Follow the sun?

     With the weather we have had the past week is it any wonder that our mobility has caused a migration to warmer states?  Wouldn't the view above of the setting sun in Key West that I took a couple of weeks ago be appealing after our near zero weather?  Trust me, I have been wondering why we choose to live through our winters since my return.
      When you look at how mobile we have become and how easy it is to travel around our country it should not be surprising that our population migration has been in the direction toward warmer climates.  The South and West have had a growth rate four times the Northeast and Midwest.  Last year Florida passed New York as the third most populated state in the United States.  As recently as 1960 New York was the state with the most population.  Now the three most populated states are all warm climate states of California, Texas and Florida.  Look at the chart below of the all cold weather states with the slowest population growth:

41	New Hampshire	1,326,813	1,316,470	+0.79%
42	Pennsylvania	12,787,209	12,702,379	+0.67%
43	Connecticut	3,596,677	3,574,097	+0.63%
44	Ohio	11,594,163	11,536,504	+0.50%
45	Illinois	12,880,580	12,830,632	+0.39%
46	Michigan	9,909,877	9,883,640	+0.27%
47	Rhode Island	1,055,173	1,052,567	+0.25%
48	Vermont	626,562	625,741	+0.13%
49	Maine	1,330,089	1,328,361	+0.13%
50	West Virginia	1,850,326	1,852,994	−0.14%

     Maryland is just above the national average for population growth primarily because of the growth in the Washington DC suburbs.  Immigrant growth in our state and Howard County is a major reason for our population growth.

P.S.
     HoCo trash and recycling schedule sliding one day this week because of snow storm.
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