The New Demographics: Brain Gainers And Smart Belts

"Young professional families are increasingly fleeing the exorbitant coast for Austin, Dallas or San Antonio, for Atlanta, Denver or Phoenix, for Charlotte, N.C... Calling the shift dramatic, demographer William Frey has dubbed the Southwest and Southeast the nation's 'brain gainers.'... Demographer Joel Kotkin...predicts that the trend 'may lead to a stabilization, or even a limited resurgence,' of the long-declining Rust Belt... In Atlanta, Ellen Crawford recalls one gleeful refugee from high-priced New Jersey who kissed her hands after she sold him a four-bedroom house in the sought-after suburb of Alpharetta for $189,000. Compared to the coasts, Crawford said, 'homes are practically for free here.' "

Thanks to Chris Steins