Escape from New York: Twenty Somethings Plan on Leaving the Empire State

According to a recent Marist College poll, a large percentage of persons under the age of thirty plan on leaving New York state within the next five years.

From the New York Daily News.

Escape from New York is not just a movie - it's also a state of mind.A new Marist College poll shows that 36% of New Yorkers under the age of 30 are planning to leave New York within the next five years - and more than a quarter of all adults are planning to bolt the Empire State.

The New York City suburbs, with their high property values and taxes, are leading the exodus, the poll found.

Of those preparing to leave, 62% cite economic reasons like cost of living, taxes - and a lack of jobs.

"A lot of people are questioning the affordability of the state," said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion.

An additional 38% cite climate, quality of life, overcrowding, a desire to be closer to family, retirement or schools.

The latest census showed New York's overall population actually increased, though parts of upstate shed population and jobs.[...]

It's never good news for a region when young adults are making a mass exodus for greener pastures. This can affect your job market and even your housing market adversely. Obviously New York had better start looking for some solutions and realtively quick. Declines don't take as long as people think. Just ask Detroit.

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Obama adminsitration shifts on energy policy.

This is pretty interesting news on the energy front. It seems the Obama administration, presumably under relentless pressure to address rising energy costs, has shifted its view on domestic drilling. Previous plans included an investigation of commodity markets (Which I assume is still going to continue.), removal of subsidies for oil companies to the tune of $21 billion over ten years, and a push for more renewable energy sources. Now they are in favor of more domestic oil drilling.

From the Hill.com.

The White House will take a series of steps — including expediting drilling plans on government lands in Alaska — designed to show that the administration is serious about expanding domestic oil production and lowering gas prices.

President Obama announced Saturday the government would hold annual onshore lease sales in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve; extend the life of leases in the Gulf of Mexico and in some areas off the coast of Alaska for one year; speed up ongoing Interior Department testing in the mid- and south-Atlantic to gauge the level of resources; and establish an interagency task force to coordinate permitting for offshore drilling in Alaska.

The White House is making the policy shifts after taking intense criticism from Republicans in recent weeks over energy policy as gas prices have topped $4 per gallon in some parts of the country. [...]

Obviously more needs to be done. Our country is teeming with natural resources such as natural gas, coal, and shale. All of which can be extracted and refined into fuel, relatively cleanly. Additionally, we can pursue this all while developing a stronger infrastructure for augmentary energy sources such as solar, wind, geo-thermal, bio-fuels, nuclear, etc. Two words which the administration needs to be highlight is "comprehensive" and "domestic."

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