One of the problems of living through the Trump/Musk attack on the rule of law is that their firehose of assaults distract us from considering longer-term issues. I know that I have neglected reading the meaty academic studies that used to help me understand our social and economic environment. I just don’t have enough energy to dive into a lengthy “think piece” after a day of hysteria over the latest illegal and unconstitutional Trumpian eruptions.
But every once in a while, I encounter a really compelling analysis that offers a new way of understanding American culture. And that is certainly the case with Yoni Applebaum’s cover story for the March Atlantic. Applebaum’s article–“Stuck in Place”–considers the drastic reduction in American mobility that has occurred since the mid-twentieth century.
When I was young (late Ice Age), it was a given that lots of Americans moved each year. I never considered the social consequences of that fact of American life until reading the essay in which Applebaum asserts that diminished mobility constitutes “the single most important social change of the past half century.” Mobility, he says, was key to the American character.
Entrepreneurship, innovation, growth, social equality—the most appealing features of the young republic all traced back to this single, foundational fact: Americans were always looking ahead to their next beginning, always seeking to move up by moving on. But over the past 50 years, this engine of American opportunity has stopped working. Americans have become less likely to move from one state to another, or to move within a state, or even to switch residences within a city. In the 1960s, about one out of every five Americans moved in any given year—down from one in three in the 19th century, but a frenetic rate nonetheless. In 2023, however, only one in 13 Americans moved.”
I was particularly struck by the connection Applebaum drew between mobility and acceptance of diversity.
These ceaseless migrations shaped a new way of thinking. “When the mobility of population was always so great,” the historian Carl Becker observed, “the strange face, the odd speech, the curious custom of dress, and the unaccustomed religious faith ceased to be a matter of comment or concern.” And as diverse peoples learned to live alongside one another, the possibilities of pluralism opened. The term stranger, in other lands synonymous with enemy, instead, Becker wrote, became “a common form of friendly salutation.” In a nation where people are forever arriving and departing, a newcomer can seem less like a threat than a welcome addition: Howdy, stranger.
The essay grapples with the reasons why Americans have abandoned our former itch to move, and largely blames the progressives whose insistence on preservation–historic and otherwise–has led, in his analysis at least, to NIMBYism, and a “defense of communities in their current form against those who might wish to join them. Mobility is what made this country prosperous and pluralistic, diverse and dynamic. Now progressives are destroying the very force that produced the values they claim to cherish.”
If this assertion is true–if the efforts to preserve and celebrate existing structures and places have morphed into resistance to a wide variety of changes we once embraced– it would seem that we are experiencing yet another lesson in unintended consequences.
Appelbaum argues that we should make an effort to restore the bygone mobility that led people to move for better jobs, less expensive homes, a better quality of life, and/or just a desire to try new things. He advocates for what he calls “three simple principles.” One is consistency; he says that rules applied uniformly across a city will tend to produce neighborhoods with diverse populations and uses. Another is tolerance; he notes that organic growth is messy and unpredictable, but the places that thrive over the long term are those that empower people to make their own decisions, and to build and adapt structures to suit their needs. The third is abundance; he argues that the best way to solve our current housing supply crunch is to add supply, especially in places that are attractive and growing, so that housing becomes a springboard.
I certainly agree with the argument that we need to build more housing; I’d have to think long and hard about the other two–but then, I’m undoubtedly one of those “progressives” that values historic districts and the zoning laws that prevent your friendly liquor store from locating next to my house. Surely there is a middle ground…
That said, arguments that tie mobility to entrepreneurship and acceptance of diversity echo similar concerns about the end of frontiers. They’re reasonable and persuasive.
It’s complicated.
As an academic, I would say that my experience in that occupation exemplifies the points of the essay. It is only with new blood that academic schools move forward. When a faculty has been around for a decade, many characteristics become stale – including their perspectives on new “research”.
I have taught at six universities. The experience of moving over and over again provided me and my family to experience six distinct social, economic, and cultural environments and it forced us to make new friends in each location.
Unfortunately, I think we will see significant migration in the next four years. If the economy tanks and we find ourselves in another Great Depression, families will be forced to migrate to survive. That is an awfully painful way to achieve this social outcome, but I think it very well may happen.
