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Cities Compete in Hipness Battle to Attract Young
NY Times ^ | Nov. 26, 2006 | SHAILA DEWAN

Posted on 11/24/2006 10:47:14 PM PST by seacapn

ATLANTA, Nov. 24 — Some cities will do anything they can think of to keep young people from fleeing to a hipper town.

In Lansing, Mich., partiers can ease from bar to bar on the new Entertainment Express trolley, part of the state’s Cool Cities Initiative. In Portland, Ore., employees at an advertising firm can watch indie rock concerts at lunch and play “bump,” an abbreviated form of basketball, every afternoon.

And in Memphis, employers pay for recruits to be matched with hip young professionals in a sort of corporate Big Brothers program. A new biosciences research park is under construction — not in the suburbs, but downtown, just blocks from the nightlife of Beale Street.

These measures reflect a hard demographic reality: Baby boomers are retiring and the number of young adults is declining. By 2012, the work force will be losing more than two workers for every one it gains.

Cities have long competed over job growth, struggling to revive their downtowns and improve their image. But the latest population trends have forced them to fight for college-educated 25- to 34-year-olds, a demographic group increasingly viewed as the key to an economic future.

Mobile but not flighty, fresh but technologically savvy, “the young and restless,” as demographers call them, are at their most desirable age, particularly because their chances of relocating drop precipitously when they turn 35. Cities that do not attract them now will be hurting in a decade.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: atlanta; demographics; genx; youth
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To: mirkwood

I don't know how these moms can stand themselves. Going to the store and even church, mixing among people they and their criminal spawn would destroy without thinking twice.


21 posted on 11/24/2006 11:46:38 PM PST by A knight without armor
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To: durasell

Wow , You sound just like the democrats. We have a barrier that can only be ..bla blah I happen to believe in the person. I met a man one day, he had a wife and 2 children. It was a Sunday and it was raining. I helped them unload a friggin big old u-haul before I ever met them i was wet, and missed the afternoon nfl game. Then I went home. And I was in peace.


22 posted on 11/25/2006 12:00:42 AM PST by mirkwood (Gun control isn't about guns. It's about control.)
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To: AlaskaErik

I agree with you. I'm very happy to live in one of the un-hippest places in the country. It truly does keep the riff-raff out.


23 posted on 11/25/2006 12:04:57 AM PST by SoDak
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To: A knight without armor
These moms are raising their daughters to collect food stamps. They are raising their sons to go fight it out on the streets. Knock over one white boy on the way home and you have cash, and credit cards. Hurry to the mall before the card is reported.
24 posted on 11/25/2006 12:08:44 AM PST by mirkwood (Gun control isn't about guns. It's about control.)
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To: mirkwood

You have a pretty nice house. I bring in my illegals to piss all over your neighborhood.Now I call the realtor. You are trying to call the cop or the spca, but they do not care. I offer one third what your house is worth. You thought that you worked all your life to get this house and retire, but guess what? I just screwed your property value thanks to George Bush. The border is open baby, I guess a few million more can't hurt. I do not pay taxes. DO You?


25 posted on 11/25/2006 12:21:06 AM PST by mirkwood (Gun control isn't about guns. It's about control.)
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To: mirkwood

Uh no, having lived in a "ghetto" myself and having spent time in some of the worst ones in NYC, I just prefer to avoid them.


26 posted on 11/25/2006 12:30:00 AM PST by durasell (!)
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To: mirkwood

You sound like you've seen some $h**.


27 posted on 11/25/2006 12:30:37 AM PST by kinoxi
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To: mirkwood
Your superior F***ing intellect didn't catch the sarcasm I take it.
28 posted on 11/25/2006 12:38:10 AM PST by kinoxi
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To: AlaskaErik

They're young and dumb. They don't want "peace and quiet", they want sex and getting drunk. Preferably, both at the same time.


29 posted on 11/25/2006 12:42:31 AM PST by lesser_satan (EKTHELTHIOR!!!)
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To: lesser_satan

Has a young person ever existed who just wanted "peace and quiet?"


30 posted on 11/25/2006 12:44:43 AM PST by durasell (!)
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To: durasell

Hell no. "Peace and quite" and "yutes" are mutually exclusive.


31 posted on 11/25/2006 12:47:40 AM PST by lesser_satan (EKTHELTHIOR!!!)
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To: lesser_satan

I get tired just observing young people these days. Did I ever have that much energy?


32 posted on 11/25/2006 12:49:15 AM PST by durasell (!)
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To: durasell

I suspect you did, but focused it on fewer, but more worthwhile, things than yutes of today.


33 posted on 11/25/2006 12:55:14 AM PST by lesser_satan (EKTHELTHIOR!!!)
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To: lesser_satan

Never trust a man who hasn't squandered at least a little bit of his youth -- they tend to grow into bitter adults.


34 posted on 11/25/2006 12:57:06 AM PST by durasell (!)
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To: durasell

I agree. I squandered much of mine, and I'm not bitter.
If we didn't squander it, it wouldn't be youth, as adults would know better. It's such a shame that youth is wasted on the young and wisdom on the old.


35 posted on 11/25/2006 1:01:15 AM PST by lesser_satan (EKTHELTHIOR!!!)
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To: lesser_satan

I wouldn't do it again, that youth thing. It would be like having a second salad after the entree. And besides, there's no way they're having as much fun as my generation.


36 posted on 11/25/2006 1:03:42 AM PST by durasell (!)
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To: lesser_satan

I'm out, way past my bedtime...take care.


37 posted on 11/25/2006 1:04:36 AM PST by durasell (!)
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To: mirkwood

AFAICT, freaknik died some years ago. Admittedly, it was pretty out of control.

Are you still seeing it? Or do you live somewhere other than ATL, and imagine it's still happening yearly?


38 posted on 11/25/2006 1:09:34 AM PST by FreedomPoster (Guns themselves are fairly robust; their chief enemies are rust and politicians) (NRA)
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To: Paleo Conservative
But which cities are attracting future parents, and which are attracting DINKS? DRUNKS?

Couldn't help myself.

39 posted on 11/25/2006 2:47:26 AM PST by raybbr (You think it's bad now - wait till the anchor babies start to vote.)
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To: lesser_satan

I notice that youth-hood is lasting such a long time. In their 20's and 30's some big babies still live off and sometimes with Mom and Dad and enjoy being legally adult without much adult responsibility. Happy Days, huh!


40 posted on 11/25/2006 4:52:53 AM PST by Republican Babe (God bless America.)
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