In the last few months I’ve read a couple of articles and now a book on a new job trend in which people are leaving big cities.
The idea is that fair numbers of workers are moving to smaller, safer and quieter communities and giving up the two-hour commutes, higher crime rates and bad school systems in the metropolitan areas.
While this often means a cut in income, many who moved say they’ve come out ahead because of lower costs for homes and other basic living costs. So they wind up with a bigger house, a five-minute commute and better schools for their kids.
How do you get one of these jobs, you ask?
Well, most of those who appeared to make the move a success were highly educated people who have talent, information or training that’s in strong demand. They use the Internet, the telephone and business travel to deliver those skills where they’re needed, often the same metropolitan areas they left.
Financial managers, consultants, software experts and others have made the move and are apparently living the best of both worlds. Even if their income falls in half, they can still buy twice the home that they could in San Francisco, Boston, New York City and other areas.
Some of the areas cited as great places to move to include Lake Placid, N.Y.; Des Moines, Iowa; and Cleveland, Ohio.
If you’re one of the dozen or so faithful readers of this column, you know that I left my hometown of Cleveland a long time ago and would only go back there at gunpoint. So it was interesting to me that someone else would find Cleveland an attractive place to live.
OK. Homes are cheaper. And the commutes are shorter. It’s still not enough for me.
But I didn’t mention this apparent trend so I could rag on Cleveland again.
I mention it because the Seattle area, which includes Snohomish County, is gradually working its way toward communities such as Los Angeles or Boston in terms of traffic tie-ups, home prices and the like.
One of the major reasons Snohomish County’s housing market has remained so strong even during the recent recession is that people who work in Seattle are buying houses here and then hitting the road a couple of hours each day to commute between work and home.
People seem willing to spend all that time on the road at this point, but as traffic continues to worsen and home prices continue to rise, they may feel differently.
The Boeing Co. was critical of traffic problems and other quality-of-life issues in the Puget Sound area when it was looking for a home for its new jetliner.
Ultimately, it chose Everett.
But that doesn’t mean we can forget about the issues that made Boeing look around for a better deal.
If we don’t continue to try to tackle our highway problems and skyrocketing home prices, we’ll lose something more important than a major employer – our most talented people.
Mike Benbow: 425-339-3459; benbow@heraldnet.com.
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