Things People Miss the Most After Leaving New York

In recent years, there have been tons of headlines about people fleeing New York State to find a different life in a warm, southern, cheap-real-estate-market state.

And while New York has seen its fair share of people leaving for good, there's a whole different set of people who are realizing there's a lot to miss about New York.

People Leaving New York State

According to multiple sources including the National Center for Health Stats (NCH Stats), New York's population dropped by approximately 630,000 people between 2020 and 2023. The COVID pandemic and its effect on New York's real estate market had a big hand in many people's decisions to leave.

However, some New Yorkers are beginning to realize just how good we have it here in the Empire state.

Here are some of the biggest things people miss about New York after moving away:

Autumn

Sure, the South has lots of sun and warm temperatures, but as the saying goes, sometimes you don't realize what you have until it's gone.

Nothing beats a brisk Fall afternoon spent sitting at a local orchard picking apples and sipping on some New York-brewed beer in your flannel while you take in the rich colors of the trees. This is something you'd be hard-pressed to find down there.

The Views

A recent post in an Adirondack Facebook Group conjured up some conversation about whether or not people miss New York after they've moved away.

Despite all of the press about New Yorkers being done with New York, this post unveiled a number of people who left and then couldn't stop dreaming about coming back. One of the top reasons they wanted to return was for the serene mountain views that states like Florida just can't compete with.

Good Healthcare

While New York isn't #1 in the country, it does rank in the top 10 at #8 according to US News World Report. Many popular states people are leaving New York for like Florida, North Carolina, and Arizona rank 24th and lower.

These rankings were based on healthcare availability for all persons including women, trans persons, people with pre-existing conditions, and people with disabilities as well as the amount of number of specialized doctors and rankings of hospitals.

While getting an appointment in New York can be a whole different issue, the quality and diversity of the healthcare offered in New York is pretty high.

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Hence the people who still travel back to New York to see their healthcare specialists.

Good Schools

New York's public education ranks among the best in the country. According to the World Population Review, New York's public schools rank 2nd in the country for quality only behind Connecticut, and 6th overall behind Massachusetts (5), Vermont (4), Connecticut (3), New Hampshire (2), and New Jersey (1).

In many other states further south and west, you may be left footing the bill for private school tuition instead.

THE FOOD

This portion of regrets has sub-sections because it's just THAT missed.

Locally-Run Restaurants

Many cities that are starting to see an increase in population have arrived at the idea of filling these areas with chain restaurants, almost exclusively.

A friend from New York currently living in Arizona shared,

"I miss local businesses SO MUCH!! Since Arizona is all so new, it's all national chains unless it's a taco truck on the side of the road so the food just isn't as good."

SEE ALSO: 7 Amazing Hudson Valley Restaurants That Aren't Famous But Should Be

Cultural Cuisine

We're blessed to have a variety of different cuisine options in New York. People come from all over the world to open up restaurants and grocery stores serving authentic recipes that are unfortunately much more difficult to come by in other parts of the country.

This leads us to the next thing New Yorkers who leave the state miss...

Options at the Grocery Store

When talking to another friend who left the state to live in North Carolina, she shared,

"You can't even get access to some things at the grocery store. Like around the Jewish holidays, I have to hunt to find what I need...I have to order some of the items on Amazon."

Where there is more diversity in population, there's more diversity in cuisine options. There's just no beating New York in this category.

And Of Course...Bagels and Pizza

In case we didn't emphasize food enough, good luck finding a decent slice or a place to even buy a bagel outside of Dunkin Donuts anywhere down south or out west.

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