Pandemic pushes people out of the city

With the real estate market in Western North Carolina booming right now, it’s clear the region is reaping the economic benefits of the urban exodus happening during the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

‘It feels like home’: Pandemic spurs migration to Jackson County

Patrick Cochran and Blair Smoker have lived in the Atlanta area their whole lives, but they’ve long believed that Sylva would someday be their home. 

From LA to Lake J — a pandemic relocation

Jane Pickett is originally from Atlanta, Georgia. She has lived the last 15 years of her life in Los Angeles, California, but when things began to shut down as the Coronavirus Pandemic spread across the United States, she headed east. 

Smokey Mountain News Logo
SUPPORT THE SMOKY MOUNTAIN NEWS AND
INDEPENDENT, AWARD-WINNING JOURNALISM
Go to top
Payment Information

/

At our inception 20 years ago, we chose to be different. Unlike other news organizations, we made the decision to provide in-depth, regional reporting free to anyone who wanted access to it. We don’t plan to change that model. Support from our readers will help us maintain and strengthen the editorial independence that is crucial to our mission to help make Western North Carolina a better place to call home. If you are able, please support The Smoky Mountain News.

The Smoky Mountain News is a wholly private corporation. Reader contributions support the journalistic mission of SMN to remain independent. Your support of SMN does not constitute a charitable donation. If you have a question about contributing to SMN, please contact us.