Americans who live in “empty”states, would you ever move to a more populated state? Why?

26 comments

1. Nope.

   I deal with no traffic, no neighbors, no nothin. I have my own private slice of the mountains. I love it.

2. I did that kind of, the traffic isn’t worth it.

3. No. I told my wife if we moved anywhere I’d actually want to move to a place with less population density, like Montana. Cities were fun in my 20s but now I like the space and solitude.

4. Hell no.

5. Depends a lot on the populated state. Of the places I’ve lived, I liked Washington most, then Vermont, New York, and lastly South Carolina. The main benefit of Vermont was that the people were so much more friendly than anywhere else I’ve been. The entire state feels like one big village and you can count on most people to have your back.

6. No thanks, I prefer the quiet calm of my rural states.

   Vermont is great because I can buy milk straight from the farmer and see stars at night, but people don’t think hurricanes are caused by gay marriage.

7. Vermont isn’t exactly deserted, but overall the population density is the lowest in the east except Maine (the northern portion of which is absolutely empty). I live in one of the more sparsely populated regions of the state.

   But no, I’m not moving away. I came here for the space, peace, quiet, low traffic, clean air, nature and dark night skies. I’ve lived in cities and suburbs and I’m done with all that hassle. There’s certain things you have to give up living in a place like this, but the trade-offs are worth it to me and my wife.

8. I only recently moved to a less populated state but I lived in a somewhat less-populated part of Texas before. I like the solitude, honestly so I’d love to stay rural if I can. I grew up in a big city and I love VB and still have friends there but I prefer having room to breathe.

9. I would like to be *more* rural.

10. Many Americans who live in empty states do move to more populated states for money, education, and resources/services. Both statistical and anecdotal accounts back this up.

    The benefit of not living near a major city are little to no traffic, if services are available (e.g. plumbing) you get a full accounting what to expect or will happen, and if you fit with the majority the public services are less frustrating*. Worked in Wyoming for a year, I’m never going back.

    * if you’re not its fucking hell. Lets just say there is a reason many minorities do not move to empty states and those that do live there often leave if given the opportunity.

11. Montana sucks, tell your friends!

12. I wish I could do the opposite though I’m not exactly in a empty state, it could be much more populated I guess. It’s rural enough.

13. Not a chance.

    As far as the biggest benefit of living away from big cities is, living away from big cities. It’s a reward itself.

14. [deleted]

15. me personally, i am exorbitantly lonely and want more chances to meet people. also wanna not drive multiple hours to go somewhere fun. also the only college in my area is one community college 20 minutes away. id love to try public transportation but i’ll probably still keep a car somehow.

    benefits are it’s quiet i suppose, and i guess i appreciate things more considering how far i have to travel to do things.

    edit: i am raised in a quiet place with lower population and lots of land between houses, someone who moved to the quiet states would probably say they prefer it which is great but i’ve never known anything different and it’s been quite boring personally.

16. I live in Metro Atlanta. Its population is about 5 million. That’s the perfect size for me. Lots to do but not too big like LA or New York.

17. I moved from an overly populated state to a smaller one. If my health as more stable I’d maybe go somewhere even smaller but I have to stay in areas with robust healthcare so this is probably as small as I can go

18. I used to live in NYC. I grew up next to a fire truck station.

    New Hampshire is so peaceful and full of nature. I’m not moving back 🤣

    It’s not perfect, everywhere has its problems. But I’ve really liked living here.

19. Yes, im moving to a more populated state very soon. I don’t like it here

20. By the way, I think this is a good question.

21. There is *no* benefit to living near a “major city” to me at all. I’ve lived in cities of 2.5m, and within a casual drive of NYC, DC, and Chicago. Great places to visit for a day or weekend, but I would never want to live in a big city. In fact, I have worked to get into progressively *smaller* cities for decades…down from 1.5M to 100,000K to 50K and for the last decade a bit under 10,000 people. My goal is to retire in a town of <5,000 people that is a county seat, so the largest town for many miles around. Ideally, in fact, I’d like to be on a few acres maybe 5-10 minutes *outside* of a small town.

    Almost everything that is wrong with life in the US is a function of there being too damned many people, and people not knowing their neighbors. If I can get far, far away from most people the odds of my having a good day are much higher. So that’s the benefit. In my current small town I know the mayor, police chief, fire chief, high school principal, and many business owners personally. I can walk downtown and see people I know. There is one grocery, two gas stations, one clinic, three good restaurants, two crappy bars, and a few churches. If I need catsup or coffee or a steak I can drive to the grocery store in three minutes. My commute is <5 minutes. If I needed to call 911 the resonse would be <5 minutes and the odds are good I’d know the cop, firefighter, or EMT who came to the door. It’s quiet at night, we don’t lock the doors unless we’re leaving overnight, and “crime” is typically kids stealing lawn ornaments or domestics (which happen everywhere).

    The benefit of not living in a major city is exactly that: not having to live in a city. If I want anything a city can offer– and we do like museums, theater, great food, etc. –I have a car and am happy to drive 90 miles to have those things. Which I do maybe once a month. The rest of the time I can see all the headaches of city living (which I’ve experienced firsthand before) on the TV news and think “Yep, glad I don’t live there!”

22. I’m not sure if you’d define Utah as “empty” or not, but I sure as hell wouldn’t want to live anywhere more full.

23. States are very big places, the size of countries. I live in a rural area in Michigan, I’m 70 miles from a city with more than 3,000 people.

    It’s quiet. There’s zero traffic. I can get 95% of what I could get at stores in the city. It’s cheap. It’s extremely peaceful, I’m surrounded by nature. Northern lights, bald eagles, tons of lakes and rivers, forests fill tens of thousands of acres surrounding me. Hiking trails, fishing spots, etc.

    I have no desire to live in the city ever again. I don’t need the commotion, the expense, the traffic, the crowds. I can go to the city every few months for a game or concert and that’s enough for me.

24. I’ve lived in Montana my whole life. I have visited a few cities. While I see the benefits to some of it I just don’t understand how people handle the commutes and congestion. Heavy traffic here is light traffic in a city.

    I have considered moving just because medical care is a crap shoot here and I have some uncommon illnesses.

25. I moved from a city of 1.5M to a town of 20,000.

    It’s definitely different. I feel like I could get used to it if it wasn’t so miserably hot, and the people here didn’t keep voting for Matt Gaetz

26. I live in rual Arkansas. After visiting my uncle in Little Rock for the weekend, I was amazed by being able to walk everywhere. The city seemed amazing. Then I house sat for him a few months later, and I absolutely hated it. There’s no quiet, it’s always bright outside, you can’t see any stars, and everything seemed so crowded, especially the roads. I’ll stick with my small town.