AND: "When young college graduates decide where to move, they are not just looking at the usual suspects, like New York, Washington and San Francisco."
Other cities are increasing their share of these valuable residents at an even higher rate and have reached a high overall percentage, led by Denver, San Diego, Nashville, Salt Lake City and Portland, Ore., according to a report published Monday by City Observatory, a new think tank.
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43 comments:
A French city without cheese? But there is the fresh corn and the bacon angle.
Life is much easier in a town like Des Moines then in Brooklyn, that's for sure.
The Des Moines traffic report this morning at about 8:30 was that it was a 6 minute trip from the west edge of town to downtown, 5 minutes from the east side.
I'd like to see a list of top American cities where you can live reasonably without a car, which I think is one of NYC's biggest advantages. Taking out the cost and hassle of having a car and needing to drive everywhere is a huge advantage, though in NYC it's offset by the expense and other hassles of living in that city.
As to artsy types, for all the mocking they get they do serve a vital purpose in a lot of cities, inhabiting some of the more marginal neighborhoods and helping jump start the gentrification process (of course, they usually complain about gentrification, though I assume they're being ironic as they're prime gentrifiers).
I think you can live reasonably without a car in most cities now, what with ZipCar and CommunityCar car-sharing programs. My neighbor uses ZipCar and has never had a problem getting a car. That and biking or walking, and it works for them.
Des Moines is Polk County which has an African American population of 6.5%. But that is huge compared with Madison's Dane County at 5.4%.
I keep telling my daughters to move to North Dakota, where well paid men who want a family are in abundance.
"helping jump start the gentrification process "
Oh, it started a few years ago actually. several warehouses in downtown were raised, and new loft apartment buildings built in their places. And some conversions as well. There is even an "East village".
...as a kind of indicator of the overall health and attractiveness of a metropolitan area.
I see what they did there.
MM: "Life is much easier in a town like Des Moines then in Brooklyn, that's for sure."
So, how long did you live in Brooklyn, trying to figure that out? Whatever. I suppose it depends on what you mean by 'easier.' Life in Brooklyn has been pretty easy for my family. And the pitch for Des M is mostly a 'little pond makes you look like a bigger fish' meme. Fine, if that's what you want. But it's certainly what you'll get.
If they're so valuable, why do they end up taking $10/hour jobs as baristas or doing bicycle repair?
Perhaps it's because the standard of living is much much lower in the mid west.
There goes the neighborhood.
@Richard Dolan:
Median household incomes in both cities are very similar (within a couple $100). Median house/condo price in Brooklyn is 5x that in Des Moines.
Brooklyn's Air Quality is worse than the National Average. Des Moines' is not.
Median travel-time to work in Des Moines: 15 minutes. (I can't find the stat for Brooklyn)
Cost of Living Index in Brooklyn: 591.1; in Des Moines: 91.6 (!)
Unemployment in Des Moines: 5.5%. In Brooklyn: 9+%.
I'm curious, now, how you define 'Easier'
There will be plenty of people moving to North Dakota and Texas.
I was born and raised in Chicago and lived in L.A. For over 20 years.
Transplanted to Des Moines 7 years ago and it's fantastic. I know quite a few New York and L.A. Transplants who, like me, alternate between telling the world how great it is here, and keeping it a secret.
Life was passing me by in California.
I caught up to it in Des Moines.
Yeah, ruin Iowa. Thanks hipster douchebags.
Portland is terrible.
Don't move here.
Thanks.
When hipsters want to move to Des Moines, they are by definition no hipsters.
There must now be a new term for hipsters who want to live in Des Moines.
From the article:
“There is a very strong track record of places that attract talent becoming places of long-term success,” said Edward Glaeser, an economist at Harvard and author of “Triumph of the City.” “The most successful economic development policy is to attract and retain smart people and then get out of their way.”
It's the "then get out of their way" part that's hard.
No no no! Stay away from Colorado! We have enough of "your kind" here now.
"Do the most Hipster Thing Possible..."
I got my first smartphone in July. That's pretty Hipster, waiting that long. Then I got a Lumia 1020, a Windows Phone (now updated to 8.1). Love it.
I would suggest that there are no jobs in my state. Please stay away from my state, hipsters. Here we sweat and do hard labor to make our living. Cell phone reception is spotty and there is no free Wi-Fi except at McDonald's. You will likely be forced to shop at grocery stores that don't carry organic food.
Please go elsewhere from here. Thank you.
MM:
Air quality? OMG. We don't have trouble with the air. And we don't have tornados, and have milder winters (and summers), all courtesy of a lovely ocean nearby.
