[Jwo85]

From the work place to at home. Is Michigan up to date with the needs for Generation-Y?

make-way-for-generation-y: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

The homes they buy will often be smaller, and on smaller lots, than typical. And no long commutes for them. Look for Gen Yers to seek close-in suburbs with a walkable urban center offering restaurants, shops and other gathering places. Some are even passing up car ownership altogether.

With our new Governor as a Baby boomer, he seems to get Generation-Y and is willing to pave a path. Is the rest of Michigan government going to get it?

[danielj72]

Generation Y likes hip urban centers, they carry huge college debt and need power careers to pay that debt off. Im not sure Michigan ofters them what they need, I think we can expect a continued exodus of people under 30. Much needs to change in our economy and our cities if we expect career minded urban professional types to want to live here.

[Bhaalspawn]

The homes they buy will often be smaller, and on smaller lots, than typical. And no long commutes for them. Look for Gen Yers to seek close-in suburbs with a walkable urban center offering restaurants, shops and other gathering places. Some are even passing up car ownership altogether.

It's hard to buy a large house when you have student loans and you're either unemployed or severely underemployed-and-involuntarily-out-of-field as many Gen Y'ers are. It's not that Gen Y really wants small houses and to do without cars; it's just that they're having problems affording them in our nation's new third world style low wage economy.

[Jwo85]

Originally Posted by Bhaalspawn

It's hard to buy a large house when you have student loans and you're either unemployed or severely underemployed-and-involuntarily-out-of-field as many Gen Y'ers are. It's not that Gen Y really wants small houses and to do without cars; it's just that they're having problems affording them in our nation's new third world style low wage economy.

Many just don't want to deal with the hassle of owning a automobile with the hassle of driving and as well the the automobile hurting the environment. Many Gen-Y's are starting to delay in getting their drivers license.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/25/business/25drive.html

[magellan]

Like daniel72 said, GenY'ers, even those in pretty good positions right out of college, generally don't have a lot of disposable income. They'll support coffee houses, book stores and bars that sell PBR, but not much else. They also want ample transit systems, which cost $Billions to build and Michigan does not have a lot of (but it would be nice to have anyway).

Michigan should make itself attractive to professional 30 somethings, maybe even those who moved away after college and are looking to move back to MI. Those people spend a lot of money on their families if they have kids (everything from sports to healthcare services), pay for more services, eat out more often, shop more, buy houses, buy rentals, spend money on their homes, buy electronics, travel more, and everything else that drives money into the economy.

[ForStarters]

On the other hand, Michigan has something to offer in terms of affordability. I'm still a firm believer that Michigan can offer an advanced, high-quality-lifestyle cheaper than other states. We have two unique major cities for young people: Grand Rapids- which is hip, close to Chicago, near Lake Michigan, and up-and-coming, and Detroit - which is a major entertainment destination/cultural hub, an incubator for urban entrepreneurs, and has an amenity-rich metro area. With Michigan, you get a progressive northern state, outstanding universities, major amenities, and natural beauty, all for a bargain price. That's a pretty good deal. I really like new governor's message of "let's be positive!"

[narual]

I think someone is confusing hipster kids with the other 95% of the population born in the same generation?

[313Weather]

We need to find a way to KEEP our young & educated we have before worrying about bringing in more.

[ForStarters]

Originally Posted by 313Weather

We need to find a way to KEEP our young & educated we have before worrying about bringing in more.

This is a really good article about brain drain. Its basic premise is that cities should be less concerned about retaining people, and more focused on attracting people. Young adults everywhere are going to want to leave home and explore the world, even if they were born and raised in destination cities like New York. However, New York doesn't see its population dropping because it keeps attracting new people. The point is, Michigan needs to get better at attracting young people, which will also help bring home some of its wayward sons and daughters. Michigan has lost thousands of college grads to Chicago. Michigan State University now exports more grads to the City of Chicago than anywhere else in Michigan. We should start thinking about how to attract these kids back, and attract new college grads from other regions.

The Urbanophile » Blog Archive » Rethinking Brain Drain

[magellan]

Originally Posted by narual

I think someone is confusing hipster kids with the other 95% of the population born in the same generation?

Sorry, didn't mean to characterize all millennials as hipsters. That's generally the picture that gets painted when people like Richard Florida talk about the creative class/millennials.

That was a great article ForStarters.