I’m not sure what the London Daily Mail has against Ann Arbor, but Treetown is on the tabloid’s no-go list for climate change refugees. The Daily Mail specifically warned would-be climate refugees to bypass Burlington, VT and Whoville on the Huron for cheaper pastures. Duluth, MN is still ok, though.
The Mail’s big complaint? The price of housing is astronomical, and the cost of living here is nothing to write home about either. (I disagree.) According to recent data compiled by Go Banking Rates, the cost of living in Ann Arbor is 6% higher than the national average and 17% higher than the state average. (Actually, it’s more like 20%).
Climate refugees looking for a good real estate deal will not find one in Ann Arbor. Then again, a non-climate refugee or even just a person looking for a place to live will also not find good real estate deals in Ann Arbor – and several other areas in Washtenaw County.
I wrote about climate refugees last year, and how- if the infrastructure in Washtenaw County were properly planned and built out – we could see a large influx of people who want to escape the worst impacts of a changing climate.
This isn’t me being hyperbolic. A recent Forbes Home survey asked 2,000 adults about what – hypothetically – would make them move in the next year. 30% of respondents said “climate change” and 34% of respondents said “better weather.” So, nearly two-thirds of people identified weather and/or climate change as the reason they could envision a hypothetical move in the next 12 months. Not a new job or family reasons. Not even retirement.
Climate change and/or weather.
A Forbes Home survey is not rigorously scientific, but it shows that people are thinking closely about what would make them pack up and leave.
Climate change will cause rapid migration to less affected areas
Another interesting outcome of the survey was that more than half of those who had relocated in the previous two years indicated that their move was “unexpected.”
Again – Washtenaw County is one of the places that will – at least climate-wise – be relatively unaffected by the worst impacts of climate change. Models show that temperature, humidity levels, weather patterns and other characteristics of climate change will not massively transform the Great Lakes region. It would be a desirable place to be, if there were more houses here, and they didn’t cost a kidney.
The solution is really not as simple as building some houses, though. Major infrastructure planning and construction, along with significant economic development has to take place. And this is not some far-away future. This mass migration away from the coasts could happen in the next two decades.
Why wait? Why aren’t we doing these things right now in anticipation of a large migration of people away from areas that have become less inhabitable or plain uninhabitable. Washtenaw Community College could play an important role in creating the workforce we will need to support a major influx of people.
Opportunity knocks. Once. (Besides, who wants to live in Duluth?)
Photo Credit: Sharon Mollerus , via Flickr
