Cities tout ‘cool’ factor in attracting the young
As college students and recent graduates ponder what to do next, a range of midsize and smaller cities — and even some larger ones — are launching new programs designed to lure them there.
The programs, designed to attract and retain more young college grads, are an attempt to counter a demographic shift that is alarming some cities. Only 14 of the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. had more 25- to 34-year-olds in 2000 than they did in 1990, according to an analysis by economist Joseph Cortright, who studies regional economies and is based in Portland. That age group is increasingly considered an economic engine because of its long-term potential impact on the community. But this same group is often drawn to the cosmopolitan allure of cities like San Francisco or New York.
As a result, new programs are emerging in cities such as Cleveland and Memphis that are designed to present themselves as legitimate alternatives. Officials in other cities, including Boston and Philadelphia, are making a new and concerted effort to hang on to more of the thousands of well-educated, ambitious grads their world-class colleges crank out every year.
Their target: people like Matthew Baker, a Maryland native and Yale University undergraduate who until recently was pretty sure he would end up in New York or Washington, D.C., after graduation. But after taking part in an ambitious new internship program in Cleveland called “Summer on the Cuyahoga,” Baker says Cleveland is “definitely a possibility.”
Cleveland’s program, which started last year, offers 55 interns 10 weeks of living, working and schmoozing with civic leaders.
Other cities are looking into everything from building museums and art spaces to encouraging the development of loft apartments that they believe will attract more creative types, including young people. Michigan has even embarked on a statewide “Cool Cities” initiative that hopes to help remake overlooked communities into hip neighborhoods.
For recent college graduates who still haven’t found their bearings in a less-than-welcoming job market, this could be good news — if they’re willing to live someplace that might not be their dream destination.
One of the cities’ primary aims is to create better opportunities for students with local employers. Civic leaders in Philadelphia, for instance, are hoping by 2006 to add 5,000 new internships locally, and also increase the number of companies offering them.
A study released recently by the Knowledge Industry Partnership, a coalition of Philadelphia leaders, found that students not originally from the region but who intern locally are twice as likely to remain in Philadelphia post-graduation. Similarly, Boston this spring began a series of events to bring students and employers together, which will include job fairs and receptions with executives.
Proponents of initiatives like these say the reason to attract young, single people is straightforward. “It’s a benefit to have people who have relatively good jobs, are paying taxes, but using less city services,” says Thomas F. Coleman, executive director of Unmarried America, an advocacy organization for single people.
And while the 25-to-34 age group is considered nomadic, the likelihood of moving across state lines declines sharply with age. Among people with a bachelor’s degree, 15 percent of 25- to 29-year-olds moved from one state to another compared with only 10 percent of 30- to 34-year-olds over a one-year period, according to Cortright, the Portland economist. So if cities and states can hook them when they’re young, “Bingo,” says Cortright, they are likelier to stick around.