
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Every now and then, we find a study that confirms what most folks know from common knowledge and common sense – like which are the ten American cities in serious decline – meaning they are heading or already in the socio-economic crapper. ; That is merely an academic term meaning you would not like living there – unless you do not mind increasing taxes and decreasing jobs and cutbacks in municipal services. ; Understandably, most of the top ten declining cities are exodus cities – even with the influx of illegal aliens.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Weeell … FinanceBuzz recently did a study of 117 cities from 2019 to 2022 – or every American city with a population of more than 200,000 … now 193,000 people … uh … 186,000 people. ; Population change (decline) was one of the criteria. ; Another was the business environment and even the percentage of residents with debt collection problems.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">And here are your top ten losers starting with number 10.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Nunber ten is … (Drum roll please.) … Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It made the list because of a sluggish economy, income and home values are lagging way behind other communities. As FinanceBuzz noted that, “buying a home here might not be the smartest way to build wealth.” I have been there once and apparently that is an average visit.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Number nine is … (Drum roll please) … Honolulu, Hawaii. Apparently, America’s only true island state (since Rhode Island is not) is not the paradise it is promoted to be by the local chamber of commerce. Honoluluans– or whatever they are called – cannot afford to live there. With 15 percent of the population in debt collection, Honolulu’s economy is suffering. That means they are not building as many overpriced homes. Folks are leaving Hawaii like rats on a cruise ship.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Number eight is … (I think we will skip the drum rolls at least until we get to number one) … Portland, Oregon. Portland is suffering serious population decline. It was not clear if it was from folks moving out or being murdered. Maybe a combination of both. Apparently only radical left protestors are interested in occupying Portland.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Number seven is … Anchorage, Alaska. ; It has all the problems of a declining community. ; Sluggish economy. ; Poor job growth. Too damned cold. ; It is ironic that America’s tropical paradise and deep-freeze states are both declining – proving that extremes are never good.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Number six is … Chicago, Illinois. ; So, what is wrong with my hometown? ; Everything. ; Declining population, stagnant home values, declining jobs as businesses flee the Windy City. ; One of the few increasing numbers is the murder rate. ; And not to mention the increasing taxes. ;</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Number five is … Detroit, Michigan. ; I suppose the surprise here is that Detroit is not number one. ; Go figure. ; Detroit lost 7.4 percent of its population between 2019 and 2022 – and a lot before that. ; Second only to … (Oh, I cannot mention that since it would give away the big winner.) ; ; In terms of business, jobs and taxpayers hitting the road out of the Motor City, that is nothing new. ; In fact, Detroit was America’s leading example of how to crash a city – and the only one to officially declare bankruptcy.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Number four is … Boston, Massachusetts.  ;Beantown is not far behind Detroit with a 6 percent drop in population in the three years of the Study. ; It has all the typical problems of a declining city – sluggish growth high taxes, etc., etc., etc. ;</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Number three is … New York, New York. ; Apparently Frank Sinatra’s old refrain that if you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere. ; What happens if you cannot make it in New York as a lot of fleeing residents seem to think? ; New York had the highest jump in unemployment (1.2%) between 2019 and 2022 – a first-place tie with Detroit. ; The Big Apple’s problems are well known since it is arguably the most reported city in America. ; Is that because all the major news media operate out of Manhattan? ; Of course, it is.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Number two is … New Orleans, Louisiana. ; Louisiana has two cities in the top ten. ; According to the FinanceBuzz survey, the Big Easy is not as big and not as easy. ; People are not only abandoning the city (5% decline in the three years of the study), but they are also abandoning their homes. ; New Orleans has 23 percent of its homes unoccupied … empty … vacant. ; That explains the very low rate of new home construction … eh? ; The economy is … yeah … sluggish.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"> Number one is … (Now the drum roll) … San Francisco. In the three years of the FinanceBuzz study, the City by the Bay lost an incredible 8.29 percent of its population. That was the largest drop of any of the 117 cities studied. San Francisco has all the problems of the other ten most declining cities, but a few unique ones. Tony Bennett may have left his heart in San Francisco, but most others are leaving something less romantic. As far as I know, it has the only “poop map” to locate human waste in the commons.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">So, there you have it. ; America’s fastest declining cities. ;</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">I would be remiss if I did not note that 90 percent of them (that’s 9 out the 10) are cities with long, long terms of Democrat administrations. The one exception is … Anchorage. It has a Republican mayor today, but it was a Democrat at the time of the study.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">This is only one of many surveys that list the worst American cities for this or that reason. But when it comes to cities that are less resident friendly for whatever reason, most of those on this list are found on the others. It is just a fact, that Democrats do not run cities very well these days. And I trust that most Americans know the reasons why.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">So, there tis’.</p>

America’s top ten declining cities
