Why are we Surprised?

Study finds young talent shuns Michigan

by Rick Haglund Column Detroit Bureau
Saturday August 09, 2008, 6:07 AM

DETROIT -- Michigan's three largest metropolitan areas -- Detroit, Grand Rapids and Lansing -- significantly lag behind the Midwest's most vibrant metro areas in attracting college-educated young professionals, a new study shows.
The Detroit, Grand Rapids and Lansing regions have populations about 50 percent less concentrated in young professionals than those in Chicago, Minneapolis and Madison, Wis., according to a study released Friday by Ann Arbor-based Michigan Future Inc.
Those statistics are troubling at a time when state and local governments and economic development agencies are working to attract highly educated young workers to replace retiring baby boomers and reinvigorate sagging economies.
"Where mobile young talent chooses to live is going to be a very powerful driver of how well your economy does in the future," Michigan Future President Lou Glazer said.
The study found many young college graduates choose where they want to live first and then look for a job. Those who leave Michigan are unlikely to return, Glazer said.
With the exception of Grand Rapids, there also are dramatically lower percentages of young professionals living in the three Michigan core cities than in the cities of Chicago, Minneapolis and Madison, according to the study.
In the study, Detroit was compared to Chicago, Grand Rapids to Minneapolis and Michigan's state capital of Lansing and neighboring East Lansing to Wisconsin's state capital of Madison. East Lansing is home to Michigan State University and Madison is home to the University of Wisconsin.
Metro areas and states with a high percentage of college-educated residents tend to have higher per-capita incomes than those with a lower percentage of college graduates, according to Michigan Future.
But Detroit's high-profile problems aren't exactly making it a hot spot for top young talent, including the ongoing matters involving Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.
He faces felony perjury charges stemming from a text-messaging scandal. Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox on Friday announced filing two felony assault charges against Kilpatrick over an altercation with a sheriff's detective for serving a subpoena in connection with the perjury case.
"The whole thing is spiraling out of control," Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson said of Kilpatrick.
Detroit and Flint this week were named to Forbes magazine's list of the nation's 10 "fastest-dying cities" because of their declining populations, high unemployment and anemic economic growth.
Grand Rapids, meanwhile, presents a more hopeful picture.
There are 10,025 young professional households in the city, 14.6 percent of all such households in the metro area, according to the study. By comparison, Minneapolis has 42,979 young professional households, or 16 percent of professional households in its metro area.
Grand Rapids is becoming a magnet for the health care, higher education and entertainment sectors, making it more attractive for talented young residents.
"More than any other region in Michigan, it's the one that understands downtown really matters," Glazer said. "They've paid more attention to that than any other place in Michigan."
Sarah Lamb, a 28-year-old events coordinator at the Van Andel Institute in Grand Rapids, formerly lived and worked in downtown Chicago. She moved to Grand Rapids two years ago with her husband.
She has found Grand Rapids small enough to easily get established in organizations and her Southeast Side neighborhood, but large enough she hasn't been able to try all the restaurants.
"I like it so much I'm not leaving," said Lamb, a member of the Grand Rapids Young Professionals organization.
"I've never lived in a place where people care so much about the city and try to make it better."
In the larger metro area, Grand Rapids significantly lags Minneapolis in the percentage of young professionals. In metropolitan Minneapolis, including St. Paul, young professionals make up 21.3 percent of all households. In Grand Rapids, including Wyoming and Kentwood, 14.1 percent of all households are populated by young professionals.
The Michigan Future study used demographic data from Claritas, a private target marketing firm.
Glazer and others who examine where young professionals want to live say they desire high-density housing, bustling neighborhoods, lots of entertainment opportunities and communities that are walkable and safe.
Building more vibrant cities and metropolitan areas could boost the entire state because they likely would attract wealthy tourists and retirees to northern Michigan and other parts of the state, Glazer said.
"It's really important that the big metros work," he said.