•July 22, 2020•
By Jim Nowlan
NP Guest Columnist

As I walked a country road near my rural town this past week, a local slowed his pickup alongside me. “We’re moving to Florida, Jim.” He paused, then: “Illinois is not well managed, you know.” Three weeks ago, a hugely successful commodities trader friend, who lives in splendor on a big swath of Lake Michigan in Lake Forest, called: “Jim, we’re moving to Florida. It’s the taxes and the weather. And I can work from there.”
Illinois’ population has grown only slightly since 1970 – from 11.1 million then to 12.67 million today. The U.S. population, meanwhile, has increased from 205.1 million to 328.2 million during that same time. The population growth in Illinois has been augmented largely by Latinos and Asian-Americans. Illinois’ white population has dropped from 8.9 million in 1970 to 7.5 million today.
People move for many reasons. Weather is obviously part of it, though Minnesota has harsher winters and higher taxes, yet has been gaining population. Minnesota is better managed than Illinois, and citizens there apparently sense it.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.