We take names of elected officials seated today in Congress who busy themselves with normal routine affairs of governance but totally ignore holding two unsupervised adults with dire need who have turned The Oval Office into a day center for unchecked abusers of the most vulnerable. History will indelibly inscribe them into the shame roll of infamy for failure to execute The Oath of office and protect the Constitution. From North Carolina, that list will include Senator Tillis, Senator Budd and Congressman Edwards.
“I certainly agree with the argument that we need to build more housing;…”
I strongly disagree with that statement. A few years ago the Indianapolis Star actually published an informative series of articles, “Abandon Indy”, which, due to a ridiculous Republican tax sale law maintains the deterioration of many neighborhoods which could have been saved. The “tax sale” of abandoned properties results in only buying the lien on the property, NOT the property; an additional year sitting dormant for original owner to come up with the tax money. This puts it in a dormant situation of no one is responsible for the property. Often used by homeless and criminal activities, we see them set on fire with no one responsible for the remains or the cost of cleaning up the mess. Repair, rehab, renovation and reuse could have saved many of our now deteriorated and deteriorating infrastructure which lowers values of surrounding properties which homeowners struggle to maintain as criminal activities increase and infrastructure ignored due to the conditions. Zoning ordinances are ignored.
The gentrification of many areas removed homeowners and renters and established small businesses with no aid for relocation; many are older residents and homelessness is increased. Building new cookie-cutter housing in rural areas are escapes routes for many to abandon DEI residents as racial balance changes. Developers get richer with escalating housing costs by those who decide to become a home owner rather than pay escalating rental rates with no end in sight and maintenance and repairs are not provided by owners whether they are occupied or vacant.
“I was particularly struck by the connection Applebaum drew between mobility and acceptance of diversity.”
It is the cost of relocating rather than acceptance of diversity that keeps most of us stuck in place. The diversity in my neighborhood is a ghost town with blacks, Hispanics and whites hiding behind shuttered blinds and closed doors; neighbors now do not know who their neighbors are other than those of us stuck in place for years due to financial levels; this has me stuck in the middle of Trump/MAGA people my age who are stuck with me and my Democratic yard signs every election season. My yard sign, “For the love of God, anyone but Trump” is still sitting in my front flowerbed and will remain.
Race and money are the basis; it has always been race and money, not so complicated and certainly not fascinating to me. The Trump/Musk distractions are causing health and financial deterioration in our private lives as we wait for the next blow to land.
So you think that possibly mobility is part of the equation? I don’t think that really is the issue or even part of the issue.
Sure humanity or humans are very curious, always searching but never really finding. Moving around never allows one to become settled. Always thinking of the next move. Always looking for a better settling spot, searching for fulfillment in the wrong place.
I think someone needs to establish roots. Those roots are not allowed to grow if there is constant movement. That’s a metaphor also I would expect. You are never able to establish relationships. A life of constant movement portends to something even greater. And let’s just say, it usually tends to be destructive.
Look at the great migration from the south, was there benefit? Sure there was for some, but there was great anguish by others. Look at what happened in New York when Black Southerners came to the city, kind of where it all started in a way. They were lynching people from the street lights. The grass isn’t always greener somewhere else. It just seems that way!
Your life is what you make it, you don’t have to move to do that. If you are a minority, constant motion will tear down a family unit. Because it’s not easy. You can run, but you can’t hide!
If you have a hole in your heart, if you have a whole in your soul so to speak, something moving will fill it. But it never does, it just gets more expansive. And eventually it takes its toll. Always looking to be satisfied, but never becoming such. Searching for peace but never finding it. Searching for security but finding the opposite.
A home is where you make it. It doesn’t have to be in a particular location, and, that doesn’t mean one should never move, but, constant movement and never establishing a root, doesn’t lend itself to belonging. A person should be able to settle wherever they wish, and establish roots. But this country never allowed it. People always looked toward the horizon for better things, and they brought the bad things with them.
Right on JoAnn!!!
The culture I was exposed to as a child included a healthy dose of global wanderlust but only slight variation in residence. I went to the other side of the Mason-Dixon line from NYS for education, primarily driven by funding it, but I came back here as my first career move. What struck me here was no reason to move for 40 years.
