Massachusetts Only State With Shrinking Population

[Placebo]

Massachusetts was the only state in the nation to lose residents in 2004, U.S. Census data shows.

The state lost an estimated 3,852 people, or about 1.1 percent, in the last year, despite continuing growth in immigration to the Bay State, the Boston Sunday Globe reported.

Paul E. Harrington, an economist at Northeastern University's Center for Labor Market Studies, attributed the fall to a stagnant job market. He said the decline could be an ominous sign for the state.

"Population loss is a pretty fundamental number," he said.

More...

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041226/ap_on_re_us/shrinking_massachusetts

[Liberal Veteran]

1. It them queers!!!! See....everyone went gay and stopped reproducing!

You just know it's a matter of time before some rightwing hatemonger starts saying that.

[Placebo]

2. Oh, that talking point has been ready for...

deployment for some time, I'm sure.

[mom cat]

6. Congradulation to MA> The world needs fewer people, and we are

leading the way!

[ObamaFan2500]

39. you shouldn't say that

some of them are going to of course, but there is no reason, for you to say that... it is just asking for it... i try to be spectful with frinds whom i disagree with about this issue. one friend is gay, the other is a red state person with real thoughts that gays is burn in hell.. but i got them together, and now they repsect each toehr.

[Career Prole]

3. It's strange the reporter didn't mention how many work in MA but live

in NH. I know back when I was working in northern Massachusetts quite a few of my co-workers lived in New Hampshire for tax reasons, and the condos where I rented in Merrimack, NH were chock-full of people who worked in MA. My neighbor and several others were actually commuting to Boston every day.
Salem, NH probably has a sizeable proportion of MA commuters as well.

[intheflow]

11. Not only NH, but VT, NY, CT, RI.

I lived in MA most my life but often commuted to CT. The pay was better, but I couldn't bear to live in Lieberman's state! :)

But the states and cities are so close to each other, you might as well live and work in different states.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

14. You drive 30 minutes North of Boston and you're in NH

45 minutes South, you're in Providence, and an hour SW and you're in CT.

You're right-the populous areas of New England are very close to one another, and the jobs tend to be in those areas. It is very easy to get around here, except for the incessant traffic.

[Cobalt Violet]

4. It's the high cost of housing.

It's so expensive here.

[joeunderdog]

17. I pay $1500 for a 2 br. and I'm 1/2 hr away from Boston.

Rents are coming down a bit, but they're still obnoxious. There are new developments everywhere, and it's starting to look like they might have overbuilt a bit. Hope the supply/demand thing corrects the market here.

[Career Prole]

5. Ah...here's a good article on the "cross-pollination" 'twixt MA and NH!

http://www.eagletribune.com/news/stories/20041024/FP_001.htm

New Hampshire was just losing residents before, but now they're losing workers to New Hampshire too.

[gristy]

7. Stupid is as stupid does

3,852 out of 6,349,097 (www.census.gov/census2000/states/ma.html) is 0.06%. Not 1.1%. What a yahoo!

[tk2kewl]

9. what's an order of magnitude or two between friends?

:shrug:

[suston96]

8. But, gee whiz - lookee here

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news/package.jsp?name=fte/smartstates/smartstates

Massachusetts ranks Number One as the smartest state.

Maybe cuz they got rid of the dummies?

[ckramer]

10. Time for Boston to put back rent control

If the city government doesn't keep these greedy landlords at bay, eventually the whole city will be brought down by them.

Another utter failure of democratic party in Boston.

Betrayal of poor.

Shame.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

12. The economy has been bad here

a lot of high tech and finance jobs have gone away, and a lot of people have had to relocate. Our Republican governor-a former businessman-said he would run Mass. like a business and create jobs. So far, we've had no job growth.

The housing prices here are outrageous-2nd or 3rd most expensive in the nation, depending on where you go for statistics. Property taxes have gone up to counter the fact that Romney refuses to raise the income tax or cut some of his buddies from the payroll. But our property taxes aren't nearly as high as NH's, and their housing prices are starting to rival Massachusetts.

Massachusetts probably has a large illegal immigrant population that doesn't get counted in the census, and it probably numbers in the tens of thousands.

[joeunderdog]

18. The Big Dig has had a huge impact on jobs/residency here.

Alot of invome just left the building.

Now if they could only fix the leaks...

[against all enemies]

13. Don't believe it. Do you really think people are flocking to North Dakota

The Census has been shown to under count in cities. Just the media trying to make Mass look bad. It's pile on time. Hey Paul Harrington, studies have shown that the census can be corrected in cities by statistical analysis, did you correct the number before you commented? No?, a good scientist would have.

[Massachusetts]

15. It'll be easier to get Sox tickets...

[Kathy in Cambridge]

28. 3,000 people doesn't make too much of an impact

on tix. there are people from NH, RI, ME and CT who come to Fenway too! :-(

[StopDiggingTheHole]

16. Did the tax rates or anti-gun laws play into the results?

The times they are a changing.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

20. Massachusetts is 40th in tax burden and we have the lowest violent crime

rate.

