Our colleague and Memphian Carol Coletta was quoted again on the front page of USA Today with the release of new research by CEOs for Cities about the movement of young, college-educated people to the urban core of the 51 largest U.S. cities over the past 10 years.
Previous research by her Chicago-based organization had shown that young, college-educated men and women are more inclined to want to live within three miles of the central business district and the numbers confirm that the trend continues.
Contrary to conventional wisdom, it’s a phenomenon that took place in Memphis, confirming once again the importance of a vibrant, appealing downtown and the area around it. So if we’re serious about keeping and attracting these young professionals, we need to be especially serious about what happens and what is offered in this three-mile area.
Here’s the article:
Educated 20- and 30-somethings are flocking to live downtown in the USA’s largest cities — even urban centers that are losing populatio
In more than two-thirds of the nation’s 51 largest cities, the young, college-educated population in the past decade grew twice as fast within 3 miles of the urban center as in the rest of the metropolitan area — up an average 26% compared with 13% in other parts.
Even in Detroit, where the population shrank by 25% since 2000, downtown added 2,000 young and educated residents during that time, up 59% , according to analysis of Census data by Impresa Inc., an economic consulting firm.
“This is a real glimmer of hope,” says Carol Coletta, head of CEOs for Cities, a non-profit consortium of city leaders that commissioned the research. “Clearly, the next generation of Americans is looking for different kinds of lifestyles — walkable, art, culture, entertainment.”
In Cleveland, which lost 17% of its population, downtown added 1,300 college-educated people ages 25 to 34, up 49%.
“It tells us we’ve been on the right track,” says David Egner, president and CEO of Detroit’s Hudson-Webber Foundation. Three anchor institutions —Wayne State University, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit Medical Center — recently launched “15 by 15,” a campaign to bring 15,000 young, educated people to the downtown area by 2015.
Among the lures are cash incentives: a $25,000 forgivable loan to buy (need to stay at least five years) downtown or $3,500 on a two-year lease.
Preference for urban living among young adults — especially the well-educated — has increased sharply, data show:
In 2000, young adults with a four-year degree were about 61% more likely to live in close-in urban neighborhoods than their less-educated counterparts. Now, they are about 94% more likely.
In five metropolitan areas — Boston, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Washington — about two-thirds of young adults who live in the city center have at least a four-year college degree. Less than a third of the nation’s 25- to 34-year-olds do.
“This is no longer anecdotal,” Coletta says. “Every metro area has good suburbs, but if you don’t have a strong downtown and close-in neighborhoods, then you’re not offering a choice that many of them are seeking. Offering that choice is a real competitive advantage for cities.”
To see the listing of the 51 cities, click here and scroll down to chart.
In a related piece of research, USA Today featured CEOs for Cities research on the resilience of cities when coping with higher gas prices. Cities with compact development patterns and extensive transit systems enable their residents to drive fewer miles on average than the typical American.
Based on variations in travel patterns across cities, CEOs for Cities identified the 10 urbanized areas most insulated from the negative effects of higher gas prices because of the shorter distances their residents have to travel. They are:
1. New Orleans 13.7
2. New York 16
3. Sacramento 18.4
4. Portland 18.7
5. Chicago 19.1
6. Philadelphia 20
7. Buffalo 20.2
8. San Jose 21
9. Providence 21.2
10. San Francisco 21.3
Nationally, cities are a critical key to helping the nation use energy more efficiently and avoid the economic consequences of fuel price increases. The Green Dividend estimates that decreasing driving by just one mile per person per day in the nation’s 51 largest metro areas would save $29 billion.
Another editorial in the Wall Street Journal on Monday April 04, 2011 as a followup for the original editorial entitled “A Rqueim for Detroit” (March 29th) makes even the most significant point about Detroit’s demise in a poignant yet short explanation titled “Many Cooks Made the Stew of Detroit’s Sad Decline”
For unknown reasons, some reasonably inttelligent people are suggesting the return of massive urban life in a few cities that are essentially too far gone for reclamation….cities like Detroit, even Memphis to some degree.
