Over the last year, media has been flooded with stories about homeowners and renters fleeing big cities like New York for smaller cities, suburban towns and warmer locations.
Recently, LinkedIn shared a graphic that purports to answer the question, “Where are people moving amid the pandemic?”
Using data that charts the inflow-outflow ratio in 38 U.S. metropolitan areas from April 2020 to February 21, it has compiled a top 10 list of areas with the largest percentage gains in net arrivals.
Milwaukee is No. 7 on that list, with a 5.1 percent increase, though the graph doesn’t denote the period it used for comparison. So, take it with a grain of salt, I guess.
But I think it just might be true, considering anecdotal evidence I’ve casually collected from friends looking to buy homes.
In the neighborhoods around my home on the city’s west side, a for sale sign usually is capped with an “accepted offer” sign within a day or two of being hammered into a front lawn. Yesterday, I saw a for sale sign go up in a front yard with the accepted offer sign already on it!
Friends in search of homes are reporting astonishing asking prices and multiple above-asking-price offers. In some cases there are more than a dozen offers on homes the day they hit the market. The key, I’m told, is to find a way to learn of “coming soon” homes before everyone else does.
If that’s what it’s like here, imagine what is going on in the top six metros above Milwaukee on the LinkedIn list: Salt Lake City (12.3 percent gain!), Jacksonville, Florida (10.8), Richmond, Virginia (6.1), Sacramento (6.1), Cleveland (6) and Tampa Bay (5.7).
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
