Americans for the moment are still flocking, incredibly, to places like South Florida and the arid West.
There are a few indications of a wave looking for someplace with less exposure to extremes – and they are looking at the upper Midwest.
Below, I spoke to Rolling Stone writer Jeff Goodell about American climate refugees, whom he called “The New Joads”, after the dust bowl migrants in “Grapes of Wrath”.
Municipal politics makes all the difference in the livability of a city. Austin has sensible, forward-thinking politics (building codes, utility management, drainage management, bicycling improvements, election access, etc.). But while it doesn’t get hurricanes and misses the worst of the Texas storms (inland from hurricanes and less harsh than DFW), it’s still getting hotter and hotter as the years pass, so I’m outta here.
The Great Lakes, however, are a bit too far north for me in terms of annual sunlight, so I’m splitting the distance, latitude-wise.