In “Understanding Migration Trends to Prepare for the Post-Pandemic Future,” policy economist Stephan D. Whitaker of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland lays out why high population retention, a high degree of home ownership and a coming wave of retirement funds bode well for metros such as Pittsburgh, Dayton, Cleveland, Erie, Columbus, Youngstown and Cincinnati in the era of remote work and domestic migration slowdown. His analysis of the Cleveland Fed’s Fourth District (Ohio, western Pennsylvania, eastern Kentucky and the northern panhandle of West Virginia) includes a look at international migration and nuanced takes on typical understandings of boomeranging (returning to your home city after giving it a go in expensive coastal locations) and retention. Ultimately, he reasons, “It appears that people who have more ability to choose their location are more likely to choose home.”
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