Are cities suffering from brain drains? (real estate, 2013, college)
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I've read several sources about how a few cities are attracting college educated people from various parts of the country leaving certain cities without a skilled workforce. This leads to weak economies in certain regions.
Sure. I know in Iowa there's a huge problem of all the smaller cities and towns losing all their young educated people to places like Chicago, Minneapolis, Des Moines and to an extent Iowa City. People go away to college and then move on. They very rarely return to their small town in the middle of nowhere. It's frustrating to many towns and cities across the state, as they put the money and effort into bringing up some of the most educated kids of any state in the country, and then they all take off and leave. At least Des Moines has grown enough over the past 20 years that it's starting to get on the radar for a lot of younger educated people in the state. The metro is booming right now and the economy is great.
Chicago drains away a lot of young educated people from Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa from what I've noticed in my years here. Especially Michigan, there must be tens of thousands of people who grew up in that state who moved here for more white collar type jobs.
I spent 4 years in Cleveland slaving away to make a living, and sadly it didn't happen.
Now I'm in Chicago and am doing much better, on the verge of landing my dream job.
If cities want to retain people, then give us a chance. Cleveland wouldn't or couldn't, which is a shame because I'm very fond of my hometown. But a man has to eat.
Interesting how it mentioned the closing of the steel mills. But most people traveling over that area on the Skyway likely never thought of it as part of Chicago. As far as they were concerned, they were in Indiana.
Sure. I know in Iowa there's a huge problem of all the smaller cities and towns losing all their young educated people to places like Chicago, Minneapolis, Des Moines and to an extent Iowa City. People go away to college and then move on. They very rarely return to their small town in the middle of nowhere. It's frustrating to many towns and cities across the state, as they put the money and effort into bringing up some of the most educated kids of any state in the country, and then they all take off and leave. At least Des Moines has grown enough over the past 20 years that it's starting to get on the radar for a lot of younger educated people in the state. The metro is booming right now and the economy is great.
Chicago drains away a lot of young educated people from Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa from what I've noticed in my years here. Especially Michigan, there must be tens of thousands of people who grew up in that state who moved here for more white collar type jobs.
I'm from Minneapolis and I've basically heard the same thing about Iowans: they all move to Chicago and/or Minneapolis. My friend's fiance -- the only person I know well who is from Iowa -- lives in Minneapolis, grew up in NW Iowa, but is a die-hard Chicago Bears/Cubs fan. Figures!
I also agree about Des Moines. The larger it gets the better chances it and the state of Iowa has to retain not only its top talent but also attract new talent. As a city buff myself, a city the size of Des Moines or Madison doesn't really register on my radar as far as relocating goes, but it's when a metro starts getting at or above 750K or 1M that people really start to take notice (especially 1M....there is something magical about that number it seems!). That being said, I've been to Madison recently and I can say that I honestly could see myself living there if the situation presented itself (and did so rather perfectly). Being over 500K is an absolute minimum IMO, unless it's 250K and has the lion's share of the state's amenities, like a Fargo, Burlington, Cheyenne, Boise, etc.
I spent 4 years in Cleveland slaving away to make a living, and sadly it didn't happen.
Now I'm in Chicago and am doing much better, on the verge of landing my dream job.
If cities want to retain people, then give us a chance. Cleveland wouldn't or couldn't, which is a shame because I'm very fond of my hometown. But a man has to eat.
I sort of feel the same way. I've been kicking my butt so hard at my job, going way above the expectations and realistic capabilities of my position, and it's barely worth it, and currently we're drowning in debt because my wife just had a child and we can't support ourselves on my income alone. This same job with the same level of expertise/experience would yield 50%+ more in income in Chicago or Minneapolis, and the cost of living simply isn't that much higher. It's hard to tell if it's the industry I'm in (real estate), the economy, or my individual situation, but come next review time if things don't change for the better we'll have to seriously consider relocating again.
Interesting how it mentioned the closing of the steel mills. But most people traveling over that area on the Skyway likely never thought of it as part of Chicago. As far as they were concerned, they were in Indiana.
Which is strange in a way, because those steel mills are closer to the loop, than Schaumburg or Naperville or Buffalo Grove, but people have no problem thinking of those areas as being part of "Chicago"
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