re: Is the Big Ten a sleeping giant?

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Is that why northerners are making the great migration south? The fastest growing cities are in the south, as well as Las Vegas and Phoenix.

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Everything is cyclical my man. For the last 30 years people flocked south because of low taxes, and low cost of living.

Then what happened?

Taxes and Cost of Living in the south went up, and up, and up.

Texas has been good to me financially, but it's NOT a low tax state anymore. And the value of my home has almost doubled in less than 5 years. I make a very good living, bit I couldn't afford my relatively new house today, less than 5 years after I bought from the builder.

I have many friends who make decent money who have been saving for homes for years, and the costs keeps rising faster than they can increase their savings. So they're stuck in rentals, which also keep going up.

Multiple of those friends are looking at moving to the midwest now. Namely Ohio, Indiana, or Michigan. Because they can keep their jobs and work remotely and afford nice homes in great areas for half of what they cost in Dallas.

As someone who watched northerners and Californians invade Texas for the last 30 years, I can tell you the worm in turning, and Texans today are looking to escape to cheaper cities elsewhere more than the other way around.

The migration patterns of the next 30 years are going to look very different than the last 30. And I think the Big 10 has nowhere to go but up population-wise.

Short version: the midwest today offers a lot of the same advantages that the Sun Belt offered 30 years ago when the south started to blow up. Dont be surprised if things shift back north in the near future.