Detroit/MI Tries to Lure Back Young People From Chicago/IL to Detroit/MI

[313WX]

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has frequently questioned why young people want to be in Chicago when they could stay in Detroit and make a difference.

Really Snyder? You don't know why!?

Perhaps the fact that you even have to question why is the exact reason young people are leaving in the first place.

Just think, what is there Chicago/Illinois has that Detroit doesn't have and won't have any time soon [[and probably will never have)? And furthermore, what have you and the leaders of Detroit/Michigan done to change that?

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...brightest-back

[poobert]

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...brightest-back



Really Snyder? You don't know why!?

Perhaps the fact that you even have to question why is the exact reason young people are leaving in the first place.

Just think, what is there Chicago/Illinois has that Detroit doesn't have and won't have any time soon [[and probably will never have)? And furthermore, what have you and the leaders of Detroit/Michigan done to change that?

The problem here is that most people don't want any real change - bring on the "magic choo-choo" derisions, or the suburbanite spewing curses at those "yuppies" who "live in shoeboxes" and "don't ever have kids." Why stay and try and change things when you can just move a short distance away where the things you value are appriciated?

It is a real brain drain. I've lost all my best and brightest friends, entirely to other major cities. Truth be told, a lot of the people I know who stuck around are working crappy jobs and drink themselves half-blind for entertainment. It's depressing here.

Out before I'm thirty, that's my plan. My military and mortgage commitments have kept me tied down for a bit but not a minute longer. No shoebox for me, either. I've got my eyes on some nice Chicago bungalows just a spit from the El train. I tried to make things better here but just got heartbreak and underpaid. Enjoy your new "luxury housing" and freedom from security gates in Royal Oak.

[Gistok]

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...brightest-back



Really Snyder? You don't know why!?

Perhaps the fact that you even have to question why is the exact reason young people are leaving in the first place.

That's a no brainer...
1) Jobs.
2) Trendy places to spend that job money on to get drunk with friends.
3) Mass transit for drunk people to return home from without driving.

[TexasT]

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...brightest-back



Really Snyder? You don't know why!?

Perhaps the fact that you even have to question why is the exact reason young people are leaving in the first place.

Just think, what is there Chicago/Illinois has that Detroit doesn't have and won't have any time soon [[and probably will never have)? And furthermore, what have you and the leaders of Detroit/Michigan done to change that?

I attended one of those MichAGAIN meetings in Chicago [[just moved here to Detroit this summer) - it was extremely well attended. There's a lot of interest in moving back for those who have "done their thing" in Chicago. I'm glad I lived there a while and got to experience it, but as my life changed [[got married, settled down), I began to value other things. I like living here now. I sometimes miss Chicago [[mostly when people come to visit and I want to take them out) but most days, I'm more than satisfied. When I was going out 5-6 times a week, Chicago was worth it for the density and variety. When it slowed down to 1-2 times a week, I felt like I was paying a lot for something I wasn't using. That's why I looked to leave, not necessarily to Detroit - I looked at a few cities, including back home in Texas.

That being said, I would not have enjoyed Detroit before I was ready to leave Chicago. I needed to get it out of my system. But that's more about Chicago than anything. I left Houston to move to Chicago, simply because I wanted a real urban experience and Houston couldn't provide that either.

[michimoby]

Frankly, I think Snyder has a very good point here. He stuck around [[save a six-year stint out in California) and made his millions, all while I imagine many of his classmates from Ann Arbor left for greener pastures.

But where I diverge from the michAGAIN's message is this: I don't have ties here [[family's all on the West Coast) save my degrees from Ann Arbor. I'm not married, I'm in my early thirties. I've made the rounds in some of the world's greatest cities [[Seattle, Boston, Berlin, Rome, Chicago). Yet Detroit is the most exciting place I have ever lived.

