Exiles in Red America

Careful observers of Red and Blue state demographics might note a recent article in the NYT that details the plight of young people forced to give up the golden state for (gasp) more affordable, Midwestern surroundings.

The idea of living in the middle of the desert in a prefab 1,200-square-foot home, stretching ourselves financially and driving three hours a day, wasn't appealing anymore," Mr. Cannon, 34, said.

Young families in the coastal centers of California are faced with the choice of either commuting from distant neighborhoods or somehow paying eye-popping prices for very small homes closer to town. More and more are choosing to give up the game and look for a job in quaint little places like Kansas City. The article explains this solely as a function of the real estate boom, and IRS and Census data confirm it's also happening in cities like Washington, New York and Boston.

And the article makes the obligatory comments about the lack of culture out here in fly-over country.

And once again I feel fairly convinced that the people who write articles for news outlets like the Times know little more about the cities between the coasts than the road between the airport and the closest four-star hotel. Certainly my town, Cincinnati, is a long way from Los Angeles in several respects. But right now they need translators for obscure dialects of Guatemalan in the downtown courthouse. Right now I've got both North and South Indian restaurants within 10 minutes of my house. These things are small examples of cultural variety, but they would have been unheard of when I first moved to town in 1990. Communication, transportation and technology have brought all kinds of people to the doorstep of the American Midwest, and even wayward Californians and other Blue State evacuees are welcome.