I get that "voting with your feet" is complicated because there's a complex web of social and economic factors factoring into a decision to relocate, and red states have managed to successfully paint themselves as attractive places to live due to the cheap costs of housing and low taxes (successfully obscuring that this comes at the expense of amenities and social services), but how can this be sustainable? Why would someone move to a place that is literally putting out the unwelcome mat? Why does Idaho have one of the highest population growth rates in the country?

[–] InevitableSwing@hexbear.net 9 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Why does Idaho have one of the highest population growth rates in the country?

Without googling - my wild guess is the biggest thing is that the cost of living - probably rent in particular - is lower than the national average. Also - politics play into it but how much I don't know.

American Redoubt

The American Redoubt is a political migration movement first proposed in 2011 by survivalist novelist and blogger James Wesley Rawles which designates Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming along with eastern parts of Oregon and Washington, as a safe haven for conservative Christians. Rawles chose this area due to its low population density and lack of natural hazards.

I've had the following bookmark for at least a year. My plan was to read it later.

Living With The Far-Right Insurgency In Idaho

A radical GOP faction, in open alliance with extremists, is seizing power and targeting its opponents with cruelty. Some wonder: Is it time to leave?

May 17, 2022

[–] mrfugu@hexbear.net 11 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Just to add on to this because this is a good response: the chart is showing it as a % change and Idaho is ranked 37th in population with 2 million. The #1 spot is California with around 40 million so for Idaho to see an increase of 1.5%, only 0.075% of Californians would need to move there.

Anecdotally, I know of cases of Californians moving to most of the states nearby, except the PNW. I don’t think it’s crazy to see that bump in Idaho as a result of the chuds and petite bourgeois exodus from the west coast neo lib regime.

[–] InevitableSwing@hexbear.net 7 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I think a big problem is if politics is involved polling can be questionable. I bet a lot of right-wing people lie to pollsters. So they if they say they moved to Idaho for "the climate" or the "lower cost of living" - that might be a white lie or a bigger lie. The MSM is addicted to polling because it generates ez clicks (and pageviews) plus polling is fast, easy, and cheap. The MSM tends not to have local reporter investigative journalism because that's far slower, far harder, and more complex.

[–] BodyBySisyphus@hexbear.net 10 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Really cool how we can have soft right-wing coups in random parts of the country and nothing happens.

[–] MayoPete@hexbear.net 6 points 2 days ago (1 children)

We're a right-wing country. This place is infested with fascists. sigh

[–] BodyBySisyphus@hexbear.net 6 points 2 days ago

To borrow from an old t-shirt slogan, a fascist country with a democracy problem

[–] DragonBallZinn@hexbear.net 5 points 2 days ago

Something something no panic when all according to plan.

Fascists running most of the country? No one bats an eye. But one mayor in a city just thinks working class people are getting ripped off? Well then everyone loses their minds.

[–] graymess@hexbear.net 7 points 2 days ago

Yeah, it's literally just about money. "Can I afford it?" means it's not even really about choosing where to live. It's just a last resort to avoid homelessness.