Why? Because Chicago has settled. It doesn't really need me. Nor do any of those other cities. The decisions I make as a young professional can literally have lasting impacts on the vitality of this region in the next 30 years. I literally can change the face of the city and have some influence on whether or not I can feel comfortable settling here for the long term.

And at the end of the day, I'd MUCH rather have that asset in my city than the ability to get slizzered in Lake View every weekend. But I'm not naive to realize that every person in my position has a diverse set of tradeoffs that differ from my own, and I can't fault them in the least for making a decision in their own best interest.

[iheartthed]

Last year I went to an event that I was invited to by some type of entrepreneurial initiative from the University of Michigan. They had the event in two cities: New York and San Francisco. They brought students who had participated in an entrepreneur competition and had some very good ideas. One of the students had the idea about an online clothes rental service or something like that; it was written about in the Free Press. Nearly all of the students that I spoke to aspired to live in places like New York or San Francisco, so it was pretty obvious why that event put on by the University of Michigan, was not being held in Detroit, Michigan...

[michimoby]

Last year I went to an event that I was invited to by some type of entrepreneurial initiative from the University of Michigan. They had the event in two cities: New York and San Francisco. They brought students who had participated in an entrepreneur competition and had some very good ideas. One of the students had the idea about an online clothes rental service or something like that; it was written about in the Free Press. Nearly all of the students that I spoke to aspired to live in places like New York or San Francisco, so it was pretty obvious why that event put on by the University of Michigan, was not being held in Detroit, Michigan...

I was at the same event you were, and I know Bebarang. Fantastic guy. He had very compelling reasons for moving to the West Coast.

But it's also a bit self-selective, wouldn't you say? Of course UofM would send entrepreneurs interested in SF and NYC to....SF and NYC.

There's at least a half dozen companies planted at the M@dison right now that emerged from competitions at Michigan/MSU.

[iheartthed]

I was at the same event you were, and I know Bebarang. Fantastic guy. He had very compelling reasons for moving to the West Coast.

But it's also a bit self-selective, wouldn't you say? Of course UofM would send entrepreneurs interested in SF and NYC to....SF and NYC.

There's at least a half dozen companies planted at the M@dison right now that emerged from competitions at Michigan/MSU.

IIRC, the event was about entrepreneurs but just held in NYC and SF.

[Detroitnerd]

That's a good line from the governor.

Let's see. If I can scrape up a few thousand dollars, I can go get a cheap apartment in Chicago and find some job to pay the bills. I can sell my car and take mass transit where I need to go, whether it be work, bars, the movies, the bookstores, the clubs, my friends' houses, wherever. And when I tell anybody from "Chicagoland" that I live in Chicago, people smile and tell me they love Chicago.

Now, I can do that or I can get a cheap apartment in Detroit and find some job to pay the bills. I will be tied to my car, wherever I want to go beyond biking distance because there is no effective mass transit system. I will be expected to go to a bar, have two drinks, wait one hour, then drive home sober. I will have to drive all over creation to go to movies, bookstores, clubs, my far-flung friends' houses, wherever. And when I tell people I'm from Detroit, half of them will sneer and say, "Where are you REALLY from?" and the other half will sneer and tell me I'm a moron for living in a shithole.

Let's see. Which will I choose?

Weirder still, this is the governor talking. This is the guy who heads up the party that really wants to sock it to cities, minorities, anyplace where they don't sell beer at the gas station. They're anti-transit. They're anti-union. They're anti-woman. They're anti-gay. And yet, people who love cities and diversity and tolerance are supposed to tough it out in Detroit against the efforts of the rank-and-file of his party? Hard-de-har-har.

[Shollin]

Does anyone outside of the Midwest really aspire to go to Chicago? When i was young there was plenty to do in Detroit, except it all revolved around cars. We used to just drive up and down Gratiot and drag on Outer Drive or Charlevoix/Vernor. Everything we did as youngsters involved cars.

