A disproportionate number of people moving to Portland in recent years have been college educated 25-39 year olds. Between 1990 and 2007 the fraction of Oregon workers with college degrees rose from 19.5% (below the national average of 21.3%) to 28.3% (above the national average of 27.5%).
And there aren’t enough bicycle repair, coffee shop, and unicorn wrangling jobs in town for all of them.
But in today’s Wall Street Journal article ‘Youth Magnet’ Cities Hit Midlife Crisis, it’s difficult to tell if Portland is being lauded or scolded for this state of affairs.
This drizzly city along the Willamette River has for years been among the most popular urban magnets for college graduates looking to start their careers in a small city of like-minded folks. Now the jobs are drying up, but the people are still coming. The influx of new residents is part of the reason the unemployment rate in the Portland metropolitan area has more than doubled to 11.8% over the past year, and is now above the national average of 8.9%.
A slideshow also accompanies the article. It includes the obligatory photos of parked bicycles, Stumptown Coffee, Voodoo Doughnut, the Made in Oregon sign, and the Pearl District.
The most interesting quote in the WSJ article was this:
“Many youth come to Portland in hopes of starting a unicorn wrangling career, only to find themselves eating a Voodoo donut while bike commuting to their Stumptown barista job near the Pearl District in order to support their indie band.”
I might
mike – The WSJ really hit all the important points. I commend them.
The funny thing is that this article is describing exactly what I found as a 25 year old with a BA and a M.Ed. when I moved here in July 2005. I finally got hired at a ‘real job’ in August ’08.
Mary Sue – The point I draw from the article is that “business friendly” and “human friendly” are two entirely separate things. Personally I put more value on the latter than the former, but of course a balance has to be struck somewhere . . . if they loosen regulations around here I was thinking of opening an indie-band maquiladora 😉
Dave is too modest to mention that WSJ linked back to him on this article. Luckily, I’m not modest at all: http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2009/05/17/bloggers-react-to-youth-magnet-aricle/