Detroit and many other cities set their paths years and years ago.
Like Detroit, Memphis put in motion massive white flight, and set fear in motion, aided and abetted by unholy alliances between developers, real estate firms (esp Crye Leike’s blockbusting), and banks such as Union Planters, through the red-lining tactics of National Bank of Commerce, niche players such as Bank of Bartlett, and now defunct thrifts such as Home Federal.
Sure, a few trendy younger professional WHITES may in fact attempt to frame an argument for urban re-vitalization, but en masse it is doomed for failure in the future…especially for cities with huge, majority Black populations still in relative high poverty.
This sort of alleged urban-revitalization seems to be promoted, suggested and touted by nouveau, za-zou vogue, wannabe-elite-self-aggrandizing, Johnny Come Lately-to-urban-life Anglo whites. I don’t hear a lot of burning desire, and see the proccupation with this trend in the majority minority community in most of these cities.
As gas prices remain inflated, we will continue to see a push for an urban renaissance. There will always be a segment of the population that continues to live at the fringe, but as costs associated with such lifestyles increase the push for more efficient and livable urban neighborhoods will rise as well. The fact that the young and educated segment of society (which transcends ethnicity) is pursuing this pattern will drive the market for years to come. Memphis only stands to benefit from such trends. The small moves and reinvestment in both Midtown and Downtown speaks highly of the future of the Memphis urban area. However, there remain many issues that must be addressed and can be successfully mitigated in the coming years and decades such as education and socioeconomic participation.
There is no aspect of life in MEMPHIS TN, Detroit, Stockton, Birmingham or crappy Jackson Mississippi that ‘transcends ethnicity’.
Urban or suburban life in Memphis TN revolves around white flight to a very large degree. Always has been, and will exist for probably another 25 years for Memphis to grow up and come up to the level of many other cities, even in the South.
Gas prices won’t be a catalyst for whites losing their penchant for moving away from around Memphis blacks, or deciding to live in a mostly black urban environment.
Memphis is not pedestrian. Memphis has lousy mass-transit. Memphians love their cars. Black aren’t going back to ride the busses. Whites are going to move from Collierville,, Bartlett, Collierville, Fisherville, Olive Branch, MS, Hernando MS, Eads, Arlington, Atoka, Eastside Memphis, Germantown to some higher density urban lifestyle anytime in the NEXT 50 years in Memphis.
The urban area of Memphis should be more concerned about the eventuality of preparing for a massive EARTHQUAKE and its destruction of urban dwellings, rather than cramming more people into an urban dwelling-site.
If anything, you might want to consider developing a more diffused population to effect survival or more people.
High concentrations of people in an known earthquake zone seems a bit crazy in my opinion- especially in old structures or even new structures that are now built to lousy minimal codes.
Seeing as you have in your possession a crystal ball that foretells a future that defies the trend data discussed in this post, perhaps you will share the winning numbers to the next Powerball drawing.
Shekel, what do all those cities have in common? large numbers (majorities) of black people. People in Charlotte don’t do what white people do in Memphis b/c they don’t have to. In other words, white people are, by and large, the same everywhere.
These Johnny one note people are the real problem in Memphis. No matter what happens, and much of it is encouraging, they manage to throw up red herrings and strawmen and pretend to have some intelligent opinion.
We weren’t talking about Detroit. We are talking about Memphis. Stay on point. For just once.
“We weren’t talking about Detroit. We are talking about Memphis.”
only real difference is the inches of snow per winter.
The only real difference is that you have no earthly acquaintance with the facts. You might want to take some time to do some comparisons between Memphis and Detroit. Throwing Detroit up as Memphis’ peer is specious and has no factual basis. Here, it seems to stem more as a polite way to say majority black cities can’t succeed.
Demographics are not destiny.
IO- funny. We do share an affinity for poorly planned and operated downtown circulator systems.