[Patrick]

Does anyone outside of the Midwest really aspire to go to Chicago? When i was young there was plenty to do in Detroit, except it all revolved around cars. We used to just drive up and down Gratiot and drag on Outer Drive or Charlevoix/Vernor. Everything we did as youngsters involved cars.

I think NYC, SF and DC are the top places where younger people want to live. Seattle, Chicago, maybe Austin and a few others are on the next tier down. However, a LOT of people I know avoid Chicago because they think that the snow would be terrible. Strange, they never say that about NYC.

[TexasT]

Frankly, I think Snyder has a very good point here. He stuck around [[save a six-year stint out in California) and made his millions, all while I imagine many of his classmates from Ann Arbor left for greener pastures.

But where I diverge from the michAGAIN's message is this: I don't have ties here [[family's all on the West Coast) save my degrees from Ann Arbor. I'm not married, I'm in my early thirties. I've made the rounds in some of the world's greatest cities [[Seattle, Boston, Berlin, Rome, Chicago). Yet Detroit is the most exciting place I have ever lived.

Why? Because Chicago has settled. It doesn't really need me. Nor do any of those other cities. The decisions I make as a young professional can literally have lasting impacts on the vitality of this region in the next 30 years. I literally can change the face of the city and have some influence on whether or not I can feel comfortable settling here for the long term.

And at the end of the day, I'd MUCH rather have that asset in my city than the ability to get slizzered in Lake View every weekend. But I'm not naive to realize that every person in my position has a diverse set of tradeoffs that differ from my own, and I can't fault them in the least for making a decision in their own best interest.

This is very much how I feel. I was born in raised in Texas, went to grad school at U of Virginia and settled in Chicago after a brief stint in Houston. No ties to Detroit, other than my husband lived here when he was young. That put Detroit on our radar as far as an option, but when it was time to leave Chicago and we were looking at several cities, Detroit won out on its merits. I'm way more fulfilled here, although Chicago was fun in a hedonistic sense [[which is what you are looking for post-college but it just gets old after so many years). I haven't found Detroit's cab situation to be that bad - I have to call them if I'm not downtown/corktown/midtown to get a pickup, but that's not really that different from some less popular areas in Chicago - we waited over an hour for a cab after a wedding down in Hyde Park). Trust me, that's leaps and bounds better than Houston. Just as in Chicago, where you live here will make or break your experiences. I'm very happy with my location here, just as I was pretty happy in WP in Chicago.

I do miss public transportation but half the time, I took cabs anyways. I do that here - I live in Woodbridge and walk to Midtown or take cabs downtown/Corktown. Really, I rarely went out outside of Wicker Park, where I lived, because getting anywhere not on the Blue Line was a bitch [["A two bus transfer to get to the Red Line? Meh, I'll just drink around here.") and cabs were $20-25 each way. At least I can get to where I need to go for $5-10 now.

FWIW, two groups of my redneck-assed family from East Texas and my college-aged brother from Houston have visited me here in Detroit. They all really enjoyed it. My brother's been back twice since.

[iheartthed]

I think NYC, SF and DC are the top places where younger people want to live. Seattle, Chicago, maybe Austin and a few others are on the next tier down. However, a LOT of people I know avoid Chicago because they think that the snow would be terrible. Strange, they never say that about NYC.

There is a perception that Chicago is significantly colder than NYC. It's probably a little colder at the depths of winter, but we're talking about the difference between "cold as Hell" [[NYC) and "cold as fuck" [[Chicago)... Then there's "just too damn cold" [[Minneapolis).

[michimoby]

IIRC, the event was about entrepreneurs but just held in NYC and SF.

Yep, I know -- I was in SFO during the period in which they visited [[had a client out there).

[Honky Tonk]

"FWIW, two groups of my redneck-assed family from East Texas and my college-aged brother from Houston have visited me here in Detroit. They all really enjoyed it. My brother's been back twice since."

You might have just stumbled onto something, maybe we're trying to attract the wrong group?

