Moving is an American legacy. From the early colonists to today’s global expatriates, highly mobile residents have given our nation a reputation for relocation.
Nineteenth Century Europeans were especially intrigued by Americans’ penchant for uprooting. In his book “Democracy in America,” Alexis de Tocqueville ponders why Americans were so restless: “In the United States, a man builds a house in which to spend his old age, and he sells it before the roof is on . . . he settles in a place, which he soon afterwards leaves to carry his changeable longings elsewhere.”
Indeed, Americans swap addresses often.
Mobility may have peaked in the 1950s when about 20 percent of the population moved each year. Although U.S. mobility has edged down to a current rate of about 16 percent, it remains high compared to other countries, reports Larry Long, a demographer with the U.S. Census Bureau.
In Britain, Sweden, Switzerland and France, about 10 to 11 percent of the population moves each year. In Austria and the Netherlands, annual mobility fluctuates around 7 to 8 percent. The Irish are even more firmly planted with only 6 percent of the population moving annually.
Size has a lot do with our wanderlust. In the United States, many metros areas exist in competition with each other.
“Some areas are always growing faster than others and attracting migrants,” explains Long. Mobility rates are also high in Canada and Australia, for similar reasons.
In many ways, high mobility serves as lifeblood for the U.S. real estate industry, fueling a number of business sectors. The shifting population creates a liquidity in our housing stock that many countries don’t have.
It’s easy to find a place to live because space is constantly being vacated. We move because we can.
Today’s primary motivation for moving is the same carrot that dangled before our ancestors’ noses: economic opportunity.
“It’s the same as 200 years ago. People are looking for a better lifestyle,” observes Toni Leinberger, director of research at United Van Lines in Fenton, Mo.
While long-distance moves typically are in pursuit of opportunity, local moves tend to reflect progress up the economic ladder. For example, college students gravitate from dormitories to apartments; renters buy homes; and owners upgrade from starter homes in modest neighborhoods to more luxurious lodgings.
“Moving is really an outward sign of economic status,” says Leinberger. Of course, downsizing may result from a reversal in fortune.
Overall mobility tends to increase with an expanding economy.
“Good times generate more migration than bad times,” says Long. Destination, however, is always in flux with comings and goings affected by regional economies.
In the 1850s, the Gold Rush made California a magnet while the Homestead Act of 1862 enticed farmers to take advantage of cheap land on the Great Plains.
Fast forward to 1995: Nevada, Oregon, Arizona, North Carolina and Georgia were the states attracting the highest shipments of household goods, according to the American Moving and Storage Association, an industry group based in Alexandria, Va.
At the same time, outbound shipments of household goods were highest in New York, North Dakota, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and South Dakota.
On the broader geographic scale, two trends have emerged in recent years: greater migration to non-metro areas, a trend demographers dub the rural rebound, and dynamic growth in international relocation as more U.S. companies set up shop abroad.
Fortunately, wherever you’re headed, the physical process of moving has improved drastically over the decades, thanks to technology.
United Van Lines has been installing a satellite-based tracking and communication system in its fleet during the last five years. Drivers, once dependent on finding roadside phone booths to communicate with dispatchers, can now receive and transmit messages via computers inside their trucks.
Better communication translates into better service, says Cliff Saxton, United’s vice president of corporate communications.
Drivers might be able to stop en route and pick up a new load, a boon for someone trying to get across the country in a hurry. The system also allows van lines to more precisely update consumers on the whereabouts of their possessions and arrival time.
For anyone who has had to sit around in a vacant house for hours on end waiting for movers to show up, this is a big step forward.
At North American Van Lines, new software is helping reduce the paper chase associated with long-distance moves. Used on laptop computers with electronic touch screens, the program helps agents estimate weight more accurately and helps drivers keep track of inventory, explains Mike Gunkel, vice president of corporate marketing at North American in Ft. Wayne, Ind.
Of course, not everyone uses professional movers. Those seeking to cut costs still rely on family and friends who are willing to lend their muscles for free beer and pizza.
How much of a financial toll does a move actually take? That all depends.
“Do they have mahogany furniture or pressboard?” asks Paula Felbein, marketing manager at Allied Van Lines in Naperville.
It is safe to say, however, that local moves are fractionally cheaper than long-distance relocations because costs are a simple calculation of manpower and hours. Weight and distance complicate cross-country hauls.
Since the moving industry deregulated in 1980, consumers have benefited from more competitive pricing. However, there is also more to be moved. Average interstate shipments were 7,262 pounds in 1995, having jumped from 5,645 pounds in 1977, according to the American Moving & Storage Association.
Moving officials chalk up the heftier loads partially to larger houses: The more room people have, the more possessions they seem to accumulate.
