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Talent Attraction

05.16.2009

Interesting story about Portland in the Wall Street Journal today called Youth Magnet Cities Hit Midlife Crisis. Conor Dougherty writes:

The worst recession in a generation is disrupting migration patterns and overturning lives across the country. Yet, cities like Portland, along with Austin, Texas, Seattle and others, continue to be draws for the young, educated workers that communities and employers covet. What these cities share is a hard-to-quantify blend of climate, natural beauty, universities and — more than anything else — a reputation as a cool place to live. For now, an excess of young workers is adding to the ranks of the unemployed. But holding on to these people through the downturn will help cities turn around once the economy recovers.

We’ve definitely seen some of this going on here in Austin. I’m looking forward to getting the 2007-2008 county-to-county migration data when the IRS releases it this summer, because the conventional wisdom is that people moving here from places like California and Arizona will be down as a result of the housing markets in those states (i.e. you can’t move to Austin if you can’t sell your house in San Diego). I think that’s a bit too simplistic because it doesn’t reflect Austin’s draw for young people who are more than likely renting, as described in the article, but we’ll see.