[cman710]

There is a perception that Chicago is significantly colder than NYC. It's probably a little colder at the depths of winter, but we're talking about the difference between "cold as Hell" [[NYC) and "cold as fuck" [[Chicago)... Then there's "just too damn cold" [[Minneapolis).

I read in one of [[Harvard economist) Ed Glaeser's books that January temperature is the factor that has most predicted population growth in US cities in the last century. So, while there are many interrelated factors at play, mild winters certainly are one factor.

In Chicago, the average high in January is 31, and the average low 18, with 38.5 inches of average snowfall.

In Detroit, the average high in January is 32, and the average low is 19, with 41.1 inches of average snowfall.

In Mineappolis, the average high in January is 24, and the average low is 7, with 49.9 inches of snow per winter.

New York is notably warmer, with an average high of 38 and an average low of 27, with about 28 inches of average snowfall, depending on where in the city you measure. [[The 28 figure is from Central Park.) While these differences seem marginal on paper, they are significant. I have lived in DC, NYC, and in Boston, with NY and Boston each being 5 degrees cooler average as you go north, and those 5 degree differences between the cities can be huge in terms of how bad the winter feels.

[Detroitnerd]

There is a perception that Chicago is significantly colder than NYC. It's probably a little colder at the depths of winter, but we're talking about the difference between "cold as Hell" [[NYC) and "cold as fuck" [[Chicago)... Then there's "just too damn cold" [[Minneapolis).

I think Chicago is colder than New York. Inland cold weather usually starts breaking up when it meets the Atlantic, which is pretty warm for an ocean. All that cold air blowing down from North Dakota [[yikes!) onto Chicago can really make it colder. Average January temperature for New York is 32.1. For Chicago, 22.0. [[For Honolulu, 73.0!)

[Detroitdave]

Does anyone outside of the Midwest really aspire to go to Chicago? When i was young there was plenty to do in Detroit, except it all revolved around cars. We used to just drive up and down Gratiot and drag on Outer Drive or Charlevoix/Vernor. Everything we did as youngsters involved cars.

To answer you question NO no one outside of the midwest aspires to move to Chicago .
I was born here [[MI)but left with my Dad when I was 13 and just recently moved back 4 years ago , family stuff ,and I like the idea of Detroit coming back ,However I didn't plan on the city clowcil !
However my experience has been mixed.
I'm not saying LA and the West coast is for everybody , hell a lot of people hate it , I say people or either west coast sf/ or LA not both , or just East coast don't give Chicago any real thought. It's just a "Fly Over" city nothing more !
When I lived in LA none of the people I knew would ever think of or dream of moving to Chicago , we thought of it as this cold old place where Oprah live,
We thought of Chicago as a "fly over" state LOL
I have been to Chicago and it's Ok but like I've said before if /when I leave Detroit and the Midwest Chicago is not on my radar .
Oh and btw Chicago's murder rate is near 400 for the year so it's not all sunshine and rainbows folks.
I was watching a special on CNN and they are having REAL problems in Chicago. They just have a prettier downtown, with poborts magic choo choo trains he's always talking about LOL ,
But people have different taste .

[southen]

detroit can carve out its own niche. many of my college educated friends have moved away only to come back because they realized that the grass isnt always greener. the city and region need a lot of help, but this is a place where people can make a difference by simply living in a neighborhood and where taking a chance doesnt have the same cost or crippling consequences as other parts of the country.

im the happiest ive ever been since moving downtown in may. all of that has to do with my surroundings, the people i have met in my neighborhood, and getting involved supporting the city. that appeals to quite a few people.

[Patrick]

The thing I noticed about Chicago is that it seems to be much more of a "temporary" destination than all the other superstar cities. I know dozens of people who moved to Chicago for no more than 5-6 years, and then moved. can't say the same about DC, NYC or Seattle. Why is that?

