The Future of the City

We've blogged in past about the debate over where cities like Tacoma are going in future and how they can attract a better educated population. Exit133 has pointed out an interesting organization, CEOs For Cities, and a report they did in December on this topic. The whole report can be found here. Some bits about the Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton area:

• National rank in percentage of population between ages of 25-34: 15
• National rank in percentage of population between ages of 25-34 with a 4 year degree: 14
• Percent change in population between ages of 25-34, 1990-2000: -4%

So our area has been doing well, but maybe not as well as people (especially in Seattle) might think. The decline in youth population was particularly surprising to me.

Who has been doing well in attracting the young and educated? Two are Portland and Las Vegas--interesting if you think about it, as they are about as opposite as you can imagine. However, as the study points out, much of Las Vegas' growth in educated young workers has much to do with the rapid growth of the city itself. Again, a huge contrast to Portland's emphasis on planned urban development.

Check out Derek's thoughts on Exit133 here.

Tags:

• Tacoma
• Education