Young New Yorkers Plan To Leave State: Poll

1 In 3 Young New Yorkers Plan To Leave State: Poll

Are you a young New yorker who feels crushed by poor job prospects and absurdly high housing costs, taxes and living expenses? Do you fear you'll soon have to abandon dreams of making it the Empire State? If so, you're not alone.

About one in three New Yorkers under 30 plans to leave the state, according to a new Marist poll. Thirty-six percent of young New Yorkers say they're moving on to greener pastures and 26 percent of adults said they'll leave in the next five years. Twenty-four percent of New York City residents said they'd pack their bags.

"New Yorkers are feeling the financial squeeze on the home front. Right now, many young people do not see their future in New York State,” said Lee Miringoff, Director of The Marist College Institute for Public Opinion. “Unchecked, this threatens to drain the state of the next generation.”

More than 60 percent of those who said they're abandoning New York are doing so for economic reasons like jobs, the cost of living and taxes. More than three-quarters of those surveyed said they view New York as an expensive place to raise a family.

The survey also showed that 69 percent of poll takers want property taxes capped so that they do not rise more than two percent a year.

The American Legislative Exchange Council reported that New York lost 1.9 million residents from 1998 to 2007, most of whom are young and educated.

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