Rustbelt Cities Continue to Make Play for Millennials

The millennial generations, those born starting in 1982, are being seen as potential saviors of the once formidable Rustbelt cities that have fallen on hard economic times as manufacturing and industrial jobs have disappeared. Tim Henderson, writing in Stateline, finds that the growing number of educated millennials moving to cities such as St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Buffalo and Grand Rapids, has given hope for some form of economic rebirth based on a transition to a high-tech, knowledge economy. One of the primary factors attracting this growth can be found in the affordable housing stock available in these cities.

The high cost of living in high-tech centers like Seattle and San Francisco has made them less attractive to many young people, [author Antoine van Agtmael] said. At the same time, affordable housing has helped new hot spots of innovation in Rust Belt cities to emerge.

...

Libby Francis said she came to Baltimore from the District of Columbia looking for urban life at a lower cost in her mid-30s, about 10 years ago.

“I was a single adult chasing the dream of homeownership and I’m not made of money. It was getting pretty depressing,” Francis said. In Hampden she found a house for $110,000 and the financial freedom to open a locally sourced flower shop. “You can actually be an artist here and pay the rent.”

Cities such as Pittsburgh have also invested in amenities that might attract new "fast-growth" businesses, including new public spaces and apartments in the city's downtown.