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In the context of "cool"/"uncool" cities, we're talking about educated young professionals for the most part and they can fall in either the Millennial or Gen X category (the youngest of Gen X). Jacksonville is not attracting large numbers of this group; most domestic migrants to metro Jacksonville are families and retirees. The topic here is "uncool" cities, not sustainable growth cities.
But who sets the "cool factor"? There's a large population of people in their 30s and 40s on up to 50 (20% of the population) who have their own definition of "cool" that doesn't involve bearded clones swilling craft beer, sporting t-shirts with ironic quotes or working in the IT industry. To put it into perspective it's sort of ridiculous that a demographic that consists of 20% of the overall population (ages 21-34) dictates "coolness", and feel certain cities that continue to thrive and evolve that are not overrun with Millennials aren't losing any sleep over it.
But who sets the "cool factor"? There's a large population of people in their 30s and 40s on up to 50 (20% of the population) who have their own definition of "cool" that doesn't involve bearded clones swilling craft beer, sporting t-shirts with ironic quotes or working in the IT industry. To put it into perspective it's sort of ridiculous that a demographic that consists of 20% of the overall population (ages 21-34) dictates "coolness", and feel certain cities that continue to thrive and evolve that are not overrun with Millennials aren't losing any sleep over it.
The premise of the thread is on cool cities based on the millineal population. Why are people bent out of shape.... some cities just aren't cool but rather manageable.
Its the single least diverse major metro area in the US. There is some evidence for it.
Imagine putting even the slightest bit of thought into this. During its heyday, Pittsburgh was one of the major destinations of the great migration. It drew enough of a black population to have not one but two Negro League baseball teams. Unfortunately, the city experienced major, MAJOR economic decline from the 70s-90s. That just happens to be the period when America saw exponential Latino population growth. There were simply no reason for Latinos to come to Pittsburgh because it was dying and had no jobs. Again, it's the jobs.
For what it's worth, it's not difficult to have ethnic diversity in a former slave state that borders Mexico.
Diversity does not equal "cool" or "uncool" no matter what you believe.
This is true. However, it can leave an interesting footprint on a city. It just depends....
Others don't agree with my assessment, but guess what .. "coolness" is subjective. Who would've thought that?
For Pittsburgh, I disagree it's the Millennials. It's the city's features and history that are "cool" IMO.
Imagine putting even the slightest bit of thought into this. During its heyday, Pittsburgh was one of the major destinations of the great migration. It drew enough of a black population to have not one but two Negro League baseball teams. Unfortunately, the city experienced major, MAJOR economic decline from the 70s-90s. That just happens to be the period when America saw exponential Latino population growth. There were simply no reason for Latinos to come to Pittsburgh because it was dying and had no jobs. Again, it's the jobs.
For what it's worth, it's not difficult to have ethnic diversity in a former slave state that borders Mexico.
How do you explain the ethnic diversity in the Detroit area then? They also had a huge decline from the 60s to the last part of last decade but they never stopped getting immigrants from the Middle East and Asia.
Diversity is way more than Hispanics and African Americans. Houston and Dallas have massive Asian and African born populations as well. Houston as many Asians as Seattle despite being no where near as geographically as close to Asia as Seattle is. Pittsburgh doesnt have any of that.
The bottom line is that Pittsburgh still gets very few international immigrants and its no longer a dying city. You cannot use that excuse anymore. Pittsburgh has the jobs just not the ethnic diversity.
As for the ones that say diversity doesnt equal cool. It is a factor of being cool, but not the only one.
How do you explain the ethnic diversity in the Detroit area then? They also had a huge decline from the 60s to the last part of last decade but they never stopped getting immigrants from the Middle East and Asia.
Diversity is way more than Hispanics and African Americans. Houston and Dallas have massive Asian and African born populations as well. Houston as many Asians as Seattle despite being no where near as geographically as close to Asia as Seattle is. Pittsburgh doesnt have any of that.
The bottom line is that Pittsburgh still gets very few international immigrants and its no longer a dying city. You cannot use that excuse anymore. Pittsburgh has the jobs just not the ethnic diversity.
As for the ones that say diversity doesnt equal cool. It is a factor of being cool, but not the only one.
You're all over the place, but the only thing that remains consistent is your conflating correlation with causality. Detroit and has had a large middle-eastern population since the 30s, long before the decline. The Middle East and population continues to grow because there's already a large Middle Eastern population in place. People are joining their families. They're going to places where their culture is already represented.
Houston drew a large Vietnamese population after the war because it had a strong economy and a climate similar to that of Vietnam. I'm sorry I hurt your feelings when I said Houston wasn't cool, but it isn't. People move there for jobs. You should be proud of that. It's a good place to live.
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