My transition to liberalism happened decades after I started my career at Kodak in Rochester. The company culture at the time, including time later in my career in Mexico and Switzerland, and the comparison of Republican policy impacts versus Democrats, especially from Bush II to Obama, changed me to liberalism. Why look back?
It’s still about what best serves us, the people—all of us, not just me. What else is the government supposed to do? Whenever Democrats had political influence, they delivered extraordinary comfort and safety to my family and communities, from neighborhoods to the entire human world. Given all of that, our taxes were reasonable.
I have always been proud to be an American, including, to quote old Lexus commercials, our relentless pursuit of perfection.
Moving breaks up family relationships.
How many companies have manufacturing operations throughout the US like they used to? When they left the US in the ’80s and ’90s, mobility ceased because our industries switched to low-paying fixed-site services. Does Macy’s and Starbucks need to relocate employees from one site to another? How about Walmart?
I know my jobs from the ’90s could easily be done remotely today. Yoni might be trying to sell his book. 😉
Academia is in a challenging position since they stopped using their tenure to take on the oligarchy and fight for the working class as designed. They’ve conformed for their security. We pay for their salaries while they serve the oligarchy. And now, Republicans who can’t control all universities want to wipe the so-called “liberal colleges” off the map, so much for their allegiance to the oligarchy. The same thing is happening to the so-called free press.
The Fuhrer’s White House has announced that the press pool will be changed to allow more approving press for Fuhrer Trump. The old sycophants are out, while the newer right-winged press is taking over. The easy decisions have been made, and what’s coming will require complete, unwavering, and loyal support.
I am already seeing posts on social media promoting the Fuhrer’s tax plan. The working class stiffs, pushing for the most significant theft designed by the oligarchy. That tells me we have very ignorant people in this country, and the media is utter trash – propaganda. Americans are applauding while the oligarchs back up their vans to the Treasury for loading. And, they’ll send Americans the bill for it. LOL
The entire status quo is crumbling…whether it is a good or bad thing depends on what channel you watch on TV. LOL
Do this more often, Sheila. A very refreshing read today, helping me to articulate why my HOA drives me nuts! The whole HOA board are progressives who are holding our neighborhood back from progressing. And they don’t even see it. Interesting…
A non-Trump-related article or 2 each week would do all of us a lot of good, even you, perhaps…
Much of the desire to preserve existing places and buildings is a reaction to the wholesale destruction of such places prior to historic preservation being a thing as well as the placeless and awful design of the suburbs (Geography of Nowhere). Even the design of urban spaces was terrible in the late 50’s-1980’s.
To ignore this history of terrible suburban and urban design, and then blame “progressives” for stifling social mobility is about as twisted as pretending that racial discrimination didn’t happen or that polio or the recent pandemic didn’t happen. It’s easy to be critical of where we are when if you can just ignore what got us here – not to mention all of the work that went into putting things back on the right course.
In addition, in Indianapolis in particular, we have no functioning code enforcement other than historic preservation unless you live in a new suburban neighborhood with a functional HOA. There’s absolutely none. Zoning laws aren’t enforced, residential health codes aren’t enforced, building standards aren’t enforced. There have been egregious violations that take herculean effort to try to get addressed (How long is the burned out Golden Corral near Washington Sq going to be left standing?)
Without historic preservation status, people don’t invest hundreds of thousands of dollars building or rebuilding homes in urban Indianapolis.
Historic preservation guards against Walmart-centric communities. Growing up, parents (fathers) were transferred by their corporations. That has not happen much in the last 40 years.
I also have an issue with building more housing. I might have some tunnel vision regarding the issue, but, I’m in a suburban part of Florida that is seeing rather massive housing, and business (read albeit little) Strip Mall construction replacing wooded areas, and this is anything but new.
Traffic has become somewhat like that which I left behind in Brooklyn, and New Jersey, and it will only get worse, with side effects on the air quality, impacts on wildlife, and, apparently, more and more MAGA types coming to DeSantisland.
There is some cultural diversity in my development, not a lot.
My Trump loving step-daughter, and her black and white visioned Trumpian husband were just here, from N.J. They plan on moving to Florida within the next 2 years, and visited the (in)famous “Villages.” Their take on the place was that it was like “The Matrix.” Everybody looked like everybody else, and all could have easily have had bar-codes on their shoulders.
