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Request Free Advice From the Godfather of Growth
Nebraska's Governor Pillen while running for office:
"Leaders need to stop the out-migration of the brain drain."
Many communities across the US have dealt effectively with so-called "brain drain." The way to keep UrbaNatural workers in Nebraska is to:
Become an innovative company;
Lose the "command-and-control" management style;
Make downtown a contemporary lifestyle hub;
Make business succession systematic.
Dublin, Ohio, is home to several large corporations that collectively need to hire more than five thousand workers per year. By the end of the last decade they had learned that the kind of bright young workers they wanted to attract didn't particularly want to live or work in the kind of place they had become.
As a result, Dublin is now in the midst of creating a major walkable, lively, mixed-use district with a terrific master plan and appropriate rezoning that the city is fully behind. As I understand it, significant parts of Phase One are now in development on the gigantic surface parking lots that the corporations had built.
These knowledge workers are also changing housing preferences; real estate analyst Laurie Volk has been presenting data that suggests there is a "great convergence" as the two largest generations in American history – the Millennials and the Baby Boomers – are now playing major roles in the housing market. The Millennials are entering the market with a preference for urban lifestyles at the same time as a significant number of downsizing Boomers no longer want large houses and yards to take care of.
Deeper insight into housing preferences spurred by "UrbaNatural" Millennials:
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31 percent prefer to live in a core city (this number is double that of previous generations).
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Two-thirds seek walkable places and town centers, even if their preference is to live in a suburb.
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One third is willing to pay a premium to be able to walk to shops and amenities.
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Half are willing to give up living space in order to live in a walkable neighborhood.
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Even the shared living concept is gaining popularity as rents soar.
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