DC had largest percentage drop in population in nation

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From the article. The common theme is that these jurisdictions are controlled by Democrats

D.C. ranked 7th among states and the District with the largest number of residents who left over the past year. New York topped that list with a drop of 319,020 residents, followed by California with a decline of 261,902 people.

Again, people were leaving cities. Cities tend to be led by Democrats. If these trends hold, the impact will not be to dilute blue cities and states -- which will remain blue -- but to add more liberals to red areas.

This reminds me of a conversation I overheard at the woman's March in 2017. Two women from Boston were talking to two men who lives on Capitol Hill about the need to have more representation in Red states. Between the mail in ballots last year to this pandemic, looks like all of you are getting your wishes.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From the article. The common theme is that these jurisdictions are controlled by Democrats

D.C. ranked 7th among states and the District with the largest number of residents who left over the past year. New York topped that list with a drop of 319,020 residents, followed by California with a decline of 261,902 people.

Again, people were leaving cities. Cities tend to be led by Democrats. If these trends hold, the impact will not be to dilute blue cities and states -- which will remain blue -- but to add more liberals to red areas.

This is a bit of an overstatement. Not everyone moving to growing states are former city dwelling liberals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From the article. The common theme is that these jurisdictions are controlled by Democrats

D.C. ranked 7th among states and the District with the largest number of residents who left over the past year. New York topped that list with a drop of 319,020 residents, followed by California with a decline of 261,902 people.

Ok. So this might (or might not) be a spurious correlation between Democratic control and loss of population during the pandemic.

I will use a famous example: rising ice cream sales are correlated with shark attack against humans. The real correlation here is between warm weather (and ice cream sales and shark attacks).

Similarly, the real correlation here might be between urban area and Democratic control and between urban area loss of population during the pandemic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I cannot imagine living in the city with all the crap that has been going on the past couple of years.

And I cannot imagine living in a suburb or a rural area for many reasons.

Fortunately we live in a country that affords us both opportunities to live in our preferred areas.

[Anonymous]

DC has long had several populations: those of us who have lived here for years, if not generations, and transients who come for jobs, often in or associated with politics. Some of those people never intended to stay. Others likely went “back home” or sought other, less expensive options as their personal and family circumstances changed and as COVID hit, and living in cities and apartments became less attractive for a variety of reasons.

None of this seems surprising. My concern has long been that the city changed in many ways to accommodate a rush of newcomers. If and as such people leave, much of what was destroyed will not return, and much of what’s left won’t be satisfying to anyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC has long had several populations: those of us who have lived here for years, if not generations, and transients who come for jobs, often in or associated with politics. Some of those people never intended to stay. Others likely went “back home” or sought other, less expensive options as their personal and family circumstances changed and as COVID hit, and living in cities and apartments became less attractive for a variety of reasons.

None of this seems surprising. My concern has long been that the city changed in many ways to accommodate a rush of newcomers. If and as such people leave, much of what was destroyed will not return, and much of what’s left won’t be satisfying to anyone.

I think you’re overly simplifying the people who live here. Also, it’s not just “newcomers” who are leaving.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From the article. The common theme is that these jurisdictions are controlled by Democrats

D.C. ranked 7th among states and the District with the largest number of residents who left over the past year. New York topped that list with a drop of 319,020 residents, followed by California with a decline of 261,902 people.

I believe the biggest population gains were Texas, Florida, Arizona (red)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cannot imagine living in the city with all the crap that has been going on the past couple of years.

Well the insurrectionist and Trump were not under the control of the locals. Those white supremacists and Nazis do not live in the city. I do take your point we as a nation should do something about those type of thugs and lowlifes.

I think the poster is referring to the homeless who were once mostly confined to shelters or jails. Covid allowed their release from jail and options to camp out in the city rather than go to shelters. They are the lowlifes who are alcoholics or drug addicts who get treatment. The thugs are the people who are car jacking, stealing from stores either individually or en masse, shooting and murdering people over petty issues, and generally engaging in criminal activity.

The insurrectionists were a one day event. As Jesus said of the poor: "They will always be with us." The same can be said about DC abundance of lowlifes and thugs.

[Anonymous]

I drove to DC today and it was a ghost town with mostly homeless people, tents, and the smell of weed stinking the air. It's definitely different than 2 years a go.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From the article. The common theme is that these jurisdictions are controlled by Democrats

D.C. ranked 7th among states and the District with the largest number of residents who left over the past year. New York topped that list with a drop of 319,020 residents, followed by California with a decline of 261,902 people.

Again, people were leaving cities. Cities tend to be led by Democrats. If these trends hold, the impact will not be to dilute blue cities and states -- which will remain blue -- but to add more liberals to red areas.

What makes you think people will remain Democrats when they move to more Republican areas? As Virginia showed in its latest election, if people feel strongly about an issue, they will dump their party.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I drove to DC today and it was a ghost town with mostly homeless people, tents, and the smell of weed stinking the air. It's definitely different than 2 years a go.

I had to meet someone at City Center on Tuesday, and it was deserted. The high-end stores had no one in them and there were only security guards and landscapers in the big courtyard. It was beautifully decorated, but no one to appreciate it.
The loss of population is one thing for the city, but the bigger issue it the loss of day time population. The city's economy relies heavily on office workers and tourism. If neither is returning to the City, what is the tax base? The Feds cannot carry it all.
The City always talks about a commuter tax, maybe they should offer a commuter incentive to get people back to their offices even if they can work from home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I drove to DC today and it was a ghost town with mostly homeless people, tents, and the smell of weed stinking the air. It's definitely different than 2 years a go.

I wanted to do some street shopping today and almost came into DC, but everything I’ve read about DC lately just makes me want to avoid it so continued on to Alexandria. Lots of vacant store fronts in Old Town, which was a bummer, but still wasn’t worrying about getting held up or carjacked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I drove to DC today and it was a ghost town with mostly homeless people, tents, and the smell of weed stinking the air. It's definitely different than 2 years a go.

I wanted to do some street shopping today and almost came into DC, but everything I’ve read about DC lately just makes me want to avoid it so continued on to Alexandria. Lots of vacant store fronts in Old Town, which was a bummer, but still wasn’t worrying about getting held up or carjacked.

Exactly. It's the high crime in big blue cities that people are fleeing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From the article. The common theme is that these jurisdictions are controlled by Democrats

D.C. ranked 7th among states and the District with the largest number of residents who left over the past year. New York topped that list with a drop of 319,020 residents, followed by California with a decline of 261,902 people.

Lol DC population is 689,545. So maybe 20,000? Overall population way up

Since 2010, Washington’s population has grown 14.6 percent — nearly double the national rate — jumping from about 602,000 to 689,545, according to data released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Monday.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/04/26/dc-population-census-growth/

This is a non sequitur.

The article is very clear that it’s population decrease from 2020 to 2021. What happened the decade prior is irrelevant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I drove to DC today and it was a ghost town with mostly homeless people, tents, and the smell of weed stinking the air. It's definitely different than 2 years a go.

I had to meet someone at City Center on Tuesday, and it was deserted. The high-end stores had no one in them and there were only security guards and landscapers in the big courtyard. It was beautifully decorated, but no one to appreciate it.
The loss of population is one thing for the city, but the bigger issue it the loss of day time population. The city's economy relies heavily on office workers and tourism. If neither is returning to the City, what is the tax base? The Feds cannot carry it all.
The City always talks about a commuter tax, maybe they should offer a commuter incentive to get people back to their offices even if they can work from home.

What’s interesting is that DC is going the opposite direction and taking steps during COVID to make the city increasingly unfriendly to commuters which creates a negative feedback loop.