When it comes to population density New Jersey is first!…among states that is. The District of Columbia actually has more residents per square mile and Puerto Rico is a close second, but they don’t count because when it comes to states, we’re still the most crowded! ..at least for now…
However, according to the moving company United Van Lines which released its 36th annual study of customer migration patterns, New Jersey and You are apparently no longer perfect together.
These patterns, analyzing a total of 125,000 moves across the 48 continental states in 2012 show that New Jersey has the highest ratio of people moving out compared to those moving in. Of the 6,300 total moves tracked in the state last year, 62% were outbound. Ouch!
Apparently New Jersey has been suffering from deindustrialization for some time now and even though it’s starting to smell better it’s still tied to New York, and its high housing costs which may also be pushing people out.
And sadly, just when we had finally figured out how to keep New York’s garbage from washing onto our beaches, it’s now washing off of our beaches!… in the form of our houses, cars, boardwalks and amusement park rides…thanks to global warming (Yes, it is real) helping to bring those mega-storms up the coast on what’s becoming a yearly basis.
And with new and more strictly drawn FEMA flood zone maps being approved along with requirements to rebuild “off the ground” or above the flood plain, insurance costs are sky rocketing, not to mention the costs of rebuilding. . .and what was once our greatest asset is fast becoming our greatest liability…It will be interesting to see just how many of the homes destroyed during hurricane Sandy will actually be rebuilt.
Of course we still have “Snookie” and her friends around somewhere to help draw people back in although most of us New Jersians don’t see them as an asset, and even though I think we still lead the world in pizza, bagels and wise guys, if the trend continues perhaps someday soon the old Jersey joke, “Hey what exit?” will no longer refer to where we Jersy-ites live along our parkways and turnpikes but rather by which egress we are leaving.
But maybe the numbers are wrong and my beloved New Jersey will not have to relinquish its claim to fame as the most densely populated state …maybe we New Jerseyers aren’t really leaving. We’re just being nudged, jostled and pushed out because it’s so crowded. Hey, could be… I bet if you look around you can even find some of us who have spilled into your state.
Here in New Jersey, that’s called looking on the bright side…or a vacation.