What Happened?
San Antonio, Texas, has recently grown into a hotspot for young professionals to launch their careers due to the affordable housing options and low cost of living. Because it is a less trendy spot compared to major cities across the country, the job market is less competitive making it more attractive to professionals looking for a simple life.
The Goal
While San Antonio is not known for its cutting-edge appeal, it is one of the fastest growing cities in the country with a thriving, diverse population, booming job market and consistently low cost of living. The city has an abundance of tech and medical jobs, and is a milder version of nearby Austin in terms of art and social scenes. Even though the jobs do not pay exceptionally well, young professionals are thriving in San Antonio without overspending, The Atlantic Cities reported.
The growth in popularity of San Antonio among millennials can be attributed to a smart marketing campaign that specifically targeted the young professional age group. Understanding more college graduates will be entering technology and healthcare fields - where the job growth is occurring - the city launched a campaign to engage this population and entice them to San Antonio with promises of growth, opportunity and less of a rat race to battle through.
Keep Them Interested
Similar to the San Antonio plan to market a city’s culture and lifestyle to the appropriate audience, many other localities nationwide are developing new strategies for residential attraction and retention. Some cities are offering to pay recent college graduates to live in the community to help build up a young, professional base.
Others are also focused on financial incentives, willing to reimburse new residents up to about $4,000 annually to be used for student loan repayment. Niagara Falls in New York, for example, has launched such a program that has already gathered 42 applicants nationwide.
The city will spend $200,000 on the student loan repayment initiative while anticipating to attract a vibrant community of young professionals eager to transform Niagara Falls into a more attractive homestead.
Niagara Falls has declined in economic and cultural activity since its manufacturing industry slowed over the past few decades. If the city does not boost its population numbers soon it may lose its U.S. Department of Urban Development federal entitlement funding.
According to The New York Times, the deployment of odd programs is not uncommon for cities looking to grow and add younger residents. In Nantes, France, a giant mechanical elephant has been erected as a symbol for the growth of research-based and high-tech jobs in the region. Nantes has focused its urban planning efforts on attracting specific types of professionals to transform itself into a modern, cutting-edge hub for innovation. The city has also invested heavily in improving public transit, enhancing green space and implementing new public services. The end result places Nantes as a regional lead in green technology and efficiency.
Attracting Young Professionals
Gov1 has reported on several innovations cities are deploying that may attract a younger, more diverse population including green building programs and more amenities for bicyclists.