[Det_ard]

That's a good line from the governor.

Let's see. If I can scrape up a few thousand dollars, I can go get a cheap apartment in Chicago and find some job to pay the bills. I can sell my car and take mass transit where I need to go, whether it be work, bars, the movies, the bookstores, the clubs, my friends' houses, wherever. And when I tell anybody from "Chicagoland" that I live in Chicago, people smile and tell me they love Chicago.

Now, I can do that or I can get a cheap apartment in Detroit and find some job to pay the bills. I will be tied to my car, wherever I want to go beyond biking distance because there is no effective mass transit system. I will be expected to go to a bar, have two drinks, wait one hour, then drive home sober. I will have to drive all over creation to go to movies, bookstores, clubs, my far-flung friends' houses, wherever. And when I tell people I'm from Detroit, half of them will sneer and say, "Where are you REALLY from?" and the other half will sneer and tell me I'm a moron for living in a shithole.

Let's see. Which will I choose?

Weirder still, this is the governor talking. This is the guy who heads up the party that really wants to sock it to cities, minorities, anyplace where they don't sell beer at the gas station. They're anti-transit. They're anti-union. They're anti-woman. They're anti-gay. And yet, people who love cities and diversity and tolerance are supposed to tough it out in Detroit against the efforts of the rank-and-file of his party? Hard-de-har-har.

If that's your reality, that really sucks. I'd move. No sense being that miserable about where you spend your life.

[Detroitdave]

Frankly, I think Snyder has a very good point here. He stuck around [[save a six-year stint out in California) and made his millions, all while I imagine many of his classmates from Ann Arbor left for greener pastures.

But where I diverge from the michAGAIN's message is this: I don't have ties here [[family's all on the West Coast) save my degrees from Ann Arbor. I'm not married, I'm in my early thirties. I've made the rounds in some of the world's greatest cities [[Seattle, Boston, Berlin, Rome, Chicago). Yet Detroit is the most exciting place I have ever lived.

Why? Because Chicago has settled. It doesn't really need me. Nor do any of those other cities. The decisions I make as a young professional can literally have lasting impacts on the vitality of this region in the next 30 years. I literally can change the face of the city and have some influence on whether or not I can feel comfortable settling here for the long term.

And at the end of the day, I'd MUCH rather have that asset in my city than the ability to get slizzered in Lake View every weekend. But I'm not naive to realize that every person in my position has a diverse set of tradeoffs that differ from my own, and I can't fault them in the least for making a decision in their own best interest.

GREAT post michimby ! I'm in the same boat ! I think a lot of new people here feel the same way . I was reading some of the post from the article and if you are single , person living IN the city it can be challenging . It is changing but once you've lived in some of the cities mention like we both have it's tough. a friend of my in LA put it to me this way when I told him I was moving to Detroit , " you can't back down the food chain" LOL in a way he was right , but like you said I feel I can make more of a change and you feel more like you are witnessing a city rebuild it self in all the other city you are just another young person in a big city, but at least you have a lot of company and don't always feel like an outsider, like it do most of the time,
Every one is either married or dating and the single scene is still developing here .
Welcome home BTW, I would like to chat with you about you experience in Rome

[Detroitnerd]

If that's your reality, that really sucks. I'd move. No sense being that miserable about where you spend your life.

Well, I break the rules. I stay away from the suburbs, live in the city, drive drunk, and tell people who don't like it to eat shit. Not every young person wants the hassle or is tough enough. But, I enjoy myself, and, yeah, if you don't like my life, tough titty, kitty.

Metro Detroit has been offering young people its "world class suburbs" for years and keeps doubling down on the same losing bet. Meanwhile, it offers a city that will have limited appeal to all but the hardiest urban homesteader. Then our leadership wonders why people don't "tough it out" in Detroit?

[Detroitdave]

Michimby, I sent you a private message

[Detroitdave]

I hear you detrnerd we need to hang out ! LOL