Brain Drain
from Milford Daily News

A report released yesterday by MassINC, a nonpartisan research group, found that native-born Massachusetts residents have moved to other New England states at a steadily increasing rate since 1990.

Over the last 12 years, Massachusetts has lost nearly 80,000 more residents than it has gained from other New England states, the report concluded.

Sound familiar? Is anyone listening to me?

More

Mass. residents moving out

By Michael Kunzelman / News Staff Writer
Thursday, December 4, 2003

BOSTON -- Dr. Brian Shuman, a Weston native, never considered moving back to Massachusetts after he graduated from dental school in 1985. Instead, Shuman was drawn to Burlington, Vt., by the promise of cheaper housing, lower crime rates and shorter commutes.

"There's no question in my mind that the cost of living certainly played a role in my decision," Shuman recalls. "I thought I could do better financially by getting away from some of the insanity of the cities."

A growing number of Massachusetts natives have followed Shuman's lead.

A report released yesterday by MassINC, a nonpartisan research group, found that native-born Massachusetts residents have moved to other New England states at a steadily increasing rate since 1990.

Over the last 12 years, Massachusetts has lost nearly 80,000 more residents than it has gained from other New England states, the report concluded.

MassINC Executive Director Ian Bowles said the report serves as evidence of a "growing exodus of middle-class families."

"It's a troubling development from a workforce standpoint," Bowles added. "From a policy standpoint, it does point to the need to continue investing in our workforce."

Massachusetts' loss has been New Hampshire's gain: Between 1990 and 2002, a net total of 78,201 residents of the Bay State moved to the Granite State.

The northern flight has accelerated over the last five years. The number of Massachusetts residents who moved to New Hampshire has nearly doubled in that time from 5,014 residents in 1997 and 1998 to 9,953 by 2001 and 2002.

And contrary to popular belief, the vast majority of those transplants aren't commuting back to Massachusetts. About 80 percent of the former Massachusetts residents are living and working in New Hampshire.

"The middle-class flight is a really disturbing trend because it undermines our ability to grow and it undermines our community strength," Bowles said.

The report does offer some encouraging news, however: Massachusetts is attracting more "young, highly educated talent" from its economic competitors, like California, Colorado, Connecticut, New Jersey and New York, than it is losing to those states.

Around 28 percent of all people who have moved to Massachusetts since 1990 have come from those "knowledge-intensive" states, while 23 percent of the people who have left Massachusetts during the same time period have moved to one of those same states.

"There is cause for some optimism. We're gaining from those states that look like us," said Mike Goodman, research director at the University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute.

Nationwide, however, Massachusetts has lost a net total of 213,191 residents over the last 12 years, with losses reported every single year since 1990.

"It was related to a lack of jobs," said MassINC Research Director Dana Ansel. "This acceleration was occurring while our economy was booming."

Goodman, the report's co-author, said the state needs to beef up its efforts to retain workers.

"We're not simply going to be able to grow our way out of the problem when the economic recovery finally materializes in Massachusetts," he said.

The report's authors used census and Internal Revenue Service data to compile the numbers of residents leaving or moving to Massachusetts. Data for foreign immigration wasn't included in the report.

The report does not draw any conclusions about why a growing number of native-born, middle-class residents are leaving Massachusetts, but the authors pointed to "quality of life" and the cost of housing as likely factors.

The region's harsh winter weather also may be a culprit. Massachusetts lost more residents to Florida than any other state - 99,082 since 1990 - and 58 percent of those people are under the age of 55.

"Weather is certainly an issue," Goodman said. "There's not much we can do about that."

posted by prof_booty | 08:48 AM