Subdude Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Houston by far leads in percentage growth in college-educated, 25-24, 200-2012, although strangely enough the article can't bring itself to mention Houston. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/20/upshot/where-young-college-graduates-are-choosing-to-live.html?rref=upshot&abt=0002&abg=0 This one is better: The population of young, college educated people is surging more in Houston, Texas than anywhere else in the US.A report released Monday by City Observatory showed that, between 2000 and 2012, Houston saw a 49% increase in its percentage of college graduates age 25 to 34.This spike in young college-educated people may have something to do with the fact that Houston is the country's No. 1 job creator. Moreover, 26 Fortune 500 companies call it home, resulting in plenty of career opportunities for recent graduates. Houston also has an abundance of something else all penny-pinching young people can appreciate: affordable housing. According to MSN Now's compilation of the 10 best cities for recent college grads, rents average $1,311 in Houston, much lower than Boston and Washington, DC's averages of around $1,820. Houston residents are also allowed to keep more of their income: Texas is one of only seven US states with no state income tax, which lessens the burden on recent graduates strapped with student loans. More good news for broke millennials: a paycheck in Houston goes further than any other metropolitan area. When you adjust for cost of living, Houston has the highest pay in the country at $73,418. While Houston's growing economy and job prospects are what draw young college grads in, its abundance of other young people and great food that keeps them there. The median age of residents is just over 32, and New York Times food critic Pete Wells wrote last year that the city is becoming "one of the country's most exciting places to eat." Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/young-people-are-flocking-to-houston-2014-10#ixzz3GrhWKgrJRead more: http://www.businessinsider.com/young-people-are-flocking-to-houston-2014-10#ixzz3GrhNe0di Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 I hope to be one of those people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
august948 Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 I'm surprised Atlanta was at the bottom of the list with only 3%. I thought miles of transit rail was a major draw for the young and restless, or so I've heard somewhere... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdude Posted October 22, 2014 Author Share Posted October 22, 2014 I was a little annoyed that the NYT article did not mention Houston, which is at the top of the table. Granted, they were also talking about the percentage of college grads, not just the increase, but then they go on about Denver like this: Denver has many of the tangible things young people want, economists say, including mountains, sunshine and jobs in booming industries like tech. Perhaps more important, it also has the ones that give cities the perception of cultural cool, like microbreweries and bike-sharing and an acceptance of marijuana and same-sex marriage.“With lots of cultural things to do and getting away to the mountains, you can have the work-play balance more than any place I’ve ever lived,” said Colleen Douglass, 27, a video producer at Craftsy, a start-up with online classes for crafts. “There’s this really thriving start-up scene here, and the sense we can be in a place we love and work at a cool new company but not live in Silicon Valley.” So, if Denver is so swell because it has microbreweries and bike-sharing, why do more grads move to Houston, even on a percentage basis? I think Houston's ranking just didn't fit in with the preconceived story-line and cliches about what young people want. Might I suggest that young people in the main want, say, jobs and a reasonable cost of living? Likewise I would hazard a guess that most graduates realize that one's long-term opportunities at "a start-up with online classes for crafts" are pretty darn limited, regardless of how cool it might seem. I rarely bother to call out the tripe in news articles, but this is such an egregious example of ignoring the actual point of the data to focus on silly "lifestyle" trends. On edit:As an aside to my own comment, imo just about any "lifestyle" reporting purporting to explain the differences between arbitrarily defined generations is pure bunkum, put out by lazy thinkers who think it makes them appear profound. Where I work we have an HR director who is constantly doing this, banging on about "Baby Boomers are like this" and "Millennials are like that", like he's some generational oracle with deep insights. I would pay good money to slap that boy with a wet towel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samagon Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 I was a little annoyed that the NYT article did not mention Houston, which is at the top of the table. Granted, they were also talking about the percentage of college grads, not just the increase, but then they go on about Denver like this: So, if Denver is so swell because it has microbreweries and bike-sharing, why do more grads move to Houston, even on a percentage basis? I think Houston's ranking just didn't fit in with the preconceived story-line and cliches about what young people want. Might I suggest