migratory patterning

a better title for the interactive map 'where americans are moving' might be 'our national illusions, visualized.' after all, isn't illusion the better part of why we leave? compelled by the belief - tightly held but imperfectly grounded - that things will be better there. we claim new jobs, family obligations and other sensible things, but deep down every decision to pack up and go is fueled by the desire to find a place that finally gets us.

consider those cities that figure largest in our national mythology - the miamis, the vegases, the big apples. who holds tightest to their projected fantasies? and once seen in the unflinching light of the quotidian, where do you go next?