Next Cities Attract Innovative Youth
Posted by: Mark Marich
on
June 19, 2009
Source: Policy Dialogue on Entrepreneurship
What does it take for a city to attract young professionals? Next Generation Consulting asked just this in compiling its "Next Cities" rankings of the best places to live and work for young professionals (defined as 20-40 year olds).
“Simply being the cheapest place to live, or the city with the mostjobs is not a long-term workforce strategy,” says NGCs founder, RebeccaRyan. Although jobs are important, Ryan says, “The next generation isvery savvy about choosing where they’ll live. They look carefully atquality of life factors like how much time they’re going to spend intraffic commuting, if they can live near a park or hike-and-bike trail,and whether a city’s downtown stays awake after five.”
Sound like Richard Florida's Creative Class? Absolutely. NGC studied the residential and relocation patterns of 20-40 years olds since 1998 and based its ranking--for all U.S. cities with more than 100,000 residents--on seven criteria: Earning, Learning, Vitality, Around Town, After Hours, Cost of Lifestyle and Social Capital.
So which cities come out on top for each population group?
Population = 500,000+
1. San Francisco
2. Seattle
3. Boston
4. Washington, DC
5. Denver
6. Austin
7. Baltimore
8. Portland
9. New York City
10. Columbus
200,000 - 500,000
1. Madison, Wisconsin
2. Minneapolis, Minnesota
3. Colorado Springs, Colorado
4. Atlanta, Georgia
5. St. Paul, Minnesota
6. Omaha, Nebraska
7. Cincinnati, Ohio
8. Boise, Idaho
9. Durham, North Carolina
10. New Orleans, Louisiana
100,00 - 200,000 1. Fort Collins, Colorado
2. Charleston, South Carolina
3. Eugene, Oregon
4. Cedar Rapids, Iowa
5. Springfield, Illinois
6. Cary, North Carolina
7. Ann Arbor, Michigan
8. Sioux Falls, South Dakota
9. Pueblo, Colorado
10. Gainesville, Florida
Category:
General
Tags:
san francisco,
seattle,
boston,
washington dc,
denver