All the (presumably retired) residents there moved from somewhere else, as the place did not exist not that long ago.
Growing up in N.Y.C. there was bunch of diversity, but red-lining kept it to some minimal amount. Trump’s daddy helped keep diversity down in the borough of Queens.
One might accuse me of NIMBY, but as we pave over more, and more of “The Nature Coast,” we will have increasingly less, and less “nature.” Animals other than humans also need a place in which to live.
Between the years 1600 and 1899 there was a lot of land available. Since it was mostly stolen from the Native Americans, it was very affordable. Government wanted to populate the open areas, so the concept of homesteading was developed. If you lived in an apartment in a tenement in New York or Philadelphia, the idea of owning a farm or a ranch was a dream come true. They took the chance in droves.
Now we’re in the twentieth century. Upheaval comes from across the pond, in the form of a great war. America entered the conflict late. Many young men were trained as soldiers and sent to France. The post war period featured a song with the lyrics, “How you gonna keep em down on the farm, after they’ve seen Pa-ree?”. The answer was you don’t.
Next up, we have 1929 and upheaval. Farmers whose fields had turned to dust. Most of them were dirt poor and couldn’t afford to wait it out. Going from Oklahoma to California seemed the best way out, so that’s what they did.
Then came WW II. Black people signed up and fought for an American dream that they weren’t allowed to partake of. The states they lived in had laws that prevented them from voting, kept them in inferior schools and housing. When they returned home, after four years of putting their lives on the line for the country, nothing had changed. They began moving north, where there weren’t any such laws. Up north, we didn’t need laws to tell us who to hate.
Needless to say, the same held true through the Korean Conflict, even though Truman had integrated the armed services. That takes us to the middle of the twentieth century. When we stopped moving? I personally moved twelve times between 1968 and 1980. I did slow down and only moved six times since then. If I’m lucky I won’t have to move again.
During my lifetime I have witnesses two distinct migrations of people I know. The first was in the 60s as three siblings packed their bags and headed to California where there were more and better opportunities. All three built great careers and made small fortunes that allowed for wonderful homes, travel and interesting lives. Their own children got great educations and are also living that rich life. From time to time all are wistful about returning to Indiana, but such conversations always end up with a sad utterance “… but all the racism. I could never live like that again.”
The other migration has been ongoing for decades now. It is the wealthy and ever so white people’s retirement from the Midwest to Florida. Truth be told, Florida didn’t give the country DeSantis, the Midwest did.
Now both California and Florida have fallen from favor as being the ideal place to move to due to the effects of climate change. What hasn’t changed is mankind’s ability to imagine a better life somewhere else. Right now I suspect that there is a lot of imagining going on about places outside of the United States.
A comment about “building more housing”.
Yes, we need to build more housing and it should be well designed and affordable – which is not really what’s being built. Much of the housing that’s being built is either unaffordable and/or poorly designed and will be falling apart before a 30 year mortgage is paid off.
That said, you only need to take a small percentage of housing off the market to trigger the housing shortage and inflation of home prices that we have seen – and those shortages ripple through the entire market, including lower cost housing.
There have been two trends going on that have taken significant amounts of homes off the market: 1. Expensive vacant real-estate used by wealthy foreign nationals to hide assets and, probably more directly, the use of homes and apartments for short-term rentals (Air BnB, etc.). Initially, the idea of some of these short-term rentals was to rent out a spare bedroom, for example.
They have turned into renting entire apartments and homes and it’s taking a lot of homes off the housing market to serve the vacationing class.
This isn’t just in Florida or typical “tourist destinations” either. I’ll be staying with a group of 10 people in Cincinnati in a home that’s now a short-term-rental in a residential neighborhood.
And of course it’s terrible for these residential neighborhoods to have large groups of people who have no connection or feeling of responsibility to a community constantly moving through.
@Theresa Bowers:
You are right about the migrations to California and Florida (and Texas).
The other big migrations that we lived through were the migration of Blacks from the south to northern cities, the migration of white people to the suburbs (Indianapolis), the de-population of rural towns, and urban areas being “cool” again.
When I moved from the suburbs to downtown Indianapolis in 1980, much of it was a wasteland of vacant and abandoned houses, empty businesses and surface parking lots where buildings once stood. I could literally ride my bike down the middle of Meridian on Sunday afternoon because there was no traffic.