The rest of your stats aren't much help. Brooklyn is a big, diverse place, ranging from a large (really large) population of illegals -- mostly, Mexican and Cent Am -- to long time residents and newly arrived hipsters. Lots of Europeans now in brownstone Brooklyn too. Makes for an interesting mix. Other than housing, the cost of living here is quite reasonable. And even on housing, everyone finds a way.
Driving isn't how most people get around. It's walking, bikes or subway mostly, and they all work fine.
You ask how I define 'easier'. Here's how today went. Walk to the gym (2 blocks) to start the day; then subway (10 min) or walk (35 min) to work in Manhattan. Wife walks to work (6 blocks, 5 min), and the lone kid still at home walks to school (4 blocks, 3 min).
Lots of choices of restaurants, -- really good, you name it, we've got it, and much better deal than Manhattan. We almost never drive or even subway to go out (except for the opera, on Sat it was Macbeth at the Met -- terrific). Multiplex movie theater is a block away; grocery and dry cleaner 2 blocks.
Great local park along the river (Br Bridge Park). And so it goes.
It's not for everyone. But before you get too wrapped up in your stats, come for a visit and see for yourself.
Texas has two of the top four spots. As a Texan, I hate to see this. It would be greatly preferable that other states keep the douchebag hipsters that they created.
Lots of choices of restaurants, -- really good, you name it, we've got it, and much better deal than Manhattan"
I'd have to agree with that. There is a dearth of scratch cooked restaurant fare around here. On the other hand, at least with the crowd I run with, most of us stay at home and cook.
Air quality? OMG. We don't have trouble with the air. And we don't have tornados, and have milder winters (and summers), all courtesy of a lovely ocean nearby.
I think we use different meanings for Air Quality.
(Link)
Salt Lake City. Goes to bed at 7.
You can get a lot of mayhem done when everybody else is conked out,...
"In the world of hipsters, is there anything more ironic than coming to live in Des Moines, as opposed to living in Brooklyn?"
Imagine if hipsters make Marijuana legal in Iowa and the local Farming industry were to change crops from corn to weed. The world would starve happy.
Farming industry were to change crops from corn to weed.
Well, per-bushel prices for corn have cratered this year; that's an incentive to change crops. (Soybean prices have also cratered).
You can get a lot of mayhem done when everybody else is conked out,...
I haven't been to Salt Lake City for a number of years, but there certainly wasn't any alcohol-fueled fun.
I guess we need to define what we mean by "hipster". Are we talking starving artist hipsters who wait tables while trying out for acting gigs? Are we talking young activists working for nonprofits? Trust fund kids? All of the above?
In any event, good for them if they move to the community. Unless they're the trust fund types, they usually can't afford to live in the nice parts so they usually gentrify, like in Mt. Pleasant or H Street NE in DC, and those areas are getting trendy again. Better them than abandoned housing and crack dens!
Sure, they usually vote for the sort of left wing morons who drive cities into the ground--though for cities who already have such morons in office they can't really vote in a way that would make things worse. It's like dropping dirt onto dirt.
College grads move to places where jobs are available, where cost of living is affordable.
"Imagine if hipsters make Marijuana legal in Iowa and the local Farming industry were to change crops from corn to weed. The world would starve happy."
Hmmm, corn is needed for Doritos. It's the economics of guns vs. butter.
Better yet, we could eliminate ethanol and put production to a better use as you suggested.
We moved to Nashville from Barrington IL three months ago. Could not be happier. Fantastic city and state. I am not a hipster.
madAsHell,
"I haven't been to Salt Lake City for a number of years, but there certainly wasn't any alcohol-fueled fun."
You don't know the right people,...
traditionalguy said...
Imagine if hipsters make Marijuana legal in Iowa and the local Farming industry were to change crops from corn to weed. The world would starve happy."
Actually, there are a lot of uses for hemp other than smoking it. My great-grandfather grew hemp during WWII on contract for the War Department to use as rope. You can also make paper out of it, doesn't require bleaching like wood pulp does.
traditionalguy,
"Imagine if hipsters make Marijuana legal in Iowa and the local Farming industry were to change crops from corn to weed. The world would starve happy."
It beats living miserable, which is how whites want everyone else now,...
BTW - who wants to be a hipster?
White people are clueless,...
Here's a novel concept: look for an industry or business that's actually hiring people and move to wherever you get offered a job. Occasionally you may end up in some not so nice places (Morgan City, LA, comes to mind as I drove past the three-story high pile of rusty metal entering the place on Sept. 11, 1978), but, dammit, I had a real job and I was able to pay off my student loans on time.
And a quick note to Grackle, don't sweat the hipsters coming to Texas and ruining it. So far they're entirely penned up in Austin and they won't last too long in the oil patch.
Is this what those Des Moines hipsters are up to: http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/skills/how-to-raise-a-pig-that-tastes-like-whiskey-17334283?click=pp ?
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