Exit133.com: Cities Compete For Hipness

Cities Compete For Hipness (24. November 2006, 21:22 by Derek Young) ~ I'm In For Frisbee Golf

While Tacoma continues to evolve and attract people, will it ever be hip? The New York Times asserts that hipness, and a city’s attractiveness to young people, is the key to its future.

Cities have long competed over job growth, struggling to revive their downtowns and improve their image. But the latest population trends have forced them to fight for college-educated 25- to 34-year-olds, a demographic group increasingly viewed as the key to an economic future.

Mobile but not flighty, fresh but technologically savvy, “the young and restless,” as demographers call them, are at their most desirable age, particularly because their chances of relocating drop precipitously when they turn 35. Cities that do not attract them now will be hurting in a decade.

Are we interested in finding those downsizers that are leaving the job-force or the young people that’ll create the job-force of the future? With our propensity for new condos over $350k and relatively few new jobs, it worries me a bit…

Link to The New York Times

Commenting Is Closed
Comments are allowed for two weeks from the posted date. If you want to make a comment or reopen this discussion, please contact us with your request. Thank you for visiting.

On the one hand, Tacoma has cheaper housing than Seattle or Portland, equal or better architecture, and is perhaps the last affordable urban place left in the Northwest. On the other, Tacoma seems a bit stodgier than Seattle and Portland, and lacks a lot of employers that interest the “hip” demographic. If UWT takes off and UPS continues to grow in stature, it would help a lot. So would improving transit by adding more Sounder trains and extending the Link up 6th Avenue (and keeping it running late) so that people don’t always need a car to get around.

1 | Posted by Michael | Nov 26, 11:25 AM

Link all the way up 6th and to TCC. Extended to stadium district, and maybe even to the Emerald Queen Casino.

2 | Posted by craigA | Nov 26, 09:12 PM

Add to that a Link or streetcar down Yakima Ave. (Not Pacific!) to PLU and then we’d have something going.

3 | Posted by Nick | Nov 26, 11:50 PM

Add to that a Link or streetcar down Yakima Ave. (Not Pacific!) to PLU and then we’d have something going.

I think getting the streetcar to the South End and South Tacoma is vital. If we want to improve Tacoma as a community, we need to find ways to break down the north/south divide created by I-5 and Hwy 16. Something like a streetcar that would connect neighborhoods would be a perfect fit. And if it went all the way to PLU, icing on the cake.

4 | Posted by jamie from thriceallamerican | Nov 27, 11:32 AM

While we have focused on changes to the downtown and the $350k condo, this is only part of puzzle. Giving an opportunity for downsizers and people with plenty of disposable income is important as they can help support some entertainment venues, shops, & restaurants that could not survive on the hip paycheck alone. These places & people contribute to the vibrancy needed to support an area long term.

Belltown has a high hipness factor, but lacks a great deal of character to me. It all seems very superficial and vacuous on its own, but when integrated with the rest of Seattle it certainly fills a niche.

We need hip places, but we also need places for people’s lifecycle. Being hip is great, but the real focus is on retaining the hip younger crowd (20-somethings) as they settle into higher paychecks, owning property, and putting down roots.

If the City wants to attract and keep those people that are in that age group they should simply listen to those who live here & elsewhere. The City should focus on the things it can work on: affordable housing, easy access to the airport, & a diverse culture (all mentioned in the article). It should also be open to new ideas, wherever they come from.