Lockerbie, Chatham Arch and Old North Side neighborhoods were mostly derelict. Homes in Woodruff Pl had been cut up into apartments. Mass Ave was mostly empty buildings and badly converted subsidized housing used to warehouse poor people. My first house cost me $3k and my second house in Fletcher Place was under $13k. It was largely IHPC that made it possible to reasonably invest the money those buildings needed.
being stuck into a property and its now style for financing and insurance and etc etc. has gone far enough to slow to a choke hold on the dream. if your well and established enough to buy home, best wishes. upkeep and any change in political climate will test the fine lines. seems theres a reason and then theres the game to play on the new frontier of this admon. seems every scam used car like, can be aquired and made into fashion by those who hold the cards. if the housing market is choked, intrests rates, availability etc, the cost of property increases from demand. if trumps buddies, real estate mnuchin style of scams will become the norm. forigen investments are and with venture vultures are gobbling up the dream for your failure and keeping your credit in shambles. recent articles from the guardian etc, atest to this move. banks want the guarentee and dont give a rats ass about who, as long as you can shit money. all others stand in line and allow the vultures who have congresses approval to screw the working class. there is no reason in this admin to even think of investing. better off saving cash and watching the show..the insurance industry is gouging everything and everyone with zero controls. congress doesnt even have a notion to even the playing field as long as thier investments increase their bottom line by scewing the working class more for what the working class can generate.
So many comments today with which I agree…to a point. Joann, I agree that rather than building more housing (usually in the suburbs and donut counties), invest in and rehab existing homes, but also keep them affordable! I live in Westfield and subdivisions keep springing up like dandelions in April. The price tags on them, even the condos, are mind-boggling, and my husband and I often muse about how so many people can afford to buy them, and where the heck do they work?
Regarding “progressives” (raising my hand), without their digging in their heels to preserve and rehabilitate historical areas in Indianapolis, those would be nothing more today than a memory. Lockerbie and Irvington spring to mind—although gentrification has made those places pretty unaffordable. But I also consider Ransom Place, the historic Black community that likely would have been paved over due to the expansion of the IU Medical Center and IUPUI. Thanks to determined progressive activists, it remains one of the crown jewels of Indy’s Black History.
As for moving around, I’ve spent my whole life in central Indiana. This is my home, where my community is. My safe zone. But I have traveled, quite a lot, and reveled in the differences of other places, other people, other cultures. And brought my newer perspectives home, to employ them here. And yes, I believe it’s all about perspective. Subtleties and nuances. And basic humanity.
Seems we have a wide range of opinions. True moving breaks up Family relationships.
Also, true the cost of buying a home in my state (and others) became impossible,
financially. move out of state or never own
The big money has moved into buying up property’s that serve the working class, the elderly & the poor.
More homes needed, but under what rules, laws & requirements?
SO many questions,
My feelings on the subject are mixed. Right outside my door they are building places for many new businesses. However, most of them aren’t necessary and they are destroying the surrounding natural habitat. Particularly troublesome are the new expensive apartments and houses being built that local residents can’t afford. Meaning outsiders come in and add to the traffic congestion. Traffic congestion then leads to lengthy construction sites that are inconvenient. As someone who has lived in older buildings I understand wanting to inhabit newer builds but not at the expense of wilderness areas. And out where I live they are buying up farmland to build houses rather than supporting the farmers. They are changing where I live so much I no longer enjoy it the way I used to. It’s like that song Joni Mitchell sings “They paved paradise to put up a parking lot.”
Preserve the good of the past and progress from there. In general, new homes aren’t built with the solid materials that old houses were built with. Brick, pine floors, copper pipes, pride in handsome carpentry work. It can be expensive to restore, preserve and maintain old structures, but is much better than dividing up into low rent apartments.
I’ve noticed many nice low rent apartments being built along the near east side of this city. Giving incentives to local builders seems like the best solution. Big out of state owners tend to focus on their profits over renter satisfaction.
Seems since people are living longer these days, they tend to not have the wanderlust that younger people have to venture out and seek their fortunes. Age and economics are both factors in change/migration.
