"We have a lot of people that move here for a variety of reasons: region capital; quality of life," said Shawn McNamara, community development program manager in Raleigh, N.C. "We get people that quit a job, sell a house and move here taking whatever job they can get because they know they will eventually get the job they want -- and they do."
In the December 2005 study titled, The Young and Restless in a Knowledge Economy conducted by CEOs for Cities, Raleigh ranked third in the nation for having the largest young adult population between the ages of 25 and 34 in 2000.
One of the most striking results of the research indicates that today's young adults are more inclined to live in close-in neighborhoods than were young adults 10 or 20 years ago. Today's 25- to 34-year-olds are about one-third more likely to live in neighborhoods within three miles of a region's downtown than are other Americans, according to the study.
Developing Neighborhoods
In North Carolina, McNamara said, redevelopment state laws allow officials to condemn properties for revitalization. "We go in and clean up the neighborhood, and bring developers in to renovate dilapidated rentals," he said. "We're kind of gentrifying or yuppifying the neighborhood, but there's a lot of folks that are recent newlyweds or what have you, so they are first-time homebuyers. This way they can get a home near downtown."
For example, Raleigh has a popular neighborhood called Glenwood South that was created about 10 years ago, and attracts nightlife. "There's a sidewalk, trees and a new and improved bridge, connecting this area to the downtown," said McNamara, "There's been an investment in restaurants and bars. It's really taken off."
Desiring Youth
The study states that young workers are attractive to employers for a variety of reasons. "Today's 25- to 34-year-olds are more likely to have a college degree than their peers of one or two decades ago," according to the study, which also states that the rate of those with college degrees has gone from less than 10 percent of the population to more than 30 percent.
Even with the increase in those with degrees, the study says that it's actually difficult to overestimate the economic impact of college-educated young workers on the economic well-being of a metropolitan area."
The study also found that: