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A Word from Eric Miller for December, 2003Residents Pittsburgh, December 2003--It may still be the over-all trend to leave central cities for the suburbs, but a new Census Bureau report puts icing on the cake for central cities. While an earlier report showed center cities gained population almost across the board in the last decade, the new report shows single, educated people are choosing central cities and metropolitan areas.
The report shows New York, San Francisco, and Washington-Baltimore to be among the most popular destinations. For other cities that could attract these mobile, energetic graduates to their cores, there must be a ready supply of housing for them to live in. In many second-tier cities such as Cleveland, Nashville, Pittsburgh, and Sacramento, there is simply nowhere to live. If there isn't enough housing in the center city, graduates will look to the suburbs or choose other cities. It's not good enough to have some housing downtown; the housing must exist in large enough quantities to support downtown residential services like dry cleaners and grocers. The report, "Migration of the Young, Single and College Educated: 1995 to 2000," said that three-fourths of single, educated people changed residence during that period. Of those who lived in central cities in 2000, a ratio of 8-in-10 said they moved during the previous five years. Whether married or single, young people with a college education were more likely to move than those without a college degree. In addition, people in the 25- to 39-year-old age bracket were highly mobile, accounting for more than one-third of people 5 years old and over who moved over the five-year period, but just 24 percent of the total population in this age group. College-educated singles ages 25 to 39 were also almost twice as likely to have moved to a different state as non-college-educated singles in this same age range. That means cities missing the influx of these residents still have a chance. They will move again. Building the housing and establishing the services downtown will increase the opportunities in and attractiveness of the region as a whole. In addition, increasing the attractiveness of a city to educated graduates will improve the economic situation as companies seek to locate pools of talent. It's nice to have baseball stadiums, department stores, and entertainment venues, but it all starts with housing (which also requires markets, dry cleaners, schools, and such). Retail stores followed people to the suburbs. Having a large enough population in the center city will ensure retail outlets and the like in central cities. Cities wanting to attract educated graduates should take stock of any and every space that could be developed into a housing unit, whether be it loft, townhouse, or apartment, then take the steps to create the incentives necessary to make it happen. Cities looking to liven their cores and attract educated citizens should have one thing on their mind: housing. Eric Miller is editor of The New Colonist. Go to A Word from Richard Risemberg
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