When Americans settle down and learn that bigger, more expensive isn’t necessarily a better way to live, but aging in place and working on one’s quality of life issues health, low debt, education and helping in community might be a better way to live.
I heard HRC say recently that US federal government owns a high percentage of land in the western states. It would be too bad if that land was sold off to billionaires to develop and profit from. Maybe, a more democratic way of like homesteading, could inspire Americans to migrate, settle and build communities where they would own and live without going into great debt.
I wonder if the mobility was generational. It seems that boomers were anxious to leave home and be independent. More recent generations don’t seem so motivated.
Here are some thoughts about what has changed in my neighborhood within the last 50+ years.
More and more rental properties rather than homeowner residents. Most of the rentals are owned by out-of-state/country entities, managed by out-of-state corporations, used to generate income with no thought to how the area is affected. If you walked through the neighborhood you would be able to identify the institutional rentals by the absence of any outside care, trees growing in the roof gutters, etc. Most of the houses turn over pretty quickly when the renters discover that maintenance promised is seldom delivered. And then the lease come due and the rent increases to offset taxes. It is a no-win for renters and they leave.
More and more of the homes that used to hold 4 or more people, adults and kids, are now owned by a single or couple who are living in a 3 to 4 bedroom house. Most of the homes are considered “starter”. As couples expand their families to one or maybe two kids, they are out of the county (still white flight in many instances). Those that stay put their kids into private schools with vouchers going to the private/mostly religious schools.
Families do not have the common experiences of schools when there are more and more non-public schools. There are at least a half dozen in the immediate area. Fewer and fewer attend a place of worship. Often when I meet neighbors when I am out walking, there is no eye contact offered and many have earbuds so they don’t even acknowledge a wave. More dogs in the neighborhood than kids. I could go on and on.
My husband ran a truck rental business for decades. He always said he could tell how the economy was doing by how many people were moving. Layoffs and job losses meant a declining economy and lots of folks moving. Remote work may be a factor in choosing to stay in place.
Times and family structure have changed a lot in the last 50 years. As the professor so often states, it is complicated.
@JoAnn Green
Simple answer is no. While your statements are kind of correct, I would argue that they are not really related to our severe housing shortage. I normally adore you, but I disagree with you on this one, and housing data is literally part of my job.
We really do have an extreme housing shortage. Yes, it has been worsened by abandoned properties that cost more to clean up than their value, but that doesn’t mean that we have enough housing just because there are properties that no one wants. We have a ton of empty buildings that are too far gone to save, but that doesn’t mean that we have enough housing. We have private equity firms that buy up decent properties and hold onto them, but that doesn’t mean that we have enough housing. Private equity firms also buy up houses that keeps homebuyers from being able to buy houses by increasing the prices, but that doesn’t mean that we have enough housing. We have had some recent record increases in housing permits post-pandemic, but that still doesn’t mean that we have enough housing.
The Indiana Legislature has not updated housing definitions for decades. There is not a housing committee in either the Indiana Senate or Indiana House of Representatives. New innovate housing still have to still meet outdated and ill-fitting code causing housing prices to be much higher than they need to be. It would also help if the Indiana legislature would help clean up properties and utilize landbanks statewide. It would help if the Indiana Legislature would pass laws that would ban predatory practices of landlords and financial holding groups. It would help if Indiana would help keep people housed. Indianapolis is in the top ten of highest eviction rates in the nation, and the rest of Indiana is bad.
Instead, we have a for profit prison industry that is looking to expand overflow prisons, detention camps, etc. A tech billionaire through the Cicero Institute paved the way for homelessness to be criminalized. Unhoused people can be arrested for sleeping outdoors and for what is called sleep paraphernalia. Housing the homeless and affordable housing is overall cheaper, but doesn’t fit the interests of those that benefit from making money off the poor. So even those there is a need for building affordable housing and a ton of research to support, it doesn’t meet the interests of those with the most power, influence, and money.
We have an extreme housing shortage, but Indiana makes it much more difficult to build affordable housing. So what might seem like a lack of interest, doesn’t mean that we don’t have an extreme housing shortage.
That is one way to look at life, and I see Applebaum’s point; that being exposed to different ways of living broadens one’s s perspectives and experiences.
The other side of the coin is that to be rooted to a place for a period of time is to begin to understand deeply. There is a value that only comes with time in place.