There's a perception that people move to a certain community because of a job. That's not necessarily true.
A study by Next Generation Consulting found that "Three out of four young people under the age of 28 first pick a place to live, and then find a job."
What does it take to attract young people to the Twin Cities? While the change of seasons is nice, I don't think the weather in January is a primary attractor. We've got to have amenities that are attractive to the kinds of people we wish to retain. With one of the region's goals being to become an international center for bio-science, it would be wise to focus on what that group is interested in.
University United in Saint Paul took notes on a presentation by urban planner Don Carter in June of 2003. "Technology workers, especially those in the biotech sector, are especially interested in health and wellness issues, and place a premium on living and working in a community that has an abundance of recreational and athletic facilities."
Ideally, we should focus on athletic facilities that can be placed where they'd be attractive to young people that we want to attract to our community while at the same time being close to our bio-science zones. Is there an ideal location for this in the Twin Cities region? Yes!
The Midway area of Saint Paul has hundreds of acres of land that's ripe for redevelopment that's centrally located within around 2 miles of most major college campuses in the Minneapolis Saint Paul area and is within blocks of areas that are designated for bio-science development. This same area can readily be served by the existing Associated Colleges of the Twin Cities bus circulator as well the Central Corridor LRT and proposed Red Rock Commuter Rail line.
No comments:
Post a Comment