So that's a problem somehow? :eyes:

We also have the lowest rate of divorce, the best public schools, the lowest teenage pregnancy rate, the lowest infant mortality rate, the lowest abortion rate, and the best access to affordable healthcare. Oh, and also the most people with bachelors degrees.

You also didn't read the responses by people who actually live in the state, because you've just repeated the RW talking points: "Taxachusetts" and anti-gun. We have one of the lowest tax burdens and my gun-owning family has never had any issues purchasing guns in this state.

[StopDiggingTheHole]

22. I just asked a simple question

Thanks to your description of the state of MA I now know that MA is the best state in the union and the reason that people are leaving in droves remains unanswered.

Do you have a clue as to why people are leaving a state as perfect as MA?

[Kathy in Cambridge]

24. 3,000 people is not droves

read the fucking article. And read the responses of the DUers above. You might actually learn something! :-)

[Cobalt Violet]

26. High housing costs.

[Skittles]

23. the times are getting worse

nt

[Name removed]

27. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

29. We have a Republican governor

again, reading comprehension 101.

[Cobalt Violet]

30. We have a Republic*nt president from Dumbf*kkistan screwing the

Whole country up and it effecting Massachusets too.

[Skittles]

31. BECAUSE BUSH'S BAD ECONOMIC POLICIES

AFFECT EVERY STATE IN THE G.D. UNION

[SidDithers]

19. Those poor Massachusettsians(?) - to be getting smaller...

when everyone knows it's the tall people who have all the advantages in the world.

Sid

[Kathy in Cambridge]

21. Maybe that's why I'm only 5'4"!

:-(

[dddem]

25. I have lived in Massachusetts my whole life.

My entire family is here, and I agree that we have the best schools, and I love the fact that we recognize civil rights for all of our citizens. That being said, we're leaving. My husband lost his job of 23 years, and can't find one that pays a comparable salary. We've been eeking out a living, but with 2 kids, we need to do better. Frankly, I wasn't panicking until after the election. I'm realistic enough to believe that w won't do squat for this state in order to help the recovery. Lots of jobs have been lost, and housing is very expensive here. And some part of me thinks that because this is Kerry's state, and Kennedy's state, and the "gay marriage" state, he is sitting in the white house planning the payback. Paranoid, maybe, but Kerry's defeat sort of defeated me.
Hopefully, we'll be in a position in a few years to come back if we want.

[Placebo]

33. I hope things get better for you!

But with Bush's disastrous economic policies, the picture, as you know, is grim. :(

[dddem]

34. Things really aren't that bad for us

At least we have a house to sell. We can take the money from the sale, go pretty much anywhere else in the country and do OK. It bites having to leave our home, but I know people who don't even have the few options we have.
Thanks so much for the encouragement, and for not implying that I'm a bit of a nut thinking that w is enjoying the state my state is in.
Looking forward to a more prosperous (and peaceful) New Year for us all!

[gorbal]

32. Yeah it'sall about Romney

The schools are a mess the shelters are full to the brim with people who can't afford the rents and the hospitals aren't staffed to the point that they are legally supposed to be because they don't have the money to pay for it.

Boy I'm glad I'm leaving. I don't know who that a'hole got voted in.

[Forkboy]

42. I can vouch for the shelters part

I was calling around today and the ones near me have no beds available at all :-(

As for the people leaving-It's bad enough to live under Bush,but to live under Bush AND Romney is just too much for any sane person to take :)

[Renew Deal]

35. Red Sox fans could finally die.

[Placebo]

37. Ha.

C'est vrai...

[inslee08]

36. I'm one

I guess I should say that I am one of them that has left the Bay State, but there was no economic or social reason why, we just "liked" Seattle better...

And the 3,000 number is insignificant. Unless backed up by similar trends (maybe smaller increases in surrounding states?), this number pretty much means nothing.

[FreedomPlease]

38. I have always heard that taxes are too high

and everything is very expensive. However, I have never been there.

[radfringe]

40. There's more to MA than Boston

as a former MA-resident, I lived in the western part of the state. It's not "national news" but the underlying attitude of Western-MA'rs is that the commonwealth government only cares about Boston and it's immediate vicinity.

there's been several minor attempts to rally the people into either forming their own state, or joining up with another state.

Workwise - there is little of it west of 495. I commuted 2 hours (4 hr round trip) for 4 years in order to have a job that paid a decent wage.

Once a year, Cherry sheets are issued. (these are lists of state funding going to individual towns/cities and are printed on cherry-colored paper). Boston/vicinity more often than not gets an increase, and the rest get cuts. This means the towns/cities which receive LESS than expected state funding have to make up for the shortfall by INCREASING property taxes.

[cleofus1]

41. hurmmm

must be hard to field a basketball team...

[0rganism]

43. Now that's what I call sustainable growth!

Careful, tho -- too much shrinkage and we'll start hemmorhaging US House seats.