@interested>
that’s the point ..the demographics and a lot of the so-called “culture” is indeed similar- so is the politics at times
Memphis doesn’t learn quickly enough from other cities, or thinks it is some sort of “special island” of thought, behavior, example, and enlightenment, when history shows plainly it is no such thing.
Memphis has a lot in common with Detroit. The main similarity stems from massive white flight and loss of population in general. Both aren’t generally accepted as premier cities, or premier places to live in the nation. Anyone who suggests it is (well, either city) is quite delussional, or just chooses to be blind or remain in denial. Neither city must remain in that muck, but the facts are that they will have to play catchup for many many years to come. People are not going to move in droves from the suburbs of Detroit or Memphis to come back to the city limits or city center. That is not credible for either city in the short term, say in a short 8-10 years. In the long term Memphis and Detroit may suffer and continue on the same clear path they have been on for 35-40 years. Trends can be broken obviously, but the trend is your friend in most markets I believe.
Demographics CAN be destiny !
If you’re in a city with uneducated, impoverished, stupid citizens , I guarantee you that’s a formula for a failed commuinity and society.
If you have a demographic that reveals gang-activities, drug traffiking, high black-on-black murder rate, or assault, B&E’s, robberies, rapes, I assure you these demographics will provide quite a negative “destination” and bleak future.
Layer some of these demographics on top of populations that can’t or refuse to speak standard American English correctly, a subculture is destined to be the majority culture, permeating every facet of that city’s life.
It’s completely stupid to suggest that demographics can not, or will not deeply influence a city or metro area.
This article has been tweeted re-posted and blogged about all over the net, but I haven’t seen anyone really discuss the meat of Detroit’s proposal to get 15,000 new young people downtown by 2015 by, among other things, giving young, educated people $3,500 to sign a two-year lease.
What an ingenious idea. The gamble is that enough people who otherwise wouldn’t have moved downtown will and that over two years they’ll become invested and stay. In the meantime, the city will benefit from increased property values and property tax revenues from increased demand and may even make their investment back on increased sales tax alone.
Why don’t we see this kind of idea-innovation in Memphis? Are we not desperate enough yet to think outside of the box?
yeah that would work in Memphis yeah, that’s the ticket ! bribing people move to move DT ! can you imagine what you’d end up with ?
LMAO
Re: Anon 12:35
You’re a troll, do some research. There are qualifications for the plan, among which you have to be educated, which you’re not. You’re not cool enough to fit in in Detroit anyways.
Anonymous 11:30: Quite a rant and all without a single fact. Just opinions and bias. Demographics are not destiny. Other cities have proven it and there’s no reason we can’t.
Detroit and Memphis have been doomed for decades.
er, ^^ my opinion ! Everybody already knows that Detroit is a piece of crap of a city, and Memphis is no great shakes either, and tons of people all over the nation, all over the web, all over the business world, already knows that.
Can they improve ? yes indeed. It will take decades upon decades.
Detroit’s demographics DID doom the city.
The same is applicable to Memphis, TN for heaven’s sake. Just look around, listen, and talk to some of these bozos in each city.
Businesses are that dumb either. Look at the factories that moved out of Detroit. Look at the offices that moved. Look at FEDEX. They didn’t build anywhere near DT Memphis. International Paper didn’t choose the central city..it’s practically 3 blocks from Germantown city limits.
Union Planters did the same thing. So did First TN…all a long time ago…not to mention huge church congregations.
Anon,
Actually First Tennessee’s maintains its headquarters downtown along with AutoZone and now Pinnacle Airlines. Perhaps a little more research and knowledge on your part would help create a more accurate discussion.
Anonymous: That’s the most simplistic analysis of Detroit’s economic woes that we’ve heard. Detroit was Lowell, Massachusetts, writ large. It was the changing nature of the industrial economy that capsized both. Yes, FedEx did build its technology center in Collierville, and because of it, it had to change its plans almost immediately because tech workers didn’t want to live there.
As we have said before, we love hearing white people blame the victims. They flee the city and then complain because there’s too many black people there.
