Rural Mobility - Migration, Emotion and Place Attachment

We all make migration decisions. Do we stay in, leave, or return to the place where we grew up? What factors brought us to the place we live now?  My research with people who grew up in rural places has shown that both leaving and staying in our home places are complex and active decisions that are entangled with place attachment, relationships, place-based identity, work and economic conditions, quality of life and recreational factors and even the weather. Increasingly, residential choices are influence by perceptions of climate change and geographical imaginations about landscapes of the future.   

Who are the New Vermonters?

During the COVID-19 pandemic, anecdotal evidence indicated that people were moving from urban areas to suburban and rural places, including Vermont. With a grant from the Jeffords Fund for Policy Studies, research assistant Cal Hale and I conducted focus and individual interviews with people who had moved to Vermont since March 2020.  Analysis of the resulting data is on-going.  Below are some media accounts of initial findings:
​Hurdle, Jon. As Climate Fears Mount, Some in U.S. Are Deciding to Relocate. YaleEnvironment360. March 24, 2022. https://e360.yale.edu/features/as-climate-fears-mount-some-in-u.s.-are-deciding-to-relocate
 
Arntsen, Erlend Ofte. US climate refugees: Done with California. Vergens Gang (VG- Norwegian national paper). March 29, 2022.   https://www.vg.no/nyheter/utenriks/i/dn0z8A/usas-klimaflyktninger-ferdige-med-california
 
McCallum, Kevin. Fave Little State: Climate Migrants From Around America Are Seeking Refuge in Vermont. Seven Days. Jan 12-18, 2022. https://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/IssueArchives?issue=34646955

Vermont Roots Migration

This research began with an on-line social media distributed survey of people who attended high school in Vermont. It asked, "why did you stay in, leave, or return to Vermont?" For detailed findings, presentations, and media coverage, please see the VT Roots Migration website. 

Morse, C. and J. Mudgett. 2018. Happy to be Home: Place Attachment, Family Ties, and Mobility of Contented Rural Stayers. The Professional Geographer, 70 (2), 261-269. 10.1080/00330124.2017.1365309.
Morse, C.  2017. The Emotional Geographies of Global Return Migration to Vermont. Emotion, Space and Society 25: 14-21. DOI: 10.1016/j.emospa.2017.09.007. Impact factor: 0.99.
 
Morse, C. and J. Mudgett. 2017. Longing for Landscape: Homesickness and Place Attachment Among Rural Out-Migrants in the 19th and 21st Centuries. Journal of Rural Studies 50: 95-103. Impact factor: 2.38. Times cited: 41. Writing effort: 60%; analysis: 50%, data collection: 50%.
 
Morse, C. 2015. The Risks and Rewards of Using Social Media in Rural Migration Research: Findings from the Vermont Roots Project. The Northeastern Geographer 7: 72-88.  ​

Rural Stayers

Andrew Husa and Cheryl E. Morse. 2022. Rurality as a key Factor for Place Attachment in the Great Plains. Geographical Review, 112:1, 27-45, DOI: 10.1080/00167428.2020.1786384.

​Morse, C. and J. Mudgett. 2018. Happy to be Home: Place Attachment, Family Ties, and Mobility of Contented Rural Stayers. The Professional Geographer, 70 (2), 261-269. 10.1080/00330124.2017.1365309.