Midwest Migration

5 Top Midwest Stories This Week From Changing Gears

Politics is front of mind here in the Midwest. We’re also thinking about what to wear, watch, and where our friends went. Here’s a roundup of our top Changing Gears stories this week.

WiSCONSIN: Niala Boodhoo went to Madison, where she showed us how union members are still protesting a year after Gov. Scott Walker eliminated public employee collective bargaining rights. She reported on how they’re faring.

RIGHT TO WORK: Indiana is now the nation’s 23rd Right to Work state, only two months after Gov. Mitch Daniels made the legislation one of his top priorities. Will Michigan be next?

MIDWEST MIGRATION: Our Public Insight team has been tracking the stories of people who’ve left our states. There’s still time for our exiles to call us and leave messages for the folks back home. Meanwhile, read much more on our dedicated page.

T-SHIRTS: If you seek a Midwest t-shirt, look about you. Dustin Dwyer found our states are chock full of small companies making t-shirts that represent our region.

DIY DETROIT: Have you found that all those documentary films about Detroit are starting to look the same? Dustin offers you a how-to kit for making your own Detroit documentary.

Finally, a shout out to Troy “Trombone Shorty,” who sings the Changing Gears theme. He’s been immortalized by the New Orleans Jazz Fest.

FILED UNDER: Communities, Government, Industry, Jobs, Politics, Your Story, Detroit, Indiana, Midwest Migration, t-shirts, Trombone Shorty, Wisconsin

February 3, 2012 | 11:32 AM | By Sarah Alvarez

Conflicting Feelings About Growing Up in the Midwest

Name:Geoffrey Taylor
Midwest Home: Sioux City, IA
New Home: Eddyville, OR

My knowledge of my hatred of and my love of the Midwest is informed by many years spent there.

My high school is now a vacant lot, where scabrous alley cats urinate in the dirt, and the cold wind blows old papers in the same spot where I had to study algebra. Yet my mind goes back to the room where Miss Edith Pollock taught me how to write.

I love Sioux City so much it hurts. I wish to hurt it back.

Would I move back to the Midwest? Not if they made me the governor of Iowa. Not for a million dollars in cash. Not at gunpoint. Not if I got to relive it all, and be a teenager again. But the memories of that place and time are precious.

FILED UNDER: News, Your Story, Midwest Migration

February 2, 2012 | 11:06 AM | By Meg Cramer

Surviving Layoffs and Leaving Anyway, “The Writing Was on the Wall”

Name: Stephany Wilkes
Midwest Home: Michigan
New Home: San Francisco, CA

I left Michigan in August 2001 after my employer, Borders.com, sold their online division to Amazon and laid off most of my colleagues. Though I was not among them, the writing was on the wall.

In addition, I didn’t find Midwest work culture particularly friendly or flexible. There is thinking that one should be grateful to have a job, any job, no matter how awful it might be.

: Stephany Wilkes

I moved to San Francisco in 2007 where I work in data science and software development.

Being in San Francisco and the Bay Area has made me realize that geography does still matter. I am not sure how I would find the number of highly skilled, highly educated engineers I need in Michigan. I wouldn’t be able to conduct frequent meetings with venture capitalists on short notice. I’ve also fallen in love with the Bay Area’s “work to live” culture, its mild weather, the huge diversity of people and lifestyles, and other quality of life aspects.

FILED UNDER: Communities, Your Story, Midwest Migration

February 1, 2012 | 12:26 PM | By Micki Maynard

To Our Friends Who Left The Midwest: Don’t Forget To Call Us!

Everybody who lives in the Midwest knows somebody who moved away — and maybe you’re one of those folks. All this month, Changing Gears has been bringing you the personal stories of that Midwest Migration, here and on our dedicated page.

Now, we want to hear what people who left have to say to the folks back home. That’s the reason for Don’t Forget To Call Us.

All this week, dial in with messages for your family, your friends, your hometown, your school, your buddies at work — anything you feel like sharing. We’ll post your voices here on ChangingGears.info, and we also may put your greeting on the air.

Now through Friday, call (888) YOUR-NPR OR (888) 968-7677. Don’t forget to call us!

FILED UNDER: Your Story, Don't Forget To Call Us, Midwest Migration

February 1, 2012 | 11:17 AM | By Sarah Alvarez

Holding on to Midwest Roots in New York City

Name: Sam Osterhout
Midwest Home: Minneapolis, MN
New Home: New York, NY

I was living in Minneapolis, but had grown up in Kansas. I used words like “I-90” and “3-2 beer” in every day conversation (but not usually in the same sentence). I knew several hot dish recipes. I had owned three snow blowers. I was doing a show in Minneapolis called The Electric Arc Radio Show, and in 2007 we took it to New York City. (It’s now Radio Happy Hour.)

One of the New Yorkers who came out the first night was a woman. She was a friend of a friend and we were smitten from the beginning. After carrying on long distance for a year, I moved to NY in 2008 to be with her and to pursue more writing work. In 2009 I married that audience member, friend-of-a-friend I met at my first show in New York, and last November we had a little girl named Ruby.

