Moving ‘em west

North Adams, Mass., in the Berkshires, well past its factory town prosperity.

From Robert Whitcomb’s “Digital Diary,’’ in GoLocal24.com

Massachusetts state Sen.  Eric Lesser, of Longmeadow, has filed a bill in the legislature to reimburse people up to $10,000 for costs associated with moving to one of four counties in the western Bay State and, The Boston Globe reports, “work from home or in a co-working space there.’’ The idea is to get energetic and educated people from prosperous Greater Boston to move to poorer western Massachusetts -- poorer in part because of the long decline in the region’s once thriving manufacturing sector. Senator Lesser hopes that his proposal could help reinvigorate the area, many of whose residents see state government as far too dominated by rich and densely populated Greater Boston.

Senator Lesser got the idea from a similar program now in effect in Vermont, which has so far paid out a modest $125,000 to reimburse folks to move to the thinly populated Green Mountain State. Mr. Lesser’s scheme calls for spending no more than $1 million over three years.

I think that governmental financial incentives, such as special tax breaks or even the aforementioned “bribes’’ to move, have less effect than you might think. Proximity to family, friends and desirable jobs is paramount.
Meanwhile, we’re still at only the start of the climate-refugee era. As scientists discuss regions, such as New England and the Upper Midwest, that will suffer less from accelerating global warming, a few people are leaving such places as Florida’s ever more frequently flooded low-lying coast and Houston’s inundated plains and heading north to live. Their numbers will surge after hurricanes.