On a typical Sunday in July at Sailor’s Cafe in the Aegean resort of Alacati, three young couples are loudly debating whether they should just stay on in the Aegean for good rather than return to the rat race in Istanbul.

An older customer turns to us with a smirk, displaying the full signs of a laid-back Aegean’s disdain of the tense, competitive and loud Istanbulians. “They all say the same thing,” he whispers. “So many Istanbul residents dream of settling in Izmir or one of the pretty Aegean towns around the city.”

Except it is no longer just a dream. According to figures by the Turkish Institute of Statistics (TUIK), 16,000 people moved from Istanbul to Izmir in 2016.

“This is a major change in terms of the migration patterns between Istanbul and Izmir,” Ulas Sunata, an associate professor of sociology at Bahcesehir University, told Al-Monitor in a phone interview. “Throughout the Turkish Republic’s history, people from all over the country moved to Istanbul, with the slogan ‘Istanbul’s streets are paved with gold.’ The migration between Izmir and Istanbul was always in Istanbul’s favor; Izmirians moved to Istanbul for education or employment and they just stayed. Then they went back to Izmir after retirement.”