Moving narratives: Using online forums to study amenity out-migration in the American Midwest

Rural amenity communities attract in-migrants with natural scenery, recreational opportunities, and cultural charm. But the demographic story of amenity destinations in the United States is not one of simply arrivals, but of cyclical and simultaneous arrivals and departures. While scholars of amenity migration paint detailed portraits of the people moving toward amenities, far less is written about those who leave amenity communities. Accessing a sample of reverse amenity migrants is both beyond the purview of most research and difficult to achieve logistically, but learning from these reverse migrants will sharpen the academic rendering of amenity communities. This paper analyzes content from online forums in which reverse amenity migrants from one region of the American Midwest reflect upon their experiences. It examines the extent to which they attribute their move to unmet social and material expectations, finding that divisions based on wealth are not only present among posts but addressed directly in posts. The paper considers the implications of contrasting expectations, and proposes that online forums can help researchers more easily investigate factors that influence modern migration decisions.