Last month, we released our Young and Restless report, tracing the growth of well-educated young adults in in the nation’s largest metro areas. We found that across the nation, college-educated 25 to 34 year olds were much more likely than other metro area residents to choose to live in close-in urban neighborhoods. While the trend has been strongest in the cities that are well known as talent magnets, our research shows that the pattern holds even for cities that have been struggling.
One of the cities that has experienced the greatest outflows of talent over the past decade or more has been Detroit. But there are hopeful signs that well-educated young adults are playing a key role in helping to revitalize that city’s urban core. In this week’s Time, columnist Rana Foroohar describes some of the unfolding efforts in Detroit to tap into the growing demand for urban living.
In the article, Quicken Loans’ CEO Dan Gilbert explains that in order to compete for talent, his firm couldn’t be located in the suburbs. Detroit is turning up as Foroohar explains because talented young workers increasingly want to live in cities, and the companies that look to employ them are drawn to these same places.
The full article is available in the November 24 edition of Time, and for subscribers is available online here.