Escaping to the Northern Forest: Migration and Community Implications in the Time of COVID
Nearly a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, popular press and local anecdotes continue to paint a picture of people fleeing urban spaces to take refuge in amenity-rich, rural regions. Fear of contracting the virus has paired with a new unlinking of employment from geography and a renewed appreciation for outdoor recreation, spurring moves into rural spaces, including the Northern Forest region. However, regional stakeholders have thus far been unable to quantify this migration.
Community and economic development professionals from across the region suggest that understanding how many people have moved into communities and their characteristics will highlight challenges and opportunities for serving movers, supporting locals, and sustaining communities. Beyond this specific wave of migration, identifying factors that “pull” migrants into one part of the region over another helps inform stakeholders’ long-term planning for future migration, including in response to climate change, natural disasters, and impending waves of generational retirements.
NSRC researchers will estimate patterns of COVID-era migration into the Northern Forest region, identify the extent of migration, the socio-demographic characteristics of migrants, and the features of communities that have attracted the greatest number of migrants. By using multiple sources of administrative, sales, survey, tax, and interview data, researchers will analyze migration in each county within the Northern Forest, for groups of communities, and for the entire region. Community and economic development stakeholders across four states will serve as informal advisors and will benefit from the research and recommendations emerging from this project.