Former New York residents reveal reasons for blue state exodus: 'I stopped loving it'

Ex-New Yorkers are speaking out on being among the thousands who have left the Big Apple in recent years.

"I think everybody’s noticed a little bit of a shift in the city over the last year or so in terms of safety and cleanliness," 31-year-old Samantha Pillsbury told the New York Post.

According to a report released in December by the U. S. Census Bureau, 101,984 people moved out of the state of New York in 2023. This was the largest state population loss in the entire country.

Pillsbury left more recently for Los Angeles in February after living in New York for nine years.

"The short answer is that I stopped loving it as much," Pillsbury said. "In the last couple of years, the tide sort of turned for how I felt about the city."

The content creator and marketing consultant cited multiple reasons for her move, including the "work-obsessed culture" of the city and the noticeable rise in crime.

"I’m a single woman, and it started to get less safe, which then affects your entire life," she told the Post.

Similarly, 37-year-old Stephanie Heintz moved from New York City back in October, citing crime since the pandemic as a factor.

"It became an area where I was carrying pepper spray. I was physically attacked on the street a few times," Heintz said, according to the Post. "I felt myself changing, I felt my energy changing. I felt like I was not engaging at all. And if anything, I was jumpy."... (Read more)

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