Have you ever dreamt you moved to Mississippi? Yeah, neither have we. Most people tend to associate the state of Mississippi with racist roots and dirt poor towns — for better or worse, this is something the state has had to contend with. With a new initiative called Shift South, this is exactly what one small town in Mississippi is trying to do.
Shift South is a program based in the town of Natchez in Adams County, MS. Shift South is a remote worker program that asks workers to relocate to Natchez full-time. They will offer eligible workers around $6,000 to offset relocation expenses. The city and county are aiming to revitalize their area by attracting workers who are looking for a unique life along the Mississippi River.
Ken Lund
Mississippi has a low cost of living and homes are very affordable — the average cost of a house in MS is around $128,000. This is great, considering to qualify for Shift Sound you must purchase a home valued at no less than $150,000. You must also live in the house for one year and if you do, you will receive $300 a month for that first year. But how is this small town and county paying for this program you might wonder?
The mayor of Natchez, Dan M. Gibson, shared in a letter to the local paper that the funds for this program have not come from taxing the city. Rather he states that “After doing the research, we settled on $150k as the minimum investment of real estate to qualify for Shift South because it was an amount that would make the numbers work and recoup the city’s investment in about 18 months.” So at least if you get a slot from this program, you shouldn’t be walking into some kind of tax battle!
With so many stuck remotely working or going to school, it might be time for a change. No bigger change could happen than moving out of a big city and into a tiny, rural southern town. Living on the Mississippi river could reinvigorate your imagination and give you daydreams of fishing, sunbathing, and eating fried food. There are only 30 slots available for the Shift South initiative, so apply here.
Let us know in the comments if you win a slot and move down to the deep south. We want to know everything. And from all of us at Trill!: stay sane, stay on target, and stay weird.