The most PROFITABLE divison of First TN moved out of downtown a LONG time ago. That would be their Capital Markets Division….similarly UP did the same thing at the time…many other capital markets divisions did the same thing, among them Vining, NBC/Suntrust, and a few other players, save Morgan Keegan.
Other major employers/key players outside include:
Servicemaster
Hilton Worldwide
The Kroger COmpany
Carrier Corp
Time Warner Telecom
Time Warner Cable
Sedgwick CMS
Fred’s
Thomas and Betts Corp
Cleo
Mid America
COnwood/Amer Snuff
and some other players. The point is that Memphiss’ businesses are not haggling to locate in the central city. It’s far more dispersed. It’s not Manhattan for godsake.
Stop fighting, stop blaming me…do your own so-called research, pal
Shekel, you blame black cities b/c white people don’t want to live there, blame the white people who run away, then in the same breath, give a free pass to cities with few black people in them at all for being progressive. What’s the difference between white people who move to Collierville to get away from black people and white people who move to CHarlotte to get away from black people? What a troll you are.
Where’s that Marine Corp service record?
Just for grins, and to placate your hand-wringing for my knowing what I’m talking about, take a look a few
other suburban Memphis msa employers…a few it’s even their worlwide home.
Alcoa
Landau Uniforms
Marietta Corp
Newly Weds Foods
Quebecor World
Kellogg’s
Competition Cams
Lunati Cams
A few more !
PepsiAmericas
Alpha Corp
well I good go on, but….
Anonymous: At least you are consistent in your simplistic thinking.
Anon,
Research indicates Newly Weds Food processing plant in Horn Lake is hardly cause for hand wringing unless the Wonder Bread Plant on Monroe (where the workforce is 3 times larger) is all that is necessary to enlighten you to the reality of the regional employment landscape.
We could discuss the quality employment opportunities at the metro locations you offered verses the quality of the jobs found in the downtown headquarters/locations of corporations such as First Tennessee/ First Horizon, Belz Enterprises, Morgan Keegan, St. Jude, ALSAC, Guardsmark, AutoZone, Pinnacle Airlines, Methodist Healthcare, Blue Cross/ Blue Shield of Tennessee, Looney Ricks Kiss, Canale Investments, Advanced Data Concepts, Archimania, Carlisle Corporation, Archer Malmo etc… We could discuss the fact that in the 6.5 square miles that define downtown Memphis, one can find 1 in every 6 employees and 1 in every 8 businesses located in the Memphis metropolitan area (which covers over 3,000 square miles). Nowhere else does one find this same density of residents, employment and recreation in this region. You examples of business relocations (Union Planters) occurred before the early 90’s- before the tide began to reverse. Since that time we have seen companies such as AutoZone and Pinnacle relocate their headquarters downtown and other corporations expand or relocate operations to the CBD.
While this has caused consternation on this blog before, we could also discuss the propensity for our largest and brightest corporations to cluster in locations such as the Poplar Corridor. It appears that even when these corporations have relocated away from the traditional downtown area, they have managed to create new, increasingly urban environments.
None of this speaks to the principle topic of the article- the fact that the younger and more highly educated the demographic, the greater the preference to work and /or live in a vibrant, dense urban environment.
you call the Poplar corridor “urban environments” ??
now that’s funny
you think the “tide” is reversing ??? man, that’s rich.
Perhaps you need to research the buyers of tracts of suburban and exurban acreage.
The more “highly educated” the “higher the preference” ??????? Man o man, are you aware of who and the numbers of these so-called ‘highly educated’ truly ARE in Memphis, TN ?? LOL
Man, that’s LA LA LAND…you’re living in your own ‘vision’ or regional planning concept, and not in Memphis, TN LOL
You’re attemtping to suggest something about Memphis, that is patently FALSE, or extremely limited to your narrow brand of sycophants or university professors trying to sustain their grants…LOL
Memphis is not going to change its demographic in your lifetime.
The exodus continues, right under your nose. Further exodus is already planned…despite your impassioned lobbying….lol…..you’ll see