What’s to love about high taxes, high cost of living, high regulations, and business-killing coronavirus mandates? Nothing. That’s why many of America’s small business owners and entrepreneurs are leaving blue state cities where their retirement savings are treated like a piggy bank for politicians. They want to choose their own retirement life.
They’re moving to red state cities where governors and mayors look at business and entrepreneurs as something to be nurtured, not targeted for redistribution.
One of the newest destinations for Americans fleeing their city is Nashville, Tennessee, and its suburbs. Beth DeCarbo reports in The Wall Street Journal:
In downtown Franklin, Tenn., a giant Christmas tree and Victorian-era storefronts draw flocks of shoppers in search of very merry merchandise. This chic charm is wooing scores of new home buyers, too.
“We love the downtown,” says Daniel Piraino. “We love being outside, walking early and late and feeling secure.” He and his wife, Laura Piraino, moved from Wilmington, Del., to Franklin last year and recently paid $2.1 million for a roughly 6,000-square-foot brownstone that is located just off Main Street.
The Pirainos—he owns an aviation business and she is a pastor—bought a weekend home in 2018 after attending a fundraiser in Franklin. Mr. Piraino, 50, says he felt that God called them to move there full time, which they did last year. They sold their vacation home for $1.8 million. “We have met a lot of people since we’ve been here. We remark on how welcoming people are. Every time we turn around somebody’s trying to introduce us to someone new.”
In November, the median price for a single-family home in Franklin was $628,000, up 14.6% compared with November 2019, according to the Williamson County Association of Realtors. In nearby Brentwood, which, like Franklin, is in Williamson County, the median was $1.025 million, up about 28% from the year before. Demand has reduced inventory in both cities, which is driving up prices.
The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated sales throughout the county, real-estate agents say. But the relocation and expansion of corporate headquarters in recent years also attracted professionals. Nissan North America and Mitsubishi North America are both based in Williamson County, as are Mars Petcare and Tractor Supply Co. Two of the county’s largest employers are Community Health Systems, which operates acute-care hospitals in 16 states, and Randstad USA, an employment and recruitment agency.
“With low taxes and relatively low home prices, when compared on a national level, people from New York, Chicago and L.A. see a lot of value,” says Cindy Stanton, principal broker of Parks Real Estate in Brentwood.
Coronavirus more than anything else has shown cities and states that they must compete for the tax dollars of the most productive Americans. If they abuse those producers like Chicago, New York, and LA have done, they will be deserted en masse by the very taxpayers they need to survive.
Action Line: Be sure you are treated like a customer by your city, and not like an ATM. Look for a better America today.