Every day I think about how different her childhood will be from mine. She’s a New Yorker, for the love of God! I had my first taxi ride when I was 16. She had her first taxi ride when she was one day old. Will she someday look past New Jersey and only see California? Not if I can help it.

FILED UNDER: Communities, Your Story, Midwest Migration

January 31, 2012 | 11:05 AM | By Meg Cramer

A “Midwestern Boy at Heart” Riding Out the Recession in Maryland

Name: Ben Bradley
Midwest Home: Minneapolis, MN
New Home: Maryland

I graduated with a degree in Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities in May of 2009. I had been applying for jobs in the Twin Cities area and the Midwest in general since the previous October, but hadn’t gotten a single interview.

After I graduated I continued to apply for jobs and ended up spending 9 months unemployed. By that point I had started applying to any engineering job that I was qualified for, and some that I wasn’t.

I eventually got an interview and was offered a job working on flight tests for the Navy in Maryland. The economy is booming where I live now, thanks almost exclusively to defense spending. Economically, I am in a much better position than I was, but I don’t quite fit in with the local culture.

I would love to move back to the Midwest. I grew up there and prefer the culture to that of the east coast. I’m a Midwestern boy at heart, but it seems like there aren’t any jobs for me there right now. It is my hope that once the economy picks up a bit more, I will be able to find a job in the Twin Cities.

Read more Midwest Migration stories on our dedicated page. If you or someone you know has left the Midwest add your own story.

FILED UNDER: Communities, Your Story, Midwest Migration

January 30, 2012 | 11:13 AM | By Meg Cramer

Finding the Right Cultural Vibe After a Reluctant Move

Name: Zoe Johnson
Midwest Home: Detroit, MI
New Home: Portland, OR

My former husband worked for a company which was a support arm of the auto industry. We left the city of Detroit in 2007 and moved to Portland. I have mixed feelings about the move but overall it was a good choice. I am self-employed which has been challenging.

My youngest daughter, who is 25, just moved from the Metro Detroit area in October of 2011. She had been without employment in Michigan for several years. She found a job immediately after arriving in the Portland Metro area and is much happier overall.

I would not move back to the Midwest. The culture and mindset is much different, the economy has suffered, and the infrastructure is grounded on old belief systems.

The values of the people here in the Pacific Northwest are more closely aligned with my own philosophy and values.

Read more Midwest Migration stories on our dedicated page. If you or someone you know has left the Midwest add your own story.

FILED UNDER: Communities, Your Story, Midwest Migration

January 26, 2012 | 11:32 AM | By Meg Cramer

Midwestern Migrants Are Putting Down Roots in the Sun Belt

Name: Andrew Reed
Midwest Home: Kalamazoo, MI
New Home: Atlanta, GA

I left because there were no jobs in Michigan, and the Sun Belt seemed to be thriving by comparison. A secondary reason had to do with long, cold, snowy winters. Is it better here? Yes, I think so, although nowhere is good in this depressed economy.

I have two sons who were born and raised in Georgia, and I bought a small farm here almost three years ago. I have two sisters back in Michigan, as well as many friends, and I go to visit every few years, but I will not move back there.

Read more Midwest Migration stories on our dedicated page. If you or someone you know has left the Midwest add your own story.

FILED UNDER: Communities, Your Story, Midwest Migration

January 25, 2012 | 12:40 PM | By Meg Cramer

Michigan Has a Teacher Surplus and Other States Are Taking Notice

In 2011, Michigan certified 7,980 teachers. According to the Michigan Education Association, about 5,000 of those newly-certified teachers left Michigan to find work. That’s because the job market is shrinking—the number of public school teachers in the state has dropped by 9 percent since 2005.

Matthew Corum is one of the teachers who left after graduating. Find out why he left, where he went, and how he ended up with so many job offers in so few days.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Read more stories about the Midwest Migration, or share your own story about leaving the region.

FILED UNDER: Communities, Your Story, Midwest Migration

January 24, 2012 | 12:11 PM | By Meg Cramer

Leaving for Opportunity Can Mean Other Trade Offs

Name: Julie Martinez
Midwest Home: Cleveland, OH
New Home: Austin, TX

I was very happy in Cleveland with friends and family close by and I didn’t plan on leaving. However, two things happened that changed that. First: After 8 months of looking, I still hadn’t found a permanent full time position. Second: My Texas-born boyfriend became my fiancé and he found a job in Austin. Without a permanent position of my own in the Midwest, I didn’t have much of an argument for staying. In fact, I was able to find a job in Austin with little difficulty.

Is it better than the Midwest? No. If I had the same job in Cleveland or Ann Arbor I guarantee that I’d be happier. Here you are so isolated. It is hard to get used to. It takes a day’s drive just to get out of Texas. I worry about my son’s options for local universities. I worry about access to good health care as I get older. But it is more than just a comparison of which is better—the Midwest or Texas—things just make sense in the Midwest in a way I can’t explain. I guess because it’s home.

Read more Midwest Migration stories on our dedicated page. If you or someone you know has left the Midwest add your own story.