Keeping the Emerging Talent

Cincinnati's young adults are growing up and moving out at alarming rates, an Enquirer analysis of Census data shows.

More than 7,200 people born between 1966 and 1975 left Hamilton County Ohio in the 1990s - a nearly 6 percent loss. Only nine of the nation's 75 largest metro counties lost young people at higher rates. Now, the flight of Generation X is prompting a significant shift in urban approach - to lure and keep the young.

Rather than concentrate on winning new businesses and buildings, economic developers are pursuing a better quality of life. New plans promote sidewalk cafes, hip local music and an energized entertainment strip. Attention to arts, culture and downtown living are replacing old ideas about building new department stores and riverfront towers.

The Cincinnati area’s response to this problem is called Cincinnati Tomorrow, a grassroots group of young adults that was created last year to make Cincinnati more attractive to younger adults.

Will it work? Time will tell. One thing is for sure. Cincinnati and its sister cities across the U.S. must work harder at making themselves attractive to this emerging generation.

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