Quite a bit has changed for people in the past 14 months in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the themes that continue to make headlines is the mass exodus of people from major metropolitan cities to smaller areas within drivable distance from their original locations.

Equidistant from New York City and Boston, and bosting beautiful homes at a fraction of the price they would be in city's or suburbs, Pittsfield has been at the center of this new migration trend. Last month USA Today named Pittsfield one of the five metro areas to benefit most from the pandemic, citing our vibrant art community, location in the heart of the Berkshires, and abundance of green space. According to the article, Pittsfield was in the 53 percentile in affordability, and 90.2 percentile in quality of life.

The New York Times seconds that trend and reports that Pittsfield is one of the top ten cities in the U.S. where people relocated to in the pandemic.

"New data shows an unusually large flow of urban residents out of New York and San Francisco, two regions with a high share of jobs that can be done remotely even after the pandemic is behind us. But about 30 million change-of-address requests to the U.S. Postal Service in 2020 show that with these two very visible exceptions — and a few smaller ones — migration patterns during the pandemic have looked a lot like"

New York Times

Recent trends in The Berkshires' real estate market also corroborate these statistics as homes continue to fly off the market, scooped up by both local and out of area buyers. The prices on these homes are at an all-time high creating sticker shock for some locals, but still low enough that people relocating from notorious expensive cities view them as a bargain.

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