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December 16, 2005
Guidelines for attracting the 'young and the restless'
Concluding this week's review of The Young and the Restless In A Knowledge Economy by CEOs for Cities, here's their recommendations on how cities can better compete for talent:
1. Make people the focus of economic development - Cities, like Chicago, are realizing that quality of life is more important to job growth than tax incentives.
2. Become a city where women and ethnically diverse young people can achieve their goals - As each succeeding workforce generation embraces and benefits more from women and ethnic diversity, so will the cities that best accommodate them.
3. Openness and engagement are key to rooting talent in place - From the report, "They want to live in places that they can be proud of, part of, and that are clean and green. Part of the equation seems to be social and cultural - Is this a place that I can be a part of, that I can contribute to? Places with a sense of possibility and opportunity, where the circle is open, where new ideas are
welcomed are more likely to attract and retain young adults."
4. Investing in higher education is important, but it won’t solve the problem - The feared 'brain drain' - what good it talent if you can't retain them? The most successful cities attract other cities' post-graduate talent.
5. Vibrant urban neighborhoods are an economic asset - What this website is all about.
6. The economic importance of being different - The report says it best in these words, "Many people want choices and a sense of place that moves past the bland of the national brand." Check out mass customization on this site.
Posted by Neil | Link to Article | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 15, 2005
In the city center where the action is
Now here's where the The Young and the Restless In A Knowledge Economy report gets interesting...
The following stats from the report provide clearer evidence that the job-creating 25-34 year-old population is not only attracted to 24/7 cities like Austin, Seattle and San Francisco, but specifically to the urban centers of those cities:
Growth Rate of 25-34 Year-Old Population by Distance from Urban Center
1. Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton, WA CMSA - Inside 3 miles: 26.8%; Outside 3 miles: -5.4%
2. Denver-Boulder-Greeley, CO CMSA - Inside 3 miles: 25.4%; Outside 3 miles: 8.1%
3. Portland-Salem, OR-WA CMSA - Inside 3 miles: 21.0%; Outside 3 miles: 11.3%
4. San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA CMSA - Inside 3 miles: 18.1%; Outside 3 miles: -9.0%
5. Chicago-Gary-Kenosha, IL-IN-WI CMSA - Inside 3 miles: 15.5%; Outside 3 miles: -8.6%
Relative Preference for Urban Center (In other words, a 25-34 year-old is 1.79 times more likely to live in Chicago's urban center than everyone else)
1. Chicago-Gary-Kenosha, IL-IN-WI CMSA 1.79
2. Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton, WA CMSA 1.73
3. San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA CMSA 1.69
4. New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ 1.62
5. Boston-Worcester-Lawrence, MA-NH-ME-CT CMSA 1.61
25-34 Year-Old College Attainment in Close-In Neighborhoods, 2000
1. New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ - Inside 3 miles: 71.6%; Outside 3 miles: 33.0%
2. Chicago-Gary-Kenosha, IL-IN-WI CMSA - Inside 3 miles: 69.5%; Outside 3 miles: 33.1%
3. Portland-Salem, OR-WA CMSA - Inside 3 miles: 54.7%; Outside 3 miles: 26.2%
4. San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA CMSA - Inside 3 miles: 67.1%; Outside 3 miles: 38.1%
5. Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton, WA CMSA - Inside 3 miles: 56.3%; Outside 3 miles: 32.4%
Posted by Neil | Link to Article | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 14, 2005
Top cities for the 'young and restless'
Continuing this week's review of The Young and the Restless In A Knowledge Economy, and a listing of that report's top cities for young talent:
Percent of Population Ages 25-34 in Metro Areas, 2000
1. Austin-San Marcos, TX MSA 18.2%
2. Atlanta, GA MSA 17.6%
3. Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, NC MSA 17.5%
4. Dallas-Fort Worth, TX CMSA 16.8%
5. Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC—SC MSA 16.6%
Access to recreation year-round (warmer weather) is obviously a major factor. Colder cities need to think hard about ample indoor recreation amenities.
Share of 25-34 Year-Old Population with a 4-Year Degree or Higher, 2000
1. Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, NC MSA 45.2%
2. Boston-Worcester-Lawrence, MA-NH-ME-CT CMSA 43.2%
3. San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA CMSA 41.3%
4. Washington-Baltimore, DC-MD-VA-WV CMSA 40.9%
5. Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI MSA 39.9%
So when brains are involved, the less that recreation is important?...
Percentage of All 25-34 Year-Old Women with a Four-Year Degree
1. San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA CMSA 34.9%
2. Boston-Worcester-Lawrence, MA-NH-ME-CT CMSA 27.7%
3. Washington-Baltimore, DC-MD-VA-WV CMSA 22.7%
4. New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ 22.6%
5. Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton, WA CMSA 19.9%
*Notice how the more auto-oriented Raleigh area goes from #1 to completely dropping off the top five. From the report: "Places that are attractive for these single, well-educated and footloose young women are likely to have an economic edge in building a talent base to be economically successful in the years ahead."
Posted by Neil | Link to Article | Comments (2) | TrackBack
December 13, 2005
City centers a magnet for entrepreneurs
Continuing yesterday's review of, The Young and the Restless In A Knowledge Economy, significant evidence abounds of a migration to city centers by young adults, but what's the big deal?
Lots and lots of jobs. As this graph from the report clearly shows, entrepreneurship peaks (by a fairly noticeable amount!) in the 25-34 year-old range. Entrepreneurs start companies and hire people. It's the young companies that grow fastest, while mature companies either stabilize or as we've often seen, reduce workforce. Fast growing companies, known as gazelles, are especially key for job growth.
So what's a city to do that's seeking a boost to its local economy? Find ways to make downtowns as accommodating to entrepreneurs as possible - and that starts with housing they can afford and a 24/7 day/nightlife to make new business and personal connections.
Posted by Neil | Link to Article | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 12, 2005
'The Young and the Restless In A Knowledge Economy'
A new report, The Young and the Restless In A Knowledge Economy by CEOs for Cities, looks at how job growth, young adults, and city centers are interrelated. First the correlation between young adults and city centers:
The 1990s: In this decade, city downtowns start to become cool for young adults to move to - three times cooler. In 1990, 25-34 year-olds were about 10% 'more likely than other residents in the metropolitan area to live within 3 miles of the region’s center'. By 2000, they were more than 30% 'more likely than other metropolitan residents to live in the city center. In fact, in this decade, the likelihood that young adults would choose to live in a city center increased in every one of the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan areas." There's already a growing body of such research on this website here.
Why the downtown shift? This website is a collection of hundreds of those answers.
So what? It means a lot of job growth. Details in the next article.
Posted by Neil | Link to Article | Comments (0) | TrackBack
