From CBS News.
The 2010 census forms are arriving in America’s mailboxes. When the results are in they will show that America remains a nation on the move. People are flowing westward and southward over the last ten years as they have for generations.
For most of the past decade, the allure of space, affordable housing and economic opportunity – not to mention warmer weather – has brought people to the West and South, often at the expense of their northern and midwestern counterparts.
Though that movement slowed with the recent recession and housing bust, changes undergone since 2000 are still poised to alter the county’s political landscape and touch off some heated battles. The next round of redistricting following the census will re-allocate congressional districts and electoral votes among the states.
Once again the South and West will gain some political clout while some districts in the north will vanish, taking influence along with them. If geography is indeed destiny, then America’s future will be increasingly determined by the Sun Belt.