migration of black to the South seem like the cause of racial inequality. Obviously it's not. When people want to improve their living standards badly enough, they migrate. The middle class is moving out of northern cities and returning South where they find a more congenial atmosphere. This is progress, as migration always is. At some time in the future other groups may find a way to do the same thing by migrating somewhere.

This discussion reminds me of the dilemma of the half-empty glass. 

Benevolent migration

Ann Althouse has a post about a NYT story on the "reverse" migration of blacks from New York City back to the South. This is "news" for the Times, but it's been going on for years. Why? The South is more benevolent. The stereotypes are all wrong. Plus NYC's high taxes and high crime.

An old John Grisham book, The Last Juror, has a story line about a black family whose members are very successful and make a point of coming back home to Mississippi. They are of course not migrants.

Where Americans are moving

Forbes: Where Americans are moving. This shows a terrific interactive map by county. Based on IRS data for 2008, not census data. See, for example, this map.

Tax Prof: Recent migration trends using IRS data show that people move from blue states to red states, from high tax states to low tax states.

Earlier people headed to California and Michigan looking for jobs. Now they are going the other way.