Blog
Americans Are Moving Less
Posted by Carol Coletta on December 21, 2008 |
Only about one in 10 Americans moved in the last year — roughly half the proportion that changed residences as recently as four decades ago, census data show.
According to The New York Times, the Current Population Survey found that fewer than 12 percent of Americans moved since 2007, a decline of nearly a full percentage point compared with the year before. In the 1950s and ’60s, the number of movers hovered near 20 percent.
The number has been declining steadily, and 12 percent is the lowest rate since the Census Bureau began counting people who move in 1940.
Pew Research Center attributes the decline to the aging of the population (older people are less likely to change residences) and an increase in two-career couples, among other factors.
It would be interesting to compare the decline in moving to the increase in the number of people who feel themselves connected to (or have homes in) two or more places
Feels Like Home to Me
Posted by Carol Coletta on October 08, 2008 |
This morning I flew through Chicago's O'Hare airport on my way from Portland, Maine to San Jose, California. My chances of seeing anyone I know in one of the world's busiest airports are next to none. But the surroundings are familiar, and some of the service people are familiar. And together, the surroundings and the service personnel make O'Hare feel like home.
I had this same feeling on a recent Saturday in downtown Chicago. Full of tourists and now residents, the Loop is not a place I am likely to run into anyone I know. Sadly, even in my condo building where we are all still new, I am unlikely to see anyone terribly familiar. But I step outside and the streets and shops and buildings are all where they were the last time I was on the sidewalk. The same woman is at the Chanel counter at Macy's. The same pair staff the Intelligensia coffee (tea for me) counter. The same masseuse is at Whole Foods on Saturday. The same guy makes the sandwiches at Au Bon Pain. Their faces are far more familiar to me than those I see on the streets. And yes, they make downtown Chicago…