Although the numbers of young adults in the population has dropped, Louisville has made steady progress in building a more educated population of young adults. Since 1990, it has moved from 14th among its peer cities on this bellwether measure of education progress, to 11th in 2000 and now to 9th in the latest three-year average of American Community Survey data, from 2006-2008.
That's good, although not enough to leapfrog into the top tier among Louisville's peer cities.
But there’s a little spike of good news in the 2010 Competitive City Report, which The Greater Louisville Project will release on June 24:
Data from the 2008 American Community Survey showed a significant jump in the percentage of young adults with Bachelor’s degrees or higher, from 33% up to 37% -- the steepest single-year jump among any of Louisville’s peer cities.
The question is whether that spike will hold up in the 2009 Census data, which will be out this fall -- whether it's a trend or a fluke.
In the meantime, however, we can take note and take heart: maybe all the focus on raising awareness of the importance of postsecondary education is starting to pay off…maybe we’ve been pushing the flywheel for so long that it’s starting to turn.
Why so much focus on increasing the percentage of college-educated young adults living in Louisville? Because young adults are mobile and Louisville has enough Quality of Place to attract educated young people – or to lose them to other cities with more opportunity for advancement. That makes the percentage living here a leading indicator for Louisville’s overall vitality and competitive position.
CEOs for Cities, a national network of urban leaders dedicated to building the next generation of great American cities, has blogged about the mobility of young adults, citing a study which found that “two-thirds of highly mobile 25- to 34-year-olds with college degrees say that they will decide where they live first, then look for a job.” The study found lots of other interesting facts about young adults and how cities can attract them. Check it out.
Carol Coletta, CEO and President of CEOs for Cities, will talk about that and many other things when she joins The Greater Louisville Project for a public forum to release our 2010 Competitive City Report at 10 a.m. on Thursday, June 24 at the Conference Theater in the International Convention Center. Enter at 3rd and Jefferson Streets. It's free and open to the public.