that young people in the main want, say, jobs and a reasonable cost of living? Likewise I would hazard a guess that most graduates realize that one's long-term opportunities at "a start-up with online classes for crafts" are pretty darn limited, regardless of how cool it might seem. I rarely bother to call out the tripe in news articles, but this is such an egregious example of ignoring the actual point of the data to focus on silly "lifestyle" trends. Cause it's cool to talk about microbreweries, bike sharing and weed. It's not cool to talk about actual jobs. How boring would the article be if they talked to someone in Houston: "I actually got a job really quick when I entered the market, since then I've moved jobs a few times and grown my salary potential." said <person>, <age>, an electrical engineer with <company>. "There are so many stable opportunities here." Houston just isn't cool for these guys to write about. Never has been, it may be in the future, I mean an influx of youth like this is going to change this cities landscape immensely in very short time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdude Posted October 22, 2014 Author Share Posted October 22, 2014 "I actually got a job really quick when I entered the market, since then I've moved jobs a few times and grown my salary potential." said <person>, <age>, an electrical engineer with <company>. "There are so many stable opportunities here." That is what was so cool about the Business Insider article on the same report. Their quote was: "There's always another job here," a 28-year-old college grad named Dena Washington told The Atlantic's City Lab publication last year. Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/young-people-are-flocking-to-houston-2014-10#ixzz3GthQlYvY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
august948 Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 I was a little annoyed that the NYT article did not mention Houston, which is at the top of the table. Granted, they were also talking about the percentage of college grads, not just the increase, but then they go on about Denver like this: So, if Denver is so swell because it has microbreweries and bike-sharing, why do more grads move to Houston, even on a percentage basis? I think Houston's ranking just didn't fit in with the preconceived story-line and cliches about what young people want. Might I suggest that young people in the main want, say, jobs and a reasonable cost of living? Likewise I would hazard a guess that most graduates realize that one's long-term opportunities at "a start-up with online classes for crafts" are pretty darn limited, regardless of how cool it might seem. I rarely bother to call out the tripe in news articles, but this is such an egregious example of ignoring the actual point of the data to focus on silly "lifestyle" trends. On edit:As an aside to my own comment, imo just about any "lifestyle" reporting purporting to explain the differences between arbitrarily defined generations is pure bunkum, put out by lazy thinkers who think it makes them appear profound. Where I work we have an HR director who is constantly doing this, banging on about "Baby Boomers are like this" and "Millennials are like that", like he's some generational oracle with deep insights. I would pay good money to slap that boy with a wet towel. I don't know how things are now, but when I graduated many moons ago the first and primary thing everyone talked about and was interested in was how much the job paid and what advancement opportunities the company/industry had. I don't recall anyone looking for jobs with a "cool" city as the primary criteria. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KinkaidAlum Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Houston has bike sharing, microbreweries, and weed. In fact, the latter is still illegal which makes it way more fun to score than some lamb-assed person in Denver just going to a local hemp store. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdude Posted October 23, 2014 Author Share Posted October 23, 2014 Houston has bike sharing, microbreweries, and weed. In fact, the latter is still illegal which makes it way more fun to score than some lamb-assed person in Denver just going to a local hemp store. We know that, but I still suspect the writer ignored Houston because her image was one of boring non-hipster energy engineers or whatnot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luminare Posted October 26, 2014 Share Posted October 26, 2014 I actually think Houston might have a bigger hipster scene or a rising hipster scene than Denver. Plus Denver is teetering on the edge on growth or decline and it's all based upon the peoples views of businesses, particularly Energy and other sectors. They almost lost their entire Energy industry not to long ago that would have pushed all of them out of the state which would have crippled their economy! I think the only thing that Colorado has in "cool factor" is the fact they legalized weed (which was a good thing to do and right direction to take), but that's not really "hipster" or "hip" in general and it's not why people are moving there. If anything you go to Colorado because you love the landscape (which is arguably one of the most beautiful around), and maybe a couple select industries, but thats it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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