St. Louis tops list of most new college grads (midwest) (Clayton: rental, credit)

[BoomBoxing]

This is actually from October but I don't remember seeing this posted here. The Urbanphile is a great urban blog that focuses mainly on the midwest.

The Urbanophile » Blog Archive » Core City Educational Attainment

The first graph illustrates how with the exception of the Twin Cities, most cities in the midwest are just above or below 30%, which is also where the national average is.

The second graph is great though. St. Louis saw the highest increase in college grads of any of the cities studied with nearly 8% (2000-2009). Compare that to the national average of around 3%. Also note how St. Louis' numbers are vastly better than cities people will throw around to compare us with such as Cleveland and Detroit.

So what does that mean? To me, there are several ways to interpret that data. For one, it could mean that local professionals are moving from elsewhere in the region to the city. Secondly, it could mean that the regional workforce is gaining more professionals and that many of them are choosing to reside in the city. And third, it could mean that more city residents are attaining bachelors degrees. I believe it's a combination of those things.

Of course, you could also argue that the number of college grads we had in 2000 was ridiculously low and we were bound to increase that number. That may be true, but you can't argue that this is an awesome trend.

[moorlander]

I'm not surprised at all to see St. Louis retaining more and more young graduates. And I have to give some credit to what's happening downtown and the city in general.

[aragx6]

Whatever the reasons, and I'm sure it's a combination of many things, it's certainly great news to hear. Thanks for sharing BB!

[BoomBoxing]

More good news guys and gals. USAToday has an article: Urban Centers draw more young educated adults.

Urban centers draw more young, educated adults - USATODAY.com

St. Louis isn't specifically mentioned in the article but scroll down to the chart at the bottom. Sort by percentage change and what do you see? St. Louis leads the nation in young educated adult growth with a whopping 89%. No doubt that downtown's revitalization has everything to do with this, especially considering this measure is only 3 miles out from the CBD. But of course the near southside and midtown is a contributing factor as well.

[aragx6]

This article finally gave proof to what I have been telling old suburban fogies on this forum for years.

LOVE the idea of providing incentives like forgivable loans or rental subsidies -- especially in a town like St. Louis that has urban areas outside of the city limits like Clayton and U City, what a great way to make sure they're east of Forest Park!

Next up -- helping them stay once they pop out a few rugrats!

[aragx6]

Oh dear god, don't read the comments.

[inahandbasket]

Originally Posted by aragx6

Oh dear god, don't read the comments.

You made me read the comments because you said not to...

What a bunch of whining dinosaurs, those city-phobic suburbanites.

[BoomBoxing]

haha...well it goes to show that all the crazy xenophobic, racist, anti-city people aren't just in the St. Louis area - although I feel that way when reading STLToday somtimes

[stlcitygirl]

Go to any major city newspaper, the comments are all the same. After subjecting myself to the STL comment stupidity, I didn't think those were too bad.

[aragx6]

Originally Posted by inahandbasket

You made me read the comments because you said not to...

I suspected that might be the case! I should know better than to read them myself, but they can be awfully amusing sometimes.