A couple of decades ago, families owned a single television set. Today’s home entertainment explosion has resulted in multiple televisions as well as stereo systems, computers, printers and other electronic devices. Filling up vans even more are new forms of recreational equipment such as treadmills, exercise bikes and snowmobiles.
Summer continues to be high season for pulling up stakes. About 60 percent of United’s business is generated between mid-May and mid-September because parents don’t want to disrupt routines of school-age children.
Who’s moving hasn’t changed a great deal over the decades. Younger people, especially between the ages of 20 and 29, are the most likely candidates for relocation. People with higher levels of education also move frequently because they attract more job opportunities.
Although the demographic snapshot has remained largely the same, family structures have shifted. More singles, unmarried and same-sex partners, and single-parent households, have blurred the former Ozzie and Harriet family stereotype as relocatees. These changes affect both policies from employers and services requested from relocation companies.
Attitudes have also altered over the years. From the corporate perspective, the role and status of expatriates has escalated dramatically.
“Currently companies are viewing international experience as a prerequisite to moving ahead in the company,” says Maneesh Limaye at Organization Resources Counselors, a New York relocation firm specializing in compensation. “To get into the executive suite you’re going to need some type of international experience.”
Yet while an international assignment may have become more important, it has also become more problematic. Not everyone is willing to pack their bags and head overseas for a year or more.
According to a survey by Windham International and the National Foreign Trade Council, the number of married expatriates declined in 1996 for the first time ever–and the number of married expatriates going overseas without their families increased slightly. These shifts were chalked up to the increasing number of dual-career families.
Likewise, on the domestic front, more employees are turning down transfers if they think their families will suffer.
Indeed, Americans today seem to have a love-hate relationship with mobility. Although we continue to uproot, it’s hardly on our list of cherished activities.
“Moving is jarring. It gets down to basic issues of familiarity and security,” says Joan Starker, a clinical social worker in Portland, Ore. Both your routine and your social network are disrupted by a move, says Starker, who conducts relocation workshops for employers.
Disorientation begins with the packing process. As more of your possessions disappear into cartons, it becomes increasingly more difficult to function.
How about a cup of tea to calm your nerves? Fat chance. Your teapot has already been encrypted in one of a dozen boxes labeled “kitchen.” Try to guess which one.
After you’ve arrived at your destination, the chaos begins again and is usually worse because there are no assigned places for things, say veteran movers. There’s also a sense of urgency because people want to get out and explore their new surroundings. Or at the very least, find a grocery store and stock up on the basics.
Which brings up another problem: losing your way. New streets and new stores translate into geographic shock. Even moving across town is disorienting. “If you haven’t explored an area before, why would you know it?” asks Leslie Levine, author of “Will This Place Ever Feel Like Home?” being published this fall by Dearborn Publishing.
Parents tend to worry most about how long-distance moves will affect their children. Yet it doesn’t matter whether the move is across town or across the country. “If children have to change schools, it’s just as big a deal for them,” says Frederic Medway, a psychology professor at University of South Carolina.
Some personalities are simply more adept at moving than others, says Scott Haas, a clinical psychologist in Cambridge, Mass., specializing in international relocation.
Someone who is open-minded and self-directed, who doesn’t need the same things at the same time every day, is a better candidate for a move, he explains.
Attitudes are also influenced by the reasons for relocating and how much input you’ve had in the decision.
“The people who get most upset about moving are those who have little control–the children or the spouse,” says Medway.
Despite the inherent stress, moving in itself doesn’t require therapy, says Medway: “You don’t hear about people winding up in the mental hospital because they had to move.” Still, he agrees that support is important, which is one reason he believes moving is easier today.
“Real estate agents are more sensitive to the psychological side of moving,” he says. Instead of being exclusively financially based, agents are concerned with making customers happy after the sale. Relocation companies also are providing more support for partners and families.
In the international arena, there is greater emphasis on both partners involved in the relocation as well as the family, reports Diane McPherson, editor of the Relocation Journal, a monthly trade publication based in Newburyport, Mass.
“In the past, the husband would come home and say, `Honey, we’re moving to Istanbul,’ and the wife was expected to pick up and go. Today companies realize a successful foreign assignment is determined by the entire family, not just the individual.”
To that end, employers are offering more assistance to family members such as cross cultural and language training.
Starker points out that the prevalence of e-mail and faxes makes for smoother moves.
“Social networks are more portable today,” she says.
If things are getting better, why is there so much concern over the downside of moving? Are Americans getting soft?
No, says Haas, pointing out that our forefathers were not as sensitive to family issues. When the husband walked in and announced he wanted to move to Montana, the wife and children didn’t have a lot of input.
“Today families have changed,” says Haas. “Thank goodness.”
