Those commuters are crucial to Manhattan’s continued resurgence and may help explain the struggling commercial real estate market, a bellwether for the city’s fortunes. Last week, office occupancy in the New York City area was 47 percent of prepandemic levels, according to Kastle Systems, a building security firm.
But it is not as if Manhattanites are going to the office either. “Work from home meant that everybody was going to move out of the city,” Mr. Miller said. “And it’s like, no, there are lots of people on the Upper East Side, probably more than in Westchester, who are working remotely for Wall Street.”
What’s Booming
For Americans who moved, outer-ring suburbs, vacation areas and retirement communities continued to exert a strong pull.
Counties identified as exurbs by the American Communities Project account for about 12 percent of the nation’s population, but they could claim about half the national population growth in 2022.
Counties tagged by government economists as specializing in recreational activity account for 9 percent of the national population and 28 percent of the growth in 2022.
Kaufman County, Texas, about 35 miles southeast of downtown Dallas, is among the fastest-growing counties in the nation. Traditionally a hub for ranching and farming, Kaufman County has steadily suburbanized, and also encompasses parts of Cedar Creek Lake, a popular fishing and recreation area. Its population grew by 9 percent in 2022, and stands at 172,000, up from 40,000 in 1980.
During the pandemic, the county became a popular destination for Dallas office workers who have to commute only a few days a week, according to Stewart McGregor of the Kaufman Economic Development Corporation. And it can be a relatively affordable place to purchase a newly built, family-size house, he said, noting that about 70,000 homes are in the construction pipeline, with prices starting around $250,000.
