Lauren In Tokyo

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Americans on the move

I don't have any real data to back this up, but my gut feeling is that there is a lot of moving going on back in the U.S.

With the current economic downturn, people are starting to look outside of their current locations for work. That means moving to different cities, sometimes across the country. There was a recent article that claimed DC and Baltimore have a growing job market. San Jose too. As people get more desperate, they are likely to get over their moving anxiety, pull up their roots, and just move to where the jobs are.

If so, we may be seeing a new relocation of the workforce, especially in the tech sector. The tech heavy Northwest and Bay Area may see a small reduction in workers with the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic areas seeing a huge influx.

As these people start moving, it is going to affect housing prices, salary levels, tax income, and other things for the areas affected. It will also bring different cultures directly in contact with each other, which ought to be a good thing overall.

Who knows, maybe my next home in the U.S. will be back in DC.

Monday, July 06, 2009

Oh sure, kick *me* out

I was just kicked out of the Nishi-Kasai public library. It is against the rules to use a PC because it may disturb other patrons.

Nevermind the guy over by the electronic catalog with the 3 bags of garbage and his pants falling off. No, Mr. Library Manager, I'm the one causing a disturbance.

Now I'm at Doutor Coffee getting lung cancer from all the second-hand smoke. At least I now have some air conditioning.