Anecdotal

No links, no references, no scholarly annotations.  A couple of casual conversations resulting in anecdotal support for a thesis about the new world.

It all started with a little explosion on a power pole just down from our house, in upstate NY, in early August.  Just a tiny burst; something with a long technical name failed, and the neighborhood was treated to a little power surge, which scrambled the brains of our refrigerator.  We learned (among other things) that, these days, refrigerators have brains.  Our particular refrigerator's brain cost $360. 

That didn't fix it, unfortunately, so off to the big box store, masks and all, to get a new refrigerator.  An hour later, as we were filling out the paperwork, the salesman mentioned that they were selling so many household appliances that it was hard to keep the warehouse stocked.  The reason?  "All these people from the city (NYC) moving up here and converting their cabins and second homes, and moving in."  People who were, apparently, escaping from a crowded city which was the center of a global pandemic for a while.  Escaping upstate to safer territory - for instance, our whole county of around 62,000 had 30 cases total until the college students returned in late August.  Sending their kids to schools in towns with zero cases.

The second conversation occurred recently, with real estate agent who manages summer bookings for our rental house out toward the end of Cape Cod.  She also described a sharp increase in sales, in this case, home sales, but for the same reason.  People from more urban areas, who work remotely, moving to a town with 16 cases since the beginning, again either upgrading second homes or, more frequently, selling the house in the city and moving to a place where their kids can go to school without fear.  

Now both places happen to be blessed with astounding natural beauty, and are (normally) centers of tourism.  So there's that.  On the Cape, there's a long tradition of people upgrading from part-time to full-time residency (they're called "Washashores").  And we've seen this before in NY, when refugees from NYC moved away from the fear and the death right after 9/11.

But it's happening again.  Families from the cities - most of whom are probably familiar with their rural destinations - will be establishing themselves in the country.  They'll be absorbing culture shock and adjusting to the off-season.  They'll be finding ways to get connected with the community.  And it's not a stretch to suggest that this may be happening all over the country.

Will this migration have a noticeable impact on the new world?  Will rural areas within striking distance of a big city grow and change?  For the better, or not?

Stay tuned.