Almost Heaven

Back in the early 80s I was a faceless bureaucrat in Washington. A woman I worked with frequently joked that if her domestic situation went sufficiently sour, she would run away to Nitro, West Virginia. The first few times she said it, I was not sure that any place would name itself Nitro. As you can see, there is such a place. So far as I can recall, she never headed that far west. Even then, some people decided to earn metro DC Damn Gummint salaries (which earnings were scaled, more or less, to local cost of living) and stretch its buying power through the expedient of living in the far eastern part of the state. It was one hell of a commute, to say the least; mitigated by the fact that 'flex time' work hours were allowed in DC Metro. Well, lo and behold!! The wiki just blew my socks off. Some 40 years later, Jefferson County is defined as part of an extended DC MSA (can't tell how long this has been true). What I do recall is that the commuters in my agency lived in Charles Town (not Charleston or Charlestown). Again according to the wiki, it is a 73 mile trek to DC.

This brief history of bureaucratic thriftiness is brought to you by Gov. Jim Justice, erstwhile Democratic now Republican governor (that was all a ruse, of course). Today's report is about the bounty the state is offering to 'remote workers' to move to the state.

The first three host cities are Shepherdstown, Lewisburg and Morgantown.

Let's see. Shepherdstown is also in Jefferson county and about the same time/distance as Charles Town; could be home of some bureaucrats today. Lewisburg is the SW corner and at least a 4 hour drive to DC, so not even flex time will help. One hopes. Lastly, Morgantown. It is on the PA border, due south of Pittsburgh, and 205 miles and three and a half hour drive. Not likely to be housing bureaucrats at this time.

The $12,000 West Virginia is offering is paid over two years, with $10,000 divided in monthly payments for the first year and $2,000 paid at the end of the second year, according to the program's website. If you move early, you keep the money that you've earned so far.

This grift is only likely to work IFF post-Covid, at the epidemic levels currently, is the New Normal, which is to say there is no post-Covid. The worry in Blue Cities, of course, is that irregardless of the waning of Covid to (really, in fact) 'just the flu', business will find it's just a whole hell of lot cheaper to not have offices in skyscrapers, or any offices anywhere. The hope of grifting Red states is that they'll not only gain more voters, but that such voters will morph from Leftist Snowflake to Right Wingnut tout de suite. They should take note of TX, which has been turning ever deeper Purple with the influx of Snowflakes. Be careful what you wish for.

Fear that Texas — a state once synonymous with Republican strength — could actually tilt Democratic this year, as recent transplants from California and other blue states help reshape the Lone Star state's electorate.

Be careful what you wish for. Remember that old wive's tale: your first love is your best love and time never changes that.