Place trumps everything. Among my college educated friends who have yet to start families, they’d sooner move (and many have) to an exciting or beautiful place without a job prospect, than to stay in or move to Southeast Michigan with an excellent job offer. While there are exceptions, my husband and I included, the overarching trend has been to join the mass exodus to Chicago, New York, Seattle, the Bay Area and the outdoor lovers to Colorado and Salt Lake City. What do we 20 and 30 somethings want in a place? We’re shedding the oppressively dull and uncreative suburban lifestyle of our parents for the vibrant cities where creativity and culture in all its forms flourish. We undeniably value walkable cities, where cars are convenient, but not necessary; where the cultural and social options are so plentiful, you’re forced to be selective in your spare-time pursuits; where the community of energetic forward thinking entrepreneurs and intellectuals is so vast, that new exciting relationships continuously materialize. Despite the spread of technology, personal laptops and email notifications going off in our pockets and purses, we do not want to be physically isolated, living miles from our like-minded peers. We want to be tangibly connected to the world around us. Perhaps as our work days are increasingly isolated in a world of technology, we find ourselves developing an insatiable craving for the jostling excitement of a concentrated population of young movers and shakers.
