Competing for talented millenials and gen x

The CEOs for Cities website blog has a great snipit on the transformation underway in Milwaukee. A tired warehouse industrial district has been reborn as a hip community filled with casual food stops, hip furniture stores and opportunities to rent segway scooters.

The same website also features the results of a study in which 66% of Americans aged 25-34 with college degrees reported that they would first choose a city, and then look for a job there.

For cities to continue to thrive economically, they will need to attract workers, which will then attract employers. There is a pending labour shortage that will impact cities across Canada, the United States and much of Western Europe. If in-demand workers do not like a city, they may move. While family ties will stop some individuals from relocating, cheap airfares and communications technologies will make it easier than ever for the next generation of economic leaders to relocate to a city they perceive as having more to offer (and still maintain ties to friends and family in the city where they grew up). The pressure is on city planners, politicians, existing residents and the business community to create attractive living environments.

Cities will now compete for skilled workers, whether the "creative class" as explored by Richard Florida, or service workers and labourers -- a city needs all types.

This is a major change in recent world economic history, turning past trends upside down -- a subject I'll explore more in future.