DC had largest percentage drop in population in nation

[Anonymous]

We moved. People were behaving like such hysterical loons and my children needed school. We are saving 100k+ this year on taxes as a result, and have a much more wholesome and relaxed lifestyle. No regrets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Not me. Democrat all my life but enough with the extreme wacky stupid stuff. I’m concerned about spending into hyperinflation. Moved to VA, voted Youngkin. Will continue to vote for common sense & open schools.

[Anonymous]

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

I can't imagine living in GA or TX with their racists governors and legilslators.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:People were moving out of urban areas because initially that's were the largest covid outbreaks were. DC is one big city so it is hard to compare it to states that have a mixture of urban and rural areas.

Not sure this is true. COVID may have exacerbated the trend but the trend started pre-COVID. Rate of DC population increase peaked in 2015 and has been declining steadily since. In 2019, pre-COVID, there was effectively zero population growth. In 2020 DC lost about 17,000 residents. Now in 2021, when those who moved out were supposed to have returned, DC lost even more residents, 20,000. I would not be surprised to see DC lose 25,000 residents in 2022.

It’s not a good thing for a city and instead of blaming COVID, I would hope that DC starts thinking about how to improve the quality of life in the city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC also had the longest school closures in the country. People left so their kids could get an education.

having to worry about whether your child will be allowed to attend school is the final straw for a lot of people

[Anonymous]

We added to that. We moved far away. There are things I miss. But, reading dcum reminds me of all the reasons we left.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC also had the longest school closures in the country. People left so their kids could get an education.

Public school enrollment is way down nationwide.

Those kids are not coming back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Yes, I am oversimplifying. And I didn’t say that “just” newcomers were leaving — although that’s the group I focused on. I don’t disagree with the points you’ve made — but it would be much more interesting and informative if you added information. Perhaps you could say more about “the people who live here”? Or about who is leaving — and why, and maybe even where they’re going?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:People were moving out of urban areas because initially that's were the largest covid outbreaks were. DC is one big city so it is hard to compare it to states that have a mixture of urban and rural areas.

Not sure this is true. COVID may have exacerbated the trend but the trend started pre-COVID. Rate of DC population increase peaked in 2015 and has been declining steadily since. In 2019, pre-COVID, there was effectively zero population growth. In 2020 DC lost about 17,000 residents. Now in 2021, when those who moved out were supposed to have returned, DC lost even more residents, 20,000. I would not be surprised to see DC lose 25,000 residents in 2022.

It’s not a good thing for a city and instead of blaming COVID, I would hope that DC starts thinking about how to improve the quality of life in the city.

Are real estate prices falling? Seems a contradiction to have fewer residents but more expensive properties.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:People were moving out of urban areas because initially that's were the largest covid outbreaks were. DC is one big city so it is hard to compare it to states that have a mixture of urban and rural areas.

Not sure this is true. COVID may have exacerbated the trend but the trend started pre-COVID. Rate of DC population increase peaked in 2015 and has been declining steadily since. In 2019, pre-COVID, there was effectively zero population growth. In 2020 DC lost about 17,000 residents. Now in 2021, when those who moved out were supposed to have returned, DC lost even more residents, 20,000. I would not be surprised to see DC lose 25,000 residents in 2022.

It’s not a good thing for a city and instead of blaming COVID, I would hope that DC starts thinking about how to improve the quality of life in the city.

Are real estate prices falling? Seems a contradiction to have fewer residents but more expensive properties.

Not a contradiction. Big investment firms are now buying single family homes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:People were moving out of urban areas because initially that's were the largest covid outbreaks were. DC is one big city so it is hard to compare it to states that have a mixture of urban and rural areas.

Not sure this is true. COVID may have exacerbated the trend but the trend started pre-COVID. Rate of DC population increase peaked in 2015 and has been declining steadily since. In 2019, pre-COVID, there was effectively zero population growth. In 2020 DC lost about 17,000 residents. Now in 2021, when those who moved out were supposed to have returned, DC lost even more residents, 20,000. I would not be surprised to see DC lose 25,000 residents in 2022.

It’s not a good thing for a city and instead of blaming COVID, I would hope that DC starts thinking about how to improve the quality of life in the city.

Are real estate prices falling? Seems a contradiction to have fewer residents but more expensive properties.

You might want to look at household formation. A lot of houses outside the “trendy neighborhoods” barely appreciated over the past decade. Those out of the way neighborhoods are now very trendy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:People were moving out of urban areas because initially that's were the largest covid outbreaks were. DC is one big city so it is hard to compare it to states that have a mixture of urban and rural areas.

Not sure this is true. COVID may have exacerbated the trend but the trend started pre-COVID. Rate of DC population increase peaked in 2015 and has been declining steadily since. In 2019, pre-COVID, there was effectively zero population growth. In 2020 DC lost about 17,000 residents. Now in 2021, when those who moved out were supposed to have returned, DC lost even more residents, 20,000. I would not be surprised to see DC lose 25,000 residents in 2022.

It’s not a good thing for a city and instead of blaming COVID, I would hope that DC starts thinking about how to improve the quality of life in the city.

When people pointed out the secular downward population trend and the 2020 population loss in real time, the response was that it was just college students. Everything was supposed to return to normal in October 2020, but it didn’t.
https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/981001.page#20230921

Then, everything was supposed to return to normal after Labor Day 2021. When it was pointed out in real time that 2021 was going poorly for DC, the response varied from no big deal to people were rooting for DC to fail.
https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1004188.page

Now we know that 2021 was worse than 2020 in terms of population and as I see in the responses here the denial continues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:People were moving out of urban areas because initially that's were the largest covid outbreaks were. DC is one big city so it is hard to compare it to states that have a mixture of urban and rural areas.

Not sure this is true. COVID may have exacerbated the trend but the trend started pre-COVID. Rate of DC population increase peaked in 2015 and has been declining steadily since. In 2019, pre-COVID, there was effectively zero population growth. In 2020 DC lost about 17,000 residents. Now in 2021, when those who moved out were supposed to have returned, DC lost even more residents, 20,000. I would not be surprised to see DC lose 25,000 residents in 2022.

It’s not a good thing for a city and instead of blaming COVID, I would hope that DC starts thinking about how to improve the quality of life in the city.

Are real estate prices falling? Seems a contradiction to have fewer residents but more expensive properties.

You might want to look at household formation. A lot of houses outside the “trendy neighborhoods” barely appreciated over the past decade. Those out of the way neighborhoods are now very trendy.

I distinctly remember having a conversation with a colleague around 2016 or 2017, marveling about TH listings in Bloomingdale being similar in price to AU Park and even a few Spring Valley listings at the time. In retrospect it was a good time to buy in one of those neighborhoods because prices jumped since Covid.

[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.

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

My ex-husband left DC to move to TX. He's been there 6 months and is putting his TX house on the market in January. He HATES TX. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

I have several employees who left DC and gave up their rentals. They are now all moving back because we will open in Feb 2022.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC also had the longest school closures in the country. People left so their kids could get an education.

Typical DCUM responder who thinks the whole universe revolves around their kids. The overwhelming majority of DC residents don’t have kids in the public schools, and there’s no evidence that the majority of the 20,000 residents who left had kids in the school system.